Thomas Erskine, 3rd Baron Erskine

Thomas Americus Erskine, 3rd Baron Erskine (3 May 1802 – 10 May 1877) was a British diplomat and peer.

Early life edit

 
Portrait of his mother, Lady Erskine, by Gilbert Stuart

Erskine was born on 3 May 1802.[1] He was the eldest son of MP and diplomat David Erskine, 2nd Baron Erskine and, his first wife, Frances Cadwalader (1781–1843).[2] Among his siblings were John Cadwalader Erskine (also a diplomat); Steuarta Erskine (who married Timothy Yeats Brown); Elizabeth Erskine (who married Sir St Vincent Hawkins-Whitshed, 2nd Baronet); David Montagu Erskine (a Lt.-Col. in the British Army); Edward Morris Erskine (also a diplomat); James Stuart Erskine (who was created Freiherr von Erskine by Ludwig II of Bavaria);[3] Sevilla Erskine (who married Sir Henry Howard); Jane Plumer Erskine (who married James Callander of Craigforth and Ardkinglas); and Mary Erskine (who married Graf Hermann von Paumgarten).[4]

His paternal grandparents were Thomas Erskine, 1st Baron Erskine (himself a fourth son of Henry Erskine, 10th Earl of Buchan) and the former Frances Moore (a daughter of Daniel Moore).[5] His maternal grandparents were John Cadwalader, an American general during the Revolutionary War, and his second wife, Williamina Bond (a daughter of Dr. Phineas Bond, of Philadelphia and niece of Dr. Thomas Bond).[6]

Career edit

He was educated at Harrow and at the University of Edinburgh.[1] Erskine served as attaché to the British legation at Turin, Naples and Lisbon from 1824 to 1827.[4]

Upon the death of his father on 19 March 1855, he succeeded to the title, 3rd Baron Erskine, of Restormel Castle in the County of Cornwall, which had been created for his grandfather on 10 February 1806.[4]

Personal life edit

On 12 May 1830, he married Louisa (née Newnham) Legh (c. 1791–1867).[4] Louisa, the widow of Thomas Legh, of Adlington, was a daughter of George Lewis Newnham of Newtimber Place,[7] and Mary Diana Aston (only daughter of Sir William Aston, of Lincoln's Inn Fields).[8]

Lady Erskine died at Hillside, Alderley Edge, Cheshire on 10 March 1867.[1] Lord Erskine died on 10 May 1877. As he was without issue, he was succeeded in the barony by his brother, John.

References edit

  1. ^ a b c "Death of Lord Erskine". The Yorkshire Herald and the York Herald. 15 May 1877. p. 3. Retrieved 14 June 2023.
  2. ^ Wilson, J. G.; Fiske, J., eds. (1900). "Erskine, David Montagu" . Appletons' Cyclopædia of American Biography. New York: D. Appleton.
  3. ^ Vierteljahrsschrift für Heraldik, Sphragistik und Genealogie (in German). Heymanns. 1876. p. 185. Retrieved 15 June 2023.
  4. ^ a b c d Mosley, Charles, editor. Burke's Peerage, Baronetage & Knightage, 107th edition, 3 volumes. Wilmington, Delaware, U.S.A.: Burke's Peerage (Genealogical Books) Ltd, 2003, volume 1, page 567.
  5. ^ "ERSKINE, Hon. David Montagu (1776-1855), of Butler's Green, Suss". History of Parliament.
  6. ^ Browning, Charles Henry (1891). Americans of Royal Descent: A Collection of Genealogies of American Families Whose Lineage is Traced to the Legitimate Issue of Kings. Porter & Costes. pp. 138, 419. Retrieved 14 June 2023.
  7. ^ "NEWNHAM, George Lewis (c.1733-1800), of Newtimber Place, Suss". www.historyofparliamentonline.org. History of Parliament Online. Retrieved 14 June 2023.
  8. ^ G.E. Cokayne; with Vicary Gibbs, H.A. Doubleday, Geoffrey H. White, Duncan Warrand and Lord Howard de Walden, editors, The Complete Peerage of England, Scotland, Ireland, Great Britain and the United Kingdom, Extant, Extinct or Dormant, new ed., 13 volumes in 14 (1910-1959; reprint in 6 volumes, Gloucester, U.K.: Alan Sutton Publishing, 2000), volume V, page 109.
Peerage of the United Kingdom
Preceded by Baron Erskine
1855–1877
Succeeded by