Jane (Thornton) Leslie (1757 - 1818)

Born 11 Feb 1757 in Clapham, Wandsworth, Surrey, England

Ancestors

Wife of Alexander Leslie — married 12 Aug 1784 in England

Descendants

Died 13 Feb 1818 at age 61 in Melville House, Monimail, Fife, Scotland

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Biography

Jane was born about 1757. She was the daughter of John Thornton of Clapham, Surrey. John Thornton was a noted Evangelical and was a friend of Henry Venn, the Evangelical clergyman who was curate of Clapham.^[1][2]

She married on 12 August 1784, Alexander Leslie, Lord Balgonie, later Earl of Leven and Earl of Melville at her parents residence at Clapham.^[3]

They had nine children. It is with a number of these children that we shall start to see the adoption of the Melville name along with Leslie. Three of these children marry into the family of Samuel Smith, MP, of Woodhall Park, Hertfordshire, nephew of first Lord Carrington. The other family they had close associations with is that of Pym.^[4]

David Leslie, born 22 June 1785, who after his grandfathers death in 1802 gains the courtesy title, Lord Balgonie. He will succeed his father as Earl.

John Thornton Leslie-Melville, born 18 December 1786. He will succeed his brother as Earl.

William Henry Leslie-Melville, born 19 May 1788. He entered the Hon. East India Company's service, and arrived at Calcutta about 24 October 1808. In 1817 he was, at his own request, made assistant superintendent of police in that town. He returned to Scotland before 1832, and in 1841 was made a director of the East India Company. He edited a selection from the letters and papers of George, first Earl of Melville, printed for the Bannatyne Club in 1843 as The Leven and Melville Papers. He died unmarried 9 April 1856.

Reverend Robert Samuel Leslie-Melville, born about 1793. He entered the Church of England, but died 24 October 1826, unmarried.

Alexander Leslie-Melville, of Branston Hall, Lincolnshire, was born 18 June 1800. Admitted to the Faculty of Advocates 24 February 1824. He died 19 November 1881. He married 19 October 1825, Charlotte, daughter of Samuel Smith, M.P., of Woodhall Park, Hertfordshire, and his wife, Elizabeth Frances Turnor (b. 19 Apr 1756, Stoke Rochford, Lincolnshire), who died 26 April 1879. They had twelve children; six sons and six daughters.^[5] Charlotte was the older sister of Alexander's sister's husbands.

Lucy Leslie-Melville, born 10 December 1789, died 11 February 1791.

Lucy Leslie-Melville, born 26 January 1794. She married, 14 July 1824, Henry Smith, oldest son of Samuel Smith, M.P.. They had two children. She died 23 December 1865.

Jane Elizabeth Leslie-Melville, born 16 May 1796. She married, 13 October 1816, Francis Pym, of the Hasells, Bedfordshire. They had 11 children. She died 25 April 1848. ^[6]

Marianne Leslie-Melville, born 30 November 1797. She married, 28 August 1822, Abel Smith, M.P., son of Samuel Smith, M.P., and nephew of first Lord Carrington. She died died at their residence in Berkeley Square, London, without children 22 March 1823.

She died 13 February 1818 seemingly content and after a short illness.

Sources

1. ↑ #S-1 Balfour Paul; Vol 6, page 118
2. ↑ #S-20 Fraser, Vol 1, page 360
3. ↑ #S-20 Fraser, Vol 1, page 360
4. ↑ Details available here: http://dcodriscoll.pbworks.com/w/page/9956936/Smith_(I)
5. ↑ Details available here: http://dcodriscoll.pbworks.com/w/page/9956936/Smith_(I)
6. ↑ Details available here: http://dcodriscoll.pbworks.com/w/page/9956720/Pym_%28I%29

LDS birth/baptism record
Name Jane Thornton
Gender Female
Christening Date 12 Mar 1757
Christening Place MONIMAIL, FIFE, SCOTLAND
Birth Date 11 Feb 1757
Father's Name John Thornton
Mother's Name Lucy Watson
Scotland, Births and Baptisms, 1564-1950," database, FamilySearch (https://familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:XYHG-CQH : accessed 5 August 2015), Jane Thornton, 11 Feb 1757; citing , reference ; FHL microfilm 1,040,338

• Source S-1Sir James Balfour Paul, Editor. The Scots peerage, founded on Wood's edition of Sir Robert Douglas's peerage of Scotland; containing an historical and genealogical account of the nobility of that kingdom. Vol. VI. Edinburgh: D Douglas, 1904. Open Library

• Source S-20 Sir William Fraser. The Melvilles, Earls of Melville, and the Leslies, Earls of Leven; in 3 Volumes - Vol 1 referenced. Volume I. Edinburgh: Privately Printed, 1890. archive.org