William Graham, 3rd Earl of Menteith

William Graham, 3rd Earl of Menteith (circa 1500 – circa 1543) was a Scottish magnate and third Earl of Menteith.[1]

Biography

He was the son of Alexander Graham, 2nd Earl of Menteith (c. 1475 – c. 1537), and Margaret Buchanan. He was the great-grandson of Malise Graham, 1st Earl of Menteith (1406–1490). In 1521 he married Margaret Moubray, daughter of John Moubray of Barnbougle (she had previously been married to John Cornwall before his death in 1513), and they had five sons and two daughters, including:[1]

On 20 May 1527, when he was titled Master of Menteith, he ran away from the King's army at Solway, but was pardoned despite it being considered an act of treason.[3] He became the third Earl, receiving sasine of the Earldom on 16 May 1537.[1] After the death of King James V in 1542, William was an opponent of the English interest in Scotland and on 24 July 1543 he signed a bond made by Cardinal Beaton to stop King Henry VIII of England from getting possession of the infant Mary, Queen of Scots.[4]

William Graham was killed in a clan fight some time in autumn 1543, but certainly by 23 January 1544; some sources state that he was killed in October 1543 by the Tutor of Appin (a member of the Stewart family), after the Stewarts and their army ate a wedding feast to which the Earl had been invited.[5] Some accounts also tell of the Murrays of Athole being the raiders of the feast. According to most stories, a band of Stewarts were passing through Menteith and happened upon a wedding feast.[6] They ate up all the food, drank all the wine, and left within a short while. The Earl pursued them and was slain or mortally wounded by the robbers.

References

  1. ↑ 1.0 1.1 1.2 Andrew Fleming Hutchison (1899). The lake of Menteith. William Graham, 3rd Earl of Menteith. While still Master of Menteith and Lord Kilpont, he had married, in 1521, Margaret, daughter of John Moubray of Barnbougle. His family by this lady consisted of five sons and two daughters. One of these daughters, Margaret Graham, became the second wife of Archibald, fourth Earl of Argyle. The marriage was solemnized at the Church of Inchmahome on the 21st of April, 1541—the celebrant being John Youngman, Canon of the Monastery.1 The other, Christian by name, was married to Sir William Livingstone of Kilsyth.2 Of the sons, John, the eldest, succeeded his father in the earldom. The others held various lands within the earldom, which need not here be enumerated. But it may be mentioned that it was through one of these sons, Eobert, that Gartmore came into possession of the family.1 This property belonged to one Alexander Makauly of Erngobil, who, on the 23rd of May, 1547, granted Eobert Graham a charter of the two merk land of Gartmore—charter granted at Inchmahome, and witnessed by James Bad, Canon of the Monastery; and on the 3rd May, 1554, a charter of sale of the twelve merk land of Gartmore was granted by Walter Macaulay to the same Eobert Graham.
  2. ↑ Alastair Campbell of Airds (2002). A History of Clan Campbell: Volume II from Flodden to the Restoration. Edinburgh University Press. p. 16. ISBN 1-902930-18-5. His second marriage, which took place in 1541, was to Margaret Graham, daughter of William, 3rd Earl of Menteith, by whom he had another son, Colin, ...
  3. ↑ Complete Peerage vol VIII p 670, citing Registrum Secreti Sigilli Regum Scotorum vol i no 3775.
  4. ↑ Complete Peerage vol VIII p 671, citing Calendar of Hamilton Papers vol i p 631.
  5. ↑ Complete Peerage vol VIII p 671, citing Red Book of Menteith vol i p 310.
  6. ↑ Douglas, David (1909). The Scotts Peerage (Founded on Wood's Edition. T.A. and Constable. p. 156.
Preceded by
Alexander Graham		 Earl of Menteith
c. 1537 – c. 1543 		Succeeded by
John Graham