Mar, John Erskine, 11th earl of

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Mar, John Erskine, 11th earl of [S] (1675–1732). Debts being his inheritance, Mar entered politics in 1696 as placeman in the court party in Scotland, led by the duke of Queensberry until his fall in 1704. Mar rejoined him in office in 1705, helping him push the Act of Union through the Scots Parliament in 1707. Elected to Westminster as a representative Scots peer, by 1713 he was supporting a motion for repeal of the Union.

Having failed to attract the favour of George I, he sailed for Scotland to raise the standard of Jacobite rebellion on the Braes of Mar. The national response was spectacular, but he ruined the enterprise by sheer incompetence. After 1716 he lived in exile, until 1725 in association with the exiled dynasty, though after 1719 as a double agent currying favour with the Westminster government. He pottered with plans for economic improvement after 1725, but died unrestored to his estates.

Bruce Philip Lenman

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John Erskine 6th (or 11th) earl of Mar

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