John Makeléer, 1st Baronet (1604-1666)

John Hans Makeléer (1604-1666) Iain Dubh Baronet (b. 1604; Scotland - d. July 7, 1666; Sweden) aka John MacLean, Iain Dubh Baronet (also known as Hans Macklier or Johan Macklier in Sweden) was a Scottish Naval Officer and merchant in Gothenburg, Sweden. He was raised to nobility in May of 1649 with the title "Iain Dubh Baronet".

Name
Dubh means black in Gaelic

Parents

 * Hector MacLean, Lord of Dowart (c1570-1630)
 * Isabella Atcheson of Gosford

Birth
John was born in 1604 in Duart, Mull, Argyll, Scotland.

Siblings

 * Donald MacLean, 1st Laird of Brolas who married Florence MacLean, his cousin
 * Isabelle MacLean

Royal Navy
John MacLean then became an officer in the Royal Navy.

Emigration
He emigrated to Gothenburg, Sweden, where he changed his name to John Hans Makeléer, and worked as a merchant in 1629. He had an uncle already living in Sweden, working as a merchant and he joined him.

Children
He married Anna Gubbertz (c1595-1653) in 1629 in Gothenburg. They had the 15 children, with 10 living to adulthood: According to Steve Murdoch, there was an additional child named Isabella, who was given to Anna Gubbertz' sister Maria to raise. The girl is said to have died shortly thereafter.
 * Carl Leonard Makeléer (1633-1663)
 * Catharina Makeléer (1637-1709)
 * Anna Makeléer (1638-1646)
 * Lunetta Makeléer (1639-1693) who married Joakim Cronman (c1630-1703), a soldier who died at Neumünde
 * Maria Sophia Makeléer (1640-1721)
 * Gustaf Adolf Makeléer (1641-1706) who was a Captain in the Swedish Army who married Sara Carlberg (1647-1701)
 * Elsa Beata Makeléer (1643-1730)
 * David Makeléer (1646-1708) who was the first governor of Älvsborg County, Sweden from 1693 to 1708

Iain Dubh Baronet
In May of 1649 John received the title Iain Dubh ("Black John") Baronet, signifying his descent from the 3rd Clan Chief, Iain Dubh MacGillemore ("Black John, son of Giles the Great") Maclean.

Second and third marriage
After his wife, Anna Gubbertz died, John married Lilis Hamilton and after her death he married Anna Thompson.

Writings about John Hans Makeléer (1604-1666)
Jonas Berg and Bo Lagercrantz write: On November 15, 1649, James Graham, 5th Earl of Montrose, arrived in Gothenburg from Copenhagen, and stayed with a Scottish merchant, James Maclean, who had been raised to the nobility in May of 1649, under the name Makeléer. Maclean, or Makeléer had been an officer in the British Royal Navy before settling in Gothenburg in 1629. He had always been a warm supporter of the House of Stuart.

The Scots in Sweden: Of the families named above, the Macliers (or Macleans), the Sinclairs, and the Spaldings were the most prominent. We shall not enter into the fabulous genealogy of the Macleans, with their forty-two descents from some Irish chieftain, who was part-owner of an ark at the time of Noah. Suffice it to say that one Hans (John) Maclier, son of Hector Maclean, fifth Baron of Dowart, came to Göteborg in 1620, settled in business, and succeeded so well that he became a town councillor (1640-1650). The burial-list of the Christina church says of him that “he was ennobled by his Majesty of Sweden in 1649 as Lord of Gåsevadholm, Hageby, and Hammersöö, and by His Majesty of England as Baronet of Dowart on account of great good services rendered to both their Royal Majesties. He lived till 1666.” He also acted as Royal Banker. In the year 1635 he advanced the sum of 1150 thalers to Queen Christina at a time when the Exchequer was exhausted and new armaments were urgently required. His intimate business connection with Charles II., King of England, appears from several Royal letters, [See Biographica, Rikv. A. Maclier. These important letters are given in the Supplement in extenso.] dated respectively 24th Dec. 1650, 24th Feb. 1651, 19th March 1651, and 28th Dec. 1652. In the first of these the King begs “his trusted and well-beloved John Macklier” to hasten the sending of arms and ammunition, of which he stood in great need “to this our sad condition of Scotland.” This Maclier had already done in 1649, and again in 1650, but 'each time his ships, the Unicorn with twelve guns bound for France, and the King David with twenty-four, and the Mary with twelve iron cannons, were taken by the “Usurping Power,” and with their cargoes confiscated by the sentence of the Admiralty. The two latter ships had sailed, it appears, with a fleet of Gothenburg ships which after strict examination were set at liberty, whilst those of Maclier, “only because they belonged to an enemy of the Commonwealth,” were retained as good and lawful prizes. This declaration is given and duly witnessed by the two masters of the said ships and two other captains of the Gothenburg vessels on the 26th of August 1650 at “Gothenburg.” In the second letter King Charles recommends the bearer Captain Frederick Cooke, referring at the same time to a former Royal Messenger sent to Sweden “for some affaires.” The third letter announces to Maclier, who in the meantime has become Sir John Maclier, Bart., that James, Viscount of Newbury, has received 150 cases of Pistols at 8 Dollars a pair, and 50 Carabines at 3 Riks-Dollars a piece, and that the King owns himself to be indebted to the sum of 1350 Riks-Dollars, which shall be paid unto the said Sir John or his “assignes” “so soone as it shall please God to enable us”(!). In the fourth and last Royal letter the King desires Maclier to hand the remaining arms and ammunition to Major-General Middleton, “he being the person to whose conduct we have entrusted the managing of the martial affairs with reference to our Kingdom of Scotland and for the freeing of our good subjects there from the dishonour of slavery they are at present compelled to submit to.” Again in 1654, David Wemeys, merchant-burgess of Dundee, is sent to Gothenburg. He has in the meantime examined Maclier’s accounts and found the sum due to him since 1650, “with an interest of 8 pro cento,” to amount to 16,030 rixdollars, or between four and five thousand pounds. “For this sum,” he continues in his statement, “His Gracious Majesty and Estates of Parliament could not give at present due contentment to the said Sir John Maclier, as they willingly would have done, in case that many inconveniences had not happened to the country; wherefore His Gracious Majesty and Estates of Parliament authorized me to present the said Sir John an act of Parliament and public bond of the Kingdom of Scotland for his assurance of thankful payment of the above-mentioned sum, together with the due interest of 8 pro cento from the end of February until it be duly contented and satisfied to the said Sir John Maclier, his Airs, Executors, or his Assignes.” To his arrangement Maclier agreed, making only the one condition that the bond should bear the Great Seal of Scotland. Wemyss on his part obliged himself to procure the Act of Parliament under the Great Seal “within the space of six months under the penalty of 5000 Riks-Dollars.” “An abridgement of Sir John Maclier’s Pretensions from His Gracious Majesty of England,” and an “Account of damages and losses” conclude this remarkable set of papers. We rather fear His Gracious Majesty remained a debtor to the end of his life. But John Maclier of Gothenburg had at least the satisfaction of now being an English Baronet, though the Usurping Powers had had the audacity of seizing his war contraband. Maclier’s son John became President of the Court of Justice in Göteborg (1639-1696); but whilst the father’s name was one of the most respected in the town - he having been foremost in promoting public welfare and liberally contributing towards the erection of church and school buildings - the son’s circumstances do not seem to have been equally favourable, for in 1697 we find one Pollrath Tham offering for sale a diamond ring which he held in pledge from him for some loan. [Berg, loc. cit., Supplement, p. 49.] A later scion of this race, David, a Colonel, was made a Swedish “Friherre” (baronet) and took the name of Maclean.

Timeline

 * 1604 Birth in Scotland
 * 1629 Emigration to Sweden at age 25
 * 1629 Marriage to Anna Gubbertz
 * 1633 Birth of Carl Leonard Makeléer
 * 1635 (circa) Birth of David Makeléer
 * 1637 Birth of Catharina Makeléer
 * 1638 Birth of Anna Makeléer
 * 1639 Birth of Lunetta Makeléer
 * 1641 Birth of Gustaf Adolf Makeléer
 * 1643 Birth of Elsa Beata Makeléer
 * 1649 Visit of James Graham
 * 1649 Received the title "Iain Dubh Baronet" in May
 * 1666 Death in Sweden

External link

 * John Hans Makeléer (1604-1666) at Wikipedia

Relationship
John Hans Makeléer, Iain Dubh Baronet (1604-1666) was the tenth, great-grandfather of Richard Arthur Norton (1958- ).