Sir Adam Ferguson
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Sir Adam Ferguson (1770–1854) was deputy keeper of the
regalia Regalia ( ) is the set of emblems, symbols, or paraphernalia indicative of royal status, as well as rights, prerogatives and privileges enjoyed by a sovereign, regardless of title. The word originally referred to the elaborate formal dress and ...
in
Scotland Scotland is a Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United Kingdom. It contains nearly one-third of the United Kingdom's land area, consisting of the northern part of the island of Great Britain and more than 790 adjac ...
.


Life

Ferguson was born on 21 December 1770, the first son of Professor
Adam Ferguson Adam Ferguson, (Scottish Gaelic: ''Adhamh MacFhearghais''), also known as Ferguson of Raith (1 July N.S. /20 June O.S. 1723 – 22 February 1816), was a Scottish philosopher and historian of the Scottish Enlightenment. Ferguson was sympath ...
and his wife Catherine Burnett niece to
Joseph Black Joseph Black (16 April 1728 – 6 December 1799) was a British physicist and chemist, known for his discoveries of magnesium, latent heat, specific heat, and carbon dioxide. He was Professor of Anatomy and Chemistry at the University of Glasgow ...
. He was elder brother to Captain Joseph Ferguson of the
78th foot The 78th (Highlanders) Regiment of Foot was a Highland Infantry Regiment of the Line, raised in 1793. Under the Childers Reforms it amalgamated with 72nd Regiment, Duke of Albany's Own Highlanders to form the Seaforth Highlanders in 1881. H ...
, Colonel James Ferguson of the
HEIC High Efficiency Image File Format (HEIF) is a digital container format for storing individual digital images and image sequences. The standard covers multimedia files that can also include other media streams, such as timed text, audio and vide ...
23rd Native Infantry
Bengal Army The Bengal Army was the army of the Bengal Presidency, one of the three presidencies of British India within the British Empire. The presidency armies, like the presidencies themselves, belonged to the East India Company (EIC) until the Gover ...
, Admiral John McPherson Ferguson and his three sisters Isabel, Mary and Margaret.


Early life

Ferguson is recorded attending the
Royal High School, Edinburgh The Royal High School (RHS) of Edinburgh is a co-educational school administered by the City of Edinburgh Council. The school was founded in 1128 and is one of the oldest schools in Scotland. It serves around 1,400 pupils drawn from four feeder pr ...
in 1777. At both the Royal High School and the
University of Edinburgh The University of Edinburgh (, ; abbreviated as ''Edin.'' in Post-nominal letters, post-nominals) is a Public university, public research university based in Edinburgh, Scotland. Founded by the City of Edinburgh Council, town council under th ...
he was one of the companions of
Walter Scott Sir Walter Scott, 1st Baronet (15 August 1771 – 21 September 1832), was a Scottish novelist, poet and historian. Many of his works remain classics of European literature, European and Scottish literature, notably the novels ''Ivanhoe'' (18 ...
. This friendship with Scott developed into a strong bond lasting until Scotts death in 1832. An example: "Of all Scott's bosom-cronies the man of quickest, lightest, most spontaneous fun, of most triumphant mimicry, and of gentlest, happiest temper, was, by universal testimony, Sir Adam Ferguson". Another example described in Scott's memoirs, is his letter to Lord Montagu, the
4th Duke of Buccleuch Charles William Henry Montagu-Scott, 4th Duke of Buccleuch and 6th Duke of Queensberry, KT (24 May 1772 – 20 April 1819), styled Earl of Dalkeith until 1812, was a British landowner, amateur cricketer and Tory politician. Background and educ ...
in 1819 recommending Ferguson as personal secretary for the Duke's impending visit to Lisbon. He was also one of the nineteen original members of the society, 'called by way of excellence, "The Club"' formed in 1788 in Carrubbers Close, (a club formed for the consumption of oysters, claret and rum punch),among the members of which, from the accident of a
Newhaven Newhaven is a port town in the Lewes district of East Sussex, England, lying at the mouth of the River Ouse. The town developed during the Middle Ages as the nearby port of Seaford began drying up, forcing a new port to be established. A ...
fisherman mistaking him for a brother of the craft, he obtained the cognomen of Linton. It was in company with Ferguson that Scott in 1793 first visited the scenes in
Perthshire Perthshire (Scottish English, locally: ; ), officially the County of Perth, is a Shires of Scotland, historic county and registration county in central Scotland. Geographically it extends from Strathmore, Angus and Perth & Kinross, Strathmore ...
on the highland border which he afterwards described in his poems and romances. In 1797 Ferguson accompanied Scott to the Lake District and whilst staying at Gilsland, one evening, both dressed up in their regimental uniform of The Royal Edinburgh Volunteers which they had recently joined, and met Scott's future wife Charlotte Carpenter. By joining The Volunteers he began to shape his future military life. Between 1803 and 1806 he was the collector of the Widows Fund for the Society of Writers to His Majesty's Signet.


Army Service

In the early 1800s Ferguson entered the army; he was appointed an ensign on 1 December 1805 in the 2nd battalion
21st Regiment of Foot First most commonly refers to: * First, the ordinal form of the number 1 First or 1st may also refer to: Acronyms * Faint Images of the Radio Sky at Twenty-Centimeters, an astronomical survey carried out by the Very Large Array * Far Infrared a ...
serving in Scotland and Ireland. He was appointed a lieutenant on 21 October 1806 in the 2nd battalion 34th Regiment serving in Jersey. He was promoted to captain in the 2nd battalion 58th Regiment in February 1808 and served in Jersey until embarking for Portugal where he arrived on 2 July 1809. He served in the
Peninsular War The Peninsular War (1808–1814) was fought in the Iberian Peninsula by Kingdom of Portugal, Portugal, Spain and the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland, United Kingdom against the invading and occupying forces of the First French ...
under the
1st Duke of Wellington Field Marshal Arthur Wellesley, 1st Duke of Wellington (; 1 May 1769 – 14 September 1852) was a British Army officer and statesman who was one of the leading military and political figures in Britain during the late 18th and early 19th cent ...
. Ferguson commanded a company of some 58 men from the 2nd Battalion, of the 58th Regiment of Foot. The battalion comprising nine companies and were initially based in
Lisbon Lisbon ( ; ) is the capital and largest city of Portugal, with an estimated population of 567,131, as of 2023, within its administrative limits and 3,028,000 within the Lisbon Metropolitan Area, metropolis, as of 2025. Lisbon is mainlan ...
as a protection force. The battalion was headquartered at Vila Nova and then moved northwards in autumn 1810 to the
Lines of Torres Vedras The Lines of Torres Vedras were lines of forts and other military defences built in secrecy to defend Lisbon during the Peninsular War. Named after the nearby town of Torres Vedras, they were ordered by Arthur Wellesley, Viscount Wellington, c ...
. It was whilst protecting "The Lines" he describes in a letter to Scott receiving a copy of The Lady of the Lake and reading Canto Vi to his soldiers whilst under cannon fire. In April 1812 the regiment was involved in the
Battle of Salamanca The Battle of Salamanca (in French and Spanish known as the Battle of the Arapiles) took place on 22July 1812. An Anglo-Portuguese Army, Anglo-Portuguese army under the Arthur Wellesley, 1st Duke of Wellington, Earl of Wellington (future ...
. For his actions he later received the Salamanca bar on his Peninsular war medal. He was taken prisoner during Wellington's retreat from
Burgos Burgos () is a city in Spain located in the autonomous community of Castile and León. It is the capital and most populous municipality of the province of Burgos. Burgos is situated in the north of the Iberian Peninsula, on the confluence of th ...
in autumn 1812, held prisoner in a town in the Auvergne, and was not released till the peace of 1814. As a prisoner of the Napoleonic Army, despite suffering some hardships, he was accorded some favour from Napoleon for the sake of his father's first cousin Joseph Black M.D. On 8 October 1816 he went on half-pay and appointed to the 101st Regiment on disbandment.


Life with Sir Walter Scott

In the summer of 1817 Ferguson accompanied Scott in an excursion to
the Lennox The Lennox (, ) is a region of Scotland centred on The Vale of Leven, including its great loch: Loch Lomond. The Gaelic name of the river is ''Lìomhann'', meaning ''the smooth stream'', which anglicises to ''Leven'' (as Gaelic ''mh'' is sp ...
, with the main aim of visiting Rob Roy's cave at the head of Loch Lomond. In the following year he and his sisters took up their residence in the mansion-house of Toftfield, which Scott had recently purchased, and on which, at the ladies' request, he bestowed the name of Huntlyburn. On 19 August 1818 Ferguson, mainly through the exertions of Scott, was appointed keeper of the
Scottish Regalia Scottish usually refers to something of, from, or related to Scotland, including: *Scottish Gaelic, a Celtic Goidelic language of the Indo-European language family native to Scotland *Scottish English *Scottish national identity, the Scottish ide ...
, which then had recently been re-discovered. About this time, Ferguson commissioned Sir David Wilkie to paint the Scott family resulting in the painting ''The Abbotsford Family'' in which Scott and his family are represented as a group of peasants and Ferguson as a gamekeeper or poacher. Ferguson is seen standing to the right of Scott with the feather in his cap. In 1819 Ferguson, in the capacity of secretary, accompanied Scott's friend, Charles Montagu Scott, 4th Duke of Buccleuch, then in declining health, to
Lisbon Lisbon ( ; ) is the capital and largest city of Portugal, with an estimated population of 567,131, as of 2023, within its administrative limits and 3,028,000 within the Lisbon Metropolitan Area, metropolis, as of 2025. Lisbon is mainlan ...
. In 1821 he married the widow of George Lyon of London, and daughter of John Stewart of Stenton, Perthshire. They lived at Gattonside House between 1821 and 1824. On the occasion of the
visit of King George IV to Scotland George IV's visit to Scotland in 1822 was the first visit of a reigning monarch to Scotland in nearly two centuries, the last being by Charles II of England, Charles II for Scottish coronation of Charles II, his Scottish coronation in 1651. Gove ...
he was knighted at
Hopetoun House Hopetoun House is a country house near South Queensferry owned by the Hopetoun House Preservation Trust, a charity established in 1974 to preserve the house and grounds as a national monument, to protect and improve their amenities, and to pre ...
with
Henry Raeburn Sir Henry Raeburn (; 4 March 1756 – 8 July 1823) was a Scottish portrait painter. He served as Portrait Painter to King George IV in Scotland. Biography Raeburn was born the son of a manufacturer in Stockbridge, on the Water of Leith: a f ...
on 29 August 1822. They later return to Huntlyburn and are living there from around 1826 onwards.


Later life

Between 1847 and 1852 Ferguson lived at 27 George Square, Edinburgh they are depicted in a painting executed by David Cooke Gibson held in the
Scottish National Gallery The National (formerly the Scottish National Gallery) is the national art gallery of Scotland. It is located on The Mound in central Edinburgh, close to Princes Street. The building was designed in a neoclassical style by William Henry Play ...
. He died on 25 December 1854. He was buried on 1 January 1855 in the now sealed south-west section of
Greyfriars Kirkyard Greyfriars Kirkyard is the graveyard surrounding Greyfriars Kirk in Edinburgh, Scotland. It is located at the southern edge of the Old Town, Edinburgh, Old Town, adjacent to George Heriot's School. Burials have been taking place since the late 1 ...
known as the Covenanter's Prison with his wife Margaret Stewart of Stenton.


Paintings and Memorial

The Abbotsford Family by Sir David Wilkie.jpg, The Abbotsford Family 1817, Ferguson is standing with the feather in his cap. Scott is seated in the centre. Sir_Adam_Ferguson_1830_by_William_Nicholson.jpg, Sir Adam Ferguson by William Nicholson circa 1830, National Galleries of Scotland Sir Adam and Lady Ferguson.jpg, Sir Adam and Lady Margaret, 27 George Square, Edinburgh 1847-52 by David Cooke Gibson, National Galleries of Scotland Sir Adam Ferguson circa.1847.jpg, Oil Painting circa 1849 National Galleries of Scotland Sir Adam Ferguson by David Octavius Hill 1833-1847 National Galleries of Scotland.jpg, Calotype print circa 1847, National Galleries of Scotland The grave of Sir Adam Ferguson, Greyfriars Kirkyard.jpg, The grave of Sir Adam Ferguson, Greyfriars Kirkyard


See also

*
John Macpherson Ferguson John Macpherson Ferguson (1783–1855) was a Scot serving in the Royal Navy during the Napoleonic Wars. From 1823 mainly in command of HMS ''Mersey'', he rose to the rank of Rear Admiral. Life He was born at Argyle Square in Edinburgh on 15 ...
* The Glasgow Herald Obituary 29 Dec 1854 page 4.


Note

The information citing the regiments that he served with is taken from primary sources shown. This differs from the 19th century secondary source biographers and writers who no doubt looked at the mid 19th century Army list which only list the 101st regiment; this was the final regiment he was appointed to on half pay. The 101st regiment did not serve in the Peninsular: they were posted to Jamaica, but also spent a short time in
Jersey Jersey ( ; ), officially the Bailiwick of Jersey, is an autonomous and self-governing island territory of the British Islands. Although as a British Crown Dependency it is not a sovereign state, it has its own distinguishing civil and gov ...
at the same time as Ferguson was working as secretary to the lieutenant governor General Sir George Don in St Helier. Ferguson describes the parties and dark eyed lassies of the island to Scott in his letters.David Douglas Familiar letters of Sir Walter Scott P.62 Current photographs of Ferguson's homes close to
Abbotsford House Abbotsford is a historic country house in the Scottish Borders, near Galashiels, on the south bank of the River Tweed. Now open to the public, it was built as the residence of historical novelist and poet Sir Walter Scott between 1817 and 1825 ...
where Scott lived: File:Huntlyburn_House.jpg, Huntlyburn House File:Gattonside_House,_Melrose,_Scotland.jpg, Gattonside House


References

;Attribution by
Thomas Finlayson Henderson __NOTOC__ Thomas Finlayson Henderson (25 May 1844 – 25 December 1923), often credited as T. F. Henderson, was a Scottish historian, author and editor. Henderson was a prolific author and contributed entries on Scottish figures for the ''Dictio ...
. That article cited "Lockhart's Life of Scott" and "Gent. Mag. new ser. (1855) xliii. 195."
The Gentleman's Magazine ''The Gentleman's Magazine'' was a monthly magazine founded in London, England, by Edward Cave in January 1731. It ran uninterrupted for almost 200 years, until 1907, ceasing publication altogether in 1922. It was the first to use the term ''m ...
.


External links


National Galleries ScotlandSir Walter Scott's Friends by Florence MacCunn 1910 p.327

Findagrave.com memorialReconsidering the Highland roots of Adam Ferguson (senior) by Denise Testa 2007.
{{DEFAULTSORT:Ferguson, Adam 1771 births 1854 deaths 18th-century Scottish people 19th-century Scottish military personnel Alumni of the University of Edinburgh Scottish soldiers British Army personnel of the Napoleonic Wars British prisoners of war in the Napoleonic Wars Prisoners of war held by France People educated at the Royal High School, Edinburgh Burials at Greyfriars Kirkyard