|
OLIPHANT. Sir Laurence, of
Aberdalgie, first Lord Oliphant (d. 1500?) was the eldest son of Sir
John Oliphant of Aberdalgie (d. 1446) by Isabel, daughter of Walter Ogilvy
of Auchterhouse. and sister of Alexander Ogilvy, second Baron Ogilvy
of Inverquharity.
In. his youth he went to
France to study the art of war, and subsequently travelled in Italy and
elsewhere. He was created a peer some time before 30 October. 1458. when
his name so appears as witness to a charter: and under the title of Lord
Oliphant he sat in the parliament of 14 October 1467. He had a charter of
the Barony of Owres, Kincardineshire, from his maternal grandfather.
Walter Ogilvy on 7 November 1468. (1)
In 1470 he held the office
of Sheriff of Perthshire. (2) On 24 July, 1474. the Marchmond herald was
sent with letters to him and the Earl of Buchan to "staunch their
gathering for the Court of Forfar". (3) and on 28 August to summon them
for their gathering. (4) The gathering
seems to have resulted in bloodshed, for in September Oliphant was
summoned to answer for the slaughter of Thom of Preston.
(5)
Oliphant was one of a Commission
named on 30 August, 1404, to negotiate a marriage between James, Duke of
Rothesay, heir-apparent of the Scottish throne, and Lady Anne
de la Pole daughter of John, Duke of
Sheffield, a niece of Richard III of England (6): and also to treat for a
peace and alliance with England (7). Of the treaty concluded at Nottingham
on 12 September (8) he was one of the conservators (9). He sat in the
first parliament of James IV on 6 October 1488, when he was chosen a lord
of articles for the barons. He was also sworn a privy councillor, and in
1490 constituted a justiciary within his own bounds
and those of Strathbaird.
He sided with the King
during the rebellion of 1489, and,
while the King was crushing the rising in the west, sent information to
him of the movements of the rebel nobles in the north. (10)
On 26 February 1490-1 he
had a safe-conduct to England for six months (11); and on 14 June he
received a safe-conduct and protection for a year from Henry VII as
Ambassador to Charles, King of’ France, and the King and Queen of Castile,
Aragon and Sicily. (12) In 1491 he was Bailie of Methven, (13) and in 1493
and subsequent years he was Keeper of Edinburgh Castle. (14) He was one of
the lords chosen by the King to the Session of 14 October, 1495.
He died about 1500. By
his wife, Lady Isabel Hay, youngest
daughter of William, first Earl of Erroll, he had three sons: John, second
Lord Oliphant. (d. 1516) William of Berriedale, Caithness (acquired
through marriage with Christian, heiress of Alexander Sutherland of Duffus
:) and George.
Dictionary of National Biography Volume 42
T F. Henderson. 1895.
References:
1. Reg. Mag. Sig. Scotl. 1424 1513 Entry 965.
2. Exchequer Rolls of Scotland. V III. 35.
3. Accounts of the Lord High Treasurer of Scotland p. 51.
4. ib.
5. ib.
6. Cal. documents relating to Scotland 1357-1509 entry 1501.
7. ib. entry 1502.
8. ib.
9. ib. entry 1505.
10.
Accounts of the Lord High Treasurer p. 122.
11. Cal. documents relating to Scotland 1357—1509. entry 1560.
12. ib. entry 1574.
13. Exechequer Rolls of Scotland. v. 287.
14. ib. pp 388, 465, 505.
Douglas’s Scottish Peerage. Ed.
Wood. ii 332 3. |
