URQUHART, JOHN [SSNE 3718]

Surname
URQUHART, URQUHARD, URQUARD
First name
JOHN, JOHAN, JOHANN
Title/rank
COLONEL
Nationality
SCOT
Region
CROMARTY, ROSS AND CROMARTY
Social status
OFFICER

Text source

Colonel John Urquhart was of ancient Scottish noble lineage, son of Alexander Urquhart of Kinbeachie and Margaret Abernethy.

 

John Urquhart arrived in Sweden with some recruited regiments in the early 1630s. In 1635 he was a lieutenant captain in Johan Skytte's [SSNE 6280] regiment. He was a full captain in 1636. He served as assistant to the commandant at Nyenmünde (Neumunde, Livonia) garrison in 1643. He became a major in Queen Kristina's Lifeguard in 1645 (commanded by Magnus de la Gardie), and in May that year he received a donation of three leaseholds from her. One belonged to Uppsala province hospital at Ulleracker, and the other two belonged to Skaggestadh cloister. These were for the duration of his life, his wife's life and their legitimate descendants. In September 1645, Urquhart took 4 companies of the Lifeguard to garrison Halmstad including his own and that of Captain Ernst Forbes (total force 379 men). Two years later he was promoted lieutenant colonel. In 1648 he moved with eight companies to Halberstadt (July) before being moved back towards the Elbe to await further orders. With the end of the Thirty Years' War (1648) Urquhart was ennobled, thereby becoming a naturalised Swede, and thereafter he was introduced in the House of Nobility (1650). He went on to be colonel in Magnus de la Gardie's infantry life regiment (Queen Christina's Life Guard). He also served as commandant at Birsen, Livonia in 1655 and died the following year. He was married to Isabella Kinninmund [SSNE 3317], who was the Scottish born daughter of William Kinninmund. They had two children: Isabella [SSNE 716] and Thomas [SSNE 3721]. John [SSNE 3719] and Magnus [SSNE 3720] were presumably also related to him. He was in some way a relative of Thomas and Andrew Urquhart of Cromarty. He gave the former a gift of two brass cannon in 1650 which were inscribed and sent from Stockholm.

 

Sources: Swedish Riksarkiv, Carl Gustaf's Arkiv i Stegeborgssamlingen, John Urquhard, July 1648 Wismar, August 1648 Erfurt; Swedish Riksarkiv, Militära chefer i svenska arméen och deras skrivelser; Swedish Krigsarkiv, Muster Roll, 1635/26,30-32; 1636/20-23; 1645/1; 1646/1; 1647/19,20; 1648/23,24; 1649/17,18; 1655/7; A letter can be found in 'Krigskollegium Kancelliet; Adressatregistratur till Krigskollegiets Registratur 1631-1654' regarding "rullor och besked på det folk som med honom på skeppen härifrån avsändas 14/6/1645"; Svenska Adelns Ättartavlor, vol. 8, p.581; H. Marryat, One Year in Sweden, including a visit to the isle of Gotland (London, 1862), p.500; Register of the Privy Council of Scotland, 3rd series, I, 1661-1664, p.17. Supplication of Alexander Urquhart of Cromarty, 1 August 1661; Bertil C. Barkman and  Sven Lundkvist, Kungl. Svea Livgardes Historia, III:II. 1632 (1611) – 1660 (Stockholm, 1966), pp.133, 146,, 159, 163, 165; T. Fischer, Scots in Sweden, pp.237-8. Thanks to Thomas Brochard for additional information.

Service record

SWEDEN, JOHN SKYTTE'S INFANTRY REGIMENT
Arrived 1635-01-01, as LIEUTENANT
Departed 1644-12-31, as CAPTAIN
Capacity OFFICER, purpose MILITARY
SWEDEN, LIFEGUARD
Arrived 1645-01-01, as MAJOR
Departed 1646-12-31, as MAJOR
Capacity OFFICER, purpose MILITARY
SWEDEN, DROTTNINGEN'S (Queen Christina's Life-Guard), WISMAR, ERFURT
Arrived 1647-01-01, as LIEUTENANT
Departed 1654-12-31, as LT. COLONEL
Capacity OFFICER, purpose MILITARY
SWEDEN, DE LA GARDIE (Queen Christina's Life-Guard)
Arrived 1655-01-01, as COLONEL
Departed 1655-12-31, as COLONEL
Capacity OFFICER, purpose MILITARY
SWEDEN, BIRSEN, LIVONIA
Arrived 1655-01-01, as COMMANDANT
Departed 1656-12-31, as COMMANDANT
Capacity OFFICER AND COMMANDANT, purpose MILITARY