24. Lord Robert ERSKINE Earl of Mar (Thomas , Robert , William , John , John , John , Henry de ) was born circa 1372. He died in 1452.
1st Lord Erskine, 13th Earl of Mar, 6th Lord of Garioch.
Made a Lord of Parliament, as Lord Erskine, 1438.
Retoured heir of the Countess Isabel in 1438, on the death of Alexander Stewart, and was enfeoffed in the Earldom, 21 nov 1438; his possession being only indirectly interfered with by the Crown.
(from Burke's)Robert was captured at the battle of Homildon Hill in 1402, but was back in Scotland in 1405 when he received a pension on behalf of his mother.
In 1421 he set out from Alloa Tower to London, as an emissary of the Scottish Parliament to seek the release of James I (held prisoner in France after being captured by pirates). In 1424 he was one of the hostages required for the ransom of James I and was exchanged for the Earl of Menteith in 1427. In 1430 he was an ambassador to England and keeper of Dumbarton castle.
Sat as Lord Erskine in Scottish Parliament (1426 or 1438 according to "Burke's").
On the death of Alexander Stewart, Earl of Mar in 1435, Robert claimed the title in right of his mother and assumed the title of Mar and claimed one half of the lands of the earldom.
On 22 Apr 1438 he was by means of a fraudulent plot served heir to the countess Isabel and in the following Nov. was given the estates. He was not however allowed to retain possession of it. In 1437 after the assassination of James I an act of Parliament was passed that no lands or possessions belonging to the King should be given to any man without consent of the three Estates until the young King James II should be 21 years old. At a General Council at Stirling 10 Aug. 1440 it was agreed: "for the good and quiet of the land, that the King should deliver up to Sir Robert Erskine, calling himself Earl of Mar, the castle of Kildrummie, to be kept by him till the King's majority when the said Sir Robert should come before the king and the three Estates, and show his rights and claims, as far as law will." At the same time Sir Robert delivered up to the King the castles of Mar and Dumbarton held by him.
In 1442 Sir Robert took a protest at Stirling in the presence of the King and council complaining against the chancellor for refusing to return to him the Lordship of Garioch and put him in possession of the castle of Kildrummie. He afterwards besieged and took the castle and the castle of Alloa which belonged to him was taken possession of in the King's name. In 1448 because of a new indenture Sir Robert was obliged to give the castle of Kildrummie to the King while Alloa was returned to Sir Robert. On 4 Apr. 1449 his son Thomas appeared before the King and Estates on behalf of his father. He offered to fulfil all previous agreements and protested against the fact that the revenues of the earldom had been detained by the King's officers.
Another protest was submitted on 26 Jan. 1449/0 to the King and Parliament concerning the earldom of Mar which belonged to Robert by hereditary right and which was unjustly detained by the King.The title Earl of Mar was adjuged to the Crown (James II) after the death of Robert in 1452 (until 1565 when Queen Mary granted the Earldom to John 6th Lord Erskine).
Act of Parliament later expressly recognized him to have been rightfully Earl of Mar (13th)."Sir Robert Erskine of that Ilk, and of Alloa, hostage for James I, 1424; served heir to Countess Isabel, 1438; married a daughter of Robert Stewart, of Lorn and Innermeath; claimed the title of MAR in 1435, dispossessed by James II; + 1453" (from the Earls of Mar pedigree)
Robert married Elizabeth LINDSAY, daughter of David LINDSAY Earl of Crawford and Catherine STEWART, in 1400.
Daughter of 1st Earl of Crawford
Robert and Elizabeth had the following children:
+ 30 M i Lord Thomas ERSKINE Earl of Mar 31 F ii Janet ERSKINE 32 F iii Christian ERSKINE 33 M iv Alexander ERSKINE 34 F v Elizabeth ERSKINE
25. Sir John ERSKINE of ALLOA and DUN (Thomas , Robert , William , John , John , John , Henry de )
He had the following children:
+ 35 M i Alexander ERSKINE of DUN
29. William ERSKINE (Nicholas , Robert , William , John , John , John , Henry de ) was born about 1370.
He had the following children:
+ 36 M i John William ERSKINE