Sir William Bruce, 1st Baronet of Kinross and Balcaskie

Wikipedia Biographical Summary

"Sir William Bruce of Kinross, 1st Baronet (circa 1630 – 1 January 1710) was a Scottish gentleman-architect, 'the effective founder of classical architecture in Scotland,' as Howard Colvin observes. As a key figure in introducing the Palladian style into Scotland, he has been compared to the pioneering English architects Inigo Jones and Christopher Wren, and to the contemporaneous introducers of French style in English domestic architecture, Hugh May and Sir Roger Pratt...

...Little is known of Bruce's youth, and his date of birth is unrecorded. He was probably born at Blairhall in western Fife, in around 1630, the second son of Robert Bruce of Blairhall and Katherine Preston. He may have attended St Andrews University in 1637-1638, which would suggest that his birth date was as early as 1625. The Bruces were a well-connected Episcopalian family, strongly loyal to the king, and descended from Thomas Bruce a cousin of King Robert II, who had been granted lands in Clackmannan and Fife. Bruce's first cousin Edward Bruce was created Earl of Kincardine in 1643...

...Around 1660 William Bruce married Mary Halkett, daughter of Sir James Halkett of Pitfirrane, Bt. They had two surviving children:

• Sir John Bruce, 2nd Baronet of Kinross, (before 1671 – 19 March 1710) married Christian Leslie, widow of the Marquess of Montrose and daughter of the Duke of Rothes. He left no issue.
• Anne, upon whom Sir William had entailed his estates if her brother failed to leave issue. She married twice, with issue to both husbands.

After the death of his first wife, Sir William Bruce married Magdalen Scott, widow of an Edinburgh merchant called George Clerk, in 1700. They had no issue. Magdalen lived until 1752, and gained a reputation as a Jacobite, establishing a Jacobite cell at her home in Leith Citadel."

SOURCE: Wikipedia contributors, 'Sir William Bruce, 1st Baronet, of Balcaskie', Wikipedia, The Free Encyclopedia, 2 January 2013, 23:24 UTC, <http://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Sir_William_Bruce,_1st_Ba...> [accessed 12 January 2013]

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From Darryl Lundy's Peerage page on William Bruce:

http://www.thepeerage.com/p18505.htm#i185047

Sir William Bruce of Kinross, 1st Bt.[1]

• M, #185047,
• d. 1 January 1710
• Last Edited=9 Jun 2012

Sir William Bruce of Kinross, 1st Bt. was the son of Robert Bruce and Catherine Preston.[1]

He married, firstly, Mary Halkett, daughter of Sir James Halkett and Margaret Montgomery.[2]

He married, secondly, Magdalen Scott, daughter of David Scott, on 9 September 1700.[2]

He died on 1 January 1710 at Edinburgh, Midlothian, Scotland.[1]

Career:

• He was Clerk of the Bills in 1660.[2]
• He took a leading part in the Restoration.[2]
• In 1663 he bought Balcaskie from John Moncrieff.[3]
• He was created 1st Baronet Bruce, of Balcaskie, co. Fife [Nova Scotia] on 21 October 1668.[1]
• He held the office of Member of Parliament (M.P.) for Fifeshire [Scotland] between 1669 and 1674.[2] He held the office of Member of Parliament (M.P.) for Kinross-shire [Scotland] from 1681 to 1682.[2]
• He held the office of Master of the King's Works, and completed the palace of Holyrood.[2]
• He held the office of Member of Parliament (M.P.) for Kinross-shire [Scotland] from 1685 to 1686.[2]
• He sold Balcaskie in 1698 to Sir Robert Anstruther of Balcaskie, 1st Bt.[3]
• He acquired the territorial Barony of Kinross from the Earl of Morton, and built Kinross House.[3]

Children of Sir William Bruce of Kinross, 1st Bt. and Mary Halkett

• 1. Sir John Bruce, 2nd Bt.[2] d. 19 Mar 1710
• 2. Anne Bruce+[2]

Citations

• 1. [S15] George Edward Cokayne, editor, The Complete Baronetage, 5 volumes (no date (c. 1900); reprint, Gloucester, U.K.: Alan Sutton Publishing, 1983), volume IV, page 269. Hereinafter cited as The Complete Baronetage.
• 2. [S15] George Edward Cokayne, The Complete Baronetage, volume IV, page 270.
• 3. [S37] Charles Mosley, editor, Burke's Peerage, Baronetage & Knightage, 107th edition, 3 volumes (Wilmington, Delaware, U.S.A.: Burke's Peerage (Genealogical Books) Ltd, 2003), volume 1, page 1294. Hereinafter cited as Burke's Peerage and Baronetage, 107th edition.