Sir Henry Wardlaw

Arthur Balcarres Wardlaw Ramsay was apparently taken back to discover that his Wardlaw ancestors had been far more eminent than the Ramsays whose papers he was so keen to preserve. Eminent as Sir Henry Wardlaw had been as Chamberlain to Queen Anne, and proud to be created a Baron of Nova Scotia by Charles I, his line petered out in the fourth generation when it ran out of male heirs. Indeed, on being refused food by his son, the second Baronet, a group of starving Highlanders prophesied that his house would melt awa’. I’ve been examining the surviving Wardlaw documents that chart his rise in royal favour, and admiring the beautiful Chancery hand of the royal deeds signed by James I and Queen Anne, part of the collection donated to the Scottish Archives by Arthur Balcarres. Sir Henry acquired the lands of Pitreavie in 1608, and built a beautiful Renaissance mansion there. He was knighted in 1613, and in 1614 the Charter of Barony refers to him as predilectus servitor. He was granted a pension of ane thousand pounds Scottis for his service in managing the Queen’s regalia in Dunfermline and this may have been the occasion when he was presented with the gloves. The Queen died in 1618.

The Wardlaw treasures, a pair of gloves and a Bible, were presented at different times. The gloves are dated early 17th century; family tradition claims they were filled with gold coins and presented to Sir Henry by Prince Charles. As King, Charles referred to him in a letter as an “old and faithful servant to our late dear father and mother and unto us.” The Bible is a rare edition, bound with a psalter, both published in 1640, after Henry’s death. Henry was created a Baronet by Charles I on 5 March 1628, and the Bible in its gorgeous embroidered covers and satchel was probably presented to Henry’s son. A letter from Queen Anne accompanies the Bible. However, this letter is more likely to have been sent with the gloves, only to be stored inside the Bible for safekeeping at a later stage. We know that there was a letter from King Charles I inside the Bible which has been lost. The puzzle about the dates still needs resolving.

The embroidered cover to the Bible, with accompanying letter from Queen Anne.

Both the gloves and Bible were treasured by descendants of the Wardlaws, and were passed to the Wardlaw Ramsays when Captain Wardlaw married Elizabeth Balfour.

The traditional use of a Bible, to record family weddings and baptisms… How old was Elizabeth?

I’m amused to read that my grandfather was actively researching his Wardlaw ancestry to establish his position in regard to the Pitreavie baronetcy, failing heirs to Sir Archibald Wardlaw, the seventeenth Baronet. Dream on…