David Wemyss, 4th Earl of Wemyss (29 April 167815 March 1720), was a Scottish peer and Member of Parliament who served as

Lord High Admiral of Scotland The Lord High Admiral of Scotland was one of the Great Officers of State of the Kingdom of Scotland before the Union with England in 1707. The office was one of considerable power, also known as ''Royal Scottish Admiralty'', including command ...

from 1706 to 1714.

Early life

David Wemyss was born on 29 April 1678, the son of

James Wemyss, Lord Burntisland James Wemyss, Lord Burntisland (bef. 1657 – December 1682) was a Scottish Scottish usually refers to something of, from, or related to Scotland, including: *Scottish Gaelic, a Celtic Goidelic language of the Indo-European language family nat ...

(c. 1657–1682) and

Margaret Wemyss, 3rd Countess of Wemyss Margaret Wemyss, 3rd Countess of Wemyss and Countess of Cromarty (1 January 165911 March 1705) was a Scottish peer. Margaret was the daughter of David Wemyss, 2nd Earl of Wemyss and Margaret Leslie, daughter of John Leslie, 6th Earl of Rothes. S ...

(1659–1705). His elder sister was Lady Anne Wemyss (d. 1702), who married

David Melville, 3rd Earl of Leven David Melville, later Leslie, 3rd Earl of Leven and ''de jure'' 2nd Earl of Melville (5 May 16606 June 1728) was a Scottish aristocrat, politician, and soldier. The third son of George Melville, 1st Earl of Melville and his second wife Catherine ...

, and his younger sister was Lady Margaret Wemyss, who married

David Carnegie, 4th Earl of Northesk David Carnegie, 4th Earl of Northesk (1675 – 14 January 1729) was a Scottish peer and politician. He was born the son of David Carnegie, 3rd Earl of Northesk and Elizabeth Lindsay. He was invested as a Privy Councillor of Scotland in 1698 and ...

Career

He succeeded to the Wemyss title on the death of his mother in March 1705. Lord Wemyss entered parliament as a peer on 28 June 1705, and was the same year sworn of the privy council. He was one of the commissioners for the treaty of Union with England. In 1706, he was appointed High Admiral of Scotland, and this office having been abolished at the Union, he was then constituted Vice Admiral of Scotland. The Earl of Wemyss was one of four non-medicals who was granted an Honorary Fellowship in the first 25 years of the Royal College of Physician's life.

Personal life

In his 41 years Earl Wemyss married three times. The first was on 13 August 1697, to Lady Anne Douglas (d. 23 February 1700), the only daughter of

William Douglas, 1st Duke of Queensberry William Douglas, 1st Duke of Queensberry PC (163728 March 1695), also 3rd Earl of Queensberry and 1st Marquess of Queensberry, was a Scottish politician.G. E. Cokayne; with Vicary Gibbs, H.A. Doubleday, Geoffrey H. White, Duncan Warrand and L ...

. Together, they had two sons and one daughter: * The Hon. David Wemyss, Lord Elcho (d. 1715) * The Hon. James Wemyss (1699–1756), who became 5th Earl of Wemyss, who married Janet Charteris, heiress of Col. Francis Charteris *Lady Williamina Wemyss (1704-1784), who moved to Chester County, Pennsylvania and married Judge William Moore of "Moore Hall" His second marriage was on 5 January 1709, at St Martin-in-the-Fields, London to Mary Robinson (d. 1711/12), daughter of Sir John Robinson. His third marriage as in July 1716, to Elizabeth St. Clair (d. 1721), the daughter of Henry, Lord Sinclair. Together, they had two daughters: * Lady Elisabeth Wemyss, who married William Sutherland, 17th Earl of Sutherland (1708–1750) * Lady Margaret Wemyss, who married

James Stuart, 8th Earl of Moray James Stuart, 8th Earl of Moray KT (1708 – 5 July 1767) was the son of Francis Stuart, 7th Earl of Moray. In 1741, he was elected as one of the 16 Scottish Representative peers who sat in the post-1707 British House of Lords, a position ...

(1708–1767) The Earl of Wemyss died on 15 March 1720.

References

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Wemyss, David Wemyss, 4th Earl Of 1678 births 1720 deaths 4 Scottish representative peers Lord High Admirals of Scotland Members of the Parliament of Scotland 1689–1702 Commissioners of the Treasury of Scotland Members of the Royal Company of Archers Lords of the Admiralty Clan Wemyss