John Leslie, 10th Earl of Rothes

Shield of Arms of Gen. John Leslie, 10th Earl of Rothes, KT, encircled with the collar of the Order of the Thistle General John Leslie, 10th Earl of Rothes, KT (169810 December 1767) was a senior British Army officer who became Commander-in-Chief of the Royal Irish Army between 1758 and 1767.

Military career Born the eldest son of John Hamilton-Leslie, 9th Earl of Rothes and Lady Jean Hay, daughter of John Hay, 2nd Marquess of Tweeddale, Leslie was commissioned into the 9th Regiment of Dragoons in 1715. In 1717 he transferred to the 3rd Regiment of Foot Guards. He died at his home in 1767.

Family In 1741 he married Hannah Howard, daughter of Matthew Cole of Thorpe, Norfolk and his wife Brittania Cole; they went on to have two sons and two daughters, including John Leslie, 11th Earl of Rothes and Jane Elizabeth Leslie, 12th Countess of Rothes, who succeeded to her brother's title, defeating the rival claim of her uncle Andrew.

In 1763, following the death of his first wife, he married Mary Lloyd, daughter of Gresham Lloyd and Mary Holt, who after Lloyd's death remarried Thomas Hamilton, 7th Earl of Haddington, a close relative of Rothes.