The Domestic Papers Rose Family
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The Domestic Papers of the Rose Family EDITED BY ALISTAIR & HENRIETTA TAYLER Authors of "The Book of the Duffs " Editors of '' Lord Fife and his Factor," etc. ABERDEEN MILNE & HUTCHISON 1926 THE DOMESTIC PAPERS OF THE ROSE FAMILY. William Rose. From a Portrait in the possession of M.civer-Campbell, Esq., of Balloch.vle. INTRODUCTORY NOTE. WILLIAM RosE of Montcoffer, though a well-known man in his own day, was in no sense a historical character. He was the hard-working Factor or Agent for a County magnate in Scotland 150 years ago ; he was also, in his leisure moments, an industrious genealogist and anti quary, and left behind _him a vast mass of material in MS., some of which was sold by his sons, but the major part was carefully preserved. He had twelve children, and he kept nearly all the letters he received, both those on business and those purely personal. From this collection it has been possible to evolve a vivid picture of life in Scotland in the 18th Century, which always has an interest of its own. For the possession of these letters the present editors have, for the second time, to record their grate£ ul thanks to the late Mr. Edward Gordon-Duff, who presented to them the whole collection of '' Rose Papers,'' so curiously preserved in Banff ever since William Rose's death, and bought by Mr. Gordon-Duff c1:bout 30 years ago. A selection ·of the letters which Rose received from vi DOMESTIC PAPERS-ROSE FAMILY. his employer has been published elsewhere.1 For the present volume, the printed records of the long law suit, which, unfortunately, marked the close of Rose!s 40 years' connection with Lord Fife, have also been laid under contribution; he had kept copies of all documents on both sides. His vast correspondence with other landowners and politicans of the North of Scotland remains still unpublished, and some of these letters may, perhaps, see the light at a later date. ALISTAIR 'fAYLER. HENRIETTA TAYLER. DUFF COTTAGE, ANGMERING-ON-SEA, SussEx, 11th July, 1926. 1 "Lord Fife and his Factor,,, edited by Alistair Tayler and Henrietta Tayier. London: Heinemann & Co.. 21s. CONTENTS. CHAPTER PAGE I. William Rose-1740-1807. • • • I II. Mary Rose-1757-1838 . • . 55 III. James-1774-1814 • • • . • 69 IV. William-1775-1862 . • • 80 V. John-1776, died after r822 • • • 92 VI. Mary-1778-1828 . • 103 VII. Alexander-1779-I 813 . • • • 108 VIII. Patrick-1780-1844 . • . • 117 IX. George-1782-1807 • • • • • 132 X. Andrew-1783-1832 • • • • • 139 XI. Anna-1785-1827 . • • 147 XIL Hugh Hay-1787-1851 . • • 165 XIII. Elizabeth-1790-1860 • .. • • 176 XIV. Jane-1793-1830 • • • • • 179 ILLUSTRATIONS. William Rose . • . • • Frontispiece FACING PAGE Marv., Robinson, wife of '\Villiam Rose. • 56 Elizabeth Ogilvie Rose-Innes . • . • . 78 Patrick Rose . • . • • . • 118 John Abraham Tinne • • • • • • 158 Hugh Hay Rose • • • • • • • 158 Anna Tinne • • • • • • , . • 158 Mary, Mrs. McGown • • • • • • 178 The following passage from the autobiography of Sir Walter Scott seems curiously applicable to William Rose:- " Every Scottishman has a pedigree. It is a national preroga tive, as inalienable as his pride and his poverty. My birth was neither distinguished nor sordid. According to the prejudices of my country, it was esteemed gentle, as I was connected, though remotely, with ancient families, both by my father's and mother's side.'' CHAPTER I. William Rose-1740=1807. WILLIAM RosE was born in 1740 and died in 18o7. His life, therefore, covered a very interesting period of British History, but, except for the political contests in his own immediate neighbourhood, and the effect on these of the rise of Pitt and Dundas, historical events really touched him but little. His early childhood had been shadowed by the Jacobitism of his father, but he himself, like his master the 2nd Lord Fife, became a steady-going Whig, and very loyal to King George III. Brought up in extreme poverty, William Rose, by his own industry and exertions, as well as by his sterling qualities, rose to a position of great responsibility and importance as factor to Lord Fife, and, ,vhen he became head factor over several others, he controlled ( during his master's absence in London for the Parliamentary session) the domestic and the political affairs of a great part of the three counties of Banff, Moray and Aberdeen. This is shown clearly by the letters he received from all kinds of persons, begging for his help and interest, and by the constant instructions sent to him by Lord Fife on all sorts of matters, the letters frequently ending with phrases like:-'' I will leave it to your discretion''-"You will manage it the best way you can''-" I trust you." And in giving early information 2 DOMESTIC PAPERS-ROSE FAMILY. as to some Government project for new legislation,. he adds, '' What does Rose think about it ? '' It is not the course of Rose's life ( which was in no way eventful) that is interesting, but the picture of his times and of his country, as shewn in the family letters; some of his own are theref~re first given and then a selection of those from each of his children. Strict chronological order has not been preserved, as being of less importance than the grouping of subjects. By the kindness of Mr. Mciver Campbell, his great grandson, we are enabled to reproduce portraits of William Rose and his wife, by that of Mr. Raymond Tinne Berthon, a great-great-grandson, the page of miniatures-and by that of Mrs. Suart, the portrait of Patrick Rose. According to Lord Fife's frequent comments, Rose, who was a little man, became in later life very portly, and is frequently warned as to his dislike of exercise, his short neck and love of good eating and drinking. He eventually died of an apoplectic seizure, but in his youth seems to have been good looking. The coat in the portrait is green, and there is a letter from Lord Fife of 3rd May, 1773, announcing that he has bought for Rose in London "a Pea green coat with a buff Casima waistcoat in which you must look wonderfully handsome. " 1 His wife, Mary, the daughter of William Rohin~on of Banff, was an exceptionally beautiful woman (a letter from Miss Charlotte Forbes describes her as "almost divine"), and their married life was very happy ; her brother, George Robinson, W.S., was one of Lord Fife's law agents and a 1 Lord Fife also adds, in a jocular strain, that he regrets not having had the coat fitted to anyone, but that Harden, his Secretary, is so much taller than Rose, James Duff (his natural son) too slight, and, perhaps, Rose would not like it fitted on the French chef, who, apparently, was of the right figure ! WILLIAM ROSE. 3 most humorous letter writer. .A.nother brother was Dr. James Robinson, at one time employed ( in his pro fessional capacity) by Lord Fife, as shewn by a letter from James to his brother-in-law, William Rose, after Lord Fife's riding accident in 1787. '' I am far from easy under the responsibility and would have wished some other Surgeon called in, but 'the Thane' would not hear of it. I will not animadvert much on the consequences had this accident ended fatally. To our family it would certainly have proved a very great loss.'' Rose had a great personal devotion to Lord Fife, which appears frequently in his letters. "You are the only one I look up to," he writes on one occasion, "and I am prepared to run the gauntlet for you'' ( in some political dispute) ''though sooner than that I would take a journey to Constantinople with my ten bairns, running the risk of the plague." When Lord Fife (who had succeeded on his father's death to an Irish Earldom only) was made a Peer of the United Kingdom, William Rose, who had shared all the hopes and fears with regard to a compulsory change of title, writes, ''No event can afford me greater satisfaction, so much as that I think all ambition on earth is now at an end.'' At the same date, 26th April, 1790, Rose writes: "I saw Colonel Urquhart in great distress at Edinb. lifted in his agony when I told him your Lop. was to be a peer to a degree of joy that delighted me."1 William Rose was very proud of a long descent ( as became a genealogist) and was undoubtedly a remote 1 In the same letter occurs "The roup of Rannes furniture comes on the 15th May. If your Lop. wants good. beds and table linen, there is there the best materials." This would be for furnishing Lord Fife's new house of Innes, and shews Rose ever careful of his employer's interest. 4 DOMESTIC PAPERS-ROSE FAMILY. descendant of a younger son of the Rose of Kilravock1 of the 15th century, and traced his descent as follows:- John Rose, the younger son in question, married, 1526, Marjory Dunbar, and held the small estate of Ballivat, which was sold by his grandson. John Rose of Ballivat, married, 1545, Janet Urquhart I of Burdsyards. John Rose of Ballivat, married, 16o6, Christian I Gordon. Hugh Rose (a younger son), married, 1633, I Katherine Ord. I Patrick Rose of Lochiehills, married, 1642, Margaret I or Isabel Tulloch. John Rose, in Western Alves, married, 1698, I Margaret Grant. John Rose (a younger son), Merchant in Forres, married, 1735, Anne Cuming. This John Rose, like many of the smaller gentry and poor members of old families in the North, was "out in the '45," and had to flee to America ( where some of his \ brothers were settled) after Culloden.