James St Clair

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Scottish soldier and politician (1688–1762)

title: "James St Clair" type: doc version: 1 created: 2026-02-28 author: "Wikipedia contributors" status: active scope: public tags: ["1688-births", "1762-deaths", "nobility-from-fife", "british-army-generals", "british-army-personnel-of-the-seven-years'-war", "british-mps-1722–1727", "british-mps-1727–1734", "british-mps-1734–1741", "british-mps-1741–1747", "british-mps-1747–1754", "british-mps-1754–1761", "british-mps-1761–1768", "cheshire-regiment-officers", "members-of-the-parliament-of-great-britain-for-scottish-constituencies", "royal-scots-officers", "whig-(british-political-party)-mps", "politics-of-fife", "politics-of-highland-(council-area)", "18th-century-scottish-military-personnel"] description: "Scottish soldier and politician (1688–1762)" topic_path: "politics" source: "https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/James_St_Clair" license: "CC BY-SA 4.0" wikipedia_page_id: 0 wikipedia_revision_id: 0

::summary Scottish soldier and politician (1688–1762) ::

General ''James St Clair''' (1688 – 30 November 1762) was a Scottish soldier and Whig politician.

Background

St Clair was the second son of Henry St Clair, 10th Lord Sinclair and his wife Grizel Cockburn, daughter of Sir James Cockburn, 1st Baronet. As a child he received a commission into the 1st Battalion, Royal Regiment of Foot.

Military career

St Clair became an ensign of 6th Regiment of Foot in 1694, however was set on halfpay in 1713.

He rose to brigadier general in 1739 and then after another two years rose to major general. St Clair became lieutenant-general in charge of the British forces in Flanders in June 1745 and in the following year, he was sent with six thousand men to attack Quebec.

In 1761, St Clair was finally advanced to the rank of full general.

Political career

St Clair entered the British House of Commons in 1722, sitting for Dysart Burghs until 1734. Two years later, he was elected for Sutherland, which constituency he represented until 1747, when he was again returned for Dysart. He held the latter seat until 1754 and became then member of Parliament for Fife until 1762. St Clair travelled as envoy to the courts of Turin and Vienna in 1748 and later acted as governor of Cork.

Personal life

::figure[src="https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/a/ae/Rosslyn_Castle,_by_Julius_Caesar_Ibbetson.jpg" caption="Rosslyn Castle"] ::

In 1735, St Clair bought Rosslyn Castle, which was later inherited by the male heirs of his sisters. On the death of his older brother John St Clair in 1750, he succeeded de jure as Lord Sinclair, but never assumed the title, preferring to retain his seat in the Commons.

Around 1745, he married Janet Dalrymple, the youngest daughter of Sir David Dalrymple, 1st Baronet and widow of Sir John Baird, 2nd Baronet. Their marriage was childless. St Clair died in Dysart in 1766 and was survived by his wife for four years. With his death the lordship became dormant until 1782, when it reverted to Charles St Clair, a first cousin of James Sinclair, 7th Lord Sinclair.

Legacy

St. Clair, Minnesota is named after St. Clair.

References

"Leigh Rayment - Peerage".
Douglas, Sir Robert. (1910). "The Scots Peerage". David Douglas.
(28 June 1737)
{{DNB Cite
{{London Gazette. (15 June 1745)
Because of delays, he sailed instead to [[Raid on Lorient
(2002). "The House of Commons, 1754-1790". Secker & Warburg.
[[Richard Cannon]], ''Historical Record of the Twenty-Second, or the Cheshire Regiment of Foot'' (London, 1849) [https://archive.org/stream/cihm_27094#page/n103/mode/2up pages 52-53]
Burke, John. (2001). "Burke's Landed Gentry of Great Britain". Burke's Peerage and Gentry.
"City of St.Clair Minnesota". City of St.Clair Minnesota.

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