Laurence Oliphant

Laurence Oliphant (1691–1767) was a Scottish landowner and Jacobite army officer. He participated in two Jacobite uprisings, but later made his peace with the British government.

Biography Oliphant was the son of James Oliphant and Janet (née Murray). He belonged to a branch of Clan Oliphant settled at Findo Gask in Perthshire, Scotland. Oliphant was sent by his father to join the Earl of Mar in the Jacobite rising of 1715, and he was present among Jacobite forces at the Battle of Sheriffmuir. He was subsequently an adjutant to the garrison of Scone Palace during the brief stay of James Francis Edward Stuart, the Old Pretender, in January 1716.

Oliphant and his son were among the Jacobites who regrouped at Ruthven Barracks after the defeat at Culloden. After the remnant of the Jacobite army dispersed, they went into hiding in the Angus Glens for seven months before taking ship from Arbroath for Amsterdam on 5 November 1746, and from there to Sweden. From there they travelled to France where they lived mostly at Corbeil, near Versailles. He and his son were attainted under the Attainder of Earl of Kellie and Others Act 1745 (19 Geo. 2. c. 26), but in 1753 Oliphant's friends purchased the Gask estate from the government and presented it back to him.

Family and descendants In 1723 Oliphant married Amelia Murray (1698–1774), a daughter of William Murray, second Lord Nairne. Oliphant was succeeded as laird and in his Jacobite title by his eldest son, Laurence, who remained loyal to the House of Stuart until his death in 1792. His descendants include Carolina, Baroness Nairne and from his sister Lilias, who married Laurence Oliphant (5th) of Condie, are descended Laurence Oliphant the author, MP and diplomat and Thomas Oliphant, musician and author of "Deck the Halls with Boughs of Holly".