View source for Alexander Leslie, 5th Earl of Leven

{{Short description|Scottish aristocrat}}
{{Use British English|date=August 2013}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=August 2021}}
{{infobox officeholder
| honorific_prefix = [[The Right Honourable]]
| name          = The Earl of Leven
| honorific_suffix =
| office        = [[Lord High Commissioner]]
| term_start    = 1741
| term_end      = 1753
| predecessor   = [[John Carmichael, 3rd Earl of Hyndford|The Earl of Hyndford]]
| successor     = [[John Hope, 2nd Earl of Hopetoun|The Earl of Hopetoun]]
| birth_name    = Alexander Leslie
| birth_date    = {{birthdate|1695|05|28|df=yes}}
| birth_place   =
| death_date    = {{dda|1754|09|02|1695|05|28|df=yes}}
| death_place   =
| parents       = [[David Leslie, 3rd Earl of Leven]]
| spouse        = {{plainlist|
* {{marriage|Mary Erskine<br>|23 February 1721|1723|reason=her death}}
* {{marriage|Elizabeth Monypenny<br>|13 March 1726||reason=}}
}}
| children      =
| relations     =
}}
'''Alexander Leslie, 5th Earl of Leven''' (28 May 1695 – 2 September 1754)<ref>[http://www.scotlandspeople.gov.uk] OPR Births 685/001 0120 0234</ref> was a Scottish aristocrat.
==Early life==
He was the son of [[David Leslie, 3rd Earl of Leven]] (1660–1728) and Lady Anne Wemyss (1675–1702).<ref name="auto">{{Cite journal|url=http://www.tara.tcd.ie/handle/2262/17823|title=Alexander, 5th Earl of Leven (d 1754)|first=Antonio (Italian painter|last=Bellucci|date=26 June 2008|hdl=2262/17823 |via=tara.tcd.ie}}</ref>
His mother was the eldest daughter of [[James Wemyss, Lord Burntisland]] and [[Margaret Wemyss, 3rd Countess of Wemyss|Lady Margaret Wemyss]], ''[[suo jure]]'' [[Earl of Wemyss|Countess of Wemyss]] (the only daughter of [[David Wemyss, 2nd Earl of Wemyss]]).
==Career==
Following the death of his nephew in 1729 (his elder brother predeceased their father in 1721), he inherited the [[Earl of Leven|earldoms of Leven]] and [[Earl of Melville|Melville]], though he did not use the latter title.
Lord Leven served as a Lord of Session from 1734 to 1754; Grand Master of Scottish Freemasons 1741 to 1742; High Commissioner to the General Assembly of the [[Church of Scotland]] from 1741 to 1753; a [[List of Scottish representative peers|Representative Peer]] for Scotland from 1747 to 1754; and a Lord of Police 1754.
==Personal life==
[[File:Mellville House - geograph.org.uk - 715259.jpg|right|thumb|280px|[[Melville House]]]]
On 23 February 1721, he married Mary Erskine, a daughter of Col. Hon. John Erskine of Carnock (third son of [[David Erskine, 2nd Lord Cardross]]) and Anna Dundas (daughter and co-heiress of William Dundas of Kincavel). Before her death in 1723, they had one child:<ref>[http://www.scotlandspeople.gov.uk] OPR Marriages 685/001 0460 0255</ref>
* [[David Leslie, 6th Earl of Leven]] (1722–1802), who married Wilhelmina Nisbet, daughter of William Nisbet.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.cracroftspeerage.co.uk/online/content/Leven1641.htm |title=Archived item |accessdate=2011-04-22 |url-status=dead |archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20110105091532/http://www.cracroftspeerage.co.uk/online/content/Leven1641.htm |archivedate=5 January 2011 }}</ref>
After the death of his first wife in 1723, he married Elizabeth Monypenny, a daughter of Alexander Moneypenny of [[Pitmilly]], on 13 March 1726.<ref>[http://www.scotlandspeople.gov.uk] OPR Marriages 685/001 0460 0333</ref> They had four children:
* [[Alexander Leslie (British Army officer)|Alexander Leslie]] (1731–1794), a [[Major-general (United Kingdom)|Major-general]] in the [[British Army]] who married Mary Tullidelph, a daughter of Dr. Walter Tullidelph of Tullidelph, in 1760.
* [[Anne Carnegie, Countess of Northesk|Lady Anne Leslie]] (1730–1779), who married [[George Carnegie, 6th Earl of Northesk]].
* [[Lady Mary Hamilton|Lady Mary Leslie]] (1736–1821), a novelist who married Dr. James Walker in 1762. After his death, she married George Robinson Hamilton.<ref>[http://www.scotlandspeople.gov.uk] OPR Births 448/0020 0041</ref><ref>{{cite DNB |wstitle=Hamilton, Mary}}</ref>
* [[Elizabeth Hope, Countess of Hopetoun|Lady Elizabeth Leslie]] (1737–1788), who married [[John Hope, 2nd Earl of Hopetoun]]<ref>{{Cite book |last=Burke |first=John Bernard |url=http://archive.org/details/generalheraldicd1878burk |title=A General and heraldic dictionary of the peerage and baronetage of the British Empire |others=Family History Library FamilySearch |pages=636 |language=English}}</ref>
Lord Leven and Melville died on 2 September 1754 and was succeeded in his titles by his eldest son, [[David Leslie, 6th Earl of Leven|David]].
==References==
{{reflist}}
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{{succession box | title=[[Earl of Leven]]<br />[[Earl of Melville]] | before=[[David Leslie, 4th Earl of Leven|David Leslie]] | after=[[David Leslie, 6th Earl of Leven|David Leslie]] | years=1729–1754}}
{{s-npo|mason}}
{{succession box | title=[[List of Grand Masters of the Grand Lodge of Scotland|Grand Master of the<br>Grand Lodge of Scotland]] | before=[[Thomas Lyon, 8th Earl of Strathmore and Kinghorne|The Earl of Strathmore and Kinghorne]] | after=[[William Boyd, 4th Earl of Kilmarnock|The Earl of Kilmarnock]] | years=1741&ndash;1742}}
{{s-off}}
{{succession box | title=[[Lord High Commissioner]] | before=[[John Carmichael, 3rd Earl of Hyndford|The Earl of Hyndford]] | after=[[John Hope, 2nd Earl of Hopetoun|The Earl of Hopetoun]] | years=1741&ndash;1753}}
{{s-end}}
{{DEFAULTSORT:Leven, Alexander Leslie, 5th Earl Of}}
[[Category:1695 births]]
[[Category:1754 deaths]]
[[Category:Nobility from Fife]]
[[Category:Lords High Commissioner to the General Assembly of the Church of Scotland]]
[[Category:Scottish representative peers]]
[[Category:Earls of Leven]]
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