George Lockhart (c.1681-1731) of Carnwath, Lanarkshire, was a Jacobite supporter, and a vitriolic but accurate commentator on Scottish politics in 3 works, Memoirs Concerning the Affairs of Scotland; Commentary of George Lockhart of Carnwath, which covers the period 1708 to 1715; and A Register of Letters twixt the King and George Lockhart of Carnwath, which deals with 1716 to 1728. He was an agricultural improver, became an Episcopalian and a supporter of the Jacobite cause through his wish for an independent Scotland. He was a Scots privy councillor but often voted against the court, and although he was appointed to the commission which was to negotiate the treaty of Union, he served on it only to supply information to his allies. He vigorously opposed the Act of Union in the Scottish Parliament and then entered the new Parliament as representative of Edinburghshire and allied himself with the tory party at Westminster, where he tried to organise a Jacobite group of tories and pressed for the repeal of the Union. He was involved in planning for the Jacobite rebellion of 1715 and was imprisoned in Edinburgh Castle but his connections secured his release. He carried on with Jacobite intrigues but much more cautiously after the execution of his brother. He became secertary of a commission of trustees appointed to oversee the affairs of James Stuart, the old Pretender, in Scotland, and spent his time trying to keep various factions together. He eventually cut his Jacobite links after he had had to flee to France because messages to him from the exiles were intercepted. Again his powerful friends gained him the chance to return home, where he set about completing his memoirs.
