George Elphinstone

George Elphinstone of Blythswood (died 1634) was a Scottish landowner, courtier, and Provost of Glasgow. Life George Elphinstone was the son of George Elphinstone of Blythswood (died 2 April 1585), a leading Glasgow merchant and shipowner, and Marion Scott. He was knighted during the celebrations at the baptism of Prince Henry at Stirling Castle on 30 August 1594. He was made a gentleman of the king's bedchamber in 1596. In this role he controlled the access to James VI of Scotland allowed to the English diplomatic agent, George Nicholson, occasionally bringing him secretly into the king's cabinet at Holyroodhouse. He was a member of a "knot of friendship" at the Scottish court that included the Secretary, Sir George Home, Sir Robert Kerr, the younger Sir Robert Melville, and Sir David Murray. These chamber servants paid for the baptism of Princess Margaret in April 1599, because they had displaced the treasurer Walter Stewart of Blantyre.