Lieutenant-General John Lindsay, 20th Earl of Crawford

JOHN LINDSAY Earl of Crawford and Earl of Lindsay

Lietenant-General John Lindsay, Earl of Crawford, here treated, is the son of John Lindsay, 19th Earl of Crawford, 3rd Earl of Lindsay and his wife Lady Emilia Stuart, Countess of Crawford The Scots Peerage III: 39-40

Death

Lieutenant-General John Lindsay, Earl of Crawford, died intestate, and without a male heir to succeed him, on 24 December 1749. The Scots Peerage His younger brother William, who was next in-line during the whole of his lifetime, appears to have predeceased him, for his only surviving heirs were his sisters Lady Catherine Lindsay and Lady Mary Lindsay. NRS: GD20/1/828

His Testament Dative and Inventory

Confirmation was granted on 21 March 1750. [National Records of Scotland, St Andrews Commissary Court, The Testament Dative and Inventory of John Lindsay, [20th] earl of Crawford, parish Ceres, reference CC20/4/20]

Additional Inventory

Confirmation was granted on 15 August 1750. [National Records of Scotland, St Andrews Commissary Court, Eik to the Testament Dative and Inventory of John Lindsay, [20th] earl of Crawford, reference CC20/4/21]

Evidence from the National Records of Scotland

                   1

18 January 1750: To the poor at the Earle of Crawfurds burial - £12.12s. [National Records of Scotland, Kirk Sesseion Records of Ceres. Accounts, 1740-82, reference CH2/65/7]

                  2

12 February 1752: Decree of adjudication at the instance of Patrick Lindsay junior and William Douglas, merchants in Edinburgh, against Lady Katharine Lindsay, eldest sister of deceased John, Earl of Crawfurd, and spouse of Lieutenant John Wemyss of General Oglethrop's late Regt, and Lady Mary Lindsay, sister of the said deceased earl and spouse of [ Dugald ] Campbell of Glensaddell, in respect of the lands of Cassindillie and many others in the sheriffdom of Fife, dated 12 February 1752. National Records of Scotland, Papers of the Earls of Glasgow, reference GD20/1/828

Genealogy

1. The Scots Peerage. Founded on Wood's ed. of Sir Robert Douglas's Peerage of Scotland; containing an Historical and Genealogical Account of the nobility of that Kingdom. Edited by Sir James Balfour Paul, Lord Lyon King of Arms. Volume III (David Douglas, Edinburgh, 1906), 617 pp. plus errata
2. he Scots Peerage. Founded on Wood's ed. of Sir Robert Douglas's Peerage of Scotland; containing an Historical and Genealogical Account of the nobility of that Kingdom. Edited by Sir James Balfour Paul, Lord Lyon King of Arms. Volume IV (David Douglas, Edinburgh, 1907), 597 pp.
3. Stirnet: Lindsay 05

Biographical Summary by Wikipedia

Lieutenant-General John Lindsay, 20th Earl of Crawford (4 October 1702 – 25 December 1749) was a Scottish peer and the first colonel of the Black Watch on its formation in 1739. He was the son of Lt.-Gen. John Lindsay, 19th Earl of Crawford and Emilia Stuart and inherited his titles on the death of his father in 1714. He was educated at University of Glasgow and the Vaudeuil Military Academy, Paris.

He was commissioned into the 3rd Foot Guards in 1726, but later served in the Austrian and Russian armies before returning to Britain and taking command of the Black Watch (1739–1740). He was then Colonel of the 2nd Troop of Horse Grenadier Guards (1740–1743) and Colonel of the 4th Troop of Horse Guards ('Scottish Horse Guards') (1743–1746), fighting at the Battle of Dettingen on 16 June 1743. He gained the rank of Brigadier-General in 1744 and Major-General in 1745. He fought in the Jacobite Uprising in 1745 and the Battle of Fontenoy on 30 April 1745.

He was Colonel of the 25th Foot (1746–1747). He fought in the Battle of Roucoux on 11 October 1746 and gained the rank of Lieutenant-General in 1747. He was Colonel of the 2nd Dragoons ('Scots Greys') (1747–1749).

In 1732 he was elected Fellow of the Royal Society. In 1734 he was Grand Master of the Premier Grand Lodge of England.

He had married Lady Jean Murray, daughter of Lt.-Col. Sir James Murray, 2nd Duke of Atholl, in 1747 but she died only 9 months after their marriage. He died on 26 December 1749 from a head wound received at the Battle of Krotzka in 1739.

He was the last member of the Lindsay family to be buried in the mausoleum in the cemetery at Ceres, Fife, Scotland. FindAGrave; link to monumental inscriptions at Ceres churchyard link