The Johnstone, later Pulteney, later Johnstone Baronetcy, of Westerhall in the County of Dumfries, is a title in the Baronetage of Nova Scotia. It was created on 25 April 1700 for John Johnstone, one of the Scottish representatives to the 1st Parliament of Great Britain, with remainder to his heirs male. He was eighth in descent from Matthew Johnstone, who is said to have been a younger son of Sir Adam Johnstone (d. 1454), ancestor of the Earls and Marquesses of Annandale. The second Baronet sat as a Member of Parliament for Dumfries and Dumfriesshire. The third Baronet represented Dumfries, while the fourth Baronet sat as Member of Parliament for Dumfries and Weymouth. The fifth Baronet, Sir William, was Member of Parliament for Cromarty and Shrewsbury. He married Frances, daughter of Daniel Pulteney and niece and heiress of William Pulteney, 1st Earl of Bath, through which marriage vast estates came into the family. On his marriage Sir William assumed the surname of Pulteney in lieu of Johnstone. His only child, Laura, inherited the Pulteney estates and was created Countess of Bath in 1803 (see this title for more information). The sixth, seventh and eighth Baronets all represented Weymouth in Parliament. The sixth Baronet twice declined a peerage offered to him by Spencer Perceval.
Several other members of the family may also be mentioned. George Johnstone, fourth son of the third Baronet, was an officer of the Royal Navy, a Member of Parliament, and the first Governor of West Florida. John Johnstone, fifth son of the third Baronet, was a Member of Parliament. Henry James Johnstone (1895–1947) (son of Major James Henry L'Estrange Johnstone, son of James Johnstone, eldest son of James Raymond Johnstone, only son of the aforementioned John Johnstone, fifth son of the third Baronet), was a captain in the Royal Navy. Montague Cholmeley Johnstone, third son of the aforementioned James Raymond Johnstone, was a General in the British Army. John Heywood Johnstone, son of Reverend George Dempster Johnstone, fourth son of the aforementioned James Raymond Johnstone, was a barrister and Member of Parliament for Horsham. Richard Vanden-Bempde-Johnstone, eldest son of Colonel John Johnstone, second son of the second Baronet, was created a baronet in 1795, with remainder to his younger brother, who was the grandfather of Harcourt Vanden-Bempde-Johnstone, 1st Baron Derwent (see the Baron Derwent for more information on this branch of the family).
Marquess of Bath is a title in the Peerage of Great Britain. It was created in 1789 for Thomas Thynne, 3rd Viscount Weymouth. The Marquess holds the subsidiary titles Baron Thynne, of Warminster in the County of Wiltshire, and Viscount Weymouth, both created in 1682 in the Peerage of England. He is also a baronet in the Baronetage of England.
Marquess of Linlithgow, in the County of Linlithgow or West Lothian, is a title in the Peerage of the United Kingdom. It was created on 23 October 1902 for John Hope, 7th Earl of Hopetoun. The current holder of the title is Adrian Hope.
Earl of Annandale and Hartfell is a title in the Peerage of Scotland, created in 1661 for James Johnstone.
Earl Granville is a title that has been created twice, once in the Peerage of Great Britain and once in the Peerage of the United Kingdom. It is now held by members of the Leveson-Gower family.
Baron Derwent, of Hackness in the North Riding of the County of York, is a title in the Peerage of the United Kingdom. It was created on 10 October 1881 for the former Liberal Member of Parliament for Scarborough, Sir Harcourt Vanden-Bempde-Johnstone, 3rd Baronet. His grandson, the third Baron, was an author, poet and minor diplomat. On his death in 1949 the titles passed to his younger brother, the fourth Baron. He served in the Conservative administrations of Harold Macmillan and Sir Alec Douglas-Home as Minister of State for Trade and Minister of State for Home Affairs. As of 2010 the titles are held by his son, the fifth Baron, who succeeded in 1986.
Sir William Pulteney, 5th Baronet, known as William Johnstone until 1767, was a Scottish advocate, landowner and politician who sat in the House of Commons between 1768 and 1805. He was reputedly the wealthiest man in Great Britain. He profited from slave plantations in North America, and invested in building developments in Great Britain, including the Pulteney Bridge and other buildings in Bath, buildings on the sea-front at Weymouth in Dorset, and roads in his native Scotland.
William Johnstone, 2nd Earl of Annandale and Hartfell, 1st Marquess of Annandale KT was a Scottish nobleman. He was the son of James Johnstone, 1st Earl of Annandale and Hartfell and Henrietta Douglas. He succeeded to the Earldom of Annandale and Hartfell on the death of his father in 1672.
Clan Johnstone is a Border Reiver Scottish clan.
Reginald William Bransby Nevill, 2nd Marquess of Abergavenny JP, styled Viscount Nevill between 1868 and 1876 and Earl of Lewes between 1876 and 1915, was a British peer.
Major Ralph George Campbell Glyn, 1st Baron Glyn, Bt, MC, DL, known as Sir Ralph Glyn, 1st Baronet, from 1934 to 1953, was a soldier and Conservative Party politician in the United Kingdom. He was a Member of Parliament (MP) from 1918 to 1922, and from 1924 to 1953.
Harcourt Vanden-Bempde-Johnstone, 1st Baron Derwent, known as Sir Harcourt Vanden-Bempde-Johnstone, 3rd Baronet, from 1869 to 1881, was a British peer and Liberal Party politician. He served for ten years as a Member of Parliament (MP), before becoming a peer with a seat in the House of Lords.
Sir John Vanden-Bempde-Johnstone, 2nd Baronet was a British Member of Parliament.
Sir Richard Vanden-Bempde-Johnstone, 1st Baronet was a British Member of Parliament.
(Henrietta) Laura Pulteney, 1st Countess of Bath was a British peeress and heiress.
Leopold George Frederick Agar-Ellis, 5th Viscount Clifden, known as Leopold Agar-Ellis until 1895, was a British Liberal politician.
George Vanden Bempde, 3rd Marquess of Annandale, succeeded James Johnstone, 2nd Marquess of Annandale on his death in 1730, and enjoyed that title from then to his own death, whereupon the title became extinct.
George Harcourt Vanden-Bampde-Johnstone, 3rd Baron Derwent FRSA, was a British author, diplomat and Liberal politician.
Sir William Johnstone, 2nd Baronet of Sciennes and Westerhall was a Scottish landowner and politician who sat in the Parliament of Scotland from 1698 to 1707 and in the British House of Commons between 1707 and 1722.
Sir James Johnstone, 4th Baronet ) was a Scottish officer in the British Army and then a politician. He sat in the House of Commons of Great Britain for all but one of the years 1784 to 1794.
Sir John Lowther Johnstone, 6th Baronet (1783–1811) was a British army officer and politician.
See also Rothschild, Emma: "The Inner Life of Empires" Princeton 2011, which is based on an eighteenth-century Johnstone family letterbook, held by Edinburgh University.