John Lindsay was born on 4 October 1702, the son of Lieutenant-General John Lindsay, 19th Earl of Crawford, and Emilia Stuart. He inherited his father’s titles in 1714, becoming the 20th Earl of Crawford, 4th Earl of Lindsay, and 13th Lord Lindsay of the Byres. He was educated at the University of Glasgow and later at the Vaudeuil Military Academy in Paris.
The Earl of Crawford was commissioned into the 3rd Foot Guards in 1726, but later served in both the Austrian and Russian armies. The portrait shows him wearing the uniform of either an Austrian or Hungarian Hussar regiment. After returning to Britain he was appointed Colonel of the Black Watch on 25 October 1739. He subsequently became Colonel of the 2nd Troop of Horse Grenadier Guards (4 May 1740) and Colonel of the 4th Troop of Horse Guards, the Scottish Horse Guards (1 April 1743). He fought at the Battle of Dettingen on 16 June 1743, where King George II greeted him with the words, “Here comes my champion!” He was promoted Brigadier-General in 1744 and Major-General in 1745. He served in the Jacobite Uprising of 1745 and fought at the Battle of Fontenoy on 30 April 1745, commanding the rearguard during the British retreat. The Black Watch formed part of this force and helped save many allied lives.
Crawford was appointed Colonel of the 25th Foot on 25 December 1746. He fought at the Battle of Roucoux on 11 October 1746 and was promoted Lieutenant-General in 1747. He also became Colonel of the 2nd Dragoons (Scots Greys) on 28 May 1747. Earlier in his life he had been elected a Fellow of the Royal Society in 1732 and served as Grand Master of the Premier Grand Lodge of England in 1734. He married Lady Jean Murray, daughter of Lieutenant-General Sir James Murray, 2nd Duke of Atholl, in 1747, but she died only nine months later. Lindsay himself died on 26 December 1749 from a head wound received at the Battle of Krotzka on 22 July 1739. He was the last member of the Lindsay family to be buried in the mausoleum at Ceres, Fife. A contemporary described him as “the most generous, the most gallant, the bravest and the finest nobleman of his time.”
