David Wemyss, Lord Elcho, de jure Earl of Wemyss | |
|---|---|
.jpg) David Wemyss, Lord Elcho ca 1741 | |
| Born | 21 August 1721 Wemyss Castle, Fife |
| Died | 29 April 1787 Paris |
| Buried | |
| Allegiance |  Jacobite 1745-1746 France 1756-1753 |
| Service | Army |
| Years of service | 1745-1763 |
| Rank | Colonel |
| Unit | Royal-Ecossais |
| Battles / wars | Jacobite rising of 1745 Battle of Prestonpans Falkirk Muir Culloden Seven Years' War |
| Awards | Royal Company of Archers Order of Military Merit (France) 1770 |
| Relations | Francis Charteris (1675-1732) 5th Earl of Wemyss (1699-1756) Sir James Steuart 1708-1780 |
David Wemyss, Lord Elcho and de jure 6th Earl of Wemyss (12 August 1721 – 29 April 1787), was a Scottish peer and Jacobite, attainted for his part in the 1745 Rising was deprived of titles and estates.
One of the few Jacobites excluded from the 1747 Act of Indemnity, his attempts to return home were unsuccessful and he spent the rest of his life in France and Switzerland. His wife Sofia (1756–1777) died in childbirth; Elcho left no legitimate children and when he died in Paris in 1787, his property passed to a younger brother.
His record of the 1745 Rising or A short account of the affairs of Scotland in the years 1744, 1745, 1746, is now considered a key contemporary source for the Rising.