James Johnstone, 5th Laird of Elphinstone

JAMES JOHNSTON OF ELPHINSTON

The Scots Peerage IV: 261

The next Johnstone of Elphinstone, probably a son of Andrew, is James Johnstone who appears to have been married twice (unless there were two contemporaneous Jameses of Elphinstone). by a (1st?) marriage ca. 1550 to Margaret, dau. of the 2nd Lord Ruthven, he had at least two children. By a (2nd?) marriage in 1564 to Janet, dau. of Sir John Melville, 4th of Raith, he had two sons Robert and James.

The two known children of the 1st marriage are James (d. by 1627) who m. Elizabeth Haldane, and Barbara, who m. (1) (as his 2nd wife) John Haldane, 9th of Gleneagles, and (2) David Home of Godscroft (who was a son of Sir David Home of Wedderburn and his wife Mariota Johnstone). It's tempting to suggest that the brother and sister James and Barbara Johnstone married a sister and brother Elizabeth and John Haldane, but Elizabeth doesn't appear in pedigrees of the Haldane family, at least with that marriage.

James must have been an infant when he had the 1531 charter as in 1550 he married Margaret dau William 2nd Lord Ruthven (SP, date from marriage contract). Under an Act of Parliament of 1585 it is recounted that he loaned great sums of money to the Ruthvens, which he and his heirs could not recover because of the forfeitures of the Ruthvens, later Earls of Gowrie. By this marriage he had a daughter Barbara, who married John Haldane of Gleneagles and then David Home of Godscroft, the historian. He also had a daughter Margaret, probably also by his first wife, who married Alexander Crichton of Drylaw. He married secondly in 1564 Jonet daughter of Sir John Melville of Raith. She died in September 1603. By her he had James and Robert, John and Martha. He made a disposition to his younger son Robert in 1570 of Leuchy, doubtless the Leuchin bought in 1544, and was dead by 1575, when his sons were under curators and it was registered. His son John, called burgess and merchant of Edinburgh, is in 1598 described as "vocatus de Elphinstone" from which one might guess that he was then acting as tutor to his nephew. Martha married in 1603 Alexander Inglis younger of Tarvet and her mother Jonet was a party, as senior lady of Elphinstone and widow of James, to the contract.
[http://soc.genealogy.medieval.narkive.com/ZekPo3H0/elphinstone

References

1. https://www.clanmacfarlanegenealogy.info/genealogy/TNGWebsite/getpe... cites
   1. [S6] Stirnet Genealogy, Peter Barns-Graham, Home03 (Reliability: 3).
   2. [S6] Stirnet Genealogy, Peter Barns-Graham, Ruthven2 (Reliability: 3).
   3. [S6] Stirnet Genealogy, Peter Barns-Graham, Melville02 (Reliability: 3).