George Seton, 3rd Earl of Winton

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

George Seton, 3rd Earl of Winton, and 10th Lord Seton (December 1584 - December 15, 1650), was a notable Royalist and Cavalier, the second son of Robert Seton, 1st Earl of Winton and 6th Lord Seton, by his spouse Margaret, daughter of Hugh Montgomerie, 3rd Earl of Eglinton.  

His elder brother Robert Seton, 2nd Earl of Winton, had no issue, and resigned the Earldom on June 26, 1606, to his brother George, who continued the developments that his brother and father had begun at Seton, Haddingtonshire, and at Port Seton, as well as throughout the many estates under his control in both that county and Linlithgowshire.

In 1620 he built the mansion house of Winton, the earlier tower househaving been burned in an earlier English invasion, and restored the park, orchard, and gardens around it. It is supposed by some to have been designed and built by Wallace, who was appointed King’s Master-Mason for Scotland in 1617; but others ascribe it to the celebrated Inigo Jones.

This "peculiar and beautiful structure", as Burton calls it, is a few miles from Seton, and situated on a steep embankment sloping down to the valley of the Tyne. Hunnewell (Land of Scot) says that "this Jacobean mansion was that of Ravenwood in The Bride of Lammermoor. There is, of course, a ghost-room in the upper part of the house; but I saw nothing uncanny about it, twice that I was there." In 1630, Lord Winton had completed half of the house, beginning at "Wallace’s tower", which had been burned, and continued as far as Jacob’s tower. Another room, called the King’s Chamber, was occupied by Charles I when he came to Scotland to be crowned in 1633.

Thinking that better times were now at hand, he caused to be carved on a fine stone tablet upon the frontispiece of his new building with a crown supported by a thistle between two roses, signifying the union of Scotland and England. Under it he caused to be inscribed in deep letters of gold this Latin verse:

Unio Nune Stoque Cadoque Tuis.

Mylne makes a note upon this, saying : Ye Union was ye cause of the families ruin.

In 1639, at the commencement of the Scottish rebellion against the Crown, Lord Winton left the country and waited upon King Charles I to offer his loyal services, for which the rebels did him great injury; and thereafter all through the Civil Wars he was constantly harassed .

"Cromwell and his army of cavalry domineered in all parts where they came, and in especial about Edinburgh, and in East Lothian. The good Earl of Winton, to whose well-furnished table all the noblemen and gentlemen had ever been welcome, was pitifully abused by them; his fair house of Seaton made a common inn; himself threatened to be killed, if they had not whatsoever they called for; his rich furniture and stuff plundered, and all the enormities that could be offered by Jews or Turks to Christians, he suffered daily; and when he complained to those of our nobility who now rule all, he got no redress, but [was] ordered with patience to give them whatsoever they called for."

In 1645, when James Graham, 1st Marquess of Montrose was in command of the Royal forces, the Earl's eldest son, George, Lord Seton, joined him, and was taken prisoner at the disastrous battle of Philiphaugh and remained long "in hazard of his life". George, Lord Seton died before his father, in 1648.

Like his father, he suffered a long series of petty persecutions from the Presbytery of Haddington because of his allegiance to the Roman Catholic faith. For instance, on November 4, 1648, the Presbytery ordained "a purge the House of Setoun of 'Popish servants', and to proceed both against them and against the Earl of Wintoun if he protect or resset them after admonition."

When King Charles II came to Scotland in 1650, the Earl of Winton was in continuous attendance on him, and died on the 17th of December of that year, while preparing to be present at the Coronation.

Lord Winton was twice married. By his first wife, Lady Ann, eldest daughter of Francis Hay, 9th Earl of Erroll by his spouse Elizabeth, daughter of William Douglas, Earl of Morton, he had five sons and three daughters, of whom:

By his second wife, Elizabeth, only daughter of John Maxwell, 7th Lord Herries of Terrigles, Lord Winton had six sons and six daughters, of whom:

  • Christopher
  • William

Christopher was regarded as a great scholar. These two brothers and a preceptor, while going "on their travels abroad, were cast away at sea upon the coasts of Holland in 1648"; and

  • John
  • Robert
  • Ann, married at Winton in April 1654, to John Stuart, 2nd Earl of Traquair, by whom she had three sons and one daughter, Elizabeth, who died "a brave hopeful young lady", at twenty years of age. It is said that when Lord Traquair married Lady Anne Seton, the Covenanters made him stand at the kirk door of Dalkeith in a sack, for marrying a papist.
  • Mary, married James Dalzell, 4th Earl Carnwath, by whom she had a daughter, also named Mary, who married Lord John Hay, second son of the Marquess of Tweeddale, a brigadier-general under the Duke of Marlborough.

[edit] References

  • The Peerage of Scotland published by Peter Brown, Edinburgh, 1834, p.94-5.
  • Burke's Peerage, Baronetage and Knightage, edited by Peter Townend, 105th edition, London, 1970, p.914.
Retrieved from "http://en.wikipedia.org../../../g/e/o/George_Seton%2C_3rd_Earl_of_Winton_1d1a.html"