John de Soules (died 1310)


Sir John de Soules was Guardian of Scotland from 1301 to 1304, at a crucial period in the Wars of Scottish Independence. He was a prominent member of the de Soules family.

Life

John was the second son of the William de Soules, Lord of Liddesdale and Ermengarde Durward. John had previously protected Galloway from Sir Andrew Harclay, Earl of Carlisle and Warden of the English March. He appointed in 1292 the custodian of Hugh Lovel. After the appointment of a Council of Twelve—in practice, a new panel of Guardians, by the leading men of Scotland, which sidelined King John Balliol in 1295, Soules was sent to France along with other envoys to negotiate an alliance. In 1301 after the resignations of Robert The Bruce and John III Comyn, Lord of Badenoch he was appointed Guardian of Scotland. John, was exiled and died in France in 1310.

Marriage and issue

He married Halwise Stewart, the daughter of Alexander Stewart, 4th High Steward of Scotland and Jean Macrory, they had the following known issue: