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Alexander Stuart, 5th Earl of Moray

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1628486

Alexander Stuart, 5th Earl of Moray

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Alexander Stuart, 5th Earl of Moray

Alexander Stuart, 5th Earl of Moray, KT, PC (8 May 1634 – 1 November 1701) was a Scottish peer who held senior political office in Scotland under Charles II and James VII and II.

He was first brought into government in 1676 by the Duke of Lauderdale, his relative by marriage; between 1681 and 1686, he played a prominent role in the suppression of Presbyterian radicals, known as "the Killing Time". He retained his position when James succeeded in 1685 and supported his religious policies, having converting to Catholicism in 1686.

Removed from office after the 1688 Glorious Revolution, he retired from public life and died at Donibristle on 1 November 1701.

Alexander Stuart was born in May 1634, second son of James, 4th Earl of Moray and Lady Margaret Home (1607–1683). His elder brother James died young and Alexander succeeded his father as Earl of Moray in 1653. He was one of eight children; in addition to James, the others being Mary (1628–1668), Margaret (1631–1667), Francis (born 1636), Henrietta (1640–1713), Archibald (1643–1688), and Anne (1644–1719).

In 1658, he married Emilia Balfour, daughter of Sir William Balfour and they had James, Lord Doune (1660–1685), Charles, 6th Earl (1673–1735), Francis, 7th Earl (1673–1739), John who died unmarried and without legitimate issue but had at least one son named William B.1737 in Banffshire (1675–1765) and Emilia (died after 1706).

During the Wars of the Three Kingdoms, his father raised a regiment that fought for the Covenanters against Royalist forces led by Montrose. He also supported the attempt to restore Charles I to power in the Second English Civil War, then Charles II in 1651.

Alexander succeeded his father as Earl of Moray on 4 March 1653, shortly after Scotland was incorporated into The Protectorate. After defeating the Royalist Glencairn's Rising in 1654, the new administration decided to draw a line under the civil wars and adopted a number of conciliatory measures. One of these was the 1654 Act of Grace and Pardon; a small number of key individuals had their estates confiscated, with others paying a fine. Moray was one of 73 individuals included in this list, although the original amount of £3,500 was eventually reduced to £500.

After the Restoration of Charles II in 1660, Moray became a Privy Councillor but remained a minor political figure. He was known as an opponent of Presbyterian radicals and in 1675, his uncle by marriage, the Duke of Lauderdale, named him Lord Justice General, replacing the Marquess of Atholl. He helped enforce increasingly harsh policies, including the death penalty for preaching at services held outside the approved church, or Conventicles, and was made a Commissioner of the Treasury in 1678.

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