HYNDFORD, earl
of,
a title in the peerage of Scotland, possessed from 1701, by a
family of the name of Carmichael, till 1817, when it became
dormant. Sir James Carmichael, son of Walter Carmichael of
Hyndford, by Grizel, daughter of Sir John Carmichael of Meadowflat,
was originally designed of Westerraw, but on succeeding his
cousin, Sir John Carmichael in the estates of Carmichael, in
Lanarkshire, he took the latter designation. He is represented as
having been possessed of all the accomplishments of the age in
which he lived, and, when young, excelling all his contemporaries
in athletic exercises. He was introduced, by the earl of Dunbar,
at the court of James VI., who appointed him, first, one of his
cupbearers, afterwards his carver, and then chamberlain of the
principality. In this latter department he conducted himself with
prudence and integrity for many years. By Charles I. He was
created a baronet of Nova Scotia, 17th July 1627;
appointed sheriff-principal of Lanarkshire, 5th
September 1632, and in 1634 was made master of the ceremonies and
lord-justice-clerk. The latter office he resigned, on being
constituted deputy-treasurer 14th October 1636. He was
admitted one of the judges of the court of session 6th
March 1639. In August 1641, he was appointed by the Estates a
privy councillor for life, and one of the commissioners for the
plantation of kirks and valuation of teinds. On 13th
November of the same year he was elected by the king and estates
treasurer-depute for life, and the office of lord-high-treasurer
being at the same time put into commission, he was named one of
the commissioners, without, however, receiving any share of the
emoluments.
During
the civil wars he remained faithful to Charles I., and lent his
majesty considerable sums of money; for which he was created a
baron in the Scots peerage, by the title of Lord Carmichael, to
him and his heirs male whatever, 27th December 1647,
which patent was not made public, and he continued to be styled
Sir James Carmichael of that ilk, till 3d January 1651, when
another patent was issued ratifying the former. He adhered to the
‘Engagement’ in 1648, for the rescue of the king, and was, in
consequence, deprived of all his offices by the Act of Classes, 10th
March 1649; that of treasurer-depute being, however, bestowed on
his second son, Sir Daniel Carmichael. In Douglas’ Peerage, it is
erroneously stated that after the accession of Charles II. He was
sworn a privy councillor, and again appointed lord-justice-clerk.
By Cromwell’s act of grace and pardon he was, in 1654, fined
Ł2,000. He died 29th Nov., 1672, in his 94th
year. By his wife, Agnes, sister of John Wilkie of Foulden, he had
three sons and four daughters. The sons were, 1. William, master
of Carmichael, who, in his youth, went over to France, and was one
of the gens d’armes of Louis XIII. After his return to Scotland he
joined the party against the king, and in 1644 and 1645 was one of
the committee of Estates. He commanded the Clydesdale regiment in
the service of the Estates against the marquis of Montrose at the
battle of Philiphaugh, in 1646. He died in 1657. By his wife, Lady
Grizel Douglas, third daughter of the first marquis of douglas, he
had, with two daughters, a son, John, second Lord Carmichael. 2.
The Hon. Sir Daniel Carmichael of Hyndford and Mauldsley,
Lanarkshire, treasurer-depute to King Charles II. 3. Hon. Sir
James Carmichael of Bonnytoun, a colonel in the royal army at the
battle of Dunbar in 1650.
John,
second Lord Carmichael and first earl of Hyndford, born 28th
February 1638, succeeded his grandfather in the former title in
1672. He entered early into the Revolution, and in 1689 was by
King William appointed one of the commissioners of the privy seal,
and privy councillor. In 1698 and 1699, he proved himself a true
patriot in the important affair of the Darien expedition. In the
latter year he was lord-high-commissioner to the General Assembly
of the Church of Scotland, and from 1694 to 1699, both inclusive,
he held the same high office. In 1693, he had the command of a
regiment of dragoons, which he held till reduced at the peace of
Ryswick in October 1697. In 1696, he was appointed secretary of
state. He was created earl of Hyndford, Viscount Inglisberry and
Nemphlar, and Lord Carmichael, 25th June 1701, by
patent to him and his heirs male and of entail. On the accession
of Queen Anne, he was sworn a privy councillor. In 1705, he was
one of the commissioners for the treaty of union, which measure he
steadily supported in parliament. He died 20th
September, 1710, in his 73d year. He had married, 9th
October, 1669, Beatrix Drummond, second daughter of the third Lord
Madderty, and with three daughters had seven sons; namely, 1.
James, second earl of Hyndford. 2. William, of Skirling, who was
twice married, and by his first wife, Helen, only child of Thomas
Craig of Riccarton, had three sons and two daughters. John, his
eldest son, succeeded as fourth earl of Hyndford. 3. Daniel, of
Mauldsley, whose grandson, Thomas Carmichael of Mauldsley, became
fifth earl. 4. David, advocate. 5. John. 6. Charles. These two
last were drowned on the coast of Holland, as they were going to
travel on the continent. 7. Archibald.
James,
second earl of Hyndford, was, in 1706, appointed a colonel of
dragoons, and in 1710, the year in which he succeeded to the
title, he had the rank of a brigadier-general. He died 16th
August, 1737. By his countess, Lady Elizabeth Maitland, only
daughter of the fifth earl of Lauderdale, he had, with six
daughters, five sons, namely, 1. John, third earl. 2. Hon. And
Right Rev. William Carmichael. LL.D., archdeacon of Bucks in 1742,
consecrated bishop of Clonfert and Kilmackaugh in Ireland, 5th
January, 1753, translated to the see of Leighlin and Ferns, in
1758, to that of Meath in the same year, and, finally, appointed
archbishop of Dublin, in June 1765. He died at Bath, 15th
December thereafter, without issue. 3. Hon. James Carmichael, M.P.
for the Lanark burghs, who died in 1754, unmarried. 4. Hon.
Archibald Carmichael, page of honour to George II. He had a
cornetcy of horse in 1731, and died captain of marines at Minorca,
of a fever, 7th March, 1745. And 5. The Hon. Charles
Carmichael, who died in the service of the East India Company at
Bombay, in 1732, aged twenty. The eldest daughter, Lady Margaret,
married in January 1717, Sir John Anstruther of Anstruther, in the
county of Fife, baronet, with issue, in virtue of which marriage,
on the failure of the male line of the earls of Hyndford in 1817,
their descendant, Sir John Anstruther of Anstruther, succeeded to
the entailed estates of the earldom, and in consequence assumed
the additional name of Carmichael (see ANSTRUTHER, surname of).
Of John,
third earl of Hyndford, a memoir has already been given earlier.
His lordship was twice married; first, in September 1732, to
Elizabeth, eldest daughter of the celebrated admiral, Sir
Cloudesley Shovel, knight, and widow of the first Lord Romney;
and, secondly, to Jean, daughter of Benjamin Vigor of Fulham,
Middlesex. My his first wife he had one son, who died in his
childhood, 13th August 1736. By his second wife he had
no issue. On his death, the earldom devolved upon his cousin,
John, eldest son of the Hon. William Carmichael of Skirling,
second son of the first earl.
John,
fourth earl of Hyndford, born 5th May 1710, passed
advocate in 1737. He succeeded his father in the estate of
Skirling in 1759, and his cousin, the third earl, in his titles
and estates in 1767. He married Janet, eldest daughter and heiress
of William Grant of Prestongrange, a lord of session, under the
title of Lord Prestongrange, but had no issue. He died at
Edinburgh 21st December 1787, in his 78th
year. His paternal property went to his grand-nephew, Sir John
Gibson Carmichael of Skirling, and his other estates and his
titles to his cousin, Thomas Carmichael of Mauldsley, fourth and
then only surviving son of Daniel Carmichael of Mauldsley, eldest
son of the Hon. Daniel Carmichael, third son of the first earl.
Thomas,
fifth earl, succeeded his eldest brother, Daniel, in the estate of
Mauldsley in 1778, and his cousin in the earldom and the estate of
Carmichael in 1787. He died unmarried, 14th February,
1811, and was succeeded by his next brother, Andrew, sixth earl,
who had been for several years in the 16th regiment of
light dragoons, and served with it in America, during the
revolutionary war, but quitted the army in 1794. He died in 1817,
when his titles became dormant. The earldom is claimed by Sir
James-Robert Carmichael, baronet, the representative of the
Carmichaels of Balmaddy, who derived from Robert, youngest brother
of William, ancestor of the earls of Hyndford. The barony of
Carmichael is said to be represented by Andrew Carmichael, Esq.,
Dublin.
