Elizabeth Bethune

Elizabeth Bethune, or Beaton, was one of the mistresses of King James V of Scotland. Their daughter Jean married Archibald Campbell, 5th Earl of Argyll.

Elizabeth was the daughter of Sir John Beaton of Creich, a nephew of James Beaton, Archbishop of St Andrews. With James V she had a daughter, Lady Jean Stewart. As an infant, Lady Jean was brought up in the household of Mary of Guise and then briefly in the nursery of her legitimate half-brother Prince James.[1]

Subsequently, Elizabeth was married to John Stewart, 4th Lord Innermeath, by whom she had two sons, John Stewart (d.1607), and James Stewart, 5th Lord Innermeath. Elizabeth and John were granted lands in the parish of Inverkeilor in May 1544.[2] She married, secondly, James Gray, son of Patrick Gray, 4th Lord Gray.

References

  1. Thomas, Andrea, 'Women at the Court of James V' in Ewan & Meikle ed., Women in Scotland, c.1100-c.1750, Tuckwell (1999), 87
  2. Register of the Great Seal, 1513-1546, HM General Register House (1883), p.706 no.3012.