Philip Anstruther

Who was Philip Anstruther?

Lieutenant-General Philip Anstruther was a Scottish soldier and politician, the son of Sir Philip Anstruther of Airdrie and Katherine Skene.

He served as Member of Parliament for Anstruther Burghs from 1715 to 1741. He was the only Scottish MP to support government reprisals against Edinburgh over the Porteous Riots, a circumstance which made him an object of detestation among his countrymen.

Anstruther was the lieutenant-governor of Minorca 1742 until 1743, and held a military command there until 1747, when he resigned it to return to Parliament for Anstruther Burghs from 1747 to 1754.

In 1742, during his tenure in Minorca, Anstruther court-martialled his subordinate, Henry Erskine, for a supposed conspiracy against him. Erskine was thereafter his bitter political enemy.

Anstruther died unmarried, and left his estate at Airdrie to his cousin, Sir John Anstruther, 2nd Baronet.