Baillie, George (1664 -1738)

George Baillie of Jerviswood and Mellerstain was the son of Robert Baillie of Jerviswood, staunch covenanter who in 1684 was arrested for High Treason, condemned to death, and his estate forfeited. George Baillie escaped to the Netherlands and became a junior officer in the Prince of Orange’s Horse Guards. When the Prince of Orange invaded Great Britain 1689, George accompanied him and was restored to his estates. He married in September 1691, Grisel Hume, daughter of Sir Patrick Hume, afterwards Earl of Marchmont, and was elected a Member of Parliament, and made one of the Lords of the Scottish Treasury. His daughter and ultimate heir, Rachel, married Charles Hamilton Lord Binning, eldest son of Thomas 6th Earl of Haddington and Helen Hope daughter of John Hope of Hopeton and sister of the 1st Earl of Hopeton. Lord Binning was Knight Marischal of Scotland from 1718, and died during his father’s lifetime 27 December 1732. His eldest son became the 7th Earl, and the second son George Baillie inherited Jerviswood and Mellerstain, taking the surname of Baillie. His grandson eventually succeeded to the Earldom as 10th Earl of Haddington. The books are, with a few exceptions, still at Mellerstain. The design of the bindings of his books is imitated from that of the Baron de Longueville, and was also used by Martin Folkes in England