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{{Short description|Scottish courtier}}
{{for|the New Zealand writer|Anna Mackenzie (writer)}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=November 2016}}
{{Use British English|date=November 2016}}
{{Infobox person
{{Infobox person
| name = Anna Mackenzie
| name = Anna Mackenzie
| image = Archibald Campbell, 9th Earl of Argyll; Countess of Argyll crop for anna mackenzie from NPG.jpg
| image = Archibald Campbell, 9th Earl of Argyll; Countess of Argyll crop for anna mackenzie from NPG.jpg
| image_size =
| image_size =
| caption = Lady Anna Mackenzie
| caption = Lady Mackenzie, countess of Balcarres and afterwards of Argyll
| birth_name =
| birth_name =
| birth_date = uncertain. his first biographer, in 19th century estimated 1621, which is incorrect as her brother was Christianized in Sep 1621, and Childs were Christianized in the first months of their life.
| birth_date = 1621
| birth_place = [[Brahan Castle]]
| birth_place = [[Brahan Castle]], [[Easter Ross]], [[Scotland]]
| death_date = 1707
| death_date = {{death year and age|1707|1621}}
| residence = [[Balcarres House]]
| party = [[Jacobitism|Jacobite]]
| other_names = Lady Anna Mackenzie Campbell
| party = [[Jacobite]]
| boards =
| boards =
| religion = Catholic
| nationality = Scottish
| nationality = Scottish
}}
}}


'''Anna Mackenzie''' (1621–1707) was a Scottish [[Earl of Balcarres|countess of Balcarres]] and later a [[Duke of Argyll|countess of Argyll]]. She was known as '''Lady Anna Mackenzie''' and was the wife of the first Earl of Balcarres and the mother of the second and third. After her first husband died, she remarried and became the Countess of Argyll. She was a governess to [[William III of England|William III]] when he was a child. She suffered because she was a [[Jacobite]] and her second husband was executed for invading Scotland. She worked to keep together the [[Balcarres House|estates of Balcarres]] despite the tumultuous times in which she lived and her family's support of the [[Jacobite]] cause.<ref name=odnb /> Her memoirs were published over a century after her death.
'''Lady Anna Mackenzie''' (1621–1707), also '''Ann MacKenzie''', was a Scottish courtier, wife of the [[Alexander Lindsay, 1st Earl of Balcarres|first Earl of Balcarres]] and the mother of the second and [[Colin Lindsay, 3rd Earl of Balcarres|third]]. After her first husband died, she married [[Archibald Campbell, 9th Earl of Argyll]]. She was a [[governess]] to [[William III of England|William III]] when he was a child. Mackenzie suffered because she was a [[Jacobitism|Jacobite]] and her second husband was executed for leading a rising against [[James VII and II]] which was intended to support the [[Monmouth Rebellion]]. She worked to keep together the [[Balcarres House|estates of Balcarres]] despite the tumultuous times in which she lived and her family's support of the Jacobite cause.<ref name=odnb /> Her memoirs were published more than a century after her death.


== Early life and Balcarres ==
== Early life and Balcarres ==
Mackenzie was born in [[Brahan Castle]] in about 1621. Her parents were [[Colin Mackenzie, 1st Earl of Seaforth|Colin Mackenzie]], the first [[earl of Seaforth]], Viscount Fortrose, and Lord Mackenzie of Kintail, and, Margaret, who was the daughter of [[Alexander Seton, 1st Earl of Dunfermline]], [[Lord Chancellor of Scotland]].}<ref>[http://canmore.rcahms.gov.uk/en/site/12867/details/brahan+castle/ Brahan Castle], rcahms.gov.uk, retrieved 2 December 2014</ref> There were several siblings, all of whom died young, except for an elder sister, Jean (died 1648).{{sfn|Mackenzie|1878|p=409}} The parents died whilst Anna was a child.
Mackenzie was born in [[Brahan Castle]] in about 1621. Her parents were [[Colin Mackenzie, 1st Earl of Seaforth|Colin Mackenzie]], the first [[earl of Seaforth]], Viscount Fortrose, and Lord Mackenzie of Kintail, and Margaret, the daughter of [[Alexander Seton, 1st Earl of Dunfermline]], [[Lord Chancellor of Scotland]].<ref>[http://canmore.rcahms.gov.uk/en/site/12867/details/brahan+castle/ Brahan Castle], rcahms.gov.uk, retrieved 2 December 2014.</ref> She had several siblings, all of whom died young except for an elder sister, Jean (died 1648).{{sfn|Mackenzie|1878|p=409}} Her parents died whilst Anna was a child.

[[File:Balcarres House - geograph.org.uk - 1465289.jpg|thumbnail|left|Balcarres House]]
[[File:Balcarres House - geograph.org.uk - 1465289.jpg|thumbnail|left|Balcarres House]]
After her father's death, in 1633, she resided at [[Leslie House]], the seat of her cousin, [[John Leslie, 1st Duke of Rothes|Lord Rothes]]. Here she was married in April 1640, against the wish of her uncle, then the head of the family, to another cousin, [[Alexander Lindsay, 1st Earl of Balcarres|Alexander Lindsay, master of Balcarres]], who became [[Lord Balcarres]] in the following year.{{sfn|Stephen|1886|p=311|}} She worked throughout her life to keep together the [[Balcarres House|estates of Balcarres]] despite the tumultuous times in which she lived and her family's support of the [[Jacobite]] cause.<ref name=odnb>Rosalind K. Marshall, 'Mackenzie, Anna , countess of Balcarres and countess of Argyll (c.1621–1707)', ''Oxford Dictionary of National Biography'', Oxford University Press, 2004; online edn, Oct 2006 [http://www.oxforddnb.com/view/article/4467, accessed 29 Nov 2014]</ref>
After her father's death, in 1633, she resided at [[Leslie House]], the seat of her cousin, [[John Leslie, 1st Duke of Rothes|Lord Rothes]]. There she was married in April 1640, against the wish of her uncle, then the head of the family, to another cousin, [[Alexander Lindsay, 1st Earl of Balcarres|Alexander Lindsay, master of Balcarres]], who became [[Lord Balcarres]] in the following year.{{sfn|Stephen|1886|p=311|}} She worked throughout her life to keep together the [[Balcarres House|estates of Balcarres]] despite the tumultuous times in which she lived and her family's support of the Jacobite cause.<ref name=odnb>Rosalind K. Marshall, 'Mackenzie, Anna , countess of Balcarres and countess of Argyll (c.1621–1707)', ''Oxford Dictionary of National Biography'', Oxford University Press, 2004; [http://www.oxforddnb.com/view/article/4467 online edn, October 2006], accessed 29 November 2014.</ref>


In 1647, her husband became responsible for [[Edinburgh Castle]]<ref>David Stevenson, 'Lindsay, Alexander, first earl of Balcarres (1618–1659)', ''Oxford Dictionary of National Biography'', Oxford University Press, 2004; online edn, Oct 2006 [http://www.oxforddnb.com/view/article/16682, accessed 2 Dec 2014]</ref> and in 1651, [[Charles II of England]] became the [[King of Scotland]] and he promoted her husband to be the [[Earl of Balcarres]]. On 22 February 1651, the king paid the couple a visit shortly before the birth of her first child, to whom he became godfather.{{sfn|Stephen|1886|p=311|}} On the invasion after [[Battle of Worcester|Worcester]], she went with her husband to the [[Scottish Highlands]], where he had command of the royalists. To pay for the debts incurred by Balcarres in the royal cause, she sold her jewels and other valuables, and many years of her subsequent life were spent in redeeming the ruin in which the Balcarres family had been involved.{{sfn|Stephen|1886|p=311|}}
In 1647, her husband became responsible for [[Edinburgh Castle]]<ref>David Stevenson, "Lindsay, Alexander, first earl of Balcarres (1618–1659)", ''Oxford Dictionary of National Biography'', Oxford University Press, 2004; [http://www.oxforddnb.com/view/article/16682 online edn, October 2006], accessed 2 December 2014.</ref> and in 1651, [[Charles II of England|Charles II]] became the [[King of Scots]] and he promoted her husband to be the [[Earl of Balcarres]]. On 22 February 1651, the king paid the couple a visit shortly before the birth of her first child, to whom he became godfather.{{sfn|Stephen|1886|p=311|}} On the invasion after [[Battle of Worcester|Worcester]], she went with her husband to the [[Scottish Highlands]], where he had command of the royalists. To pay for the debts incurred by Balcarres in the royal cause, she sold her jewels and other valuables, and many years of her subsequent life were spent in redeeming the ruin in which the Balcarres family had been involved.{{sfn|Stephen|1886|p=311|}}


Their support for the king resulted in their estates being seized. Her husband tried to raise a rebellion in Scotland, but in 1654 they were both summoned to France to assist the king. Leaving her own children in Scotland, Anna was chosen to be the governess of the future [[William III of England]] in [[the Hague]] in 1657. Between Anna, her husband, [[John Maitland, 1st Duke of Lauderdale]],{{efn|The countess's letters to [[John Maitland, 1st Duke of Lauderdale]] and others on the occasion of her husband's death are preserved among the Lauderdale papers in the [[British Museum]]; they are considered to be models of sincere and intelligent piety.{{sfn|Stephen|1886|p=311}}}} [[Alexander Bruce, 2nd Earl of Kincardine|Kincardine]], and [[Robert Moray]] there existed a close friendship, as well as family connection. After her husband's death at the Hague on 30 August 1659,{{sfn|Stephen|1886|p=311|}} her young son, [[Charles Lindsay, 2nd Earl of Balcarres|Charles]] (1650–1662) became the Earl.<ref name=odnb />{{sfn|Mackenzie|1878|p=409}}
Their support for the king resulted in their estates being seized. Her husband tried to raise a rebellion in Scotland, but in 1654 they were both summoned to France to assist the king. Leaving her own children in Scotland, Anna was chosen to be the governess of the future [[William III of England]] in [[the Hague]] in 1657. Between Anna, her husband, [[John Maitland, 1st Duke of Lauderdale]],{{efn|The countess's letters to [[John Maitland, 1st Duke of Lauderdale]] and others on the occasion of her husband's death are preserved among the Lauderdale papers in the [[British Museum]]; they are considered to be models of sincere and intelligent piety.{{sfn|Stephen|1886|p=311}}}} [[Alexander Bruce, 2nd Earl of Kincardine|Kincardine]], and [[Robert Moray]] there existed a close friendship, as well as family connection. After her husband's death at the Hague on 30 August 1659,{{sfn|Stephen|1886|p=311|}} her young son, [[Charles Lindsay, 2nd Earl of Balcarres|Charles]] (1650–1662) became the Earl.<ref name=odnb />{{sfn|Mackenzie|1878|p=409}}


The countess returned immediately to Fifeshire, but shortly went on to France, where, being attached to the Presbyterian church, she was instrumental in securing the support of the French protestant ministers for the king in 1660. At the [[Restoration (1660)|Restoration]], a pension was settled upon her by Charles, who often expressed for her a deep admiration, but it was some years before it was paid. During the interval, she and her children suffered great privations. She remained in England until May 1662, and there became acquainted with [[Richard Baxter]], who declared that "her great wisdom, modesty, piety, and sincerity made her accounted the saint at the court". The conversion of her eldest daughter and the daughter's subsequent death in a nunnery were a great blow to Anna. In 1662, she returned to Scotland, when from poverty and anxiety she became ill. The King agreed to pay Anna and the elder of her two sons £1000 a year in recognition of the assistance he had received from their family. The money was not a complete gift as they had to return [[List of Governors of Edinburgh Castle|the governorship]] of [[Edinburgh Castle]].<ref name=memo>{{cite book|last1=Lindsay|first1=Colin|title=Memoirs touching the revolution in Scotland, M.DC.LXXXVIII-M.DC.XC|date=1841|page=xvii}}</ref> Her son Charles died in October 1662,{{sfn|Stephen|1886|p=311}} whereupon Colin, succeeded as 3rd Earl of Balcarres.<ref name=odnb /> In 1664, her financial condition improved by the payment of the promised pension, for which she had petitioned in November 1663, but the friendship with Lauderdale appears to have been broken off. The next few years were spent in trying to pay off the debts upon the Balcarres estates, and in 1669, her son's rights on the Seaforth estates were given up by her for the sum of 80,000 marks.{{sfn|Stephen|1886|p=312}}
The countess returned to Fifeshire, but shortly went on to France, where, being attached to the Presbyterian church, she was instrumental in securing the support of the French Protestant ministers for the king in 1660. At the [[Restoration (1660)|Restoration]], a pension was settled upon her by Charles, who often expressed for her a deep admiration, but it was some years before it was paid. During the interval, she and her children suffered great privations. She remained in England until May 1662, and there became acquainted with [[Richard Baxter]], who declared that "her great wisdom, modesty, piety, and sincerity made her accounted the saint at the court". The conversion of her eldest daughter and the daughter's subsequent death in a nunnery were a great blow to Anna. In 1662, she returned to Scotland, when from poverty and anxiety she became ill. The King agreed to pay Anna and the elder of her two sons £1000 a year in recognition of the assistance he had received from their family. The money was not a complete gift as they had to return the [[List of Governors of Edinburgh Castle|governorship]] of [[Edinburgh Castle]].<ref name=memo>{{cite book|last1=Lindsay|first1=Colin|title=Memoirs touching the revolution in Scotland, M.DC.LXXXVIII-M.DC.XC|date=1841|page=xvii}}</ref> Her son Charles died in October 1662,{{sfn|Stephen|1886|p=311}} whereupon Colin succeeded as 3rd Earl of Balcarres.<ref name=odnb /> In 1664, her financial condition improved by the payment of the promised pension, for which she had petitioned in November 1663, but the friendship with Lauderdale appears to have been broken off. The next few years were spent in trying to pay off the debts upon the Balcarres estates, and in 1669, her son's rights on the Seaforth estates were given up by her for the sum of 80,000 marks.{{sfn|Stephen|1886|p=312}}


== Countess of Argyll ==
== Countess of Argyll ==
[[File:Archibald Campbell, 9th Earl of Argyll; Countess of Argyll from NPG.jpg|thumb|right|Anna with her second husband, Archibald Campbell, 9th Earl of Argyll.]]
[[File:Archibald Campbell, 9th Earl of Argyll; Countess of Argyll from NPG.jpg|thumb|right|Anna with her second husband, Archibald Campbell, 9th Earl of Argyll.]]
[[File:Lady Anna Mackenzie.jpg|thumb|This engraving was the frontispiece of her memoirs but it is thought to be another person]]
[[File:Lady Anna Mackenzie.jpg|thumb|This engraving was the frontispiece of her memoirs but it is thought to be another person]]
On 28 January 1670, she married [[Archibald Campbell, 9th Earl of Argyll]]. After this marriage, she was able to assist with the debts inherited by her son, Colin, from her first husband. However, her son failed to take advantage of this financial opportunity.<ref>Paul Hopkins, 'Lindsay, Colin, third earl of Balcarres (1652–1721)', ''Oxford Dictionary of National Biography'', Oxford University Press, 2004; online edn, Jan 2007 [http://www.oxforddnb.com/view/article/16687, accessed 29 Nov 2014]</ref> Her second marriage did not go well either and her husband was sentenced to death for high treason. He managed to escape to Holland due to the brave intervention of Anna's daughter, Sophia Lindsay, who smuggled him away disguised as one of her servants.<ref name=dnb>{{cite DNB|wstitle=Campbell, Archibald (d.1685)}}</ref> It was said that Sophia only escaped a public whipping for helping her step-father because of the intercession of the future [[James II of England|James II]].<ref name=mem />
On 28 January 1670, she married [[Archibald Campbell, 9th Earl of Argyll]]. After this marriage, she was able to assist with the debts inherited by her son, Colin, from her first husband. However, her son failed to take advantage of this financial opportunity.<ref>Paul Hopkins, "Lindsay, Colin, third earl of Balcarres (1652–1721)", ''Oxford Dictionary of National Biography'', Oxford University Press, 2004; [http://www.oxforddnb.com/view/article/16687 online edn, January 2007], accessed 29 November 2014.</ref> Her second marriage did not go well either and her husband was sentenced to death for high treason. He managed to escape to Holland due to the brave intervention of Anna's daughter, Sophia Lindsay, who smuggled him away disguised as one of her servants.<ref name=dnb>{{cite DNB|wstitle=Campbell, Archibald (d.1685)}}</ref> It was said that Sophia only escaped a public whipping for helping her step-father because of the intercession of the future [[James II of England|James II]].<ref name=mem />


Anna was in time supported financially by the King despite her husband's estates being seized. Her husband supported the [[Monmouth rebellion]] by raising a rebellion in Scotland to partner the force established in England by the [[Duke of Monmouth]]. Anna was arrested as soon as her husband arrived in Scotland to raise the rebellion<ref name=dnb /> and placed in Edinburgh Castle.<ref name=mem24>[https://archive.org/details/memoirofladyann00craw A memoir of Lady Anna Mackenzie, countess of Balcarres and afterwards of Argyll, 1621–1706 page 124], Alexander Crawford Lindsay, 1868</ref> Argyll was eventually executed, as his father had been before him.<ref name=odnb /> After her husband's death, his son Charles married his saviour: Anna's daughter, Sophia Lindsay.<ref name=dnb />
Anna was in time supported financially by the King despite her husband's estates being seized. Her husband supported the [[Monmouth rebellion]] by raising a rebellion in Scotland to partner the force established in England by the [[Duke of Monmouth]]. Anna was arrested as soon as her husband arrived in Scotland to raise the rebellion<ref name=dnb /> and placed in Edinburgh Castle.<ref name=mem24>[https://archive.org/details/memoirofladyann00craw A memoir of Lady Anna Mackenzie, countess of Balcarres and afterwards of Argyll, 1621–1706], p. 124, Alexander Crawford Lindsay, 1868.</ref> Argyll was eventually executed, as his father had been before him.<ref name=odnb /> After her husband's death, his son Charles married his saviour: Anna's daughter, Sophia Lindsay.<ref name=dnb />


Anna was buried probably beside her first husband and their son Charles in the Balcarres chapel, although no record of internment is found in the parish books.{{sfn|Stephen|1886|p=312}} Her memories were gathered together and published in 1868 by [[Alexander Lindsay, 25th Earl of Crawford|Alexander Crawford Lindsay]] the 25th [[Earl of Crawford]].<ref name=mem>[https://archive.org/details/memoirofladyann00craw A memoir of Lady Anna Mackenzie, countess of Balcarres and afterwards of Argyll, 1621–1706], Alexander Crawford Lindsay, 1868</ref>{{efn|In Willcock's ''A Scots Earl in Covenanting Times: Being Life and Times of Archibald, 9th Earl of Argyll (1629–1685)'' (1907), he states: "Lindsay, ''Life of Lady Anna Mackenzie'', p. 82. This pleasantly written little biography appeared in 1868. The frontispiece professes to be a portrait of the Countess of Balcarres. It is that of a lady in Elizabethan dress and is the likeness usually given as that of the first wife of the 7th Earl of Argyll. How the likeness of our 9th Earl's grandmother came to be presented as that of his second wife we cannot tell. The portrait in question had been engraved before and published with the inscription—'Anne, Countess of Argyle from a picture in the Collection of Lady Mary Coke.'"{{sfn|Willcock|1907|p=172}}}}
Anna was buried beside her first husband and their son Charles in the Balcarres chapel, although no record of interment is found in the parish books.{{sfn|Stephen|1886|p=312}} Her memories were gathered together and published in 1868 by [[Alexander Lindsay, 25th Earl of Crawford|Alexander Crawford Lindsay]] the 25th [[Earl of Crawford]].<ref name=mem>[https://archive.org/details/memoirofladyann00craw A memoir of Lady Anna Mackenzie, countess of Balcarres and afterwards of Argyll, 1621–1706], Alexander Crawford Lindsay, 1868.</ref>{{efn|In Willcock's ''A Scots Earl in Covenanting Times: Being Life and Times of Archibald, 9th Earl of Argyll (1629–1685)'' (1907), he states: "Lindsay, ''Life of Lady Anna Mackenzie'', p. 82. This pleasantly written little biography appeared in 1868. The frontispiece professes to be a portrait of the Countess of Balcarres. It is that of a lady in Elizabethan dress and is the likeness usually given as that of the first wife of the 7th Earl of Argyll. How the likeness of our 9th Earl's grandmother came to be presented as that of his second wife we cannot tell. The portrait in question had been engraved before and published with the inscription—'Anne, Countess of Argyle from a picture in the Collection of Lady Mary Coke.'"{{sfn|Willcock|1907|p=172}}}}


== Notes ==
== Notes ==
Line 46: Line 48:


== Bibliography ==
== Bibliography ==
⚫
*{{cite book|last=Mackenzie|first=Alexander|title=The Celtic magazine|publisher=A. Mackenzie and A. MacGregor|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=65MEAAAAQAAJ&pg=PA409|edition=Public domain|volume=3|issue=25
*{{cite book|ref=harv
⚫
|last=Mackenzie|first=Alexander|title=The Celtic magazine|publisher=A. Mackenzie and A. MacGregor|url=http://books.google.com/books?id=65MEAAAAQAAJ&pg=PA409|edition=Public domain|volume=3|issue=25
|year=1878}}
|year=1878}}
⚫
*{{cite book|last=Stephen|first=Sir Leslie|title=Dictionary of national biography: vol. VIII. Burton – Cantwell|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=FGVUAAAAYAAJ&pg=PA311|edition=Public domain
*{{cite book|ref=harv
⚫
|last=Stephen|first=Sir Leslie|title=Dictionary of national biography: vol. VIII. Burton – Cantwell|url=http://books.google.com/books?id=FGVUAAAAYAAJ&pg=PA311|edition=Public domain
|year=1886|publisher=Smith, Elder, & Co.}}
|year=1886|publisher=Smith, Elder, & Co.}}
⚫
*{{cite book|last=Willcock|first=John|title=A Scots Earl in Covenanting Times: Being Life and Times of Archibald, 9th Earl of Argyll (1629–1685)|url=https://archive.org/details/ascotsearlincov02willgoog|page=[https://archive.org/details/ascotsearlincov02willgoog/page/n199 172]
*{{cite book|ref=harv
|edition=Public domain
⚫
|last=Willcock|first=John|title=A Scots Earl in Covenanting Times: Being Life and Times of Archibald, 9th Earl of Argyll (1629–1685)|url=http://books.google.com/books?id=UqILAAAAYAAJ&pg=PA172|edition=Public domain
|year=1907|publisher=A. Elliot}}
|year=1907|publisher=A. Elliot}}


{{Authority control}}
{{authority control|VIAF=26882827|LCCN=no/2008/112120|GND=137304080}}

{{Persondata
|NAME=Mackenzie, Anna
|ALTERNATIVE NAMES=Lady Anna Mackenzie Campbell
|SHORT DESCRIPTION=countess of Balcarres and countess of Argyll
|DATE OF BIRTH=1621
|PLACE OF BIRTH=[[Brahan Castle?]]
|DATE OF DEATH=1707
|PLACE OF DEATH=
}}
{{DEFAULTSORT:Mackenzie, Anna}}
{{DEFAULTSORT:Mackenzie, Anna}}
[[Category:1621 births]]
[[Category:1621 births]]
[[Category:1707 deaths]]
[[Category:1707 deaths]]
[[Category:People from Ross and Cromarty]]
[[Category:People from Ross and Cromarty]]
[[Category:Scottish countesses]]
[[Category:Nobility from Highland (council area)]]
[[Category:Women memoirists]]
[[Category:Daughters of Scottish earls]]
[[Category:17th-century Scottish women writers]]
[[Category:17th-century Scottish writers]]
[[Category:18th-century British women writers]]
[[Category:18th-century Scottish writers]]
[[Category:Clan Lindsay|Anna]]
[[Category:Clan Mackenzie|Anna]]
[[Category:Protestant Jacobites]]
[[Category:Scottish countesses|Balcarres]]
[[Category:Scottish courtiers]]
[[Category:Scottish governesses]]
[[Category:Scottish Presbyterians]]
[[Category:Scottish women writers]]
[[Category:Scottish women writers]]
[[Category:17th-century women writers]]
[[Category:Scottish Jacobites]]
[[Category:Governesses to the Scottish court]]
[[Category:British women memoirists]]

Latest revision as of 16:21, 28 April 2024

For the New Zealand writer, see Anna Mackenzie (writer).

Anna Mackenzie
Lady Mackenzie, countess of Balcarres and afterwards of Argyll
Bornuncertain. his first biographer, in 19th century estimated 1621, which is incorrect as her brother was Christianized in Sep 1621, and Childs were Christianized in the first months of their life.
Brahan Castle, Easter Ross, Scotland
Died1707 (aged 85–86)
NationalityScottish
Political partyJacobite

Lady Anna Mackenzie (1621–1707), also Ann MacKenzie, was a Scottish courtier, wife of the first Earl of Balcarres and the mother of the second and third. After her first husband died, she married Archibald Campbell, 9th Earl of Argyll. She was a governess to William III when he was a child. Mackenzie suffered because she was a Jacobite and her second husband was executed for leading a rising against James VII and II which was intended to support the Monmouth Rebellion. She worked to keep together the estates of Balcarres despite the tumultuous times in which she lived and her family's support of the Jacobite cause.[1] Her memoirs were published more than a century after her death.

Early life and Balcarres

[edit]

Mackenzie was born in Brahan Castle in about 1621. Her parents were Colin Mackenzie, the first earl of Seaforth, Viscount Fortrose, and Lord Mackenzie of Kintail, and Margaret, the daughter of Alexander Seton, 1st Earl of Dunfermline, Lord Chancellor of Scotland.[2] She had several siblings, all of whom died young except for an elder sister, Jean (died 1648).[3] Her parents died whilst Anna was a child.

Balcarres House

After her father's death, in 1633, she resided at Leslie House, the seat of her cousin, Lord Rothes. There she was married in April 1640, against the wish of her uncle, then the head of the family, to another cousin, Alexander Lindsay, master of Balcarres, who became Lord Balcarres in the following year.[4] She worked throughout her life to keep together the estates of Balcarres despite the tumultuous times in which she lived and her family's support of the Jacobite cause.[1]

In 1647, her husband became responsible for Edinburgh Castle[5] and in 1651, Charles II became the King of Scots and he promoted her husband to be the Earl of Balcarres. On 22 February 1651, the king paid the couple a visit shortly before the birth of her first child, to whom he became godfather.[4] On the invasion after Worcester, she went with her husband to the Scottish Highlands, where he had command of the royalists. To pay for the debts incurred by Balcarres in the royal cause, she sold her jewels and other valuables, and many years of her subsequent life were spent in redeeming the ruin in which the Balcarres family had been involved.[4]

Their support for the king resulted in their estates being seized. Her husband tried to raise a rebellion in Scotland, but in 1654 they were both summoned to France to assist the king. Leaving her own children in Scotland, Anna was chosen to be the governess of the future William III of England in the Hague in 1657. Between Anna, her husband, John Maitland, 1st Duke of Lauderdale,[a] Kincardine, and Robert Moray there existed a close friendship, as well as family connection. After her husband's death at the Hague on 30 August 1659,[4] her young son, Charles (1650–1662) became the Earl.[1][3]

The countess returned to Fifeshire, but shortly went on to France, where, being attached to the Presbyterian church, she was instrumental in securing the support of the French Protestant ministers for the king in 1660. At the Restoration, a pension was settled upon her by Charles, who often expressed for her a deep admiration, but it was some years before it was paid. During the interval, she and her children suffered great privations. She remained in England until May 1662, and there became acquainted with Richard Baxter, who declared that "her great wisdom, modesty, piety, and sincerity made her accounted the saint at the court". The conversion of her eldest daughter and the daughter's subsequent death in a nunnery were a great blow to Anna. In 1662, she returned to Scotland, when from poverty and anxiety she became ill. The King agreed to pay Anna and the elder of her two sons £1000 a year in recognition of the assistance he had received from their family. The money was not a complete gift as they had to return the governorship of Edinburgh Castle.[6] Her son Charles died in October 1662,[4] whereupon Colin succeeded as 3rd Earl of Balcarres.[1] In 1664, her financial condition improved by the payment of the promised pension, for which she had petitioned in November 1663, but the friendship with Lauderdale appears to have been broken off. The next few years were spent in trying to pay off the debts upon the Balcarres estates, and in 1669, her son's rights on the Seaforth estates were given up by her for the sum of 80,000 marks.[7]

Countess of Argyll

[edit]
Anna with her second husband, Archibald Campbell, 9th Earl of Argyll.
This engraving was the frontispiece of her memoirs but it is thought to be another person

On 28 January 1670, she married Archibald Campbell, 9th Earl of Argyll. After this marriage, she was able to assist with the debts inherited by her son, Colin, from her first husband. However, her son failed to take advantage of this financial opportunity.[8] Her second marriage did not go well either and her husband was sentenced to death for high treason. He managed to escape to Holland due to the brave intervention of Anna's daughter, Sophia Lindsay, who smuggled him away disguised as one of her servants.[9] It was said that Sophia only escaped a public whipping for helping her step-father because of the intercession of the future James II.[10]

Anna was in time supported financially by the King despite her husband's estates being seized. Her husband supported the Monmouth rebellion by raising a rebellion in Scotland to partner the force established in England by the Duke of Monmouth. Anna was arrested as soon as her husband arrived in Scotland to raise the rebellion[9] and placed in Edinburgh Castle.[11] Argyll was eventually executed, as his father had been before him.[1] After her husband's death, his son Charles married his saviour: Anna's daughter, Sophia Lindsay.[9]

Anna was buried beside her first husband and their son Charles in the Balcarres chapel, although no record of interment is found in the parish books.[7] Her memories were gathered together and published in 1868 by Alexander Crawford Lindsay the 25th Earl of Crawford.[10][b]

Notes

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  1. ^ The countess's letters to John Maitland, 1st Duke of Lauderdale and others on the occasion of her husband's death are preserved among the Lauderdale papers in the British Museum; they are considered to be models of sincere and intelligent piety.[4]
  2. ^ In Willcock's A Scots Earl in Covenanting Times: Being Life and Times of Archibald, 9th Earl of Argyll (1629–1685) (1907), he states: "Lindsay, Life of Lady Anna Mackenzie, p. 82. This pleasantly written little biography appeared in 1868. The frontispiece professes to be a portrait of the Countess of Balcarres. It is that of a lady in Elizabethan dress and is the likeness usually given as that of the first wife of the 7th Earl of Argyll. How the likeness of our 9th Earl's grandmother came to be presented as that of his second wife we cannot tell. The portrait in question had been engraved before and published with the inscription—'Anne, Countess of Argyle from a picture in the Collection of Lady Mary Coke.'"[12]

References

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  • Public Domain This article incorporates text from this source, which is in the public domain: L. Stephen's "Dictionary of national biography: vol. VIII. Burton – Cantwell" (1886)
  1. ^ a b c d e Rosalind K. Marshall, 'Mackenzie, Anna , countess of Balcarres and countess of Argyll (c.1621–1707)', Oxford Dictionary of National Biography, Oxford University Press, 2004; online edn, October 2006, accessed 29 November 2014.
  2. ^ Brahan Castle, rcahms.gov.uk, retrieved 2 December 2014.
  3. ^ a b Mackenzie 1878, p. 409.
  4. ^ a b c d e f Stephen 1886, p. 311.
  5. ^ David Stevenson, "Lindsay, Alexander, first earl of Balcarres (1618–1659)", Oxford Dictionary of National Biography, Oxford University Press, 2004; online edn, October 2006, accessed 2 December 2014.
  6. ^ Lindsay, Colin (1841). Memoirs touching the revolution in Scotland, M.DC.LXXXVIII-M.DC.XC. p. xvii.
  7. ^ a b Stephen 1886, p. 312.
  8. ^ Paul Hopkins, "Lindsay, Colin, third earl of Balcarres (1652–1721)", Oxford Dictionary of National Biography, Oxford University Press, 2004; online edn, January 2007, accessed 29 November 2014.
  9. ^ a b c "Campbell, Archibald (d.1685)" . Dictionary of National Biography. London: Smith, Elder & Co. 1885–1900.
  10. ^ a b A memoir of Lady Anna Mackenzie, countess of Balcarres and afterwards of Argyll, 1621–1706, Alexander Crawford Lindsay, 1868.
  11. ^ A memoir of Lady Anna Mackenzie, countess of Balcarres and afterwards of Argyll, 1621–1706, p. 124, Alexander Crawford Lindsay, 1868.
  12. ^ Willcock 1907, p. 172.

Bibliography

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