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

INTRODUCTION.
hii
pony in order to be witli his father. His elJest son, John, wlio bad been with Introd.
him at Culloden, was, I suppose, unable to risk any such interview, as,
though he was now in London, he was livinjr in disguise and under an
assumed name, in order to avoid arrest as a " rebel." Sir John's trial,
repeatedly adjourned, did not come on till November 4, altlioujjh a true bill
had been found aj^ainst him as early as the end of August. The indictment
and the recorded sentence are still extant in the Public Record Office in
London, and the attorney-general "s brief for the crown, with notes of the
defence, is preserved in the British Museum. All these documents are printed
in full, post, pp. 2G9 seqq. Witnesses were called on his belmlf, and both ot
his counsel, Mr. Jodrell and Mr. Gordon, addressed the Court, alike on technical
points and in order to show that he had not been a willing agent, but he was
found guilty, and the barbarous sentence of the time, which was carried out
in its entirety, was, after some ten days' delay, passed upon him. He had received
the verdict with composure and at once wrote to his wife to be " as easy as
possible, for I assure you nothing that can happen shall give me great
disturbance." It was with equal dignity that he received, on the evening of
November 27, the announcement that he would be executed on the following
day. It is said that when this news was brought him he was playing backgammon
with Paterson of Carpow, and that he replied by ordering tlie gaoler
to "stand out of the light till the game was over," when he called for wine and
drank farewell to his friends. His son James endeavoured to persuade him to
escape, disguised as a woman, but Sir John refused, saying that " it would be as
well to die now as tsventy years after, and he would not run the risk of being
ill used the niglit before his death." He then wrote various letters—to his wife, to
his eldest son, liis uncle of Idvies, Mr. Paterson, and Prince Charles Edward—and
was "up all night preparing himself." Everything bad been done to secure a
reprieve, but (as he writes) " I was among the elect and not to be parted with," and
though his son James now made some final efforts, they were in vain. Sir
John and his son did not meet again. When, early on the
^Nl^'me^ morning of the 2Sth, James attended at the prison in order to
see his father, lie was told that Sir John tliought that "a
second parting would be troublesome, bringing us all to his memory, which
was the only thing that pained him, and peihaps give an appearance of concern
to him, which would be explained otherwise by the spectators." As it was,
he went calmly to his death, which he met " in such a manner as to confirm
all those who had conversed with him since he came to London in their
opinion of his sense, resolution, and integrity."
He had married in Oct. 1724^ Jean Fullarton (daughter of John Fullarton
of that ilk, CO. Perth), and by her, who, after his death, resided with her
unmarried daughters at Dundee, and died in 1709-70, had
of lir^ofSi^'"^
issue seven sons and four daughters. Of the latter, the eldest,
Margaret, married Richard Dundas of Blair, co. Perth, and had
issue; while the youngest, Agatha, became the wife of John Smyth of Balharry,
near Alyth, and died s.p. not many years later. The two other daughters,
Katharine and Susannah, never married ; but, surviving their mother, lived
together in Dundee. Susannah, who was remarkable in her family tor her
beauty, was accidentally burnt to death in the house in the Nethergait in
1776, just ten years before the death of her sister Katharine.
Of Sir John's sons, two, viz., Alexander (born 1727) and Charles (born 1732),
died in infancy within a few days of each other in 1733, and
iS-^Johi^ °^ were buried in Dundee. The youngest, David, also died young.
The remaining four all went out to Jamaica after the '45, in
common with several other members of the family. Two of them, Peter and
Alexander, died there unmarried, the former before 1774 and the latter about
1765. The other two, John and James, who were thus their father's only surviving