George Baillie

Who was George Baillie?

George Baillie was a Scottish politician who served in the Parliament of Scotland and the Parliament of Great Britain.

George Baillie was the son of the Scottish Covenanter Robert Baillie of Jerviswood, who was implicated in the 1683 Rye House Plot against King Charles II. When his father was imprisoned for treason in 1684, George fled Scotland for Holland with Sir Patrick Hume. In Holland he served in the horse guards of William of Orange, and returned to Britain with William in the Revolution of 1688.

Baillie was elected as a Member of the Parliament of Scotland, representing Berwickshire from 1693–8 and 1700–1, and then Lanarkshire from 1703–7. He was a leading member of the Squadrone Volante, a group of members who were influential in the debates which led to the union with England in 1707.

After the Union, Baillie attended the Parliament of Great Britain, representing Berwickshire for 26 years. In 1711, he was appointed Commissioner for Trade and Plantations by Queen Mary II and in 1714 King George I appointed him one of the Lords of Admiralty. In 1717 he was elevated to Lord of Treasury as a junior Lord Commissioner of the Treasury until 1725.