Samuel Cockburn of Templehall
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Samuel Cockburn of Templehall and Vogrie (died 1614) was a Scottish landowner, diplomat, and Sheriff-principal of Edinburgh.David Masson, Register of the Privy Council of Scotland, 1613-1616, vol. 10 (Edinburgh, 1891), p. 219.
He was a son of John Cockburn of Ormiston and Alison Sandilands (died 1584), a daughter of Sir John Sandilands of Calder.Gordon MacGregor, 'Cockburn of Ormiston', Red Book of Scotland, vol. 3 (2020), pp. 78-9.John Maitland Thomson, [https://archive.org/details/registrummagnisi05scot/page/268/mode/2up Register of the Great Seal of Scotland, vol. 5 (Edinburgh, 1888), p. 269 no. 846]
Temple Hall was located on the banks of the Kinchie burn in the parish of Ormiston in East Lothian.
Cockburn went to England as ambassador with William Stewart and John Colville in 1583.William Boyd, Calendar of State Papers Scotland: 1581-1583, vol. 6 (Edinburgh, 1910), p. 512. He sent some household goods from London to the English diplomat in Edinburgh, Robert Bowes but they were captured by pirates.Calendar State Papers Scotland, vol. 10 (Edinburgh, 1936), p. 245.
Cockburn married the poet Elizabeth Douglas, a sister of Richard Douglas, and daughter of William Douglas of Whittinghame. She is thought to have been the author "E. D." who composed two sonnets addressed to the poet and secretary of Anne of Denmark, William Fowler. Fowler wrote an epitaph in 1594 for Elizabeth Douglas, a "funeral sonnet" which was printed by Robert Waldegrave.Sebastiaan Verweij, The Literary Culture of Early Modern Scotland (Oxford, 2017), pp. 84-87: Henry Meikle, [https://digital.nls.uk/publications-by-scottish-clubs/archive/106955229 Works of William Fowler, vol. 1 (Edinburgh: Scottish Text Society, 1914), p. 9] It has also been suggested that the author "E. D" was Elizabeth Douglas, Countess of Erroll.Sarah Dunnigan, 'Douglas, Elizabeth, Countess of Erroll', New Biographical Dictionary of Scottish Women (Edinburgh, 2018), p. 118.
Cockburn and Elizabeth Douglas bought the lands of Vogrie from John Lumsden of Blanerne in 1590. The transaction included the assent of members of the wider Lumsden family, and was witnessed by the merchant Clement Cor father-in-law of Robert Lumsden of Ardrie.John Maitland Thomson, [https://archive.org/details/registrummagnisi05scot/page/598/mode/2up Register of the Great Seal of Scotland, vol. 5 (Edinburgh, 1888), pp. 599-600 no. 1576]
In a letter of June 1596, Cockburn reported to Archibald Douglas that James Douglas of Spott was quarreling with Richard Douglas and James Douglas. Cockburn promised to negotiate with Sir George Home on behalf of the Douglas family interests.William Acres, Letters of Lord Burleigh to his son Robert Cecil (Cambridge, 2017), p. 180: HMC Salisbury Hatfield, vol. 6 (London, 1895), p. 216.
His son Francis became laird of Templehall, and William became laird of Vogrie. A third son, John Cockburn, lived at Blackfriars in London.Richard Cockburn, [https://archive.org/details/recordsofcockbur00cock/page/120/mode/2up Records of the Cockburn Family (London, 1913), pp. 150-1]
Samuel Cockburn died in 1614.Original Letters Relating to the Ecclesiastical Affairs of Scotland, vol. 1 (Edinburgh, 1851), pp. 309, 326.