James Wemyss

Who was James Wemyss?

James Wemyss was a Scottish Member of Parliament.

He was the third son of James Wemyss, 5th Earl of Wemyss by his wife Janet Charteris. The eldest son David, Lord Elcho was attainted in 1746, and the second son Francis had adopted the name Charteris as heir to his maternal grandmother Francis Charteris, so James was named heir to the Wemyss estates by a new entail of 31 July 1750. The 5th Earl of Wemyss died in 1756.

On 29 August 1757 James Wemyss married his cousin Lady Elizabeth Sutherland, daughter of William Sutherland, 17th Earl of Sutherland by his wife Lady Elizabeth Wemyss, daughter of David Wemyss, 4th Earl of Wemyss. Their children included the soldier and MP William Wemyss.

Wemyss was Member of Parliament for Fife from 1763 to 1768 and for Sutherland from 1768 to 1784, when he was succeeded by his son.