Philip Anstruther (died 1760)

Lieutenant-General Philip Anstruther ("c." 1680 – 11 November 1760) was a Scottish soldier and politician, the son of Sir Philip Anstruther of Airdrie and Katherine Skene.

He served as Member of Parliament for Anstruther Burghs from 1715 to 1741. He was the only Scottish MP to support government reprisals against Edinburgh over the Porteous Riots, a circumstance which made him an object of detestation among his countrymen.

Anstruther was the lieutenant-governor of Minorca 1742 until 1743, and held a military command there until 1747, when he resigned it to return to Parliament for Anstruther Burghs from 1747 to 1754.

In 1742, during his tenure in Minorca, Anstruther court-martialled his subordinate, Henry Erskine, for a supposed conspiracy against him. Erskine (who succeeded him as MP for Anstruther Burgs in 1754) was thereafter his bitter political enemy.

Anstruther died unmarried, and left his estate at Airdrie to his cousin, Sir John Anstruther, 2nd Baronet.

References

* [http://www.angeltowns.com/town/peerage/acommons2.htm Historical list of MPs: A]
*cite web | url=http://www.thepeerage.com/p12328.htm#i123276 | title=thePeerage.com | accessdate=2007-08-18
*cite book | title=The East Neuk of Fife: Its History and Antiquities | first=Walter | last=Wood | publisher=D. Douglas | year=1887 | pages=403 | url=http://books.google.com/books?id=BvEvAAAAMAAJ | accessdate=2007-08-18