Alexander Montgomerie, 10th Earl of Eglinton

Who was Alexander Montgomerie, 10th Earl of Eglinton?

Alexander Montgomerie, 10th Earl of Eglinton, was a Scottish peer.

Eglinton was the son of the 9th Earl of Eglinton. His mother and third wife of the 9th Earl was Susanna Montgomery, Countess of Eglinton the renowned society beauty. He was the Grand Master Mason of the Grand Lodge of Scotland from 1750-51.

Alexander planned and built the conservation village of Eaglesham, Scotland in 1769 around the basic plan of a capital 'A'. The Earl introduced the young James Boswell to the joys of London society in the early 1760s, and figures prominently in Boswells London Journal, 1762-63.

The Earl was shot on the beach near his own estate of Ardrossan by an excise officer or Gaudger named Mungo Campbell on 24 October 1769 following a dispute about the latter's right to bear arms on the Earl's grounds. The Earl died from his abdominal wounds. late that evening. Campbell was convicted of murder but died by his own hand before the sentence could be carried out.