Lords Napier of Merchiston (1627)

1^st Lord Napier, Archibald Napier, b.c.1576, a.1627, d.1645

Archibald Napier was the 9^th Laird of Merchiston and the son of the famous Scottish mathematician John Napier (b.1550, d.1617) and his first wife Elizabeth Stirling (b.?, d.1579), daughter of Sir James Stirling of Keir. He was made a Privy Counsellor in 1617 and was Lord Justice Clerk from 1623 to 1624. He was a Lord of Session from 1623 to 1626 and an Extraordinary Lord of Session from 1626 to 1628. In 1627 he was created 1^st Baronet Napier of Merchiston in the Baronetage of Nova Scotia and shortly afterwards raised to the peerage. He served as a Commissioner for the Scottish Parliament in negotiations with the English but thereafter became a Royalist and was imprisoned by the Covenanters in Edinburgh Castle, though he later escaped with the help of his son Archibald after having been transferred to Linlithgow Palace due to an outbreak of the plague. He then joined the Marquess of Montrose, who was his brother-in-law, and was at the Battle of Philiphaugh, though over 70 years old at the time. He escaped into the Highlands but died sooner after.

2^nd Lord Napier, Archibald Napier, b.c.1625, a.1645, d.1660

Son of the 1^st Lord and Lady Margaret Graham (b.?, d.?), daughter of John Graham, 4^th Earl of Montrose. He also fought alongside Montrose, his uncle, and was in Montrose’s Kincardine Castle when it was under siege from General Middleton. He escaped to the Continent in 1646 and never returned to Scotland. He was surprisingly exempt from the Act of Grace.

3^rd Lord Napier, Archibald Napier, b.?, a.1660, d.1683

Son of the 2^nd Lord and Lady Elizabeth Erskine (b.?, d.1683), daughter of John Erskine, 19^th & 3^rd Earl of Mar. Never married, he obtained a re-grant of the title to his sisters and heirs-female. When he died the baronetcy became dormant and was later claimed successfully by his heir-general, while the lordship passed to his older sister’s son.

4^th Lord Napier, Thomas Nicolson, b.1669, a.1683, d.1686

Grandson of the 2^nd Lord and son of Jean Napier (b.?, d.1680) and Sir Thomas Nicolson (b.1649, d.1670), 3^rd Baronet Nicolson of Carnock in the County of Stirling. He had already succeeded his father as 4^th Baronet Nicolson before succeeding his uncle to the lordship. He died young and the baronetcy transferred to his cousin and heir-male, while the lordship passed to his mother’s younger sister.

5^th Lord (Lady) Napier, Margaret Brisbane, b.?, a.1686, d.1706

Younger sister of the 3^rd Lord.

6^th Lord Napier, Francis Napier, b.c.1702, a.1706, d.1773

Grandson of Lady Napier and her husband John Brisbane (b.?, d.1684) (who was made Judge Advocate of the Fleet in 1671 and Secretary to the Admiralty in 1683) and son of Elizabeth Brisbane (b.?, d.1705) and Sir William Scott (b.?, d.1725), 2^nd Baronet Scott of Thirlstane. He also succeeded his father as 4^th Baronet Scott in 1725. He changed his surname to Napier. He was Commissioner of the Police from 1761 to 1773.

7^th Lord Napier, William Napier, b.1730, a.1773, d.1775

Son of the 6^th Lord and his first wife Henrietta Hope (b.1706, d.1745), daughter of Charles Hope, 1^st Earl of Hopetoun. He reached the rank of Major in the Scots Greys in 1770. He was also Deputy Adjutant-General in Scotland from 1763 until his death which held the rank of Lieutenant-Colonel.

8^th Lord Napier, Francis Napier, b.1758, a.1775, d.1823

Son of the 7^th Lord and Mary Anne Cathcart (b.1727, d.1774), daughter of Charles Cathcart, 8^th Lord Cathcart. He joined the 31^st Foot Regiment in 1774 and reached the rank of Lieutenant in 1776. He fought in the American War of Independence and was with General Burgoyne at the surrender at the Battle of Saratoga in 1777, and briefly held prisoner before being allowed to return to Europe. He rejoined the Army as a Captain in the 35^th Foot Regiment before transferring to the 4^th Foot Regiment becoming a Major in 1784. He was Grand Master of the Freemasons of Scotland from 1788 to 1790. In 1793 he was appointed as Lieutenant-Colonel of the Hopetoun Fencibles. His peerage was questioned in 1790 but he succeeded in establishing his title and served as a Representative Peer from 1796 to 1806 and from 1807 to 1823. He was Lord-Lieutenant of Selkirkshire from 1797 to his death and Lord High Commissioner to the General Assembly of the Church of Scotland from 1802 to 1816.

9^th Lord Napier, William John Napier, b.1786, a.1823, d.1834

Son of the 8^th Lord and Maria Margaret Clavering (b.1756, d.1821), daughter of Lieutenant-General Sir John Clavering, KCB. He joined the Navy and was a Midshipman on HMS Defiance at the Battle of Trafalgar. He reached the rank of Lieutenant in 1809 and Captain in 1814 before retiring from active service. He then attended the University of Edinburgh and took an interest in improving agricultural techniques on his estates in the South of Scotland. He was also a Representative Peer from 1824 to 1832 and was a Lord of the Bedchamber from 1830 to 1833. He was then appointed Chief Superintendent of Trade in China, arriving in Macau in 1834. However the Governor of Canton refused to recognise him until receiving instructions from Peking and he sent two frigates upriver to exercise some gunboat diplomacy. Realising his actions were in danger of seriously damaging relations between Chinese and British merchants, he finally retired to Macau, where he died of a fever soon after.

10^th Lord Napier, Francis Napier, b.1819, a.1834, d.1898

Son of the 9^th Lord and Elizabeth Cochrane-Johnstone (b.1794, d.1883). He entered the diplomatic service and worked in various Brirish embassies across the world, finally becoming Ambassador to Russia in St Petersburg from 1860 to 1864 and to Prussia in Berlin from 1864 to 1866. He was made a Privy Counsellor in 1861 and a Knight of the Thistle in 1864. in 1866 he was apponted as Governor of Madras, and in 1872 was briefly Viceroy of India. On retiring from service he was created 1^st Baron Ettrick, of Ettrick in Selkirkshire, in the Peerage of the United Kingdom.

11^th Lord Napier, William John George Napier, b.1846, a.1898, d.1913

Son of the 10^th Lord and Anne Jane Charlotte Lockwood (b.1824, d.1911). He also served in the Foreign Office, first as an Attache in Athens in 1870, then serving in Berlin, Madrid Lisbon and Brussels before becoming Secretary of Legation in Buenos Aires in 1886. In that position he also served in Stockholm from 1887 and in Tokyo from 1888 to 1891.

12^th Lord Napier, Francis Edward Basil Napier, b.1876, a.1913, d.1941

Son of the 11^th Lord and his first wife Harriet Blake Armstrong Lumb (b.?, d.1897). He reached the rank of Captain in the 7^th Battalion, King’s Royal Rifle Corps and fought in the First World War.

13^th Lord Napier, William Francis Cyril James Hamilton Napier, b.1900, a.1941, d.1954

Son of the 12^th Lord and Clarice Jessie Evelyn Hamilton (b.1881, d.1951), daughter of James Hamilton, 9^th Lord Belhaven & Stenton. Educated at Wellington College and Sandhurst, he joined the King’s Own Scottish Borderers in 1920 and reached the rank of Lieutenant-Colonel in 1939. He was commanding officer of the 6^th Battalion at the start of the Second World War and then served as Assistant Adjutant-General in the War Office from 1943 to 1944. He was invested in the Royal Company of Archers in 1930 and was a County Councillor in Selkirkshire from 1946 to 1948.

14^th Lord Napier, Francis Nigel Napier, b.1930, a.1954

Son of the 13^th Lord and Violet Muir Newson (b.?, d.1992), daughter of Sir Percy Wilson Newson, 1^st Baronet Newson of Framlington, Suffolk. Educated at Eton, he joined the Scots Guards in 1950 and served in Malaya. He was Equerry to HRH Duke of Gloucester from 1958 to 1960 and then Private Secretary, Comptroller and Equerry to HRH Princess Margaret from 1973 to 1998, and her Treasurer from 1998 to 2002. He is a member of the Royal Company of Archers and was invested as a Knight of the Order of St John of Jerusalem in 1991 and Knight of the Royal Victorian Order in 1992. He is also an Executive Member of the Standing Council of the Baronetage and of the Standing Council of Scottish Chiefs. As well as being 14^th Lord Napier, he is also 5^th Baron Ettrick, 12^th Baronet Scott of Thirlstane and Chief of Clan Napier.

The courtesy title for the heir is Master of Napier.

(Last updated: 10/08/2010)