Francis Stuart, 9th Earl of Moray

Francis Stuart, 9th Earl of Moray (11 January 1737 – 28 August 1810) was a Scottish nobleman.

Early life Stuart was born on 11 January 1737. He was the eldest son of James Stuart, 8th Earl of Moray and, his first wife, Grace ( Lockhart) Gordon, Countess of Aboyne (1706–1738). From his mother's first marriage to the 3rd Earl of Aboyne, he had three elder half-brothers, Charles Gordon, 4th Earl of Aboyne, Lt.-Col. Hon. John Gordon of Glentanner, and Lt.-Col. Hon. Lockhart Gordon. From his parents marriage, he had one sister, Lady Euphemia Stuart. After his mother's death in 1738, his father remarried to Lady Margaret Wemyss, eldest daughter of the 4th Earl of Wemyss. From his father's second marriage, he had two younger half-brothers, Lt.-Col. James Stuart, and Lt. David Stuart.

His paternal grandparents were Francis Stuart, 7th Earl of Moray and Jean Elphinstone (a daughter of John Elphinstone, 4th Lord Balmerino). His maternal grandparents were Sir George Lockhart of Carnwath and Lady Euphemia Montgomerie (a daughter of the 9th Earl of Eglington).

Career

In 1755, his father purchased his grandmother's family estate, Balmerino House in Leith, from the Crown who had confiscated the house due to Lord Balmerino's active support of the Jacobite Rebellion. Shortly before Francis acceded to his titles in 1767, his father sold it to Lady Baird of Newbyth, in 1762.

Upon his father's death on 5 July 1767, he succeeded as the 8th Lord St Colme, the 9th Lord Doune, the 9th Lord Abernethy and Strathearn, and the 9th Earl of Moray, all in the Peerage of Scotland.

Personal life On 28 June 1763, Stuart married Hon. Jean Gray (1743–1786), daughter of John Gray, 11th Lord Gray and Margaret Blair (a daughter of Alexander Blair Carnegie, 11th Lord Kinfauns). Together, they were the parents of: Francis Stuart, 10th Earl of Moray (1771–1848), who married Lucy Scott, daughter of Maj.-Gen. John Scott and Hon. Margaret Dundas (a daughter of Robert Dundas Jr.), in 1795. After her death in 1798, he married Margaret Jane Ainslie, daughter of Col. Sir Philip Ainslie of Pilton and Hon. Elizabeth Gray (a daughter of the 11th Lord Gray), in 1801.