Colonel John Gerard

John Gerard of Rochsoles, Lt Col in East India Company, m. 1810 to Dorothea-Montagu, dau. of Rev. Archibald Alison. Owner of Bellevue estate in St Vincent; compensation was awarded to his trustees. The path to ownership is not yet known: the family appears to be East Indian rather than West Indian in orientation.

1. Memorial inscription for John Gerard in Duddingston Kirkyard, Edinburgh: John Gerard of Rochsoles, Lanarkshire, Lt. Col. H.E.I.C.S., Adj. Gen. Bengal Army during Lord Lakes campaigns at Seringapatam, 1799, Delhi, Agra, & Laswaree 1804. Died Edinburgh, 17.4.1824 – 59yrs. Erected by Archibald Gerard, Feb 1840. Alexander Gerard of Rochsoles, Lt. H.M. 70th Regiment, Elder son of Lt. Col. John G., drowned in the Nile, 12.9.1837 –27yrs. Elizabeth Margaret Alison, 15.7.1812, dau. of Rev. Archibald Alison. Alured Gerard, 6.9.1817 – 2yrs, son of Lt. Col. John G.; Dorothea Montagu Alison, died Lausane, Switzerland, 28.11.1819 – 32yrs, sp. to Lt. Col. John G.

Scots Magazine and Edinburgh Literary Miscellany Vol. 72 p. 317 (1810). He appears to have been the uncle of Alexander (1792-1839), James Gilbert (1793-1835) and Patrick Gerard (1794-1848), who are all in the ODNB as Indian explorers or geographers and were three of five sons of Gilbert Gerard (1760-1815) a Church of Scotland, minister and grandsons of Alexander Gerard (1728-1795) a theologian, both of whom are also in the ODNB.

Monumental Inscriptions in Duddingston Kirk Yard no. 97, http://www.duddingstonkirk.co.uk/page28.html [accessed 26/05/2015].

We are grateful to Morag Fyfe for her assistance with compiling this entry.