“Edinburgh, the Tolbooth and Cannongate” by James Valentine, 1870s. The MacKinnan Collection. Acquired jointly with the National Library of Scotland with assistance from The National Lottery Heritage Fund, Scottish Government and Art Fund.
An important part of the Ernest Thompson Seton family legacy was decided in an obscure 1825 court case set in Edinburgh, Scotland. Catherine Seton Walker Gymer (1852—1935) preserved documents relating to the proceedings, published in Seton, Earls of Winton, compiled by Karen Hancock. This is Part II in a series about what happened and what it meant.
George Seton, Fifth Earl of Winton, lost his title—and nearly his life—after the failure of the 1716 Jacobite uprising. His great grandson, another George Seton, attempted to reinstate the title (for himself) 109 years later. The outcome of the legal wrangle was of great interest to Ernest Thompson Seton although he never had access to these documents.
Cast of Characters
George Seton, Fifth Earl of Winton, had a son by Margaret McKlear named Charles (1711—1781).
This Charles Seton had a son, also named Charles (1755—1823).
This second Charles was the father of George Seton about whom I am writing. George had an aunt, Ann (1763—1840), from whom Ernest Thompson Seton (b. 1860) was a descendant which establishes (in part) Ernest’s obsession with the Earl of Winton title.
George Seton (1796—1853), was known as a “Saddler,” by which term I suppose he hand-crafted equestrian gear. This was a rather humble pursuit compared to being a Laird of Old, hobnobbing with William Wallace et. al.
The Issue
Was the first Charles Seton really the biological son of George and Margaret? And if so, were George and Margaret legally married? Or was Charles a bastard? On the answers to these questions rested the 1825 case of George Seton in reclaiming the family heritage in his quest to become Lord Seton, Sixth Earl of Winton.
George, the Fifth Lord Winton, was stripped of his title after being convicted of High Treason in 1716. He was also to have been separated from his head as a further reminder of English sovereignty over Scottish patriots. (As we have seen in Part I, he escaped, showing up in Italy, but forever separated from his country.)
The Petition
The later George began his suit with this: “To the Kings Most Excellent Majesty, The Petion of George Seton of Bellingham in the County of Northumberland, Most Humbly Sheweth….” George provided his “Pedigree” establishing his descent from the Fourth Earl (father or the Fifth Earl), dissing said Fifth Earl for his betrayal of the English King, George the First (a German, for some reason). George Seton identified himself as the “Lineal Heir Male and Representative of George the Fifth Earl of Winton and Lord Seton of Tranent who died in 1775.” [Tranent is a town in East Lothian, Scotland, located in the vicinity of the old Seton and Winton Castles.]
George concluded: “Your Petitioner therefore most humbly prays that if your Majesty may be graciously pleased to rescind the Treason of George V Earl of Winton the baleful effects of which attach to the blood of the Family that your Petitioner may there upon hope be restored to the Titles and dignities of his ancestors. And your Majesty’s Petitioner shall ever pray. George Seton.”
The earlier Setons specialized in fighting the English for a recorded 419 years starting in 1298 and continuing through 1716. One can only imagine what George’s illustrious ancestors would have made of such protestation to an English king who was, for some reason, mostly German (George IV). Note that petitioner George Seton lived in Bellingham, England [as had his father Charles], not in Scotland and likely identified as English, not Scottish.
In Summary
An Englishman walks into the bar
To petition the King (of German ancestry)
To grant him a Scottish peerage title.
To Be Continued in Part III