- Lockharts of Lee
The Lockharts of Lee were a
Lanarkshire family that traced their descent from SirSimon Locard (the name being originally territorial, deLoch Ard ). The family estate was the barony of Lee, centred on Lee Castle, originally built around 1272 but much expanded in the 19th century.Sir Simon Locard is said to have accompanied Sir James Douglas on his expedition to the East with the heart of Robert the Bruce, which relic, according to Froissart, Locard brought home from Spain when Douglas fell in battle against the Moors at the
Battle of Teba , and buried inMelrose Abbey . This incident was the origin of the "man's heart within a fetterlock" borne on the Lockhart shield, which in turn perhaps led to the altered spelling of the surname.William Dunbar in his "Lament for the Makaris " mourns "Schir Mungo Lokert of the Le" among a roll call of mainly fifteenth century poets. This was possibly the "knycht" (d. 1489) identified by Priscilla Bawcutt [Tasioulas, J.A, "The Makars", Canongate, p.788.] . No works have been traced to him.Sir
James Lockhart of Lee (d. 1674), was a lord of theCourt of Session with the judicial title of Lord Lee, who commanded a regiment at thebattle of Preston (1648) . Lord Lee's eldest son, SirWilliam Lockhart of Lee (1621-1675), after fighting on the king's side in theEnglish Civil War , attached himself toOliver Cromwell , whose niece he married, and by whom he was appointed commissioner for the administration of justice in Scotland in 1652, and English ambassador at the French court in 1656, where he greatly distinguished himself by his successful diplomacy.Lord Lee's second son, Sir George Lockhart (c.1630-1689), was
Lord Advocate in Cromwell's time, and was celebrated for his persuasive eloquence; in 1674, when he was disbarred for alleged disrespect to the court of session in advising an appeal to parliament, fifty barristers showed their sympathy for him by withdrawing from practice. Lockhart was readmitted in 1676, and became the leading advocate in political trials, in which he usually appeared for the defence. He was appointed Lord President of the Court of Session in 1685, and was shot in the streets of Edinburgh on the 31st of March 1689 by John Chiesley, against whom the Lord President had adjudicated a cause relating to the inheritance of theKerswell estate by Carnwath. Sir George Lockhart purchased the extensive estates of the Earls of Carnwath in Lanarkshire, which were inherited by his eldest son, George Lockhart of Lee (1673-1731), whose mother was Philadelphia, daughter ofLord Wharton .The grandson of George Lockhart of Lee, James, who assumed his mother's name of Wishart (of Clifton Hall) in addition to that of Lockhart, was in the Austrian service during the
Seven Years' War , and was created a baron and count of theHoly Roman Empire . He succeeded to the estates of Lee as well as of Carnwath, both of which properties passed, on the death of his son Charles without issue in 1802, to his nephew Alexander Macdonald Lockhart, who was created abaronet in 1806. On the death of Sir Simon Macdonald Lockhart in 1919, the baronetcy became extinct. The family occupied Lee Castle, and owned extensive property in the area including the nearbyTower of Hallbar , until 2004 when it was sold to an American computer businessman.References
External links
* [http://www.clanlockhartsociety.com/lockharts.htm Clan Lockhart Society]
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