John Erskine of Cardross

"Colonel" "John Erskine of Cardross" (1661 - 1743) was from a cadet branch of the Earls of Buchan. His father was David Erskine, 2nd Lord Cardross. "Lt Colonel Erskine" was father to John Erskine of Carnock, the great Scottish jurist and grandfather to John Erskine DD leader of the Evangelical Party in the 18th Century Scottish Church.His strongly Presbyterian sympathies had led him to choose the winning sides during the (so-called) Glorious Revolution of 1688 and the deliberations prior to the Act of Union of 1707. "Anne", an heiress linked to the powerful Dundas family, was the second of "Colonel Erskine's" four wives. She gave him a four sons and a daughter. "Colonel Erskine" had fled from Scotland to join the army of William of Orange, where he was given command of a Regiment of Foot. He landed in England with William's invading army in 1698, the beginning of the so-called Glorious Revolution. In return for his service, he was given further commands in William's army, made governor of Stirling and Dumbarton castles. In 1695, he was appointed a director of the African and Indian Company of Scotland, and, in the following year, was sent to Holland and other parts of the continent, to manage the affairs of the company. He sat for Stirling in the last sovereign Scottish Parliament, where he later argued in favour of Union with England. He subsequently sat in the Parliament of Great Britain, also for Stirling. He died in January 1743.