MELVILLE, ANDREW [SSNE 3071]

Surname: MELVILLE, MELVILL
First name: ANDREW, ANDREAS
Title/rank: MAJOR GENERAL SIR
Nationality: SCOT
Social status: OFFICER
Education: UNIVERSITY

Text source

Andrew Melville (1624-1706) was born in Scotland in May 1624, the son of John Melville and Jane Kellie [sister of the Chamberlain to Charles I]. He was sent to study the languages of northern Europe at Konigsberg University at the age of 13. He apparently escaped to find adventure and went to Poland for military service in 1638, apparently aged 14. In his memoirs he claimed that finding all quiet he resolved to return to Scotland and gained his discharge, implying he had been in service briefly: "Not caring therefore, to remain in Poland, I obtained my discharge by the mediation of one of my kinsmen whom I had the good luck to fall in with, and returned to Scotland." Once there, he found his parents had died and their lands confiscated. Lord Grey of Werke took Melville's brother into service and then Andrew, granting him a coronetcy. After living by plunder he was briefly imprisoned. Thereafter he joined Scottish presbyterian troops before leaving for the Continent. Melville thereafter fought intermittently for the French army in Flanders 1647-1650, specifically in the army of the Duke of Lorraine. Separated from his unit in Flanders, he headed for a nearby Irish regiment where he had heard the lt. col. was a Scotsman. Melville informed him of his destitution and the Scot said "I know your family and there is not any service that is in my power to render, which you may not rely upon from me" - and he kept his promise while Melvill tried to petition the French to pay his ransom. Melvill eventually joined Charles II at Breda and returned with him to Scotland. A fugitive in England after Worcester, Melville heard of a man with the same surname living in London [probably George, later Earl of Melville]. He knocked on this strangers door, despite knowing him to be (p.135) a Cromwellian. He told him "I am of your kith and kin, as your name is Melvill […] I am certain, for you to have compassion on a poor member of your family, whom necessity alone forces to appeal to your kindness" After having to prove his identity by reciting his geneaology the London Melville clothed, fed and financed his escape to the Continent. Eventually, after a brief stop in the Dutch Republic, he escaped to Konigsberg, and was informed that a Scots colonel of dragoons was in the city and "that he would probably give me employment for the sake of my nationality if I presented myself before him". Indeed he was taken on, as collector of contributions in villages along the Weser (6000 crowns). Melville also rejoined the French army for a period in the service of the Duke of Lorraine and remained with him until 1655. He later became a major in Johan af Waldeck's dragoon regiment in Brandenburg's service about 1658 and the following year he served as a lieutenant colonel in Georg af Waldeck's dragoon regiment in Swedish service. During his Swedish service he undertook a recruiting mission in Germany. In 1660 he was sent by the Duke of Celle [Brunswick-Lunenburgh] to congratulate Charles II on his restoration to the crown of the Three Kingdoms. His being in Luneberg saw him re-establish contact with his old friend Colonel John Molleson [SSNE 6009], who arrived in Luneberg service in 1665 and whom he had described in 1653 as "a Scottish comrade of mine" (Molleson became Governor of Luneberg in 1674). When the Turks invaded Hungary, Melville accompanied the Brandenburg contingent under Josias von Waldeck as Quartermaster-General. He fought the Turks until 1664 and then returned to Germany where he settled for life in the service of George William, Duke of Luneburg-Celle. In his service he returned briefly to the Court of Charles II in 1667 and was also made commandant at Celle in 1666. It was at this time that Sophia Duchess of Hamilton noticed Melville as a possible match for Miss Lamotte, a favourit of Eleanor d'Harburg, the wife of George William. She wrote "I Believe Madame d'Harburg has proposed a match between Lamotte and the Governor of Cell. He is a Scotsman called Melleville; Soldier of i-ll-fortune I call him, for a cannon-shot has carried away part of his chest, which is only supported by an iron contrivance. With all his valour he has won no greater prize than his present charge. Yet, if she be willing I am content". Electress Spohia later wrote "Lamotte's wedding is to take place soon, as she seems to prefer half a man to no man at all". Soon after, Melville became involved in the Franco-Dutch war of 1672. Melville saw action on the Rhine in 1674 where he and his comrade "von Mollesson" distinguished themselves. Again the Electress mSophia had something to say about Melville noting "Melvill has 16 wounds of which 8 are in the head. Yet will not die for he is of an excellent Scots complexion and has had no fever" and two weeks later "Colonel Melvill is already walking about his tent. I verily believe that the Scots are descended not from Adam but from the serpent. One cuts them into 16 pieces like Melvill and they all join together again. He still suffered from these wounds until 1679, though still took part i several actions. Upon peace, Melville retired from active service. In 1677, Melville was appointed commandant of Gifhorn where he later died (1706). He briefly returned to Britain in 1680 accompanying George, Prince of Hanover (later George I) to Oxford where he received the degree of M.D. He also met with Charles II in 1681, where his earlier services were duly remembered. Soon after this, in 1683, Melville applied to the Privy Council of Scotland for a birthbrieve, which was duly granted. Two years later, Sir John Cochrane wrote to Sir Andrew Melville inviting him to supply officers, men and, if he wished, join the expedition with Argyll against James VII in 1685. Melville did not go, but the letter makes clear that Cochrane was familiar with Melvilles health, family and friends in Luneberg service. Soon after this David Melville Earl of Leven [SSNE 5000] passed through northern Germany and settled for a while in Berlin. It would have been most off had the two men not met. After all, he was one of the signatories to the attestation which facilitated Andrew's birth-brieve in 1683. What is known is that Andrew's son Patrick [SSNE 7154] acted as a courier for Leven in 1686. Melville had a daughter, Charlotte Sophia Anna [SSNE 7156] (d.1724) who, in 1690, became the wife of Alexander von Schulenburg-Blumberg, a Hanovarian General. His son Patrick pre-deceased him. Apart from Patrick and Charlotte Sophia Andrew also had a son called George Ernest [SSNE 7371] who became a general and the governor of Hameln and Hanover. In 1704 Andrew Melville published his autobiography in French, later translated and edited by Torick Ameer-Ali into English.

Sources: Swedish Krigsarkiv, Muster Roll, 1659/11; 1660/14,15; A. Melville, 'Memoires de M. le Chevalier de Melvill' (Amsterdam, 1704). Torick Ameer-Ali (ed), Memoirs of Sir Andrew Melvill (London, 1918). The letters of Electress Sophia are related in the introduction of Ameer-Ali's translation of the book. The source given is Preuss. Staatsarchiven, "Briefwechel der Herzogin Sophie von Hannover mit ihrem Bruder" vol.26, various letters 1667-1679; Register of the Privy Council of Scotland, 3rd series, VIII, 1683-84, pp.114-115; DNB, XIII, p.237; W. Fraser, The Melvilles Earls of Melville and the Leslies Earls of Leven, vol. II (Edinburgh, 1890), p.101, Sir John Cochrane to Sir Andrew Melville, Amsterdam, 23 April 1685; D. Stevenson, King or Covenant; Voices from the Civil War (Britain, 1996), p.12; Steve Murdoch, Network North: Scottish Kin, Commercial and Covert Associations in Northern Europe, 1603-1746 (Brill, Leiden, 2006), pp.7, 20, 25-26, 76, 79, 350.

With thanks to Kurt Bontius for providing the information on George Ernest.

Service record

SCOTLAND, KONIGSBERG UNIVERSITY: Arrived 1637-01-01; Departed 1637-12-31; Capacity STUDENT, purpose ACADEMIC
POLAND-LITHUANIA, POLISH ARMY: Arrived 1638-01-01, as SOLDIER; Departed 1638-12-31, as SOLDIER; Capacity SOLDIER, purpose MILITARY
FRANCE, DUKE OF LORRAINE (ANDREW GRAY): Arrived 1647-01-01, as ENSIGN; Departed 1655-05-31, as OFFICER; Capacity OFFICER, purpose MILITARY
SCOTLAND, SCOTTISH ARMY: Arrived 1650-06-01, as OFFICER; Departed 1651-09-03, as OFFICER; Capacity OFFICER, purpose MILITARY
BRANDENBURG-PRUSSIA, ARMY: Arrived 1656-01-01; Capacity OFFICER, purpose MILITARY
SWEDEN, WALDECK'S DRAGOONS: Arrived 1659-01-01, as MAJOR; Departed 1660-12-31, as LT. COLONEL; Capacity OFFICER, purpose MILITARY
SCOTLAND, STUART KINGDOMS, LONDON: Arrived 1660-03-01; Capacity PRIVATE TRAVELLER, purpose MISC.
BRANDENBURG-PRUSSIA, WALDECK'S ARMY IN HUNGARY: Arrived 1661-01-01, as QUARTERMASTER GENERAL; Departed 1664-12-31, as QUARTERMASTER GENERAL; Capacity OFFICER, purpose MILITARY
BRUNSWICK-LUNENBURG, GIFHORN, HANNOVER: Arrived 1665-01-01, as LIEUTENANT-COLONEL; Departed 1706-12-31, as COMMANDANT, MAJOR GENERAL; Capacity COMMANDANT, OFFICER, purpose MILITARY AND CIVIC
BRUNSWICK-LUNEBURG, LONDON: Arrived 1667-01-01; Capacity PRIVATE TRAVELLER, purpose MISC.
BRUNSWICK-LUNENBURG, OXFORD UNIVERSITY: Arrived 1680-02-25; Capacity STUDENT, COURTIER, purpose ACADEMIC, ROYAL SERVICE
BRINSWICK-LUNEBERG, STUART COURT, LONDON: Departed 1667-12-31; Capacity AGENT?, purpose DIPLOMACY?