ERSKINE, William (1691-1754), of Torry, Fife.

Erskine, a professional soldier, of a Fifeshire family, was awarded the Perth Burghs seat by the Commons after a double return against a Squadrone candidate, Charles Leslie, whose petition was referred to the elections committee, a motion for fixing a date for the hearing of the petition by the committee being rejected.CJ, xx. 49, 51. As one of the tellers against the motion was Lord Ilay’s friend, Henry Cunningham, it appears that Erskine belonged to the Argyll faction, but there is no record of his voting. He did not stand again. He served in the army for some thirty-four years, commanding his regiment at Fontenoy, where he is said to have strapped the regimental standard to his son’s leg, telling him not to return without it.Dalton, George I’s Army, ii. p. xiv.

He died 2 May 1754.