James Spottiswood

James Spottiswood (7 September 1567 – March, 1645) was a Scottish courtier and Protestant bishop of Clogher.

Life Born at Calder in Scotland on 7 September 1567, he was the second son of John Spottiswood (1510–1585), the Presbyterian superintendent for the Lothians and the overstretched minister of Calder. His mother was Beatrix, daughter of Patrick Crichton, of Lugton and Gilmerton. His younger brother John Spottiswood, the historian, became the archbishop of St. Andrews and crowned Charles I. James was educated at home under a tutor, William Strange, and then spent time at Edinburgh grammar school and Linlithgow. In 1579, when just 12 years old, he entered Glasgow University, graduating M.A. in 1583. He spent the next two years in attendance on his father at Calder.

In 1588 Spottiswood entered the service of James VI of Scotland. In October 1589 he accompanied James as his gentleman-usher on his sea voyage to meet his bride Anne of Denmark, and on 27 December 1591 he raised the alarm which saved James from seizure by Francis Stewart, 5th Earl of Bothwell. In 1598 he was sent abroad as secretary to the ambassadors to the king of Denmark and the German princes, and on James's accession to the English throne in 1603 Spottiswood was left behind in Scotland in attendance on Queen Anne. He landed at Dublin in April 1621, but his patent was not dated until 22 October, and he was involved in a dispute with James Ussher. He retained royal favour, turning down the archbishopric of Cashel in 1629.