John Campbell, 1st earl of Breadalbane and Holland

John Campbell, 1st earl of Breadalbane and Holland (born c. 1635—died March 19, 1717) was a Scottish politician, chiefly remembered for his alleged complicity in the Massacre of Glencoe.

The son of Sir John Campbell of Glenorchy, 4th Baronet (d. 1686), he took part in the Royalist uprising under the Earl of Glencairn in 1654 and later encouraged the restoration of Charles II in 1660. Charles created him earl of Caithness and viscount of Breadalbane in 1677; but, when this stirred up animosities in Caithness, Charles corrected himself and gave Campbell a new patent as earl of Breadalbane and Holland (1681).

To gain the support of the rebellious Highlanders after the Revolution of 1689, London entrusted him with the mission of securing the submission of the clans, partly through bribery. He apparently kept the government’s money for his own uses and sought to win over the rebels with threats and wile; he may even have consorted with them. Subsequently, in the Massacre of Glencoe (Feb. 13, 1692), several of the MacDonald clan were butchered in cold blood by troops to whom they had given hospitality. Opinion was strong against Breadalbane, who may well have welcomed the opportunity of destroying a clan that for generations had lived by plundering his lands and those of his neighbours; but, although he was aware that violent action was planned, it is less likely that he was personally involved in organizing the massacre. No real evidence against him was disclosed, and his imprisonment (September 1695) was on the ground of earlier dealings with the Jacobite chiefs. He was released when William III announced that Breadalbane had acted with royal approval.

Breadalbane did not vote for the union of England and Scotland in 1707, but he was a representative peer in the Parliament of Great Britain (1713–15). He maintained his contacts with the Jacobites, whom he encouraged in 1708, without, however, committing himself on paper. At the time of the Jacobite rising in 1715 he excused himself (September 19) from obeying a summons to Edinburgh on the ground of his age and infirmities; but the next day he visited the Earl of Mar’s camp at Logierait and afterward the camp at Perth, his real business being, according to the master of Sinclair, “to trick others, not to be trickt,” and to obtain a share of French subsidies. He is said to have promised and taken money for 1,200 men in the Jacobite cause, but he sent only 300 or 400, who acquitted themselves well at Sheriffmuir (1715) but were withdrawn after that battle. Breadalbane’s younger son was imprisoned, but he himself escaped any punishment for his part in the rising because of his age.

Breadalbane’s elder surviving son, Duncan, was passed over in the succession, allegedly because of a retarded mind. The younger son, John Campbell (1662–1752), became 2nd earl of Breadalbane and Holland.