 His mother was the author of the verse drama, "The Siege of Jerusalem" (1769).He succeeded his father as Earl of Strathmore and Kinghorne when the latter died at sea on 7 March 1776.From 30 June 1796 to 24 October 1806 and again from 9 June 1807 to 29 September 1812, he sat as a Scottish Representative peer in the House of Lords.