BREADALBANE, JOHN CAMPBELL, 1ST EARL OF (c. 1635-1717), son of Sir John Campbell of Glenorchy, Bart., and of the Lady Mary Graham, daughter of William, earl of Airth and Menteith, was born about 1635. He took part in the abortive royalist rising under Glencairn in 1654, and was one of those who urged Monk to declare a free parliament in England to facili tate the Restoration. He sat in the Scottish parliament as mem ber for Argyllshire from 1669 to 1674. As principal creditor he obtained in Oct. 1672, from George, 6th earl of Caithness, a con veyance of his dignities, lands and heritable jurisdictions; and after the latter's death he was created on June 28 1677, earl of Caithness and viscount of Breadalbane. In 1678 he married the widowed countess of Caithness. In 168o he invaded Caithness with a band of 700 men and dispossessed the earl's heir male. The latter, however, was subsequently confirmed in his lands and titles, and Campbell on Aug. 13 1681, obtained a new patent cre ating him earl of Breadalbane and Holland, viscount of Tay and Paintland, Lord Glenorchy, Benederaloch, Ormelie and Weick in the peerage of Scotland, with special power to nominate his suc cessor from among the sons of his first wife. In 1685 he was a member of the Scottish privy council. Breadalbane was the most powerful man in Scotland after Argyll, and it was of high moment to King William to gain him and obtain his service in conciliating the Highlanders. Breadalbane at first carried on communications with Dundee and was implicated in the royalist intrigue called the "Montgomery plot," but after the battle of Killiecrankie in July 1689 he made overtures to the Government, took the oath of allegiance, and was entrusted with a large sum of money by the Government to secure the submission of the clans. On June 3o 1691, he met the Jacobite chiefs and concluded with them secret articles by which they undertook to refrain from acts of hostility till October, gaining their consent by threats and prom ises rather than by the distribution of the money entrusted to him, which, it was believed, he retained himself.
On Aug. 27 a proclamation was issued offering indemnity to all those who should take the oath of allegiance before Jan. 1 1692, and threatening all those who should refuse with a military exe cution and the penalties of treason. All the chiefs took the oath except Maclan, the chief of the MacDonalds of Glencoe, who postponed his submission till Dec. 31, and was then prevented from taking the oath till Jan. 6 1692, through the absence of a magistrate at Fort William. This irregularity gave Breadalbane an immediate opportunity of destroying the clan which had for generations lived by plundering his lands and those of his neigh bours. Accordingly, together with Argyll and Sir John Dalrymple (afterwards Lord Stair), Breadalbane organized the "Massacre of Glencoe," when the unfortunate MacDonalds, at the moment when they were lavishing hospitality upon their murderers, were butchered in cold blood on Feb. 13 1692. Breadalbane's astute ness, however, prevented the disclosure of any evidence against him in the enquiry afterwards instituted in 1695. He was impris oned in Edinburgh Castle in September on the ground of earlier negotiations with the Jacobite chiefs, but he was released when it was known that he had been acting with William's knowledge.
Breadalbane did not vote for the Union in 1707, but was chosen a representative peer in the parliament of Great Britain of 1713-15. His co-operation with the English Government in secur ing the temporary submission of the Highlands was inspired by no real loyalty, and he encouraged the attempted French descent in 1708, refusing, however, to commit himself on paper. At the Jacobite rising in 1715 he excused himself on Sept. 19 from obey ing the summons to Edinburgh on the ground of his age and infirmities ; but nevertheless the next day visited Mar's camp at Logierait and afterwards the camp at Perth. He had taken money for the whole 1,200 men he had promised and only sent 300. His 30o men were withdrawn after the battle of Sheriffmuir, and his death, on March 19 1717, rendered unnecessary any enquiry into his conduct.