John Drummond, 1st Earl of Melfort, styled Duke of Melfort in the Jacobite peerage (8 August 1650 - 25 January 1715), was a Scottish politician and close advisor to James II. A Catholic convert, Melfort and his brother the Earl of Perth consistently urged James not to compromise with his opponents, contributing to his increasing isolation and ultimate deposition in the 1688 Glorious Revolution. In exile, Melfort became the first Jacobite Secretary of State but his unpopularity with other Jacobites led to his resignation in 1694. He served as James' Papal Ambassador in Rome but failed to regain his former influence and retired from active politics. He died in Paris on 25 January 1715. Life John Drummond, later Earl of Melfort, was born in 1649, probably at Stobhall in Perthshire since the family home Drummond Castle was then occupied by the New Model Army. The second son of James Drummond, 3rd Earl of Perth (ca 1615-1675) and Lady Anne Gordon (ca 1621-1656), his elder brother James Drummond, 4th Earl of Perth, was a close political ally. In September 1670, Melfort married Sophia Maitland, heiress to the estate of Lundin in Fife and niece of the Duke of Lauderdale; they had six children before her death in 1680. After his exile, his titles and property were confiscated in 1695, except for Sophia's estates, which were transferred to their surviving children in December 1688. Thereafter, they had little contact with their father and used the name 'Lundin'. After Sophia's death in 1680, he married Euphemia Wallace (ca. 1654-1743) and they had another seven children, who grew up in France. John Drummond, 2nd Earl of Melfort, took part in the Jacobite rising of 1715, while his grandsons, John and Louis Drummond, fought at Culloden in 1746 with the Royal Écossais Regiment and ended their careers as senior French officers. Career Scottish Politician; 1670-1688 Lauderdale was the Crown's representative in Scotland and marriage to his niece brought Melfort lands and positions; in September 1673, he received a commission as Captain in the Foot Guards. He was appointed Deputy Governor of Edinburgh Castle in 1679, then Lieutenant-General and Master of the Ordnance in 1680. Charles II had numerous illegitimate children but no legitimate ones, leaving James as heir. His conversion to Catholicism and the perceived threat posed by the policies of Louis XIV resulted in the anti-Catholic Popish Plot and the 1679-1681 Exclusion Crisis. This