John (Mackenzie) Mackenzie Lord MacLeod and Count of Sweden (1727 - 1789)

Ancestors

Husband of Marjory Forbes — married 24 May 1786 in Edinburgh

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Biography

Maj.-Gen. John Mackenzie was a member of the aristocracy in British Isles.

John (Mackenzie) Mackenzie Lord MacLeod and Count of Sweden is a member of Clan Mackenzie.

John Mackenzie was born in 1727. He was the son of George Mackenzie and Isabel Gordon.

John Mackenzie, Lord MacLeod, de jure 4th Earl of Cromartie but for the attainder (d. 1789 without issue), eldest son and heir apparent. He fought alongside his father in the rebellion of 1745. He was also convicted of high treason and sentenced to death, but received a full pardon and was released in 1748, on condition that all estates and rights were forfeit to the Crown.

He went to Sweden where he rose to high rank and was created a Count in the Swedish nobility, a title which was recognized by George II.

In 1777 he returned to England and petitioned for the restoration of his estates and offered to raise a Highland Regiment for the Government. This became known as 1st Battalion Highland Light Infantry. He later achieved the rank of Major-General in the British Army.

In 1780 Lord MacLeod was elected MP for Ross-shire. In 1784 the family estates were restored to him by Act of Parliament for a payment of £19,000,[4] but not the title Earl of Cromartie.

In 1787 he took up residence at New Tarbat which he rebuilt. He had the patronage of Kilmuir Easter church.

Lord MacLeod died childless on 2 April 1789, and was succeeded by his cousin Kenneth Mackenzie, a grandson of the 1st Earl, who also died without heirs male in 1796. The family estates then passed to Lord MacLeod's eldest sister, Lady Elibank in 1796.

Marriage

John Mackenzie (Lord Macleod) was married in 1786 to Marjory, the eldest daughter of James, XVI th Lord Forbes, without issue. [She later married John, 4th Duke of Atholl, also without issue].

Sources

• Burial. "Find A Grave Index," database, FamilySearch (https://familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:QVLG-KSRL : 13 December 2015), John Mackenzie, 1789; Burial, Edinburgh, , City of Edinburgh, Scotland, Canongate Churchyard; citing record ID 102003787, Find a Grave, http://www.findagrave.com.