John Seton, Lord Barns

John Seton, Lord Barns (Born 1553. died 1594) was a Scottish diplomat, courtier and judge.

Life

He was the third son of George Seton, 7th Lord Seton, by his wife Isabel, daughter of Sir William Hamilton of Sanquhar. While still a young man he went to Spain and the court of Philip II, by whom he was made Knight of the Military Order of Santiago and master of the household.[1]

Seton was appointed master of the stable to James VI of Scotland some time before 1581,[2] when he had an encounter with James Stewart, Earl of Arran. The same year he was sent as ambassador to complain to Elizabeth I of England regarding her conduct in interfering on behalf of James Douglas, 4th Earl of Morton, but was not permitted to enter England. On 27 January 1587 he was admitted a member of the privy council; and on 17 February 1588 he was appointed, with the title Lord Barns, an extraordinary lord of session, in the place of his brother Alexander Seton.[1]

Seton died on 25 May 1594.[1] His castle at Barnes Castle was uncompleted at his death.

The poet William Fowler, who was secretary to the queen Anne of Denmark wrote an epitaph for John Seton which was printed as a broadsheet.[3]

Family

Seton married Anne, daughter of William Forbes, 7th Lord Forbes, on 8 September 1588 at Lord Ogilvie's house in Angus.[4]

Seton had, with other children, a son John who succeeded him. John married Margaret Hay, a daughter of Francis Hay, 9th Earl of Erroll and Elizabeth Douglas, Countess of Erroll.[1] Another son was Hannibal Seton.[5]

Notes
  1. Lee, Sidney, ed. (1897). "Seton, John (d.1594)" . Dictionary of National Biography. 51. London: Smith, Elder & Co.
  2. Gordon Donaldson, Register of the Privy Seal: 1581-1584, vol. 8 (Edinburgh, 1982), p. 55 no. 333.
  3. Sebastiaan Verweij, The Literary Culture of Early Modern Scotland (Oxford, 2017), p. 81: Henry Meikle, Works of William Fowler, vol. 1 (Edinburgh, 1914), p. 6
  4. Calendar State Papers Scotland (Edinburgh, 1915), p. 613.
  5. George Seton, History of the family of Seton during eight centuries, vol. 2 (Edinburgh, 1896), p. 897.
Attribution

 This article incorporates text from a publication now in the public domain: Lee, Sidney, ed. (1897). "Seton, John (d.1594)". Dictionary of National Biography. 51. London: Smith, Elder & Co.

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