Alexander Munro of Bearcrofts

Sir Alexander Munro of Bearcrofts (died 4 January 1704) was a Scottish soldier and politician of the 17th century.

Lineage

The Munro of Milntown family descends from John Munro, 1st of Milntown, the second son of Hugh Munro, 9th Baron of Foulis (d. 1425). Three generations after John Munro, 1st of Milntown, is George Munro, 4th of Milntown, who became one of the most prominent ministers in the Reformed Church in the north of Scotland. His third son, also called George, 1st of Pitlunde, followed in his footsteps. This George's second eldest son was Alexander Munro, 1st of Bearcrofts.

Career

Alexander took up the army as his profession and served for some time as a Major in an infantry regiment in Ireland. He was knighted for his distinguished services in the army and was appointed Commissioner of Stirling.

In 1657 he bought a small Stirlingshire property called Bearcrofts, which lies on the flat southern shore of the Firth of Forth near Grangemouth. In 1660 he was appointed Commissary of Stirlingshire, that is to say, judge of the local court, representing the old ecclesiastical court, with jurisdiction in questions of marriage, divorce, affiliation and testaments. Two years later he passed advocate of the Scottish bar, and in 1669 he was nominated one of the six clerks in the Court of Session, the supreme court in Scotland. In June 1676, when the staff of clerks was reduced to three, he lost his place and, attributing this result to the machinations of the Duke of Lauderdale, he joined the malcontent Presbyterian party. According to the Clan Munro Association historian, R.W Munro, the report of the official inquest in the Massacre of Glencoe, which most subsequent accounts of it have been based on, may have been written by Alexander Munro of Bearcrofts who the commissioners, appointed by William III of England, chose as their clerk.

He died on 4 January 1704, leaving three daughters and two sons.

Family

Alexander's wife was Lillias, daughter of John Eastoun of Couston in Linlithgowshire. Their sons were:

George Munro, 1st of Auchinbowie, a successful Scottish soldier. John Munro, 2nd of Bearcrofts, a surgeon and professor at the University of Edinburgh.

(They also had three daughters).