Colonel John Campbell, of Shawfield and Islay (– 13 March 1809) was a Scottish soldier in the British Army. After his early death, his widow Lady Charlotte Bury achieved fame as a diarist and novelist. He was also briefly a politician.
Campbell was the oldest son of Walter Campbell of Shawfield and Islay, an advocate who served as Rector of the University of Glasgow from 1789 to 1791, and his first wife Eleanora, daughter of Robert Ker of New Field.
He joined the British Army in 1789 as an ensign in the 3rd Foot Guards. In 1793 he was promoted to lieutenant and then captain. He left the army in about 1799, and was later Colonel of the Argyll and Bute Militia.
In 1796, he married Lady Charlotte Susan Maria Campbell, daughter of the 5th Duke of Argyll. They had at least two sons and six daughters,[1] but only two of the daughters survived their parents. On the death of Walter Campbell in 1816, John's son Walter Frederick Campbell inherited the 240 square mile island of Islay in the Inner Hebrides.
In 1794, he was elected on the interest of his brother-in-law, the 6th Duke of Argyll as the Member of Parliament (MP) for Ayr Burghs. He supported Argyll in opposing the Duke of Portland's ministry, and died two years after his election, aged about 39.
After his death, Lady Charlotte was appointed as a lady-in-waiting in the household of Caroline of Brunswick (then Princess of Wales, later Queen) until 1815, when she married John Bury, who became a Church of England rector. Her first novel was published anonymously in 1812 and followed by a dozen more. She also kept a diary of life in court which was published anonymously in 1838, but widely attributed to her.
Children of Colonel John Campbell and Lady Charlotte:
After John's death the family commissioned Lorenzo Bartolini to sculpt the youngest daughters, Julia and Emma.