1153, Private William Stephen John FULTON - 8th Hussars

Claim to ?? Eglinton

Birth & early life

Born at Devonport, Devon, c.1831, said to be the son of a Thomas Fulton.

[PB: In interviews in later life, WF provided a considerable amount of genealogical information that could be followed up. For example, he claimed that his father served in the 18th Foot and was the first man to bear the title of Colour-Sergeant:

"Mr. Fulton could boast a patriotic ancestry. His father, Thomas Fulton, who fought in the American War of 1814, is said to have created the post of Colour-Sergeant in the British Army by having, although wounded in both legs, saved from the enemy the ensign which fell from a stricken officer's hands.

His brother, who was in the 88th Foot, was killed in South Africa in 1835 and his uncle gave 26 years' service with the navy. His grand-father, James Fulton, who was born in Ayshire in 1780, went to the wars when in the Royal Marines, and he spent over 20 years in the dreary fortresses of France [PB: meaning?].

An interesting claim is made by the family in that James Fulton's father was substitute heir to, and the younger brother of Archibald, 11th Earl of Eg----- [PB: word unclear] and a one-time Governor of Edinburgh Castle. The veteran, whose stirring career is now closed, is survived by two daughters and two sons, one of whom fought in the Boer War, and another is a Major in a Scottish regiment."

[Source: Weekly Scotsman, 6th of April 1918.]

Death & burial

William Fulton was buried in the Morningside Cemetery, Belhaven Terrace, Edinburgh. No headstone was erected, although it was a purchased plot.

There are two other interments in the same grave: Elizabeth Menden (or Fulton [?]) aged 66, on the 29th of October 1903, and Montgomery Archibald Fulton, aged 56, on the 7th of October 1930. These are almost certainly his wife and youngest son.

From the Weekly Scotsman, Saturday 6th of April 1918:

"Light Brigade Veteran - A Military Funeral

There passed away at No. 368 Morningside Road, on the 29th inst., a Crimean veteran in the person of Mr. Willliam Stephen John Fulton, D.C.M., who took part in the famous Charge of the Light Brigade and was a member of a family which claims a record of 150 years in unbroken service to the Crown.

Mr. Fulton, who was born in Devonport, was in his 88th year and enlisted when he was 19 into the 8th King's Royal Irish Hussars. He was one of the survivors of the historic Charge of the Light Brigade, in which he was severely wounded, and it is interesting to note that it was due to the unceasing care of Miss Florence Nightingale that he owed his life.

He was the first patient of the "Lady with the Lamp", at the Scutari Hospital and he possessed two treasured mementoes given to him by that noble woman.

He had the Queen's medal with the clasps for Alma, Balaclava and Sebastopol, the Turkish medal and the Distinguished Conduct in the Field Medal...

A Patriotic Ancestry

Mr. Fulton could boast a patriotic ancestry. His father, Thomas Fulton, who fought in the American War of 1814, is said to have created the post of Colour-Sergeant in the British Army by having, although wounded in both legs, saved from the enemy the ensign which fell from a stricken officer's hands.

His brother, who was in the 88th Foot, was killed in South Africa in 1835 and his uncle gave 26 years' service with the navy. His grand-father, James Fulton, who was born in Ayshire in 1780, went to the wars when in the Royal Marines, and he spent over 20 years in the dreary fortresses of France.

An interesting claim is made by the family in that James Fulton's father was substitute heir to, and the younger brother of, Archibald, 11th Earl of Eg----- [unclear] and a one-time Governor of Edinburgh Castle. The veteran, whose stirring career is now closed, is survived by two daughters and two sons, one of whom fought in the Boer War, and another is a Major in a Scottish regiment."

[PB: Since WF was at this time already engaged in his suit to claim the title and estate of Lord Englinton [?], was he perhaps particularly interested in Lieut. Fitzgibbon, whose title had become extinct by his death in the Charge and whose possessions were transferred elsewhere? Remeber also it is the time of the notorious Tichborne Claimant case. Wikipedia; Tichborne case.]

Enquiry of the Scottish United Services Museum shows that his group of medals were donated to the Museum in 1963. Nothing else regarding them is forthcoming...The Museum authorities also feel that the claim of his father being the first to bear the title of Colour-Sergeant in the British Army is somewhat apocryphal. To quote the wording of the Order made at the time...

Another point commented upon [by the Scottish United Services Museum, above] was the question of WF's great-grandfather being the younger son of "Archibald, 11th Earl of Eg----- ".

"The only Earl starting with a name like that is the Earl of Eglinton - and the 11th Earl was certainly the Governor of Dunbarton Castle, but the family name is Montgomery."

But not commented upon were the names 'Archibald' and 'Montgomery' given to a member of his greater family.

The Eglinton claim

[PB: The following needs completion and a rewrite.]

How intriguing. Who was EJB thinking about when he said the names 'Archibald' and 'Montgomery' were given to a member of WF's greater family?

Presumably the "Montgomery Archibald" on WF's headstone, who EJB calls WF's youngest son? If he died aged 56 in 1930, he was born 1874. But he is called Archibald R. Fulton in 1881. Did he formally or informally adopt the name "Mongomery" later in life? Was Mary M's middle name Mongomery?

Notice also the comment in the 1891 Census, that WF's occupation is listed as: "'Claiming' Title & Entailed Eatalie [presumably Estate] of Eglintoune [Eglinton] etc.' How curious. (Incidentally, Thomas Hardy's novel [about the pursuit of forgotten lineage], Tess of the D'Urbervilles, was first published in serial form in 1891.)

Are there any other references to be found? NB Montgomery is usually spelt "Montgomerie".]

• Wikipedia: Earl of Eglinton.

• Check Burke's Peerage e.g. 1879

Cheshire Observer, 30 October 1875:

Already by October 1875, WF's was seemingly well known to the public. Presumably he had been arguing his case for some years. Are there earlier newspaper reports?

Cheshire Observer, 30 October 1875

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Among the survivors of the '"Sx Hundred" present at the Alexandra Palace, on Monday, was Mr William Fulton, formerly of the 8th Hussars, whose name has been so frequently before the Scotch courts in connection with his claim to the earldom of Eglintoun.

[Source: Cheshire Observer, 30 October 1875.]

Ardrossan and Saltcoats Herald, 4 November 1882.

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Dundee Courier, 30 September 1884:

Dundee Courier, 30 September 1884

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The Claimant to the Eglinton Estate. Mr W. S.J. Fulton, the claimant to the personal estate of Archibald, eleventh Earl Eglinton, has lodged proof in the principal Probate Registry of the Court of Justice for appointment administrator succession to the estate in question.

[Source: Dundee Courier, 30 September 1884, p.3 (http://www.britishnewspaperarchive.co.uk/viewer/bl/0000162/18840930/020/0003).]

Ardrossan and Saltcoats Herald, Saturday 04 November 1882:

[NEEDS EDITING]

THE EGLINTON ESTATES.
CLAIM TO BE SERVED HEIR BY WILLIAM STEPHEN JOHN FULTON.

The Sheriff Chancery (Professor Mairhead) heard parties on Monday in the Oater Hoase of the Court of Session on the petition by Mr Falton be served nearest and lawful heir of tailzie and provision in general to Archibald, eleventh Earl of Eglintoune, who died on 30th October, 1796, without leaving a son. Petitioner claims as the direct male heir of the immediate younger brother of the eleventh Earl, whose son (the petitioner's grandfather) was a prisoner of war when the succession opened to him. Two grounds of objections were stated for the present Earl - first, ; and second, that the service of Lady Mary Montgomery to Archibald, eleventh Earl of Eglintoune, excluded the petition. The first plea was departed from, and a debate took place on the second objection.

The Sheriff pointed out that the second plea came to this. It quite distinctly stated that the petitioner was excluded by the service of Lady Mary Montgomery to the eleventh Earl. There was this peculiarity about the plea, that the petitioner was founding upon a conveyance by Mr Wallace to the ninth Earl, whereas the service of Lady Mary was excluded by the ninth Earl. The question was whether service the eleventh Earl excluded the service of the petitioner under prior investiture contained in Mr Robert Wallaces disposition to Lord Eglintoune in 172 G.

Mr Blair, for the Earl, said the petitioner asked to be decerned heir of entail and of provision In general to Archibald, eleventh Earl of Eglintoune. His answer was that he was the heir who represented Lady Montgomery, who was long-ago served in that category. She was eerved in 1797 heir of entail and of provision to her father,-Archibald, 1 eleventh Earl. was true that the service of Lady Mary was special service, but he maintained that according to the law it applied to the lands ! which were mentioned in the petition. He then | went on to show from prior deeds that the title to the lands in question wls complete in the person ' of Alexander, tenth Earl, and that this exhausted the procuratory of resignation contained in the deed granted by the Earl of Dundonald, and assigned by Mr Wallace's deed. The tenth Earl having made up his title, the eleventh Earl, to whom service was sought, made up his title as heir of tailzie and provision of his brother, and in that way took up tnc hrrf joerwx - the whole right and title which the tenth Earl had, and the next heir. Lady Montgomery, followed precisely the same course in regard to her father in making up her title, and if that were so, what would remain in the eleventh Earl to which there could be any service The whole right which was in the eleventh Earl was taken up special service, implying in it general service applicable to the very subjects to which this position referred.

The Sheriff - And you are pleading that it is impossible that any one can now be served under Wallace's conveyance to Lord Eglinton, for this reason that all succession under this deed is barred by the fact that Lord Eglinton took advantage of I the procuratory of resignation, resigned Into the hancf of the Crown, and got fresh charter and in! vestitnre?

Mr Blair answered that the succession of heirs was the same in both deeds. There was nothing in the eleventh Earl to whom service was sought which was not taken oat of him by Lady Mary Montgomery.

Mr Fulton, who appeared for himself, said that he claimed heir male, and the present Karl claimed as heir female, a claim which he maintained was specially excluded in the destination of the various deeds.

The Sheriff said they were not discussing the merits of the case, but simply the relevancy of the objection r He then went on to quote the case of Cochrane against Ramsay, decided by the House of Lords, and to say that the result of that judgment was to lay down this law, tliat service was not be granted where there was not something substantial to be taken by it - that it was not to be used simply as means of establishing propinquity, but that it was a process with special purpose in view to take up something which was t rtdUa» of the ancestor. The objection »Uted by tbe fc rl of Eglinton liere wemed to come mar to that, if not to meet it on all points. The only room for doubt waa that the petitioner was founding upon particular deed or conveyance, dated 1726, and that Lady Mary Montgomery, who served heir in general to the eleventh Earl, served with more special reference to subsequent deed, but from what had been said by Mr Bl.iir, it would appear that Lady Mary took up everything that came from the ninth Earl. Substantially the provision to which Lady Mary had served was the same provision to which Mr Fnlton was new claiming to be served. Therefore be wee prepared to hold that there had been relevant ground of objection stated for Lord Eglinton. Bat most go a step further. He must have the neceaaary deeds to instruct the averments which were made for the Earl of Eglinton, and which he thought relevant to entitle the Eerl to oppose the petition. At the tame time did not say it vaa necessary that all those deeds should be submitted to the petitioner.

His Lordship then indicated the documents which he wanted, and allowed ten days in which to lodge them.

[Source: Ardrossan and Saltcoats Herald, Saturday 04 November 1882, p.3 (http://www.britishnewspaperarchive.co.uk/viewer/bl/0000962/18821104/042/0003) .]

Edinburgh Evening News, 25 March 1886.

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http://www.britishnewspaperarchive.co.uk/viewer/bl/0000452/18860325/037/0003 Edinburgh Evening News - Thursday 25 March 1886

ELECTION OF PEERS AT HOLYROOD.

The Peers of Scotland met the picture gallery at Holyrood, this afternoon, to elect two of their number as representatives the House Lords room Viscount Strathpllan and Lord Saltoun, recently deceased. The Earl of Glasgow, Lord Clerk Register presided, and the only other Peers present were the of Mar, Morton, aud Ancrum, the Marquis of Lothian, Lord Forbes, Lord Napier and Ettrick, and Lord Belhaven. Edinburgh Town Council was represented by Bailie Turnbull, and Councillors Tait, John White, Younger, and Dryburgh.

Among the officers of the High Constables of Holyrood House present were - Mr Alexander Ross, the Bailie of Holyrood, Mr John Wallace, Clerk of Court; Mr Daniel Shiels, the Moderator; Mr R. G. Muir, the Vice-Moderator; Mr Robert Darling Ker, the Secretary; and Charles Morrison, Captain of the Guard. The attendance of the public was not large, the hall being little more than half filled. Professor Charter is Dean of the Chapel-Royal, opened the proceedings with prayer.

Mr A. Broun, Principal Clerk of Session, having read the Royal Proclamation calling the meeting, and certificate Mr Whitten, the Sheriff-clerk of Mid-Lothian, that the proclamation was made with the usual solemnities the Market Cross, called the roll proceeded to take the votes of the Peers present. The Marquis of Lothian voted for the Earls of Mar aud Morton, the Earl of Mar voted for the Earl of Morton, and the Earl of Morton for the Earl of Mar. The others present voted for both the uamed, with the exception of Lord Belhaven, who voted for the Earl of Mar only.

About 40 signed lists were sent in, the forwarders them all voting for the Earls of Mar and Morton, with the exception of Lord Torphichen, who named the Earl of Morton only. The Earl of Glasgow intimated the result of the election to have been, for the Earl of Mar 44 votes, and for the Earl of Morton 44 votes.

A paper had, he said, been handed to one of the clerks, from William Fulton, connection with the Eglinton title, but was unable to receive or record it.

In the document Mr Fulton stated himseif the heir of Archibald, eleventh Earlof Eglintoune.and protested against Archibald Wiiliam Montgomerie Hamilton designing himself Earl Eglinton or Eglintoune, being permitted to vote at the election.

The Earl of Glasgow then affixed his signature and seal to the documents, certifying the election, aud these were read Broun. The proceedings, which lasted for 35 minutes, were closed with prayer by Professor Flint.

William Fulton, "claimant to the Earl of Eglintoune's estates", receives £30 from the Light Brigade Fund (Dundee Advertiser, 30 August 1890).

"THE CHARGE OF THE LIGHT BRIGADE. On Thursday Mr W.G.S.Fulton (claimant to the Earl of Eglintoune's estates) received a cheque for £30, as his share of the special Light Brigade Fund. Mr Fulton was wounded upon retiring from the famous charge and was presented with a medal for distinguished services on the occasion."

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Scotsman, 30 March 1918.

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The Scotsman - Saturday 30 March 1918

http://www.britishnewspaperarchive.co.uk/viewer/bl/0000540/19180330/167/0004

DEATH OF LIGHT BRIGADE VETERAN IN EDINBURGH.

There passed away at his residence at 363 Morningside Road, Edinburgh, last night, a Crimean veteran in the person of Mr William Stephen John Fulton, D.C.M., who took part in the famous charge of the Light Brigade and who was a member of a family which claims a record of 160 years' unbroken military service.

Mr Fulton, who was in his 88th year, was born in Devonport, and enlisted when he was nineteen in the 8th King's Royal Irish Hussars. He was one of the survivors of the historic charge of the Light Brigade, in which he was severely wounded, and it is interesting to note that it was to the unceasing care of Florence Nightingale that he owed his life. He was the first patient of "the Lady with the Lamp" in the Scutari Hospital, and he possessed two treasured mementoes given to him by that noble 7 oraa 2 u He had the Queen's Medal with three clasps - Alma, Balaclava, and Sebastopol, the Turkish Medal, and the Distinguished Conduct on the Field Medal.

Mr Fulton could boast a patriotic ancestry. His father, Thomas Fulton, who fought in the American War in 1814, is said to have created the title of colour sergeant in the Army by having, though wounded in both thighs, saved from the enemy the ensign as it fell from a stricken officer's hands . His brother, who was in the 93th Foot, was "killed in South Africa in 1835, and his uncle gave 26 years' service in the Navy . His grandfather, James Fulton, who was bom in 1750 in Ayrshire, went to the wars after enlisting in the Royal Marines, and he spent over 20 years as a prisoner in the dreary fortresses of France.

The interesting claim is made by this family that James Fulton ' 3 father was substitute heir to and younger brother of Archbald, 11th Earl of Eglintoune, who was a General of the Forces, and one time Governor of Edinburgh Cast ! e. The veteran whose stirring career is now closed is survived by two daughters and three sons, one of whom fought in the Boer War, and another is a Major in a Scottish regiment.

Dundee Courier, 17 September 1920.

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Dundee Courier - Friday 17 September 1920

http://www.britishnewspaperarchive.co.uk/viewer/bl/0000164/19200917/026/0004

ROMANTIC FIGHT FOR PEERAGE

TAYPORT MINISTER'S CLAIM TO SCOTS EARLDOM.

Has Already Signed Himself As The "Earl Of Eglinton."

Rev. John W. Fulton, of Andrew's Church, Dalhousie Mills, Quebeo, who has laid claim to the Scottish Earldom of Eglinton and Winton, is present resident in Tayport. he is officiating for Rev. Christopher Halliday of the Parish Church.

Mr Fulton is home from Canada year's leave of absence, which expires in y " n ® next year. In pressing his suit to the Earldom of Eglinton he but taking up the work of his father, Mr William Stephen John Fulton, who died on March 29, 1918, and his grandfather before him.

Florence Nightingale's First Patient.

Mr William Fulton was a Crimean veteran, and, indeed, was Florence Nightingale's first patient. He was shot in the hand, and the doctors had decreed that his hand must be amputated. Miss Nightingale, however, put his hand in splinters and succeeded in saving the limb. He was born in the army and served in the army, so that one does not wonder that devoted practically his, whole life to fighting for what he considered be his right.

[PHOTOGRAPH OF REV. J. W. FULTON]

Rev. Mr Fulton admitted that his father spent much money and time in endeavouring to establish his claim the estate, and various points raised with the view of seeuriQg documentary evidence towards that end had been thrashed out in the Court of Session.

Judge's Advice.

In 1877 the late Justice Butt, in the Lonpn Law Courts, advised him to connect with the lands of Eglintoune, as, 8 oln ß> be would identify his people, the Fultons of Warwickhill with the Eglintounes of that day, because, as Justice Butt explained, ' owners change but lands remain.''

The Crimean veteran who was accorded military honours his burial in Edinburgh, claimed that he was great-greatgrandson of Alexander, ninth Earl Eglinton, and great-grandnephew Alexander the tenth Earl.

Many romantic atories are related in connection with the fight for the peerage, incidents which, if the whole story were Pieted on the silent stage, would make a thrilling drama. Even in one's mind a dramatic picture can be visualised of the old Crimean veteran's endeavour to conform to Scots law in order to fulfil the adjunct of taking legal possession.

Accompanied by his lawyer and friend as the necessary witness, he went down to the of Eglinton, near Irvine, and, according to the old Scottish custom, broke a piece off the dyke, a slate on the roof, and a branch off a tree, and likewise cut a sod of the turf to show that he laid claim to everything on the estate.

Pile of Information.

Undeterred by many disappointments and adverse decisions the Courts, the late Mr Fulton left a pile of information which could only have been secured an exhaustive search during a man's lifetime. One of primary claims was that his great-grandatner, James Fulton, primus, a practical armer, helped his own brother, Alexander, the tenth Earl, with the agricultural management of the estate.

is interesting to note that this James i'ulton was the farmer of whom Allan Ramsay wrote in "The Gentle Shepherd." This same James Fulton is said to be the third surviving son of Alexander the 9th Earl, and married Mary Wallace, a descendant of the Sir William Wallace.

The stone coffin recently discovered in Ardrossan and placed in the Town Hall there the initial Ff (for Ffulton) carved on it. while the old silver plate in Eglinton Castle, it reported, has the same initial engraved on it.

Twenty Years in Dungeon.

The minute book in the care of the Session Clerk at Dreghorn verifies the fact that Alexander the 9th Earl was patron of Dreghorn Church, and that a seat in the church and a burial-place the churchyard had been allocated to him. At the gravestone at the grave or vault was carved the letter Ff, and to this day the is called " the Fulton grave " or the Eglintoune grave," and it are buried James Fulton, primus, who died in 1786, and James Fulton, socundus, who returned home in 1819, aged 69, after over twenty years' imprisonment in a French military dungeon, and who survived for four years as bed-ridden invalid in Irvine.

The family who had occupied the sitting in the front the gallery in Dreghorn Church was known as the Eglintoune family or the Fulton family," This seat, it claimed, was allocated to the father of James Fulton, primus - Alexander the 9th Earl.

Missing Books.

The whole dispute in the claim for the estate, far one can fathom from a voluminous memorandum prepared upon the information collected the late Mr Fulton, centres around the question as to whether the ninth Earl had three sons, and, in substantiation of the claim that he did, stated that prior to his death on 18th February, 1729, Alexander, the ninth Earl, wrote a letter requesting his eldest son. Alexander, who was then only six years of age, " to love and protect his brothers and when of age be to them as a father and make their interests his own." To identify Jacobus Fulton or James Fulton, primus, with the ninth Earl at. effort was made to confirm the entry of the marriage casualty which he would have to pay to the Exchequer, but the books apparently cannot be found.

Early Visit to Court.

Rev. Mr Fulton informed the "Courier" yesterday that the suit of succession which he had lodged in the Court of Session was in accordance with his father's desire that the fight for the estate should be continued. He remembered when boy being taken to the Court by his father to hear one i the many debates on the case. His father was desirous of securing a copy of a document material importance to his claim.

Mr Fulton still remembers that Lord Deas, one of the three Judges hearing the case, favoured his father's request, but the Presi dent, throwing down his handkerchief on the bench, remarked, " It is not the docu mcnt he wants; it is the estate "

Suit of Succession Necessary.

Mr Fulton added that he was not so much interested about the estate for himself at for his 3 two younger brothers. It was necessary for him to make suit of succession order to preserve their claim to the estate. The fight would, however, be carried on his youngest brother, Archibald, as he himself was intending to return to take up work at Dalhousie Mills.

He pointed out that Archibald, the eleventh Earl, second son of Alexander, the ninth, left at his death in 1796 a sum of £10,000 "to the heirs male of his body," but this money had not yet been administered, and was still in Chancery. It would amount to a goodly sum now. He had already signed himself as the Earl of Eglinton.

The Earldom of Eglinton and Winton embraces estates in fourteen counties in Scotland, with seats at Eglinton Castle, at Skelmorlie Castle, Largs, and at Ardrossan.

Roy Dutton, p.99

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References & acknowledgements

In July 2017, Craig Hamilton emailed the EJBA with a scan of an original page of "All that was left of them" held "by my mother's family, the Fultons. Family belief was that WSJ Fulton was a relative of ours. Beyond this belief I have no proof that we are indeed related to him. Hopefully one day I will have the time to do some research." We are grateful to him for allowing us to use the scan on this site.