John Dalrymple, 12th Earl of Stair

For other people named John Dalrymple, see John Dalrymple (disambiguation).

John James Hamilton Dalrymple, 12th Earl of Stair KT, DSO, DL (1 February 1879 – 4 November 1961), styled Viscount Dalrymple between 1903 and 1914, was a Scottish soldier and Conservative Party then Unionist Party politician.

Background

Dalrymple was the son of John Dalrymple, 11th Earl of Stair.

Military and political career

Dalrymple fought in the Second Boer War and the First World War, where he was captured by the Germans. He also sat as Member of Parliament for Wigtownshire from 1906 to 1914, when he succeeded his father in the earldom and entered the House of Lords. Lord Stair was later Lord High Commissioner to the General Assembly of the Church of Scotland in 1927 and 1928.

Family

Lord Stair married Violet Evelyn Harford, a descendant maternally of Laurence Parsons, 2nd Earl of Rosse, on 20 October 1904. Lady Stair's father Frederick Henry Harford was grandson of Henry Harford, last colonial proprietor of Maryland and illegitimate son of Frederick Calvert, 6th Baron Baltimore. Her paternal aunt Edith Harford married 2ndly (as his 1st wife) George, Viscount Parker (father by his 2nd wife of the 7th Earl of Macclesfield). Her mother Florence Parsons was granddaughter paternally of Laurence Parsons, 2nd Earl of Rosse and maternally of the 2nd Baron Duncombe. Thus the former Violet Harford, despite the lack of a "handle" (courtesy title), was well-connected to the peerage, and her family was probably still quite wealthy.

They had six children, of whom all but one married and left issue and descendants:

• Lady Jean Margaret Florence Dalrymple (1905–2001), later Lady Jean Rankin DCVO, a Lady in Waiting to the Queen Mother.
• John Aymer Dalrymple, 13th Earl of Stair (1906–1996)
• Lady Marion Violet "Snowy" Dalrymple (1 February 1908 – 1995)
• Captain The Hon. Hew North Dalrymple (b. 27 April 1910 – 24 May 2012) - father of Robert Hew Dalrymple (b. 10 November 1946)
• Hon. Andrew William Henry Dalrymple (1914–1945), killed in a plane crash
• Major Colin James Dalrymple (b. 1920)

External links

• Hansard 1803–2005: contributions in Parliament by the Earl of Stair

Parliament of the United Kingdom
Preceded by Sir Herbert Maxwell	Member of Parliament for Wigtownshire 1906–1914	Succeeded by Hew Hamilton Dalrymple
Honorary titles
Preceded by Sir Herbert Maxwell	Lord Lieutenant of Wigtown 1935–1961	Succeeded by The Earl of Stair
Masonic offices
Preceded by The Earl of Elgin	Grand Master of the Grand Lodge of Scotland 1924–1926	Succeeded by The Lord Blythswood
Peerage of Scotland
Preceded by John Dalrymple	Earl of Stair 1914–1961	Succeeded by John Dalrymple