David Graeme (British Army officer)

David Graeme (2 February 1716 – 19 January 1797) was a British soldier, diplomat and courtier, responsible for carrying George III’s proposal of marriage to Charlotte of Mecklenburg-Strelitz.^[1]

Origins and estate

Graeme was the son of James Graeme of Braco and Catherine Stirling, the daughter of Sir William Stirling of Ardoch. His parents were both Jacobite sympathisers, but he himself played no part in the 1745 uprising.

He inherited Braco Castle on the death of his father in 1736 and subsequently inherited also the barony of Gorthie, in Perthshire, on the death of his cousin, Mungo Graeme. The expenses inherent in his way of life necessitated the sale of Gorthie after his death.

Military career

Having entered the army, he rose to the rank of Major-General. In 1760/1, he raised the 105th Regiment of Foot (Queen's Own Royal Regiment of Highlanders) (disbanded in 1763).^[2] He was made Colonel of the 49th Regiment of Foot (1764–68) and Colonel of the 19th (The 1st Yorkshire North Riding) Regiment of Foot from 1768 to his death.

Diplomat and courtier

Contrary to the report of Horace Walpole, Graeme was not sent by Lord Bute on a tour of German courts in order to report on the rival attractions of a number of Protestant princesses. However, in 1761 he was sent to Mecklenburg-Strelitz to carry George III’s proposal of marriage to Princess Charlotte Sophia. Thereafter he was Secretary to the Queen between 1761 and 1764 and Comptroller of the Queen’s Household between 1765 and 1774. Between 1764 and 1773, he was also Member of Parliament (MP) for Perthshire.^[3]

Family and descendants

General Graeme married Miss Hepburn (daughter of James Conglaton Hepburn of Keith, in Haddingtonshire, and Catherine Riccard of Rickarton). They had an only child Catherine; she married on 13 June 1768 the son and heir of Viscount Hampden.^[4]

References