Wedderburn book; a history of the Wedderburns in ... - waughfamily.ca

Ixviii. . THE WEDDERBUllX BOOK.
Introd. but died s.p. soon after ; and the other, Elizabeth, was the wife of Alexander Read
of Tiirfbeg, in that county, and liad a numerous family, one of wliom, Catharine
(died 1778), was eminent as a portrait-painter, both in oils and pastels. There
are several portraits of various members of the family by her, includin" one
painted from memory and after his death of Sir John W'edderburn, the^ fifth
baronet, whose history I have now to give.
Sir John Wedderburn, fifth baronet of Blackness, was bom in 170-i, and
was no doubt at one time intended to succeed his father in his
Baronef'ot ^^ various offices. But after the purchase of Blackness in 1718
rJta.'^"^^' '^'^'^ '^'^^ ''''^ succession to the baronetcy, his father may have
altered his plans in ref,'ard to him. This seems probable from
the fact that there are no references to John Wedderburn as pursuing any
profession between 1725 and 1737, when Sir Alexander's affairs had become
involved and it was essential that his eldest son should make his way in the
world. There are then several allusions to his acting as arbitrator, commissioner,
and constable depute at Dundee between 1739 and 1741, but I doubt if he
can be said to have been successful. It is certain that on his father's death he
found himself in very straitened circumstances, and with the burden of a
numerous family. He now removed from Dundee to a small farm near Newtyle,
and was living there, far from prosperously, when Prince Charles Edward
set foot in Scotland in 1743.
I have endeavoured, at pp. 2fi5-284 of this volume to trace Sir John's
movements at this time and to estimate his motives in joining
rtie^l!^''" t'le Prince and his subsequent attitude to the cause he had
espoused. At his trial, the defence which he set up, or which
was set up for him, was that he had been forced to join the Prince a"-ainst
his will, but there is a letter from him to Mr. Thomas K\-d, written immediately
after his capture, in which he speaks of having soon found out the mistake
he had made in rejecting Mr. Kyds advice to stay at home, which is
altogether inconsistent witli the defence of duress. A writer on the history of
the Jacobite times has suggested that it was "Sir John's poverty which consented,"
but not only are no facts quoted in support of this statement, but the rest
of that account of Sir John is very inaccurate, and we must not forget either
the constant adherence of his family to the House of Stuart from the
time of old Kingennie to that of his own father,^ or the fact that both
his brothers, Robert and Thomas, were also adherents of the Prince. It is
possible that after he had at first joined the Prince, he returned home
and then once more joined the Jacobite forces. There is evidence that he was
at Gladsmuir and at llolyrood in September 1745, and that he collected the
excise in Perth for the Prince from November to January in the following
year. He must then have joined the army as it passed northward on the
retreat from Derby, and was thus without doubt at Culloden, where he was
taken prisoner on the defeat of the Prince. From this date until the day of
his execution, the facts in regard to him are clear. He was brought up to
London, and was imprisoned there in New Southwark Gaol from May 20 until
his execution on Nov. 2S 174G. There are some five letters from him at this
period to his wife, his friend Mr. Tliomas Kyd, and to a lady who had
concerned herself on his bchalt, but whose name does not appear. His fellowprisoners
were Sir James Kuiloch and his two brothers, Mr. Farquharson of
Monaltrie, Mr. Kattray of fori., and a Mr. Stuart, all of whom shared one room
with him, and he was also bometimes allowed the companionship of his second
6on James, then a lad of ti.xtecn, wlio had made his way up to London on his
» It is notowonhy, I iMuk. tUt »Uro in 17IJ tlic Dundee Town Council (29 July) appointed officers
todtfer.a tl.e town ,„ yew U ". t^.,lrrn !nv^,„n to be made by the pretender with a foreign
force from jwirU 1-cjodJ »» iU.L.U, loW;, no Wedderburn is so appointed.