John Cameron, Lord Lochiel

John Cameron, 1st Lord Lochiel (1663–1747) was a Scottish Jacobite and the 18th Chief of Clan Cameron. He spent the majority of his life in exile in France. As such, chiefship of the clan was conferred with his son Donald Cameron of Lochiel, otherwise known as the Gentle Lochiel.

Cameron of Lochiel arms

Biography

John Cameron was the eldest son of Sir Ewen Cameron of Lochiel and his second wife, Isobel Maclean, daughter of Sir Lachlan Maclean, 1st Baronet. His famed father had been one of the first to join the 1652 Rising for King Charles II, by whose favour he was knighted in 1681.[1] He fought with his father at the Battle of Killiecrankie in 1689.[2][3]

As acting chief of the clan, he joined the Earl of Mar's forces in the 1715 Rising and at the Battle of Sheriffmuir, displayed inept military leadership which saw the Camerons routed.[4] He was attainted and forced into exile, but nonetheless, on 27 January 1717, was made a Lord of Parliament in Jacobite peerage by the Old Pretender "James III and VIII".[1]

During the 1719 Rising, he fought at Glenshiel and following that defeat returned to exile permanently. Old Lochiel, as he came to be known, was granted a generous pension by King James. He lived lavishly in Paris, but later occupied cheaper residence in Boulogne alongside his cousin Sir Hector Maclean, also chief-in-exile of Clan Maclean.[5] Old Lochiel died at Nieuport, French Flanders in 1747. Whether or not he took part in the 1745 Rising is uncertain; unlikely given that he would have been about 80 years old at the time.[2]

John Cameron had married Isobel Campbell, daughter of Alexander Campbell of Lochnell and Margaret Stewart.[1] His eldest son and successor was Donald Cameron of Lochiel (1695–1748), who played an important role in the Jacobite rising of 1745. His other sons were John Cameron, Laird of Fassiefern (1698–1785), Alexander Cameron (1701–1746), a Jacobite courtier and Catholic convert, and Archibald Cameron (1707–1753), Prince Charles's personal physician who was the last Jacobite to be executed for treason in 1753.[6]

References
  1. "Genealogy". lyon-court.com. Archived from the original on 5 June 2011. Retrieved 14 June 2015.
  2. Stewart of Ardvorlich, John (1974). The Camerons: A History of Clan Cameron. ISBN 978-0-9560933-9-4.
  3. Stewart of Ardvorlich 1974, p. 84.
  4. Stewart of Ardvorlich 1974, p. 91.
  5. Gibson, John S. (1994). Lochiel of the '45 : the Jacobite chief and the prince. Edinburgh: Edinburgh University Press. ISBN 978-1-4744-6845-9. OCLC 624218928.
  6. Profile, burkespeerage.com. Accessed 28 December 2022.
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