Brandow, James C., compiler. Genealogies of Barbados Families: From Caribbeana and The Journal of the Barbados Museum and Historical Society, (Baltimore, MD: Genealogical Publishing Co., Inc., 1983.)
Burke, Sir Bernard, C.B., LL.D. A Genealogical History of the Dormant, Abeyant, Forfeited and Extinct Peerages of the British Empire, (London, England: Harrison and Sons, Printers, originally 1883; reprinted, Baltimore, MD: Genealogical Publishing Co., Inc., 1962.)
Daiches, David. The Last Stuart: The Life and Times of Bonnie Prince Charlie, (New York, NY: G.P. Putnam's Sons, 1973.)
Dobson, David. Directory of Scottish Settlers in North America: 1625-1825, Vol. II, (Baltimore, MD: Genealogical Publishing Co., Inc., 1984.)
Lewis, James A. Neptune's Militia: The Frigate South Carolina during the American Revolution, (Kent, OH: The Kent State University Press, 1999.)
Livingstone, Alastair, Christian W. H. Aikman and Betty Stuart Hart, editors. No Quarter Given: The Muster Roll of Prince Charles Edward Stuart's Army, 1745-46, (Glasgow, Scotland: Neil Wilson Publishing, Ltd., 2001.)
McLynn, Frank. The Jacobites, (New York, NY: Routledge and Kegan Paul, Inc., 1985.)
Prebble, John. Culloden, (London, England: Martin Secker &Warburg, Ltd., 1961.)
Reid, Stuart. 1745: A Military History of the Last Jacobite Rising, (New York, NY: Sarpedon, 1966.)
Smith, Frank, F.S.G., compiler. A Genealogical Gazetteer of Scotland: An Alphabetical Dictionary of Places, (Logan, UT: The Everton Publishers, Inc., 1971.)
Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia. "Lord Oliphant", (wikipedia.org., last modified - November 22, 2016.)
The writer of this blog has always been interested in possibly locating individuals associated with the frigate South Carolina who were earlier involved with the Jacobite Rising of 1745. But, given the passage of over 35 years between the collapse of the "Rising of the '45'" at the Battle of Culloden Moor on April 16, 1746 and the frigate South Carolina setting sail from The Texel, Holland on August 4, 1781, this seems a rather remote possibility. But, what has surfaced in the course of the writing of this blog is that there are indeed members of the crew and marines who did serve on board the frigate South Carolina who were related to participants in this much-earlier uprising that, in many ways, mirrored their earlier efforts at gaining true independence from Great Britain.
One of these Scottish individuals who would have been classified as a "rebel" by their English opponents for a completely different rebellion to English authority was the father-in-law of John Alleyne Walter, Lieutenant of Marines on board the frigate South Carolina. His name was David Oliphant of Charleston, SC. John Alleyne Walter married the daughter of David Oliphant, Jane Oliphant and this is cited in several sources. According to Brandow's work, Genealogies of Barbados Families, page 580, John Alleyne Walter "...married Jane Oliphant, daughter of Dr. David Oliphant of Charleston, SC, circa 1774...". A bit more information is cited further on in this same work, page 584, where it states that John Alleyne Walter "...married Jane Oliphant the daughter of Dr. David Oliphant, a member of the Council of Safety, a prominent figure in Revolutionary councils...". This is the importance Dr. David Oliphant had risen to not only in contemporary South Carolinian society but, also in the revolutionary circles of that same society as they strove to find a means to resist and free themselves from the tremendous power of Great Britain.
All men have a beginning and Dr. David Oliphant was no exception. According to Dobson's work, Directory of Scottish Settlers, page 164, David Oliphant was born in Scotland in 1720. There is some evidence that he was born in the County of Perth in the vicinity of the villages of Aberdalgie, Gask Trinity and Findo-Gask. According to Smith's work, A Genealogical Gazetteer of Scotland, page 120-121, these villages are all in immediate proximity of each other in southeastern Perth, being within a few miles of each other, and collectively, some few miles west of the southern-most extension of the Firth of Tay. According to Dobson's work, page 164, no more is known of the early life of David Oliphant until he is cited as a medical student, circa 1741. This would have made him twenty or twenty-one at the time. Ostensibly, he received his medical training at the University of Edinburgh, Scotland. He must have completed his medical studies at some point prior to 1745 and taken his place within Scottish society as a practitioner of medicine. But, as we shall see, events on a much larger scale were about to overtake Dr. David Oliphant and, quite literally, change his world forever.
According to Reid's work, 1745: A Military History of the Last Jacobite Rising, page 11, on July 25, 1745, on the shore of Loch nan Uamh, in Arisaig, a 24 year old descendant of James VIII of Scotland and the III of England, landed and declared that he had arrived in Scotland to lead his loyal Scots and other followers against the Hanoverian usurpers of his father's throne. According to Daiches's work, The Last Stuart, page 157, on August 19, 1745, at Glenfinnan, at the head of Loch Shiel, he raised his father's royal standard, beginning to final Jacobite uprising in the Scottish Highlands. A number of these "uprisings" had already occurred in the history of Great Britain since the last Stuart king was deposed in the Glorious Revolution of 1688. All of them had ended badly with a great deal of Scottish blood being shed. This final uprising promised to repeat the same, though arguably, it came the most near achieving its purposes - reestablishing the Stuart line of kings as the rightful monarchs of Great Britain.
Most sources agree that initially the Scottish reaction to the landing of the Prince Regent and his announcing his renewed rebellion at Glefinnan was very cool and reserved. They had been promised thousands of French troops to support their uprising but, less than hone hundred had arrived with the young Prince, along with arms and ammunition. But, as more and more of the main clan chiefs began to pledge themselves to the Rising, support for the cause of "Bonnie Prince Charlie" swelled. Evidently, one of these volunteers for the Prince's Standard was Dr. David Oliphant. According to Dobson's work, Directory of Scottish Settlers, page 164, it simply notes that David Oliphant became a:
"....Jacobite - escaped after Battle of Culloden in 1746...".
According to Livingstone, Aikman, and Hart's work, No Quarter Given, there is no citation of David Oliphant as a surgeon among the Jacobite forces during the "Rising of the '45". But, there is a belief on the part of the writer of this blog that he was a member of the Jacobite cavalry regiment known as Strathallan's or the Perthshire Horse. This belief is based on several points of "coincidence" that occur with this military formation. According to Livingstone, Aikman, and Hart's work, No Quarter Given, page 56, the colonel of the regiment was the Viscount of Strathallan, who was killed at the Battle of Culloden rather than surrender to the Hanoverian forces. But, the Lieutenant-Colonel was Laurence, Lord Oliphant of Gask and his aide-de-camp was his son, also Laurence Oliphant of Gask, who held the rank of captain. According to the above referenced work, page 55, with the death of the commanding officer, the Viscount of Strathallan, in the course of the battle "... it was left to Old Gask to bring the Squadron out of action and head south for Ruthven and subsequent dispersal. Both Oliphants managed to escape by ship to Sweden in November '46...". There are indications that following their escape to Sweden, later on the two Oliphants made their way to France. David Oliphant carries the same last name as these two members of the Scottish peerage. Nothing is mentioned of his being a direct member of this family but, in that he also comes from the same county of Scotland - Perth - and that this last name is a rather obscure Scottish last name, there does exist the possibility that he is a relative, if not direct descendant, of this Scottish noble family.
(Note: According to Burke's work, A Genealogical History of Dormant, Abeyant, Forfeited and Extinct Peerages, page 414, the name of "Oliphant" is most definitely associated with the peerages of Scotland. The title of Lord Oliphant was conferred on Sir William Oliphant of Aberdalgie for his heroic defense of Stirling Castle against the forces of Edward I in 1304. For its duration, the line was quite distinguished with one descendant, Colin Oliphant, Master of Oliphant, being killed at Flodden Field in 1513. Burke's work states nothing concerning the support of Bonnie Prince Charlie when he appeared on Scottish soil and raised the Royal Standard at Glenfinnan. But, according to Daiches's work, The Last Stuart, page 119, Laurence of Gask joined the forces of Bonnie Prince Charlie as they crossed his estate. According to McLynn's work, The Jacobites, page 88, "... the fanatical pro-Stuart Laurence of Gask...said simply: 'God sent our rightful Prince among us and I followed him.'.". According to the Wikipedia article, "Lord Oliphant", page 3, the entry for Laurence Oliphant is as follows:
"Laurence Oliphant of Gask, descended from William Oliphant of Newton, the younger son of the second Lord Oliphant, appears to have been the next heir male after William and it is stated that William acknowledged him as his rightful successor, but having taken the part of Prince Charles Edward in the insurrection of 1745, he did not assume the title. On July 14, 1760 he was created Lord Oliphant in the Jacobite peerage.".
But, even during the "Rising of the '45", on October 30, 1745, the official birthday of King George II, sentiments of certain local citizens of Scotland began to be manifested in support of the King of England. According to Reid's work, 1745, page 51, the following account is given:
"At Perth the Mob rose, made bonfires and rung bells, and obliged Mr Oliphant of Gask, the Deputy Governor, to retire into the councill house, where they besieged him with firearms; and there was severall men kill'd on both Sides. Upon some highlandmen Coming from Athole next day to Mr Oliphants Assistance the quiet of the place was restablish'd...".
As stated above, after the failure of the Jacobite cause at the Battle of Culloden, both Laurence Oliphant of Gask and his son, also known as Laurence, fled to Sweden and, possibly, France later on. According to Prebble's work, Culloden, page 356, "...Laurence of Gask and his eldest son were attainted...". This means that the title was "in disgrace" in the eyes of the British Empire. But, according to Daiches's work The Last Stuart, page 299, both the Older Oliphant as well as the Younger Oliphant were allowed to return in 1762, with the younger Oliphant dying in 1792, having never acknowledged the House of Hanover as his rightful monarch.
David Oliphant, Jacobite surgeon in the "Rising of the '45", could easily have been a relation, direct or indirect, of this Scottish noble family whose title has since become extinct.)
A second "coincidence" is contained in the continuation of the citation for David Oliphant further on in Dobson's work, Directory of Scottish Settlers, page 164, and is as follows:
"Emigrated from Scotland to America. Settled in South Carolina. Doctor. In partnership with John Murray and latterly with John Lining. Died 1805."
According to Livingstone, Aikman, and Hart's work, No Quarter Given, page 58, there appears a citation which deals with the disposition of the Strathallan Horse immediately after the battle of Culloden and which is as follows:
"John Murray Surgeon Edinburgh, Scotland Taken prisoner, acquitted"
So, at some point either during or following the Battle of Culloden, John Murray was taken prisoner by the British forces. According to this citation, he was acquitted of charges for participating in the rebellion and ostensibly released from custody. There is an entry for John Murray in Dobson's work, Directory of Scottish Settlers, page 161, which is as follows:
"John Murray - Scottish doctor. Possibly a student 1737-1742. Emigrated from Scotland to America. Settled in South Carolina."
Earlier in Dobson's work, Directory of Scottish Settlers, page 87, there appears a citation for John Lining which reads as follows:
"John Lining - Born in Dundee, Angus during 1708. Physician. Emigrated from Scotland to America in 1730. Married Sarah Hill in 1739. Doctor in Charleston, South Carolina. Died on September 21, 1760.".
As can be easily seen from the above citations for John Murray and John Lining, both of these men are cited as being from Scotland, as being trained as physicians, as emigrating from Scotland to North America, and as having settled in South Carolina. The entry for David Oliphant from Dobsons' work, Directory of Scottish Settlers, page 164, specifically states that he was in partnership with both John Murray and John Lining at different times while they were all in South Carolina. These must all be the self-same men who are cited here. Also, since John Murray was cited as having been the surgeon for Strathallan's Horse at the Battle of Culloden and since there were at least two other gentlemen-officers, one the Lieutenant-Colonel of the regiment, who bore the surname of "Oliphant" and were directly associated with this regiment of horse, then there exists the distinct possibility that David Oliphant was attached to this specific Jacobite regiment of horse in the capacity of a medically trained individual but, for some reason was not listed as such on the roster of the regiment. After the defeat of the Jacobite forces at the Battle of Culloden, he would have fled Scotland for America, where he would continue the practice of medicine among the citizens of Charleston, SC. Since there are no references to a wife, yet, in later sources he is referred to as having a daughter, we must assume that he married after settling in Charleston, SC. It would be this daughter who would marry John Alleyne Walter circa 1774 in Charleston, SC. Later, in December 1782, John Alleyne Walter would be a Lieutenant of Marines on board the frigate South Carolina when the frigate was captured by three Royal Navy men-of-war off the Capes of the Delaware on December 21, 1782.
David Oliphant made a significant contribution to revolutionary thought among the residents of South Carolina after he arrived there. Certain sources indicate that not only did he practice medicine but, also worked as a private tutor for the children of the elites of South Carolinian society. One of the young Charlestonians he tutored was Charles Cotesworth Pinckney. He taught the young Pinckney that when a government has failed the people it rules over, those same people have a right to alter that political entity into a more equitable form of government. These same sentiments would have found fertile ground among the Jacobite highland clans and allied lowland peoples of Scotland just a few decades earlier. Here in Britain's North American colonies, these same teachings were finding ever-increasingly fertile ground and receptive minds and hearts in which to take root and grow. So, possibly the good doctor remained a true Jacobite to the very end of his life. And, possibly, he sought to express and transfer those same sentiments and beliefs to a new breed of young "rebels" in a new land in the hope that one day he might see the strength of the people triumph in the political arena.