William alexander lord stirling biography of williams

  • Early life​​ William Alexander was the

    • ALEXANDER, Sir WILLIAM, the younger, eldest son of Sir William Alexander, Earl of Stirling, founder of a Scottish colony at Port-Royal (Annapolis Royal, N.S.); b. c. ; d. 18 May 

    The younger Alexander was educated at Glasgow University, where Regent Blair remembered him as “my best beloved scholar.” After his graduation in he entered the public service and was knighted 22 March  Two months later he went on a privateering expedition with the larger of two ships which his father was preparing for New Scotland. In June he returned to Dumbarton with a prize, the St. Lawrence of Lubec, loaded with salt. The two ships lay at Dumbarton from June  to 26 March , while Alexander recruited colonists and secured supplies, after which they set out for Newfoundland, the River of Canada (St. Lawrence), and New Scotland. Alexander’s route thereafter is uncertain and can be deduced only indirectly from his father’s correspondence, in which it appears that he left a colony of “70 men and twa weemen” near Canada. It is probable that he joined forces with the Kirkes after they had captured the supply ships of the Compagnie de la Nouvelle-France in the summer of , some of which supplies they left with Alexander’s colonists at Gaspé or Tadoussac (Insh, Scottish colonial schemes, ). (The assumption is that Alexander picked up these colonists before going to Port de la Baleine.)

    On 4 Feb. /29 Alexander, the Kirkes, and others obtained a monopoly of the trade to Canada. While the Kirkes went off to capture Quebec, Alexander joined forces with Sir James Stewart, Lord Ochiltree, helped him build a fort at Port de la Baleine (now Baleine) in Cape Breton, and then, under the guidance of Claude de Saint-Étienne de La Tour, proceeded to Port-Royal. Here, in the summer of , Alexander built a new fort in which he decided to pass the winter, sending back his ship for additional supplies and

    William Alexander (the younger)

    Sir William Alexander (c. – 18 May ) was the founder, in , of the Scottish colony of Nova Scotia with the establishment of Charles Fort, now the site of modern Annapolis Royal, Nova Scotia, Canada. His expedition partner, James Stewart, 4th Lord Ochiltree established a short-lived settlement at Baleine on Cape Breton Island, some &#;km (&#;mi) northeast.

    Career

    Alexander was the son of colonizer and Scottish courtier William Alexander, 1st Earl of Stirling, but predeceased his father. He was a courtier to Henry Frederick, Prince of Wales, and then a Gentleman Usher to Charles I of England. Alexander published An Encouragement to colonies in

    Charles Fort

    It was on the site of Charles Fort that the returning French in built their second settlement known by the name of Port-Royal.

    For many years the site of Alexander's settlement, known as Charles Fort or Scots Fort, was thought to be on the hillside overlooking the Habitation. This site, marked by a stone monument and brass plaque, was designated a National Historic Site of Canada in The plaque has been removed and relocated as the actual site of Charles Fort has been established through archaeological evidence at Annapolis Royal; lying beneath Fort Anne.

    References

    External links

    William Alexander

    Profile & Legacies Summary

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    Biography

    Tentatively identified as William Alexander of William Alexander & Sons of Edinburgh, which failed in Landowner in Grenada in in partnership with Alexander John Alexander (q.v.). Brother of Alexander John Alexander and father of Sir William Alexander (). Described as a merchant in Edinburgh in the will of his own father William Alexander the Provost of Edinburgh (d. ).

    1. "After a period of residence in France, he proceeded in to the United States. Till he resided at Staunton in Virginia, when he removed to Kentucky, where he died in , at the age of ninety. he married, first, Christian, only daughter of John Aitchison of Rochsolach and Airdrie, in the county of Lanark; and secondly, Agatha de la Porte, belonging to an ancient family at Montpelier. Of his first marriage were born two sons and six daughters. Bethia, the eldest daughter, bron 27th march , died in , unmarried; Marianne, second daughter, born 12th December , married General Jonathan Williams of Philadelphia, nephew of Dr Franklin; she had a son, H. J. Williams, of Chenut Villa, Philadelphia, and a daughter, Mrs Thomas Biddle, deceased; Christine, third daughter, born 24th August , died unmarried in ; Jane, fourth daughter, born 5th June , died ; Isabella, fifth daughter, born 17th October , married Peter John Hankey, merchant, London, by whom she had three sons, John Alexander, General Henry, and Captain William, and a daughter, Julia, who married the Hon. Seymour Bathurst; Joanna, sixth daughter, born 10th June , died in By his second marriage, William Alexander was father of four sons, John Regis, Andrew, Charles, and James, and a daughter, Apolline Agatha, who married Thomson Hankey, Esq., M.P. for Peterborough, and one of the directors of the Bank of England."

    Sources

    1. Rev. Charles Rogers, Memorials of Earl of Stirling and the House of Alexander Vol. II (Edinburgh: William Paterson, ) pp.

    Further Information

  • William Alexander was born

    • William Alexander, 1st Earl of Stirling

    Scottish courtier and poet

    William Alexander, 1st Earl of StirlingPC (c. &#;&#; 12 February ) was a Scottishcourtier and poet who was involved in the Scottish colonisation of Charles Fort, later Port-Royal, Nova Scotia in and Long Island, New York. His literary works include Aurora (), The Monarchick Tragedies (), and Doomes-Day (, ).

    Biography

    Early life

    William Alexander was the son of Alexander of Menstrie and Marion, daughter of an Allan Couttie. He was born at Menstrie Castle, near Stirling. The family was old and claimed to be descended from Somerled, Lord of the Isles, through John of Islay. Because his father died in , and William was entrusted to the care of his great-uncle James in Stirling, he was probably educated at Stirling grammar school. There is a tradition that he was at the University of Glasgow; and, according to his friend the poet William Drummond of Hawthornden, he was a student at Leiden University.

    As a young man, William became tutor to the Earl of Argyll and accompanied him on his travels in France, Spain and Italy. William married, before , Janet, daughter of Sir William Erskine "The Parson of Campsie", one of the Balgonie family.

    He was introduced by Argyll to the court of King James VI in Edinburgh, taking on the role of a courtier-poet. He was one of the senior aristocrats who moved to London with the king in when he became King of England. He received the place of Gentleman Usher to Prince Charles, son of James I of England (James VI of Scotland), in , and continued in favour at court after Prince Charles became Charles I of England in In , his father-in-law received a pension of £ a year to be shared with William, and half the pension continued after Erskine's death.

    William built a reputation as a poet and writer of rhymed tragedies, and assisted King James I and VI in preparing the metrical version known as "The Psalms of