James Ferguson (Scottish general)
James Ferguson of Balmakelly and Kirtonhill, Kincardineshire, was a Scottish major-general and colonel of the Cameronian regiment. He was the third son of William Ferguson, laird of Badifurrow, and the younger brother of Robert Ferguson, “the Plotter.”
He began his military career in the Scots Brigade in Dutch service during the reign of Charles II. His first job was as a quartermaster in Colonel Macdonald’s battalion in 1677, then he became an ensign in 1678 and a lieutenant in 1682. He rose through the ranks and landed with William of Orange in 1688. He fought at Killiecrankie, where he was said to have been taken prisoner, and later became a regimental major.
In 1690 he led six hundred men to reduce the western isles, working with the Glasgow authorities and Captain Pottinger. In 1692 he fought in the Low Countries, including the Battle of Steenkirk, and was made lieutenant-colonel of Monro’s regiment (the 1st Cameronians) in August 1692. He led them at the battles of Landen and Namur. He was made colonel on 25 August 1693 and remained in command.
After the peace of Ryswick, the regiment stayed in the Netherlands for some time, and in December 1700 it joined British service and went to Scotland. Ferguson had married and become a landowner, with the estates of Balmakelly and Kirtonhill on the North Esk. He went with his regiment to the Netherlands under Marlborough in 1702. In 1703 he commanded at s’Hertogenbosch as a brigadier-general. In 1704 he led a brigade in the attack on the heights of Schellenberg and fought bravely around the strongest enemy position at Blenheim with Row’s brigade.
He married his second wife, Hester Elizabeth Hibelet, around Christmas 1704. In 1705, during the Brabant campaign, he commanded a brigade at the forcing of the enemy’s lines and, with the rank of major-general, at s’Hertogenbosch, where he died suddenly on 22 October 1705. Some family stories claim poison, but contemporary writers simply note that he died and was mourned as a brave and capable officer. He was buried in St. Jan’s Kerk in s’Hertogenbosch, with a memorial also in Old Deer Churchyard.
His first wife was Helen Drummond of Cultmalindie; they had a son and a daughter. His second wife, Hester Elizabeth Hibelet, survived him and later remarried Captain Hendrik Chombach, and they had a daughter who married Gerard Vink. Ferguson’s son James succeeded him and died in 1777, having been only ten years old when his father died.
Ferguson’s will left directions to sell Balmakelly and Kirtonhill and purchase Kinmundy and Coynach in Aberdeenshire, which later passed to his descendants. The Kinmundy estate covered about 4,068 acres and had a sizable annual income in the 19th century.
This page was last edited on 3 February 2026, at 09:31 (CET).