John Lindsay of Balcarres, Lord Menmuir

John Lindsay of Balcarres (1552–1598) was Secretary of State, Scotland. On 5 July 1581 he was appointed a Lord of Session under the title Lord Menmuir.

Life He was the second son of David Lindsay, 9th Earl of Crawford and Catherine Campbell, daughter of Sir John Campbell of Lorn. Along with his brother, Lord Edzell, he was sent under the care of James Lawson to complete his education on the continent and in Paris. The French Wars of Religion meant they had to return rapidly from Paris to Dieppe, then moving to the University of Cambridge; however, as there is no record of him in Venn's Alumni Cantabrigienses John may have returned to Paris subsequently.

In July 1593, Menmuir was named one of a special council for the management of the Queen's revenues, In January 1596, he was chosen one of the eight Commissioners of the Exchequer, known as the Octavians. He was reputed the ablest financier of the eight. In March he was appointed Lord Keeper of the Privy Seal, and on 28 May Secretary of State, Scotland for life. In February 1596, Menmuir was an auditor of Foulis's account of the gold duty and the English subsidy received by James VI.

Menmuir was also one of the chief advisers of the King in his policy for establishing Episcopacy. In 1596 he drew up a scheme for the planting of kirks throughout Scotland with perpetual local stipends, with representation of each presbytery in Parliament by a commissioner. After an attempt to modify it by an Act of the Estates passed in August, but was badly received by the Presbyterian church, he gave up the plan as before its time. Shortly afterwards his lenient attitude towards the Catholic nobles brought him into collision with the kirk. He was with the King when besieged in the Tolbooth on 17 December 1596, and he was attacked as a 'plain mocker of religion'. Menmuir drew up the 55 points to be submitted to the General Assembly which met at Perth on 28 February 1597. He was the Chancellor of the University of St Andrews from 1597 to 1598. and in accordance with his Will he was buried in the parish kirk of Kilconquhar.

Family

By his first wife, Marion, daughter of Alexander Guthrie, town clerk of Edinburgh, and widow of David Borthwick of Lokhill, lord advocate, he had two sons—John, lord Menmuir, who died unmarried in January 1601, and David Lindsay, 1st Lord Balcarres—and three daughters: Catherine, married first to Sir John Lindsay of Woodhead, and secondly to John Brown of Fordel; Margaret, to Sir John Strachan of Thornton; and Janet, to Sir David Auchmutie of Auchmutie. By his second wife, Jane née Lauder, relict of both Sir James Forrester of Corstorphine and John Campbell of Calder, he had no issue.