Locations: Oxford, Aberdeen
Milestones
Birth: June 03 1626 - Aberdeen
Death: November 22 1654 - OxfordBrief Profile
Alexander Forbes Seaton was born, in Aberdeen, to Sarah Forbes, servant to William Cargill, lawyer in Aberdeen. His father was George Burnett, Master Mason, Banff. Taking the surname of his stepfather Alexander Seaton, he was educated in Aberdeen before joining the Royalist cause under the Marquis of Montrose in 1643. He participated in various military campaigns and diplomatic missions between Ireland, Scotland, and the continent from 1643 to 1654, witnessing key events such as Montrose’s betrayal and execution, Cromwell’s massacres, and Charles II’s exile. In 1654, Seaton returned to England aiming to assassinate Oliver Cromwell but was killed by Captain Damian Seeker in Oxford’s St Peter-in-the-East crypt. His life intertwined closely with the turbulent political and military conflicts of mid-17th century Britain.
Timeline
1628 December, Mother marries Alexander Seaton, Regent in Marischal College, Aberdeen. Alexander, now known as Zander takes his stepfather’s surname. Alexander Seaton senior henceforth referred to as ‘father’ to Zander.
1628 birth of sister Deirdre Seaton
1632 birth of brother David Seaton
1630-1635 Education at Song School of St Nicholas, Aberdeen
1635: on death of his mother, Sarah Forbes, Zander moves with his family to Easter Ross, where his father takes up the charge of Fearn Abbey. Continues his studies under his father.
1640: On his father’s appointment to a charge in Aberdeen during the Covenanting Troubles, Zander matriculates at the Marischal College there, alongside childhood friend, James Cargill.
1643: Zander Seaton abandons his studies to join the Royalist force now being raised by the Marquis of Montrose.
1644: amongst Montrose’s Irish forces at the Battle of Justice Mills in Aberdeen. The last occasion on which he saw his father, who fought on the other side.
Marches with Montrose through the astonishing campaign of the Winter of 1644/5
1645: flees to Ireland following Montrose’s defeat by David Leslie’s Covenanting army at Philiphaugh.
1645-9: moves between Ireland and the continent on diplomatic missions for the Stuarts. Suspected of involvement in assassinations of English republicans abroad. Witnesses Cromwell’s massacre of Catholics at Drogheda and Wexford.
1649: Re-joins Montrose at Breda.
1650: Joins in Montrose’s expedition via Orkney to the Scottish mainland to lead a Royalist uprising. Witnesses Montrose’s betrayal at Ardvreck and subsequent execution in Edinburgh.
1651: masquerades as a Covenanter in order to continue to serve Charles II who has now been crowned King of Scots at Scone. Joins in Charles’s invasion of England and its defeat at Worcester. Follows the King into his second exile on the continent, and remains in Charles’s entourage until 1654.
1654.October, returns to England with the intention of assassinating Oliver Cromwell.
November Killed by one of Cromwell’s officers, Captain Damian Seeker, in the crypt of St Peter-in-the-East, Oxford.
Appreciations
I knew Zander Seaton my whole life – he was as much my brother as my friend, and his adoptive father the best friend of my own father. Even as a young boy, he was a passionate opponent of injustice and defender of any whose cause he saw fit to take up, and from an early age I performed the duties of a (poor) second to my friend in many of his battles. The early death of his mother only seemed to attach him more strongly to his father. From early boyhood, Zander was prone to bleak moods and unshakeable loyalties, and to him, our childhood tales of adventure were not romances, but patterns to be followed. His father had high hopes for what he might achieve in the law or the church, but from the moment of the outbreak of the Wars of the Covenant, Zander had no goal in life other than to be a soldier for the King. Those were hard times in Scotland, and ours hard choices. More than one family in Scotland was rent asunder by the choice we were asked to make between Covenant and King. It broke Zander’s father’s heart when he took up his sword for the latter. I fear they never made it up. Although I too was for the Covenant, Zander’s declaration for the King could not break our friendship, and we met again a handful of times when I pursued my medical studies on the continent, as his clandestine activities permitted. The greatest loyalty of Zander’s life was not to Charles Stuart though, but to Montrose, and I believe he would have followed Montrose to the Gallows had not it not been for his desire to avenge his general on those who had brought him low. He did not manage it, but I pray that he would have found some comfort, as do I, in the knowledge that he died in the attempt.
James Cargill M.A.; M.D.
Postscript
Postscript
Alexander (Zander) Seaton is a figment of the imagination of a Scottish author, thanks to whom this entry demonstrates an excellent Timeline, and Appreciation.
Visitors to the site are invited to identify the author. A signed copy of their latest book is the prize for the person who first names the book in which Zander Seaton is introduced.