Walter Campbell of Shawfield

Campbell was born on 29 December 1741 into the Clan Campbell of Cawdor. He was a son of John Campbell of Shawfield (1696–1746) and Lady Henrietta Cunningham, who married in 1735. His father had been previously married, without issue, to Lady Margaret Campbell (a daughter of Hugh Campbell, 3rd Earl of Loudoun and sister of John Campbell, 4th Earl of Loudoun). His older brothers were Daniel Campbell, 2nd of Shawfield (an MP for Lanarkshire who died unmarried in 1777) and John Campbell, 8th of Skipness.[1]

His maternal grandparents were William Cunningham, 12th Earl of Glencairn and Lady Henrietta Stewart (second daughter of Alexander Stewart, 3rd Earl of Galloway and Lady Mary Douglas, a daughter of James Douglas, 2nd Earl of Queensberry). His cousins James and John both became Earls of Glencairn.[2] His paternal grandparents were Margaret (née Leckie) Campbell (the daughter of John Leckie of Newlands) and Daniel Campbell, a follower of the Duke of Argyll who represented Inverary in the Scottish parliament from 1702 until the union (he was one of the commissioners who signed the treaty). He sat in the first Parliament of Great Britain and represented the Glasgow Burghs from 1716 to 1734. In 1711, he built Shawfield Mansion, his residence in Glasgow which became famous in connection with the Shawfield riots in 1725.[3]

His father died in 1746, predeceasing his grandfather, who died in 1753. Therefore, Walter's elder brother Daniel was their grandfather's heir. When Daniel died, unmarried and without issue, in 1777, Walter inherited the estate and became 3rd of Shawfield and Laird of Islay, Scotland.[4]

He qualified as an advocate in 1763 and was Sheriff-Depute of Kincardineshire from 1767 to 1777.[5] He was recognised by Lord Lyon King of Arms, and matriculated his arms at the Lyon Court in 1777.

He was Rector of the University of Glasgow from 1789 to 1791.[4]

Campbell was married twice. His marriage was to Eleanor Kerr (d. 1785) on 9 March 1768. She was a daughter of Robert Kerr of Newfield and Eleanora (née Nugent) Kerr. Her grandparents were Lord Charles Kerr (the second son of Robert Kerr, 1st Marquess of Lothian and Lady Jane Campbell, a daughter of Archibald Campbell, 1st Marquess of Argyll) and the former Janet Murray (eldest daughter of Sir David Murray of Stanhope, 2nd Baronet and Lady Anne Bruce, second daughter of Alexander Bruce, 2nd Earl of Kincardine).[6] Together, Eleanor and Walter were the parents of:[7]

• John Campbell, 4th of Islay and of Woodhall (1770–1809), who was an army officer and a Member of Parliament who married Lady Charlotte Bury, a daughter of John Campbell, 5th Duke of Argyll and Elizabeth Hamilton, 1st Baroness Hamilton of Hameldon.[1]
• Agnes Campbell (1770–1800), who married John Macliver (parents of Colin Campbell, 1st Baron Clyde).
• Katherine Campbell (c. 1780–1855), who married Sir Charles Jenkinson, 10th Baronet, a cousin of Lord Liverpool, the Prime Minister from 1812 to 1827.[1]
• Margaret Campbell (c. 1780–1850), who married Francis Douglas, 8th Earl of Wemyss.[8]
• Robert Campbell, 10th of Skipness, who married Eugenia Josephine Wynne, daughter of Richard Wynne, in 1806.[1]
• Colin Campbell of Ardpatrick (1787–1851), an Admiral in the Royal Navy who married Harriet Royds in 1826, a daughter of James Royds of Falinge.[1]
• Walter Campbell (d. 1840), of Sunderland House on Islay, who married Mary Ann King, daughter of John King, in 1814.[1]
• Daniel Campbell, who died young.[1]
• Eleanor Campbell, who died unmarried.[1]
• Harriet Campbell, who married Daniel Hamilton of Gikerscleugh (d. 1823).[9]
• Glencairn Campbell, who married Francis Carter of Edgcott.[10]
• Elizabeth Campbell (d. 1856), who married Stuart Moncrief of Thriepland, advocate general at Bombay.[7]

He married, secondly, Mary (née Nisbet) Hay, the daughter of William Nisbet of Dirleton and Mary (née Hamilton) Nisbet. His wife, the widow of Major William Hay (who was himself the widower of Lady Catherine Hay, a daughter of John Hay, 4th Marquess of Tweeddale), was the sister and heiress of MP William Hamilton Nisbet (father of Mary Nisbet, who married Thomas Bruce, 7th Earl of Elgin). Together, Mary and Walter were the parents of:[1]

• Mary Hamilton Campbell (1789–1885),[lower-alpha 1] who married James Ruthven, 7th Lord Ruthven of Freeland.[11]
• Hamilton Campbell (c. 1790–1873), who married Robert Hamilton, 8th Lord Belhaven and Stenton.[12]
• William Campbell (b. 1793), who died unmarried.[1]

Campbell died on 19 October 1816.[1]

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