{107} James IV Descents for Maj. Thomas Dundas (1825-1902)

Dundas of Arniston coat of arms
[Argent, a lion rampant gules, in a bordure ermine]

This blogpost is truly a companion piece to the previous one, since the lines of descent are the same. Thomas Dundas and his wife Jane Eliza (née Portal) were second cousins, both great-grandchildren of Henry Dundas, 1st Viscount Melville (1742-1811), the 'Grand Manager of Scotland' in the 18th-century, commemorated by the 150-foot high Melville Monument, the most prominent memorial in Edinburgh. The Dundas family can reliably trace its line back to the 12th-century reign of William the Lion, King of the Scots. The senior branch of the family was seated at Dundas Castle in Linlithgowshire until 1875. George Dundas, 15th Chief of Dundas Castle (d. 1598) purchased from the Crown in 1571 the estate of Arniston, a former royal hunting park in Midlothian, as an inheritance for Sir James Dundas (1570-1628), his eldest son by his second wife Katherine Oliphant. Sir James founded a junior branch of the Dundas clan, with Arniston House its chief seat for over 400 years. His son, Sir James Dundas II (c.1620-1679) was the first of the family to be elevated to the bench as Lord Arniston, in 1662. For five successive generations of father-to-son, the Dundas family head was elevated to the highest court of Scotland as Lord Arniston, which "seems to be without precedence," as Burke's Peerage noted. Sir James Dundas II was also the first of the family to marry into the Edward I bloodline, when in 1641 he took to wife Marion, a daughter of the staunch Presbyterian widow Christian Hamilton, Lady Boyd. Sir James, whose mother was an equally fervent Presbyterian widow, was an elder in the church. There is a detailed online account of the Dundas of Arniston family by genealogist Catherine (née Dundas-Dunbar) Elliott, which is well worth exploring.

Anniston House, Midlothian

Robert Dundas of Arniston House (1797-1838), the direct descendant of Sir James Dundas II, and the first to not pursue a legal career and be elevated to the bench, had four sons, of which Thomas was the second and least remarkable. While his elder brother Robert Dundas became a leading official in the county and received a baronetcy in 1898, Thomas pursued a military career.

Uniform of the 12th (East
Suffolk) Regiment in 1840s

He joined the 12th (East Suffolk) Regiment of Foot as an ensign in 1842, and fought with it in the Kaffir War of 1852-53, receiving a medal. He eventually rose to the rank of Brevet-Major in 1862, and retired three years later at age forty. His military career is eclipsed by that of his youngest brother James Durham Dundas (1835-1886), who in 1865 received the Victoria Cross for his service in the Bhutan War with the Bengal Engineers, served in the 1870 Red River Expedition in Canada, and eventually rose to the rank of Major-General. After Thomas Dundas retired from the army in 1865, little can be found of him in the newspapers. His only child, a daughter named Lilias Elizabeth in honour of her two grandmothers, was born prematurely (per the birth announcement) in 1871 when her mother Jane was aged 41. Though Maj. Dundas left a personal estate worth over £50,000 at his 1902 death, his daughter never married. She certainly had the money to attract suitors, so either there was an unwillingness to marry on her part, or possibly a disability stemming from her premature birth could have deterred matrimony. She died at age 87 in 1958, twelve years before the extinction in 1970 of the Dundas of Arniston baronetcy and male line.

Maj. THOMAS DUNDAS of Belgravia, London, Major 12th (East Suffolk) Regiment of Foot 1862-65, b. 3 May 1825 Arniston House, Borthwick, Midlothian, bap. 26 June 1825 Borthwick Parish Church; d. 20 July 1902 Belgravia, bur. 24 July 1902 Cheriton Road Cemetery, Folkestone, Kent, 2nd son of Robert Dundas of Arniston House (1797-1838, descended from James IV - see Generation A11 below) and Lilias Calderwood Durham (1799-1883); m. 3 Sept. 1863 St Mary Church, Laverstoke, Hampshire, JANE ELIZA PORTAL, b. 24 Nov. 1829 Freefolk House, Freefolk Priors, Hampshire, bap. 14 June 1830 St Mary Church, Laverstoke; d. 14 Nov. 1900 Folkestone, bur. 19 Nov. 1900 Cheriton Road Cemetery, yr dau. of John Portal of Laverstoke House (1764-1848) and his 2nd wife Elizabeth Drummond (1788-1877, descended from Henry VII), and had issue, one daughter.

Lilias Dundas in Ruvigny's 1903 Tudor volume, p. 541

Issue of Maj. Thomas and Jane Eliza (Portal) Dundas:

1) LILIAS ELIZABETH DUNDAS, b. 8 Jan. 1871 Belgravia, London; d. unm. 31 Mar. 1958 Exbury, Westgate-on-Sea, Kent.

James IV

Maj. Dundas has, through his father, four lines of descent from James IV by two of the monarch's illegitimate daughters.

James IV had two illegitimate daus A1 & G1 (see below)
A1) Lady Margaret Stewart  (1496-aft.1562) m. 2) Sir John Drummond, 2nd Laird of Innerpeffray Castle (c.1495-aft.1554), and had
A2) Isabel Drummond (b. c.1532) m. Sir Matthew Campbell of Loudoun Castle (c.1535-1593, descended from Edward III), and had
A3) Margaret Campbell m. Thomas, 6th Lord Boyd of Kilmarnock (c.1547-1611), and had
A4) Robert, Master of Boyd (c.1570-1597) m. Lady Jean Kerr (c.1573-1632, descended from James II), and had
A5) Robert, 7th Lord Boyd of Kilmarnock (1595-1628) m. 2) Lady Christian Hamilton (c.1590-1646), and had two daus A6 & C6 (see below)

Robert Dundas, Lord Arniston -
see Generation A8

A6) Hon. MARION BOYD, b. c.1620; d. by 1660; m. (contract 12 Nov.) 1641, as his 1st wife, Sir JAMES DUNDAS, Lord Arniston 1662-63, b. c.1620; d. Oct. 1679 Arniston House, son of Sir James Dundas of Arniston House (1570-1628) and Mary Home (d. 1661), and had
A7) ROBERT DUNDAS, Lord Arniston 1689-1726, b. c.1655; d. 25 Nov. 1726; m. 4 Jan. 1683, his 1st cousin once removed, MARGARET SINCLAIR (see C8 below), and had
A8) ROBERT DUNDAS, Lord Arniston 1737-53, b. 9 Dec. 1685; d. 26 Aug. 1753 Abbey Hill, Edinburgh, bur. 31 Aug. 1753 Borthwick Parish Church, Midlothian; m. twice, and had two sons A9 and B9 (see below)
A9) ROBERT DUNDAS, Lord Arniston 1754-87, by 1st wife, b. 18 July 1713 Edinburgh; d. 13 Dec. 1787 Adam's Square, Edinburgh, bur. 18 Dec. 1787 Borthwick Parish Church; m. 2nd 29 Aug. 1756 Edinburgh, JEAN GRANT, b. 1729; d. 1784, dau. of William Grant, Lord Prestongrange (1701-1764) and Grizel Miller (1708-1792), and had

Robert Dundas - see
Generation A11

A10) ROBERT DUNDAS, Lord Arniston 1789-1819, b. 6 June 1758; d. 17 June 1819 Arniston House; m. 9 Apr. 1787 Spring Gardens, London, his first cousin, Hon. ELIZABETH DUNDAS (see B10 below), and had
A11) ROBERT DUNDAS of Arniston House, Deputy Lieutenant Midlothian, b. 19 June 1797; d. 8 June 1838 Arniston House; m. 9 Apr. 1822 Borthwick Parish Church, LILIAS CALDERWOOD DURHAM, b. 9 Mar. 1799 Largo House, Fifeshire; d. 20 Aug. 1883 Lanzo Torinese, Piedmont, Italy, day. of Lt-Col. Thomas Durham Calderwood of Polton House (d. 1815) and Elizabeth Young, and had
A12) Maj. THOMAS DUNDAS (1825-1902-see details above)

B9) HENRY DUNDAS, 1st Viscount Melville of Melville, by 2nd wife, b. 28 Apr. 1742 Arniston House; d. 27 May 1811 Edinburgh, bur. 8 June 1811 Old Kirkyard, Lasswade, Midlothian; m. 1st 16 Aug. 1765 Old Kirk, Lasswade (divorce 21 Nov. 1778), as her 1st husband, ELIZABETH RANNIE, bap. 15 Dec. 1750 Calcutta, Bengal, India; d. 16 Nov. 1846 Penzance, Cornwall, dau. of David Rannie of Melville Castle (1716-1764) and Elizabeth Bayley, and had

1st Viscount Melville -
see Generation B9

B10) Hon. ELIZABETH DUNDAS, b. 12 Aug. 1766 Edinburgh; d. 18 Mar. 1852 Gogar Bank House, Midlothian; m. 9 Apr. 1787 Spring Gardens, London, her first cousin, ROBERT DUNDAS, Lord Arniston (see A10 above)

C6) Hon. Isabel Boyd (b. c.1618) m. 1) John Sinclair, Heir of Stevenson (d. 1643), and had
C7) Sir Robert Sinclair, 3rd Baronet of Stevenson (1643-1713) m. Lady Helen Lindsay (see D6 below), and had
C8) MARGARET SINCLAIR, b. c.1665; d. unknown; m. 4 Jan. 1683, her 1st cousin once removed, ROBERT DUNDAS, Lord Arniston (see A7 above)

D1) Lady Katherine Stewart (c.1494-aft.1554) m. James Douglas, 3rd Earl of Morton (d. 1550, descended from James I), and had

Margaret (née Hamilton), Countess
of Crawford - see Generation D5

D2) Lady Margaret Douglas (c.1516-aft.1579) m. James Hamilton, Duke of Châtelherault (c.1519-1575, descended from James II), and had
D3) John, 1st Marquess of Hamilton (c.1540-1604) m. Margaret Lyon (c.1545-1625, descended from James I), and had
D4) James, 2nd Marquess of Hamilton (1589-1625) m. Lady Anne Cunningham (d. 1647, descended from James II), and had
D5) Lady Margaret Hamilton (c.1613-aft.1666) m. John Lindsay, 17th Earl of Crawford (c.1611-1678, descended from James II), and had
D6) Lady Helen Lindsay (b. c.1645) m. Sir Robert Sinclair, 3rd Baronet of Stevenson (see C7 above)

The next blogpost will look at the Edward IV descents behind Helen (née Soulsby), the wife of Maj. Dundas's brother-in-law Rev. George Raymond Portal.

Cheers,                            --------Brad