Sir John Colquhoun of Luss

SIR JOHN COLQUHOUN OF LUSS

Sometime Great Chamberlain of Scotland and Governor of the Castle of Dumbarton

Sir John Colquhoun was one of the most distinguished men of his age in Scotland, and highly esteemed by King James III, from whom he got a charter in 1457 of the lands of Luss, Colquhoun, and Garscube, in Dumbartonshire, and of the lands of Glyn and Sauchie, in Stirlingshire, incorporating the whole into a free barony, to be called the Barony of Luss; and in the following year he obtained from the king a charter erecting into a free forest the lands of Rossdhu and Glenmachome. Builder of Rossdhu Castle the remains of which can still be seen today behind the current mansion house.. From 1465 to 1469 he held the high office of comptroller of the Exchequer, and was subsequently appointed sheriff principle of Dumbartonshire. In 1645 he got a grant of the lands of Kilmardinny, and in 1473 and in 1474, of Roseneath, Strone, &c. In 1474 he was appointed lord high chamberlain of Scotland, and immediately thereafter was nominated one of the ambassadors extraordinary to the Court of England, to negotiate a marriage between the Prince Royal of Scotland and the Princess Cicily, daughter of King Edward IV. By a royal charter dated 17th September 1477, he was constituted governor of the castle of Dumbarton for life. By his wife, daughter of Thomas, Lord Boyd, he had two sons and one daughter. His second son, Robert, was bred to the church, and was first rector of Argyle from 1473 to 1499. The daughter, Margaret, married Sir William Murray, seventh baron of Tullibardine (ancestor of the Dukes of Athole), and bore to him seventeen sons. The Chiefs of Colquhoun and their Country I: pp. 44-5

Sir John Colquhoun of Luss was serving in the royal army which beseiged Dunbar Castle. He killed on the second day of the siege, when: "a single cannon-ball killed three of the most valiant knights in the royal army - Sir John Colquhoun of Luss, Sir Andrew Wallace of Craigie, and Sir James Shaw of Sauchie." The precise date of his death is not known but he died before 14 June 1479, the date upon which his son Humphrey was served as heir to his deceased father. The Chiefs of Colquhoun and their Country I: pp. 44-5

Genealogy

The Chiefs of Colquhoun and their Country, i, pp. 33-54