Page:The Complete Peerage Ed 2 Vol 4.djvu/552

 534 DUNFERMLINE BARONY. I. James Abercromby, 3rd s. of Mary Anne, suo jure Baroness Abercromby of Aboukir and Tullibody, 1. 1839. by the celebrated Sir Ralph Abercromby, the hero of Alexandria, was b. 7 Nov. 1776; matric. at Oxford (Ch. Ch.) 27 Oct. 1794; Barrister (Line. Inn) 8 Feb. 1800; Commissioner of Bankruptcy, 1801-27; Auditor to the estates of the Duke of Devonshire ; M.P. (Whig) for Midhurst 1807-12, for Calne 1812-30, and for Edinburgh 1832-39; <rr. D.C.L. Oxford 5 July i8io;P.C. 23 May 1827; Judge Advo- cate General in Canning's and Goderich's Ministries, 1827-28; Chief Baron of the Exchequer [S.] 1830-32; Master of the Mint and a member of the Cabinet, July to Dec. 1834; and finally Speaker of the House of Commons,(*) 1835 to 1839. On his retirement he was (with a pension of ;^4,ooo a year) cr., 7 June 1839, BARON DUNFERMLINE of Dunfermline, co. Fife. Dean of Faculties in the Univ. of Glasgow, 1841-44. He in., 14 June 1802, Mary Anne, ist da. of Egerton Leigh, of High Leigh, co. Chester, by Elizabeth, da. and coh. of Francis Jodrell, of Twemlow, in that co. He d. 17 Apr. 1858, in his 82nd year, at Colinton House, Midlothian. His widow d. there 2 Aug. 1874, aged 96. IL 1858 2. Ralph (Abercromby), Baron Dunfermline, only to s. and h., b. 6 Apr. 1803; ed. at Eton circa 18 14-18; ent. 1868. the Diplomatic Service 1821; Sec. of Legation, Berlin, 1831-35; Minister at Florence, 1835-38; to the Ger- manic Confederation, 1 838-40; at Turin, 1 840-5 1 ; andatthe Hague 1851-58. K.C.B., I Mar. 1851. A Liberal.C) He w., 18 Sep. 1838, Mary Eliza, 1st da. of Gilbert (Elliot), 2nd Earl of Minto, by Mary, da. of Patrick Brydone. He d. s.p.m., 12 July 1868, at Colinton House afsd., aged 65, who was recognized in Jacobite circles as Lord Dunfermline, but the Editor has failed to find out anything more about him. " Lord Dunfermline is in so hard circumstances and his case amongst the most favourable that I could not well decline to represent it . . . You know he represents a sufferer for the company, so I wish you may mind him, that he may be capable to renew his trade again the first opportunity." V.G. (») His election by 316 votes against 306 (for the late Speaker, Manners-Sutton) was a triumph for the Whig party. His short career, however, as Speaker "was marked by no incidents which called for the exercise or display of those qualities by which the office acquires importance in peculiar emergencies." {Annual Reg., 1858). G.E.C. Indeed, he proved inefficient, and let the House get out of hand. Sydney Smith wrote of him in 1832, "He is the wisest-looking man I know. It is said he can see through millstones and granite." According to Dr. John Brown, he " cared little for . . . society, but for managing men, for advancing liberty and widening and deepening the issues of political life, I never saw any man have such a steady passionate regard, and this without one particle of self-seeking or personal pride." V.G. C") But he supported the motion of censure on the foreign policy of the Palmer- ston Govt, in 1864. V.G.