James Melville: Life Story

A commission was convened by Queen Elizabeth at York in October 1568 to look into whether Mary had been involved in the death of Darnley. Moray and others of the King’s Party were present, including Melville and his adoptive father, Henry Balnaves. The commission was then moved to Hampton Court. The results were inconclusive, as Elizabeth had no intention of allowing Mary to be either convicted or cleared.

On his return to Scotland following the commission, Melville got married for the first time, or so it appears. On 29^th June 1569, a deed was presented before the Lords of Session, of whom Balnaves was one, to be registered. Dated both Balmuto and Edinburgh, the deed provided for the marriage of James Melville, adopted son of Balnaves, to marry Christian Boswell, daughter of Sir David Boswell of Balmuto.

It seems likely that the Boswells were connections of Balnaves’ wife, who left £12 for the dowry of Helen Boswell in her will, although the relationship between Helen and Christian is unknown. There is no information as to whether Melville and Christian had any say in the matter of their marriage. They went on to have four children, two boys and two girls. In February of the following year, Balnaves died, and Melville inherited his lands at Halhill (more on that here).

No mention is made of any other wife, before or after, however, a letter in the Cecil Papers at Hatfield gives a startling idea that Melville was at some point married to the sister of Henry Killigrew.

In June 1560, there is a letter addressed from Melville to Killigrew, in which he refers to him as ‘his gentle brother’. It is possible that the two men were so close they called each other brother (although that doesn’t seem to have been a common practice) or, that Melville was married to Killigrew’s sister, but that she died before he married Christian Boswell. However, there is a later letter of Melville’s dated 7^th December, 1583, also addressing Killigrew as ‘brother’, and, in the post-script, adding,

‘Your sister my wyf [wife] has hir hartly recommendit unto zow [you]’ that is, your sister, my wife sends her hearty recommendations to you.

There are also letters in which Melville’s brother, Robert, refers to Killigrew as brother.

So, it is a mystery – was Melville married twice? If so, which was the first wife? Or did the marriage to Christian never take place? But, if Melville were already married, why would Balnaves try to arrange a marriage to Christian? Further, if Melville had kept a marriage to Miss Killigrew secret, he would have had to confess it rather than commit bigamy with Christian. It would be surprising if such a confession resulted in a bequest to Melville’s wife in the will Balnaves made less than six months after the bond to marry Christian.

It is a mystery, which our research has not yet solved!