George Lockhart of Carnwath (1681-1731)

Jacobite politician and memoirist

George Lockhart of Carnwarth was the eldest son of Sir George Lockhart of Carnwarth, President of the Court of Session. He became one of the richest landowners in Midlothian and Tory Member of Parliament for that constituency in the parliamentary sessions of 1703-7. He was appointed a commissioner for the negotiations for Union with England but was an opponent and leader of the Scottish protesters. After 1714 he joined the Jacobites and planned an uprising in Midlothian and Lanarkshire to coincide with that of the earl of Mar in the north but this was foiled. He was later revealed as the Old Pretender's principal agent in Lowland Scotland and had to go into exile. He returned to Scotland in May 1728 and was killed in a duel in 1731. Two volumes of his memoirs and letters were published in 1817. His 'Papers on the Affairs of Scotland and Letters 1698-1732' remains an important primary source for the history of the Jacobite movement.

Marriage in 1697

George Lockhart of Carnwath married Lady Eupham Montgomery on 18 April 1697. The entry in the Old Parish Register (OPR) for Kilwinning (her parish) gives no further details.

Marriage entry for George Lockhart in the OPR for Kilwinning (46 KB jpeg)
National Records of Scotland, OPR 599/1

A second entry in the Old Parish Register for Covington and Thankerton gives her name as Euphem.

Marriage entry for George Lockhart in the OPR for Covington and Thankerton (24 KB jpeg)
National Records of Scotland, OPR 634/3

Death in 1731

George Lockhart of Carnwath died on 17 December 1731. There are three entries in the Old Parish Registers but none of them include the cause of death. The first in the OPR for Edinburgh gives his age as 52 years and confirms that his body was moved to Carnwath for burial.

Burial entry for George Lockhart of Carnwath in the OPR for Edinburgh (15 KB jpeg)
National Records of Scotland, 685-1/89, page 924

The second in the next volume of the Edinburgh OPR provides the date of death as 17 December 1731 and the date of burial at Carnwath as 22 December. It also records his age as 52 years.

Death and burial entry for George Lockhart in the OPR for Edinburgh (16 KB jpeg)
National Records of Scotland, 685-1/90, page 72

A third entry in the Old Parish Register for the parish of Carnwath is for payment of the mortcloth.

Burial entry for George Lockhart in the OPR for Carnwath (12 KB jpeg)
National Records of Scotland, OPR 632/2

Testament of George Lockhart

National Records of Scotland, CC8/8/94 pp 235-245

George Lockhart's will is mainly concerned with the furnishings at Dryden and provides excellent detail as to the contents of the house of a wealthy noble. There is also mention of some books and paintings: 'Item four pictures Sixty pound Item Two hundred Little prints and some Common Mappis Sixty pound' and 'Item the Said Defunct his books Conform to Catalogue thereof Valued at ij C Lib [200 pounds] Sterling'. The house was demolished in the 1950s. The debts due to him were mainly transactions with the Cockburns (father and son) of Langton in Berwickshire who were fellow Jacobites. The marginal Eik of 19 June 1740 deals mainly with money borrowed from his father by the Maitland family of Lauderdale in the mid 1680s, after the duke of Lauderdale's fall from power.

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