Who was the husband of Patricia Ruthven, granddaughter of the 1st Earl of Forth and Brentford?

[ravinma...@yahoo.com]

An interesting petition, dated 1723, in the _Calendar of Treasury Papers_, caught my eye:

"Memorial of the Hon[ble] M[rs] Patricia Ballentyne to the Right Hon[ble] the Lords of the Treasury, recommended by the Duke of Devonshire." Is the only descendant, alive, of Patrick, Earl of Forth and Brantford [sic, Brentford], who was General under Gustavus Adolphus in Sweden, and under King Charles the 1st during the Civil Wars, and who performed his duties with universal approbation, and expended of his own money above 10,000 l. in that King's service; of which memorialist, who is his next heir, has never recovered anything. "Lady Jean Ruthven, his only daughter, when she belonged to the late Princess Sophia, the King's Royal mother was married in Germany to James, Lord Forrester," memorialist's father, whose estate and honour descended to a collateral branch, being unfortunately murdered, left her very poorly provided. Has avoided as much as possible to beseech relief until now, in her great age, when she is reduced ..."

https://babel.hathitrust.org/cgi/pt?id=msu.31293027028053&view=1up&seq=260&q1=ballentyne

She must be the Hon. Patricia Ruthven, born in October 1668, according to Cracroft's Peerage:

James [Baillie later Forrester], 2nd Lord Forrester of Corstorphine

1st son and heir of Maj Gen William Baillie of Letham and Torwoodhead (by his wife Janet Bruce), illegit. son of Sir William Baillie of Lamington by his mistress, later wife, ..... Home, dau. of Sir Alexander Home of North Berwick

born

29 Oct 1629

mar. (1)

after 15 Dec 1649 Hon Joanna Forrester (dspms. after 8 Feb 1652), 4th dau. and cohrss. of George [Forrester], 1st Lord Forrester of Corstorphine, by his wife Christian Livingston, dau. of Sir William Livingston of Kilsyth

only child by first wife

1. William Forrester (b. 8 Feb 1652; dvp. an infant)

mar. (2)

before Jul 1661 Lady Jean Ruthven (d. after Oct 1668), 3rd dau. and cohrss. of Patrick [Ruthven], 1st Earl of Forth and Brentford, by his second wife Jane Henderson, sister of Col John Henderson

children by second wife

1. Hon Charles Ruthven (b. 21 Jul 1661; dvp. young)

2. Hon Edward Ruthven, an officer in the Life Guards (b. 19 Feb 1663; d. 1682), mar. Martha Temple

3. Hon John Ruthven (b. 9 May 1666; dvp. young)

1. Hon Clara Ruthven (b. 16 Jan 1665), mar. (1) 11 Oct 1683 Andrew Dick, advocate, and (2) ..... Murray of Spot

2. Hon Patricia Ruthven (b. 28 Oct 1668; d. after 1694)

died

26 Aug 1679

suc. by

brother

Note: a zealous loyalist, he was fined £2,500 in 1654 under Cromwell's Act of Grace and Indemnification; he seduced his first wife's niece, Christian Hamilton, and was murdered by her

http://www.cracroftspeerage.co.uk/forrester1633.htm

The name "Ballentyne" must refer to some marriage's of hers, though Scotswomen usually went by the maiden name at this time. Perhaps the titles along with a name change (her father's birth surname was Baillie, not Forrester), led to adoption of the husband's name.

The only other thing I find about her is that she was called "Patricia Ruthven, grand-child to the earl of Bramford" in a list dating from around 1696.

https://babel.hathitrust.org/cgi/pt?id=mdp.39015013473726&view=1up&seq=31&q1=bramford

[Mark Jennings]

On Thursday, April 8, 2021 at 9:01:17 PM UTC+1, ravinma...@yahoo.com wrote:
> An interesting petition, dated 1723, in the _Calendar of Treasury Papers_, caught my eye:
>
> "Memorial of the Hon[ble] M[rs] Patricia Ballentyne to the Right Hon[ble] the Lords of the Treasury, recommended by the Duke of Devonshire." Is the only descendant, alive, of Patrick, Earl of Forth and Brantford [sic, Brentford], who was General under Gustavus Adolphus in Sweden, and under King Charles the 1st during the Civil Wars, and who performed his duties with universal approbation, and expended of his own money above 10,000 l. in that King's service; of which memorialist, who is his next heir, has never recovered anything. "Lady Jean Ruthven, his only daughter, when she belonged to the late Princess Sophia, the King's Royal mother was married in Germany to James, Lord Forrester," memorialist's father, whose estate and honour descended to a collateral branch, being unfortunately murdered, left her very poorly provided. Has avoided as much as possible to beseech relief until now, in her great age, when she is reduced ..."
>
> https://babel.hathitrust.org/cgi/pt?id=msu.31293027028053&view=1up&seq=260&q1=ballentyne
>
> She must be the Hon. Patricia Ruthven, born in October 1668, according to Cracroft's Peerage:
>

(snip)

>
> The name "Ballentyne" must refer to some marriage's of hers, though Scotswomen usually went by the maiden name at this time. Perhaps the titles along with a name change (her father's birth surname was Baillie, not Forrester), led to adoption of the husband's name.

Patricia Ruthven, of St James, Westminster, married George Ballantyne (sic) at St Martin-in-the-fields, London, on 22 June 1714, by licence (PR)

It is more odd that the children of Lord Forrester's second marriage should have been known by their mother's maiden surname.

[ravinma...@yahoo.com]

Yes that's a bit odd (did it have to do with the fact he was only Lord Forrester by virtue of his first marriage to a Forrester, and had no surviving children by Joanna Forrester?).

Here is the story of Lord Forrester's murder:

He became very dissipated and abandoned in his character, frequently spending days drinking in an alehouse in the village of Corstorphine. On one of these occasions, he was sent for by Christian Hamilton, daughter of James Hamilton of Orange, and wife of an Edinburgh merchant, named Andrew Nimmo, with whom he had carried on an intrigue, and who had come out to visit him at Corstorphine Castle. He was unwilling to obey the summons, and she being a person of a violent and ungovernable temper, was on her way to the alehouse to enforce his attention, when they met near the Pigeon House, to the east of the castle, and a quarrel ensued, when she murdered him with his own sword. This happened on 26th August 1679.

https://www.angelfire.com/ct2/corstorphine/index3b.html