James St Clair-Erskine, 5th Earl of Rosslyn

James Francis Harry St Clair-Erskine, 5th Earl of Rosslyn (16 March 1869 – 10 August 1939), styled Lord Loughborough until 1890, was a Scottish soldier, author and aristocrat.

The Right Honourable

The Earl of Rosslyn
Member of the House of Lords
Lord Temporal
In office
6 September 1890 – 10 August 1939
Hereditary Peerage
Preceded byThe 4th Earl of Rosslyn
Succeeded byThe 6th Earl of Rosslyn
Personal details
Born
James Francis Harry St Clair-Erskine

(1869-03-06)6 March 1869
Died10 August 1939(1939-08-10) (aged 70)
Spouse(s)
Violet Aline Vyner
​
​
(m. 1890; div. 1902)​

Anna Robinson
​
​
(m. 1905; div. 1907)​

Vera Mary Bayley
​
​
(m. 1908; his death 1939)​
RelationsMillicent Leveson-Gower, Duchess of Sutherland (sister)
Sybil Fane, Countess of Westmorland (sister)
Lady Angela Forbes (sister)
James St Clair-Erskine, 3rd Earl of Rosslyn (grandfather)
Serena Dunn Rothschild (granddaughter)
Nell Dunn (granddaughter)
Children5
ParentsRobert St Clair-Erskine, 4th Earl of Rosslyn
Blanche Adeliza FitzRoy

Early life

Lord Rosslyn was the eldest son of Robert St Clair-Erskine, 4th Earl of Rosslyn and the former Blanche Adeliza (née FitzRoy) Maynard (the widow of Col. the Hon. Charles Henry Maynard, eldest son and heir apparent of Henry Maynard, 3rd Viscount Maynard). His mother was described as "one of the last survivors of the great Victorian hostesses" and personally knew many of the most famous people of the Victorian era, including Benjamin Disraeli and William Gladstone.[1] His siblings were Lady Millicent St Clair-Erskine (wife of 4th Duke of Sutherland), Hon. Alexander St Clair-Erskine (who married an American),[2] Lady Sybil St Clair-Erskine (wife of Anthony Fane, 13th Earl of Westmorland), and Lady Angela St Clair-Erskine (wife of Lt.-Col. James Stewart Forbes).[3] From his mother's first marriage, he had two elder half-sisters, including Daisy (later Countess of Warwick from her marriage to Francis Greville, 5th Earl of Warwick), who inherited the Maynard estates, including Easton Lodge.[4]

His paternal grandparents were James St Clair-Erskine, 3rd Earl of Rosslyn, and Frances (née Wemyss), Countess of Rosslyn. Through his mother, he was a direct descendant of Augustus FitzRoy, 3rd Duke of Grafton.[3]

Career

From 1886 to 1890, he served as Lieutenant in the 3rd Battalion Northamptonshire Regiment and in 1890, he was Second Lieutenant with the Royal Horse Guards.[3]

Lord Rosslyn succeeded his father in the earldom on 6 September 1890, inheriting the family seat, Rosslyn Castle in Midlothian, Scotland and Rosslyn Chapel, collieries at Dysart, a luxury steam yacht, and assets of £50,000.[5] His mother, the dowager Countess of Rosslyn, survived his father by over 40 years before her death at Regent's Park, London, in December 1933.[1]

From 1890 to 1897, he was Captain of the Fifeshire Light Horse Volunteers, serving with Alexander Thorneycroft's Mounted Infantry during the Second Boer War where he was taken prisoner twice,[6] which he wrote about in his book Twice Captured. After his bankruptcy, he resigned his commission in the Fife. Lord Rosslyn was war correspondent for the Daily Mail in 1900. In 1904, he was Secretary to the Secretary of State for Scotland and from 1915 to 1917, he was Major in the King's Royal Rifle Corps.[3]

Gambling problem

Lord Rosslyn was a notorious gambler, betting £15,000 on Buccaneer to win the Manchester Cup, which lost. He played the roulette tables at Cannes and Monte Carlo, which he wrote about in his autobiography My Gamble With Life. By 1896, he had lost everything and was declared bankrupt,[7] which led to the family silver, gold and silver plate being sold at a three-day auction in Edinburgh.[5]

In 1902, he lost £310 while playing poker.[8] In 1903, he was in Court for refusing to pay a $150 draft.[9] In 1908, Rosslyn and Sir Hiram Maxim were in the news for a gambling duel in Monte Carlo to "break the bank".[10]

Personal life

On 19 July 1890, Lord Rosslyn was married to Violet Aline Vyner (d. 1945), the second daughter and co-heiress of Robert Charles de Grey Vyner of Gautby Hall and Newby Hall by his wife Eleanor Shafto (a daughter of Rev. Slingsby Duncombe Shafto). At their wedding the Prince of Wales, later Edward VII, proposed the health of bride and groom. Lord Rosslyn was a close friend of the Prince who became godfather to his son.[5] Before their divorce in 1902,[11] they were the parents of:[3]

After their divorce, Lady Rosslyn married the English race car driver Charles Jarrott in 1903 (they were the parents of director Charles Jarrott).[15] On 21 March 1905, he was married to an American actress, Anna Robinson (d. 1917), the second daughter of George Robinson of Minneapolis, Minnesota.[16] They divorced in 1907 and Anna later died on 4 October 1917.[3]

His third marriage took place on 8 October 1908 to Vera Mary Bayley (d. 1975), a daughter of Eric Edward Bayley of Little Moyle in County Carlow. Together, they were the parents of:[3]

  • Maj. Hon. James Alexander Wedderburn St Clair-Erskine (1909–1973)[3]
  • Lady Mary Sybil St Clair-Erskine (b. 1912), who married Sir Philip Dunn, 2nd Baronet (1905–1976), a son of Sir James Dunn, 1st Baronet, in 1933. They divorced in 1944 and she married, secondly, Capt. Robin Francis Campbell, only son of Rt. Hon. Sir Ronald Hugh Campbell in 1946. They divorced in 1958 and she married Charles Raymond McCabe in 1962. They divorced in 1969 she remarried her first husband, Sir Philip.[3][lower-alpha 1]
  • Maj. Hon. David Simon St Clair-Erskine (1917–1985), who married Antonia Mary Kelly (d. 1965), the only daughter of Admiral of the Fleet Sir John Donald Kelly in 1948. They divorced in 1958.[3]

Lord Rosslyn died on 10 August 1939 and was succeeded by his grandson, Anthony.[3] His widow, the dowager Countess of Rosslyn, died on 24 February 1975.[3]

Descendants

Through his eldest son, Lord Loughborough, he was a grandfather of Anthony Hugh Francis Harry St Clair-Erskine, 6th Earl of Rosslyn (1917–1977), who married Athenais de Mortemart, only daughter of Louis Victor de Mortemart, Duc de Vivonne, and the Hon. Peter George Alexander St Clair-Erskine (1918–1939) of the Royal Air Force.[3]

Through his youngest daughter, Lady Mary, he was a grandfather of Serena Mary Dunn (1934–2019), who married Jacob Rothschild, 4th Baron Rothschild; and Nell Mary Dunn (b. 1936), who married Jeremy Sandford and became a playwright and author.[17]

References
Notes
  1. Sir Philip Gordon Dunn, 2nd Baronet (1905–1976) was an Anglo-Canadian businessman, landowner and farmer. He was the second child and only son of the wealthy Canadian financier and steel magnate Sir James Dunn, 1st Baronet, and his first wife, Gertrude Paterson Price. He had four sisters, as well as a half-sister, the artist Anne Dunn, from his father's second marriage. The baronetcy became extinct on Dunn's death in 1976.
Sources
  1. Wireless to THE NEW YORK TIMES (9 December 1933). "ROSSLYN COUNTESS DEAD AT AGE OF 94; Last of Great Hostesses of Victorian Period Was a Beauty of the Court. ENTERTAINED NOTED MEN Disraeli and Gladstone Often Her Guests--Dowager Peeress Leaves 70 Descendants". The New York Times. Retrieved 26 May 2020.
  2. Debrett's Peerage, Baronetage, Knightage, and Companionage. Kelly's Directories. 1916. p. 755. Retrieved 27 May 2020.
  3. "Rosslyn, Earl of (UK, 1801)". www.cracroftspeerage.co.uk. Heraldic Media Limited. Retrieved 26 May 2020.
  4. "Warwick, Earl of (GB, 1759)". www.cracroftspeerage.co.uk. Heraldic Media Limited. Retrieved 27 May 2020.
  5. "St Clair Family". www.rosslynchapel.com. The Official Rosslyn Chapel Website. Retrieved 26 May 2020.
  6. "Earl of Rosslyn a Prisoner Probably". The New York Times. 4 April 1900. Retrieved 26 May 2020.
  7. "Earl of Rosslyn a Bankrupt". The New York Times. 12 November 1897. Retrieved 26 May 2020.
  8. "EARL OF ROSSLYN LOST £310.; Played Poker While Coming Here on the Liner Etruria -- One of His Opponents Arrested". The New York Times. 22 December 1902. Retrieved 26 May 2020.
  9. "Miss Roosevelt Going to Porto Rico.; EARL OF ROSSLYN IN COURT. Refused Payment of Draft for $150 He Lost to "Doc" Owens in Gambling Game at Sea. Standard Oil Boilermakers Strike. Tenement Dwellers Protest". The New York Times. 26 February 1903. Retrieved 26 May 2020.
  10. TIMES, Special Cable to THE NEW YORK (20 September 1908). "MAXIM SURE ROSSLYN CANNOT BREAK BANK; Two Men Playing Roulette for 1,000 Stage Money to Test Earl's System. ROSSLYN RISKS $125 CASH Sir Hiram Says He Is No Gambler, but a Mathematician -- They Will Play 5,000 Spins". The New York Times. Retrieved 26 May 2020.
  11. "Lord Rosslyn Secures Divorce". The New York Times. 26 January 1902. Retrieved 26 May 2020.
  12. Times, Macroni Transatlantic Wireless Telegraph To the New York (4 January 1912). "LADY ERSKINE WEDS FEB. 12.; Daughter of Earl of Rosslyn to Marry David Cecil Bingham". The New York Times. Retrieved 26 May 2020.
  13. "Australia's entrancing Sheila". The Spectator. 2014-02-01. Retrieved 2019-11-18.
  14. Campbell, Lady Colin (2012). The Queen Mother: The Untold Story of Elizabeth Bowes Lyon, Who Became Queen Elizabeth The Queen Mother. St. Martin's Publishing Group. p. 146. ISBN 978-1-250-01896-0. Retrieved 26 May 2020.
  15. Bergan, Ronald (6 March 2011). "Charles Jarrott obituary". The Guardian. Retrieved 26 May 2020.
  16. "ROSSLYN WEDS AN ACTRESS.; Actor-Earl Is Married to Miss Anna Robinson of This City". The New York Times. 22 March 1905. Retrieved 27 May 2020.
  17. "Nathaniel owner Lady Rothschild dies aged 83". Sporting Life. 13 January 2019. Retrieved 13 January 2019.
Peerage of the United Kingdom
Preceded by
Robert St Clair-Erskine		 Earl of Rosslyn
1890–1939		 Succeeded by
Anthony St Clair-Erskine
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