James Graham, 1st Duke of Montrose

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His Grace The Duke of Montrose
James Graham, 1st Duke of Montrose.
Lord Keeper of the Great Seal of Scotland
In office 1716–1733
Monarch	George I George II
Preceded by	The Marquess of Annandale
Succeeded by	The Earl of Ilay
Lord Clerk Register
In office 1716–1716
Monarch	George I
Secretary of State for Scotland
In office 24 September 1714 – August 1715 (resigned)
Monarch	George I
Keeper of the Privy Seal of Scotland
In office 1709–1713
Monarch	Queen Anne
Lord President of the Council of Scotland
In office 1706–1707
Monarch	Queen Anne
Lord High Admiral of Scotland
In office 1705–1706
Monarch	Queen Anne
Lord President of the Council of Scotland
In office 1704–1705
Monarch	Queen Anne
Personal details
Born	April 1682 Scotland
Died	7 January 1742 (aged 59) London, England, Great Britain
Spouse(s)	Christian Carnegie
Children	5, including William and George

James Graham, 1st Duke and 4th Marquess of Montrose (April 1682 – 7 January 1742) was a Scottish aristocratic statesman in the early eighteenth century.

Life[]

Mausoleum of James Graham, Duke of Montrose, Aberuthven

He was the only son of James Graham, 3rd Marquess of Montrose and Lady Christian Leslie. On 31 March 1702 he married , daughter of David Carnegie, 3rd Earl of Northesk. Together they had several sons, including William Graham and Lord George Graham.^[1]

Originally the fourth Marquess of Montrose, James was elevated to a dukedom in 1707, as a reward for his important support of the Act of Union, whilst being Lord President of the Scottish Privy Council. He was Lord High Admiral of Scotland from 1705 to 1706. He was Keeper of the Privy Seal of Scotland from 1709 to 1713 and served as Keeper of the Great Seal of Scotland from 1716 to 1733. He was also a Lord of the Regency for Great Britain in 1714, upon the death of Queen Anne. Furthermore, he served rather shortly as Secretary of State for Scotland at the time of the Georgian ministry of Lord Townshend. In 1719 he was one of the main subscribers to the Royal Academy of Music (1719), a corporation that produced baroque opera on the stage. He served as a Governor of London's Foundling Hospital at the time of its foundation in 1739. For much of his adult life he was Chancellor of the University of Glasgow.

Apart from his political career, he was a primary creditor of Robert Roy MacGregor, who blamed the Duke for his financial ruin; MacGregor then carried out a feud with Graham for some years. Montrose was responsible for corruption charges, earning himself unpopularity through the famous Jacobite.

On his death Graham was buried at Aberuthven.^[2] The grave is within a substantial Palladian style mausoleum, which dominates the small churchyard.

In popular culture[]

In Harold French's Rob Roy, the Highland Rogue, Graham is played by Michael Gough.

In Michael Caton-Jones's Rob Roy, Graham is played by John Hurt. In this depiction he is referred to as 'Marquess of Montrose' despite his title being raised to a Dukedom in 1707.

Ancestry[]

References[]

Leigh Rayment's Peerage Pages ^{[self-published source][better source needed]}

• Stephen, Leslie; Lee, Sidney, eds. (1890). "Graham, James (d.1742)" . Dictionary of National Biography. 22. London: Smith, Elder & Co.