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Claimant to the Fleming estates - John Elphinstone, 12th Lord Elphinstone
(1764 - 1813)
Basic information about this person: \click here\

John Elphinstone, 12th Lord Elphinstone, was the eldest great-grandson of John, 6th Earl of Wigtown. He claimed the Fleming estates of Cumbernauld and Biggar against his younger brother Charles, but lost.

Family background

John was born in 1764, the eldest son of John Elphinstone, 11th Lord Elphinstone, and Ann Ruthven, daughter of James, 3rd Lord Ruthven. His grandmother was Lady Clementina Fleming, heiress of the Earls of Wigtown. His younger brothers included Charles and Mountstuart Elphinstone, who became Governor of Bombay.

Soldier and peer

John succeeded his father as 12th Lord Elphinstone in 1794. He was a professional soldier and became Colonel of the 26th Regiment of Foot (the Cameronians). He also served as a Lord Lieutenant.

Claim to the Fleming estates

In 1788 Lady Clementina conveyed the Fleming estates to John’s younger brother Charles, but in 1798 she appears to have tried to reverse the conveyance in John’s favour. After her death in 1799 the brothers went to law. On 19 January 1804 the Court of Session upheld Charles’s title to Biggar and Cumbernauld, and the House of Lords confirmed it in 1805. John therefore never held the Fleming estates.

Legacy

John died in 1813 and was succeeded as Lord Elphinstone by his son John, 13th Lord Elphinstone, who became Governor of Madras and of Bombay. When the 13th Lord died unmarried in 1860, the title passed to his cousin John Elphinstone-Fleming, son of Charles, briefly reuniting the Elphinstone peerage and the Fleming estates.