1388 and died about 1398. His grandson, Sir Alexander Montgomerie (d. c. 1460), was made a lord of the Scottish parliament about 1445 as Lord Montgomerie, and Sir Alexander’s great-grandson Hugh, the 3rd lord (c. 1460–1545), was created earl of Eglinton, or Eglintoun, in 1508. Hugh, who was a person of importance during the minority of James V., was succeeded by his grandson Hugh (d. 1546), and then by the latter’s son Hugh (c. 1531–1585), who became 3rd earl of Eglinton. This nobleman was a firm supporter of Mary queen of Scots, for whom he fought at Langside, and of the Roman Catholic Church; his son and successor, Hugh, was murdered in April 1586 by the Cunninghams, a family with which his own had an hereditary blood feud. In 1612, by the death of Hugh, the 5th earl, the male line of the Montgomeries became extinct.
Having no children Earl Hugh had settled his title and estates on his cousin, Sir Alexander Seton of Foulstruther (1588–1661), a younger son of Robert Seton, 1st earl of Wintoun (c. 1550–1603), and his wife Margaret, daughter of the 3rd earl of Eglinton. Alexander, who thus became the 6th earl of Eglinton and took the name of Montgomerie, was commonly called Greysteel; he was a prominent Covenanter and fought against Charles I. at Marston Moor. Later, however, he supported the cause of Charles II., and fell into the hands of Cromwell, who imprisoned him. His fifth son, Robert Montgomerie (d. 1684), a soldier of distinction, fought against Cromwell at Dunbar and at Worcester, afterwards escaping from the Tower of London and serving in Denmark. Robert’s elder brother, Hugh, 7th earl of Eglinton (1613–1669), who also fought against Cromwell, was the grandfather of Alexander, the 9th earl (c. 1660–1729), who married, for his third wife, Susannah (1689–1780), daughter of Sir Archibald Kennedy, Bart., of Culzean, a lady celebrated for her wit and beauty. Alexander, the 10th earl (1723–1769), a son of the 9th earl, was one of the first of the Scottish landowners to carry out improvements on his estates. He was shot near Ardrossan by an excise officer named Mungo Campbell on the 24th of October 1769. His brother and successor, Archibald, the 11th earl (1726–1796), raised a regiment of Highlanders with which he served in America during the Seven Years’ War. As he left no male issue he was succeeded in the earldom by his kinsman Hugh Montgomerie (1739–1819), a descendant of the 6th earl, who was created a peer of the United Kingdom as Baron Ardrossan in 1806. Before succeeding to the earldom Hugh had served in the American war and had been a member of parliament; after this event he began to rebuild Eglinton castle on a magnificent scale and to construct a harbour at Ardrossan.
This earl’s successor was his grandson, Archibald William, the 13th earl (1812–1861), who was born at Palermo on the 29th of September 1812. His father was Archibald, Lord Montgomerie (1773–1814), the eldest son of the 12th earl, and his mother was Mary (d. 1848), a daughter of the 11th earl. Educated at Eton, the young earl’s main object of interest for some years was the turf; he kept a large racing stud and won success and reputation in the sporting world. In 1839 his name became more widely known in connexion with the famous tournament which took place at Eglinton castle and is said to have cost him £30,000 or £40,000. This was made the subject of much ridicule and was partly spoiled by the unfavourable weather, the rain falling in torrents. Yet it was a real tournament and the “knights” broke their spears in the orthodox way. Prince Louis Napoleon (Napoleon III.) took part in it, and Lady Seymour, a daughter of Thomas Sheridan and the wife of Lord Seymour, afterwards 12th duke of Somerset, was the queen of beauty. A list of the challengers with an account of the jousts and the melée will be found in the volume on the tournament written by John Richardson, with drawings by J. H. Nixon. It is also described by Disraeli in Endymion. Eglinton was a staunch Tory, and in February 1852 he became lord-lieutenant of Ireland under the earl of Derby. He retired with the ministry in the following December, having by his princely hospitality made himself one of the most popular of Irish viceroys. When Derby returned to office in February 1858 he was again appointed lord-lieutenant, and he discharged the duties of this post until June 1859. In this year he was created earl of Winton, an earldom which had been held by his kinsfolk, the Setons, from 1600 until 1716, when George Seton, the 5th earl (c. 1678–1749), was deprived of his honours for high treason. The earl died on the 4th of October 1861, and was succeeded by his eldest son Archibald William (1841–1892). When this earl died in 1892 his younger brother George Arnulph (b. 1848) became 15th earl of Eglinton and 3rd earl of Winton.
See Sir W. Fraser, Memorials of the Montgomeries, earls of Eglinton (1859).
EGMONT, EARLS OF. John Perceval, 1st earl of Egmont (1683–1748), Irish politician, and partner with J. E. Oglethorpe in founding the American colony of Georgia, was created earl in 1733. He claimed descent from the Egmonts of Flanders, but his title was taken from the place in County Cork where the family residence stood. Its name of Burton House, and that of Burton manor which formed part of the family estates, were a reminiscence of Burton in Somerset, where was the earlier English family property of his great-great-grandfather Richard Perceval (1550–1620), Burghley’s secret agent, and author of a Spanish dictionary published in 1591, whose son Sir Philip Perceval (1605–1647) acquired the Irish estates by judicious use of his opportunities as commissioner for land titles and of his interest at court. Sir Philip’s son John, grandfather of the 1st earl, was made a baronet in 1661. The first earl of Egmont (who had been made Baron Perceval in 1715, and Viscount Perceval in 1723) is chiefly important for his connexion with the colonization of Georgia, and for his voluminous letters and writings on biography and genealogy.
John Perceval, 2nd earl of Egmont (1711–1770), his eldest son, was an active politician, first lord of the admiralty (1763–1766), and political pamphleteer, and like his father an ardent genealogist. He was twice married, and had eight sons and eight daughters. One of his younger sons was Spencer Perceval, prime minister of England. His eldest son succeeded as 3rd earl, and the eldest by his second marriage (with Catherine Compton, baroness of Arden in Ireland) was in 1802 created Baron Arden of the United Kingdom, a title which subsequently became merged in the Egmont earldom.
EGMONT (Egmond), LAMORAL, Count of, prince of Gavre (1522–1568), was born in Hainaut in 1522. He was the younger of the two sons of John IV., count of Egmont, by his wife Françoise of Luxemburg, princess of Gavre. On the death of his elder brother Charles, about 1541, he succeeded to his titles and estates. In this year he served his apprenticeship as a soldier in the expedition of the emperor Charles V. to Algiers, distinguishing himself in the command of a body of cavalry. In 1544 he married Sabina, sister of the elector palatine Frederick III., and the wedding was celebrated at Spires with great pomp in the presence of the emperor and his brother Ferdinand, afterwards emperor. Created knight of the Golden Fleece in 1546, he accompanied Philip of Spain in his tour through the Netherland towns, and in 1554 he went to England at the head of a special embassy to ask the hand of Mary of England for Philip, and was afterwards present at the wedding ceremony at Winchester. In the summer of 1557 Egmont was appointed commander of the Flemish cavalry in the war between Spain and France; and it was by his vehement persuasion that the battle of St Quentin was fought. The victory was determined by the brilliant charge that he led against the French. The reputation which he won at St Quentin was raised still higher in 1558, when he encountered the French army under de Thermes at Gravelines, on its march homewards after the invasion of Flanders, totally defeated it, and took Marshal de Thermes prisoner. The battle was fought against the advice of the duke of Alva, and the victory made Alva Egmont’s enemy. But the count now became the idol of his countrymen, who looked upon him as the saviour of Flanders from the devastations of the French. He was nominated by Philip stadtholder of Flanders and Artois. At the conclusion of the war by the treaty of Cateau Cambrésis, Egmont was one of the four hostages selected by the king of France as pledges for its execution.
