page_title: List of Governors of Edinburgh Castle
section_title: Governors of Edinburgh Castle
hierarchical_section_title: List of Governors of Edinburgh Castle / Governors of Edinburgh Castle
caption_attribution_description: Portrait of George Douglas-Hamilton, 1st Earl of Orkney&#32;(1666-1737)
context_page_description: The Governor of Edinburgh Castle, also sometimes known as the Keeper or Captain, had overall control of the Royal castle of Edinburgh, Scotland. The Governor was usually assisted by a Deputy-Governor and a Constable, the latter being under the command of the Lord High Constable of Scotland. The Governor had lodgings within the Castle, with a Governor's House being built in 1742. Although the post was never formally abolished, Governors ceased to be appointed after the death in 1876 of Henry Dundas, 3rd Viscount Melville.
  The office was revived in 1936 as an honorary title for the General Officer Commanding of Scottish Command. This, however, is no longer the case. In 2015 Major-General Nicholas David Ashmore was appointed as both Military Secretary and General Officer Scotland.
context_section_description: After 1067 (d. 1121): Bartolf Leslie
  1107-?: Thomas de Cancia
  1153–1165: Geoffrey de Melville
  1165–1214: Reginald
  1171–1177: Rodbert
  1230–1231: Philip de Mowbray, Constable
  1251-?: Walter Comyn, Earl of Menteith (died 1258)
  Dates unknown William, Constable
  1263-?: William de Lysuris
  1278–1292: William de Kinghorn
  Dates unknown William Clerk
  The castle was in English hands from 1291 to 1314, during the Wars of Scottish Independence.
  1291–1296: Sir Ralph Basset de Drayton, English governor 
  1296–1298: Sir Walter de Huntercombe, English governor 
  1298-?: Sir John de Kingston, English governor - Captain and Constable
  1300-?: William de Rue, English governor
  1310–1314: Sir Piers de Lombard, English governor (from Gascony)
  Following the Castle's recapture by the Scots under Thomas Randolph, 1st Earl of Moray in 1314, it was slighted and unused until the English returned in 1333.
  1334-?: Sir John de Kingston, English governor
  1336-?: Sir John Strivelyne, English governor
  1337-?: Thomas Kynton, English captain and marshal, assassinated
  1340–1341: Sir Thomas de Rokeby, English governor 
  The castle was again recaptured by the Scots under Sir William Douglas in 1341.
  ...
  1346: Sir David de Lindsay, Lord of Crawford 
  1350-?: Sir Robert Erskine of Alva 
  1360-?: John MacDonald, Lord of the Isles 
  1361–1364: Archibald the Grim
  ...
  c.1375–1382 Sir John Lyon
  ...
  c.1400: David Stewart, Duke of Rothesay 
  ...
  1420: Sir William Borthwick 'the younger', 2nd of Borthwick 
  1425 – 1433: Sir Robert de Lawedre [Lauder] of The Bass, Knt.
  1437 – 1445: Sir William Crichton, Knt.
  1447: Patrick Cockburn of Clerkington, Haddingtonshire.
  1460:  Sir John Cockburn, Knight of Ormiston
  1466: Sir Alexander Boyd 
  ...
  1488-?: Patrick Hepburn, 1st Earl of Bothwell 
  ...
  c.1515-after 1524: James Hamilton, 1st Earl of Arran 
  ...
  1544–1548: James Hamilton of Stenhouse 
  1548 - 1554 William Hamilton of Sanquhar.
  c.1559 – 19 March 1566: John Erskine, 6th Lord Erskine
  1566–1567:James Cockburn of Skirling 
  1567–1568:Sir James Balfour of Pittendreich 
  1568–1573: Sir William Kirkcaldy of Grange, defended the castle for Mary, Queen of Scots, during the "Lang Siege"
  1574-?: George Douglas of Parkhead 
  28 March 1579 – ?: Sir Alexander Erskine of Gogar 
  1584: James Stewart, Earl of Arran 
  ...
  ?-1591: Sir James Hume, Captain.
  1600?: Andrew Stewart, 3rd Lord Ochiltree
  ...
  1615–1638: John Erskine, Earl of Mar
  1638-?: John Elphinstone, 2nd Lord Balmerino 
  1639–1640: Sir Patrick Ruthven 
  1641-?: Alexander Leslie, 1st Earl of Leven 
  1645-?: Alexander Lindsay, 1st Earl of Balcarres
  1648: James Hamilton, 1st Duke of Hamilton 
  1650: Colonel Walter Dundas of Dundas 
  1650: George Fenwick, appointed by Oliver Cromwell following his capture of the Castle 
  1651–1652: Major-General Robert Overton, appointed by Cromwell
  ...
  1661-?: John Middleton, 1st Earl of Middleton
  1663-?: John Maitland, 1st Duke of Lauderdale 
  1664: Colonel James Murray 
  ...
  1682–1686: William Douglas, 1st Duke of Queensberry 
  1686–1689: George Gordon, 1st Duke of Gordon, defended the castle for the exiled James VII 
  1689–1702: David Leslie, 3rd Earl of Leven
  1702–1704: William Douglas, 1st Earl of March
  1705-1712: David Leslie, 3rd Earl of Leven
  1712–1714: John Campbell, 2nd Duke of Argyll 
  1714–1737: General George Hamilton, 1st Earl of Orkney 
  1737–1738: Charles Douglas, 2nd Earl of Selkirk
  1738: George Ross, 13th Lord Ross 
  1738–1745: Lieutenant-General Sir James Campbell of Lawers  
  1745–1752: General Lord Mark Kerr 
  1752–1763: Lieutenant General Humphry Bland 
  1763–1782: General John Campbell, 4th Earl of Loudoun 
  1782–1796: General Archibald Montgomerie, 11th Earl of Eglinton 
  1796–1801: General Lord Adam Gordon 
  1801–1827: General Sir Robert Abercromby
  1827–1836: General George Gordon, 5th Duke of Gordon
  1836–1837: General Hon. Patrick Stuart
  1837–1842: General Lord Greenock 
  1842–1847: Lieutenant-General Sir Neil Douglas 
  1847–1852: General Sir Henry Riddell
  1852–1854: General Sir Thomas Napier
  vacant; Melville appointed retroactive to 1855
  1860–1876: General Henry Dundas, 3rd Viscount Melville
caption: George Hamilton, 1st Earl of Orkney, Governor from 1714 to 1737
exif: {}