John Leslie, 1st Duke of Rothes

John Leslie (27 July 1681), son of John Leslie, 6th Earl of Rothes, was the 7th Earl of Rothes and 1st Duke of Rothes. According to tradition, he was a descendant of Princess Beatrix, sister of King Malcolm III of Scotland. His family had intermarried with both the Stuarts and the Bruces.

Early life Leslie was born in 1630. His mother died when he was ten, and on his father's death in the following year, he succeeded to the peerage. He was placed under the care of John Lindsay, 17th Earl of Crawford, to whose daughter he was betrothed. On account of the wars, his education was much neglected. "He had," wrote Burnet, "no advantage of education, no sort of literature; nor had he travelled abroad; all in him was mere nature".

Career He was captured at the Battle of Worcester in 1651, his estates were sequestrated by the parliament,and on 18 September he was committed to the Tower of London. On 18 July 1652, his liberty was extended to ten miles from the city of London. On 14 December 1652, he was permitted, on heavy security, to go to Scotland on business for three months; similar permission was granted in 1653 and 1654, and in 1654–1655 he was permitted to stay six months at Newcastle.

On 8 January 1656/57 he obtained leave to visit Scotland again, possibly owing to the influence of Elizabeth Murray, countess of Dysart. However, in January 1658 he was committed to the castle of Edinburgh by Cromwell. This was done in order to prevent a duel between Leslie and Viscount Morpeth, who was jealous of the attentions which Rothes paid his wife; he was released the following December.

Leslie was one of the first noblemen to wait on Charles II on his arrival from Breda in 1660, and on 20 December was appointed colonel of one of the Fife regiments of horse. King Charles II made him the Lord High Treasurer of Scotland, Lord Keeper of the Great Seal of Scotland, Lord Chancellor of Scotland for life in 1667, and President of the Privy Council of Scotland. He carried the sword of state at the coronation of Charles II.

In 1663, when he succeeded his father-in-law as Lord High Treasurer, he was sworn a privy councillor of England, and was appointed Captain of the troop of lifeguards and general of the forces in Scotland. He also received a re-grant in 1663 of the earldom of Rothes, together with the title of Lord Leslie and Ballinbreich.

He was considered over-zealous in his persecution of Covenanters and insufficiently attentive to the defence of Leith against attack by the Dutch. On 16 April 1667 he was deprived of all his offices, but in October was made lord chancellor for life. Through the intervention of the Duke of York, he was on 29 May 1680 created Duke of Rothes, Marquis of Balleobreich, Earl of Leslie, Viscount of Lugton, Lord Auchmutie and Caskiebery.

Personal life

On 2 February 1647, he married Anne Crawford-Lindsay, daughter of John Lindsay, 17th Earl of Crawford. He built the Palace of Leslie (also known as Leslie House), which nearly burnt completely in a fire on Christmas Day 1763. Together, they had two daughters:

Lady Margaret Leslie (d. 1700), who married her cousin Charles Hamilton, 5th Earl of Haddington, son of John Hamilton, 4th Earl of Haddington and Lady Christian Lindsay, in 1674. He was awarded a state funeral. The funeral procession was more elaborate and impressive than either Wellington's or Churchill's. It stretched over long. The cost of whole regiments of ceremonial guards, soldiers, banners, trumpets, heralds and coaches effectively ruined the family finances forever, and he left behind a huge debt to his daughter, Margaret Leslie. As he had no male issue, the Dukedom of Rothes became extinct, the Earldom only being passed to his daughter.