Hugh Ross, the Jacobite

Hugh Ross the Jacobite fought at the Battle of Preston in 1715. He was one of the many soldiers captured and imprisoned by the English after their defeat. It is known that he eventually boarded the Ship Scipio, along with many others, in order to be transported to the colonies. It is often said that he is the son of David Ross 2nd of Balblair and/or an immigrant who died in North Carolina in 1740. Sources would suggest differently.

Biography

Battle of Preston

The person commonly referred to as Hugh Ross the Jacobite can be found in a list in the Directory of Scots Banished to the American Plantations, 1650-1775.

This is what is said of him:

ROSS, HUGH Jacobite captured at Preston. Transported from Liverpool to Antigua on the Scipio, master John Scaisbrick, 30 March 1716

The Battle of Preston was fought November 9th to the 14th, 1715, at Preston, Lancashire, England. Preston is about 90 miles south of the English/Scottish border. Another Jacobite battle was fought on the same day in Sheriffmuir near Dunblane, which is about 90 miles north of the English/Scottish border.

The Jacobite troops at Preston were a combination of English and Highland & Lowland Scots.

On October 6th, 1715, Thomas Forster and James Radcliffe, the 3rd Earl of Derwentwater, together with friends, relations and servants met at Greenrig, Northumberland, England. Thomas Forster, of Adderstone Hall, was a Member of Parliament from Northumberland. The Earl of Derwentwater was also from Northumberland. He brought with him a company of gentlemen and armed servants from Dilston Hall.

They rode northwards to Rothbury and circumstances eventually caused them to retreat to Kelso. Kelso was in Tiviotdale County at the time, just across the Scottish border from Northumberland. Here they were joined by Scottish Lowland gentry and a strong force of Highlanders under Brigadier William Mackintosh of Borlum.

The Jacobites were defeated at Preston and many were taken prisoner. High-ranking Jacobites were sent to London for trial. The less important were tried locally, and the rank-and-file were held in Preston for a month.

On December 13th, 1715, the court decreed that the authorities must draw lots to decide which prisoners would face trial. The decree specifies that these men 'not be Gentlemen or Men of Estates or such as shall appear to have distinguished themselves by any extraordinary Degree of Guilt'.

A broadsheet published in 1716 lists the prisoners who were selected and tried in Liverpool between 20th of January to the 4th of February. Of the 68 tried, 62 were convicted and 6 were acquitted. No Rosses are found in the list. We find Hugh Ross instead listed among the prisoners who where transferred to Chester Prison.

Thomas Forster and Derwentwater were among those taken to London. Forster escaped from Newgate just a few days before his trial and fled to France. Derwentwater was beheaded on Tower Hill on February 24th, 1716.

Hugh Ross, servant of Roxburgh Parish

In a comparison done of the original ship's manifests & prison records, it was determined that there was only one Hugh Ross among the Jacobites. According to the prisoner list from Chester Prison, Hugh's home parish at the time of the Battle of Preston was Roxburgh Parish in Tivodill County and he worked as a servant.

There is a town today in Scotland called Roxburgh. It is about 3 miles from the ruins of Roxburgh Castle. In the area, we also see Kelso, Jedburgh, Hawick, and Upper Hindhope. These all fall into what is now called the Scottish Borders council area of Scotland.

If we look at a map drawn in 1714, much closer to the date of the Battle of Preston, we find these same places in what was called Tiviotdale County.

If we go back a little further, to an atlas of Scotland dated 1662, we find many of these same places in Tivedail County. This map is more detailed, so we can actually see Roxburgh Castle included in the northeastern corner of the county.

A 1745 map tells us that Roxburg and, therefore, Teviotdale were part of what was still considered Roxburghshire.

This is the same area in which Thomas Forster and the Earl of Derwentwater were 'joined by Scottish Lowland gentry'. Today, Kelso is less than 3 miles from the town of Roxburgh and less than a mile from the remains of Roxburgh Castle, although the castle was demolished in 1460, so it was not inhabited at the time of the Battle of Preston.

There are 4 men listed on the prison lists with the home parish of Roxburgh, one gentleman & 3 servants, including Hugh Ross. Could it be that the gentleman, George Rutherford, was one of the 'Scottish Lowland gentry' who joined up in Kelso and the 3 servants were in his employ? The family of Lord Rutherford did have lands in the Roxburgh area and certain members of the family were known Jacobites.

Ship Scipio

As stated in the Directory of Scots Banished to the American Plantations, we find Hugh Ross among the list of passengers aboard the Ship Scipio. It left Liverpool on March 30th, 1716, headed for Antigua and then for Virginia.

In a letter written by one of the passengers of Ship Scipio to his father a year after arriving in America, he states that Hugh Ross did not survive the trip.

The ship that I came in was a long time on the sea coming over here: but pleased be God for everything, we all kept our health unco (extremely) well but Johnnie McGillivray, that had aye (always) a sore head. There was sixty of us all came into the country hale of life and limb, and none of us had died but Johnnie McGillivray and another Ross lad (Hugh Ross) that came over with us; and maybe them two would have died gin (if) they had biden (stayed) at home, gin (if) they had been hanged by Cuckold Geordie (King George, referring to the Queen's infidelity), or killed by his cursed red-coats; they took from me my bonnie gun, pistol, dirk, and plaid, and left me nothing.

We see on the manifest for the Ship Scipio the author of this letter, Donald McPherson, along with a Johnnie McGillivray and one 'Ross lad', Hugh Ross.

So, Hugh Ross the Jacobite was residing in Roxburgh Parish, south of Edinburgh, at the time of the Battle of Preston and working as a servant. He died aboard the ship on the way to Antigua, or maybe on the way from Antigua to Virginia.

Sources

1. Dobson, David (1983). Directory of Scots Banished to the American Plantations, 1650-1775 Google Books. Baltimore: Genealogical Publishing Company. p. 192.
2. "Battle of Preston". Encyclopedia Britannica. Retrieved 23 Aug 2021.
3. Oates, Jonathan (2012). "The Armies Operating in Northern England during the Jacobite Rebellion of 1715". Journal of the Society for Army Historical Research. JSTOR. 90 (362): 90.
4. "FORSTER, Thomas (1683-1738), of Adderstone, Northumb". History of Parliament Online. Retrieved 6 Sep 2021.
5. Leslie, Stephen (1896). "James Radcliffe". Dictionary of National Biography, 1885-1900 47. London: Elder Smith & Co. pp. 126–128.
6. "The north part of Great Britain called Scotland : with considerable inprovements [sic] and many remarks not extant in any map. / According to the newest and exact observations by Hermann Moll" (Map). National Library of Scotland. Cartography by Herman Moll. London: H. Moll, I. Bowles and T. Bowles. 1726.
7. Jacobite prisoners taken to London". National Library of Scotland. 23 Apr 2020. Retrieved 23 Aug 2021.
8. "Treatment of Rebels". The National Archives. 17 Apr 2014. Retrieved 23 Aug 2021.
9. "The names of the prisoners try'd at Liverpool, from the 20th of January last, to the 4th of February following, are plac'd in the following list" (JPEG). National Library of Scotland. 1716.
10. Tornabene, Hugh. "Prison Records & Ships Passengers, Transcription file" (Text file). Tornabene & McPherson. Retrieved 23 Aug 2021.
11. Boyer, Abel (1716). "Proclamation for apprehending Thomas Forster". The Political state of Great Britain Google Books. XI. London. p. 388.
12. Tornabene, Hugh (17 Jun 2008). "Passenger lists for 10 immigrant ships in 1716, several of which came to Maryland" (Text file). Maryland Statewide. USGenWeb Archives. Retrieved 23 Aug 2021.
13. Tornabene, Hugh. "Chester 037 to 074" (JPEG). Jacobites in Prison in Lancashire, Winter 1715/1716.
14. Historic Environment Scotland. "Roxburgh Castle (58412)". Canmore (database). Retrieved 23 Aug 2021.
15. Scottish Borders, UK (Map). Google Maps. Retrieved 23 Aug 2021.
16. "Teviota Vulgo Tivedail" (Map). Blaeu Atlas Maior 1662-5, Volume 6 Cartography by Joan Blaeu and Timothy Pont. Amsterdam: Blaeu. 1662.
17. "The North Part of ye Shire of Roxburgh and the Shire of Selkirk called also Etterick Forrest" (Map). National Library of Scotland. Cartography by Herman Moll. London: Bowles and Bowles. 1745.
18. Cockburn-Hood, Thomas H (1884). "The Rutherfurds of that Ilk, and their Cadets. Compiled from the Public Records and Other Authentic Sources". Internet Archive. Edinburgh: Scott & Ferguson & Burness & Co. p. xix.
19. Tornabene, Hugh. "Anne / Scipio Embark" (JPEG). 1715 Jacobites Transported.
20. Macpherson, Alan G. (1995). "The Macphersons of Charles County, Maryland". Creag Dhubh. Clan Macpherson Association (47). Retrieved 23 Aug 2021 – via My Whole Family Paternal & Maternal Lines of Nicole Polk on RootsWeb.
21. The clan Ross HeritageQuest. Edinburgh: W. & A.K. Johnston & G.W. Bacon. p. 23.
22. Read, Harmon Pumpelly; Reid, Francis Nevile (1908). Rossiana; Papers and Documents Relating to the History and Genealogy of the Ancient and Noble House of Ross, of Ross-shire, Scotland, and Its Descent Form the Ancient Earls of Ross, Together with the Descent of the Ancient and Historic Family of Read, from Rede of Trough-end, Reade of Barton Court, Berks, and Read of Delaware. Also Some Account of the Related Families Internet Archive. Albany, N.Y.: Press of the Argus. p. 15.
23. Read. Rossiana pp. 28–29.
24. MacKinnon, Donald (1957). The clan Ross HeritageQuest. Edinburgh: W. & A.K. Johnston & G.W. Bacon. p. 5.