 charles middleton, 2nd earl of middleton, jacobite 1st earl of monmouth, pc (1649/1650 &ndash; 9 august 1719) was a scottish and english politician who held several offices under charles ii and james ii & vi. he served as secretary of state for scotland, the northern department and the southern department, before acting as chief advisor to james ii and then his son james iii during their exile in france. ==early life== middleton was born to john middleton, 1st earl of middleton and grizel durham in 1649 or 1650, and spent time in both scotland and london during his youth. he was known as lord clermont after his father was elevated to the peerage in 1656. he pursued a military career and succeeded to his father's earldom in 1674. ==political career== around 1679â80, his name was put forward to succeed john maitland, 1st duke of lauderdale as secretary of state for scotland. charles ii awarded the post to alexander stuart, 5th earl of moray, and middleton became envoy to the imperial court in vienna in june 1680 to forge an all
1649_births 1719_deaths British_Secretaries_of_State Converts_to_Roman_Catholicism Earls_in_the_Jacobite_peerage Earls_of_Middleton English_MPs_1685a87 Members_of_the_Privy_Council_of_England Members_of_the_Privy_Council_of_Scotland Peers_created_by_James_Francis_Edward_Stuart Secretaries_of_State_for_the_Northern_Department Secretaries_of_State_for_the_Southern_Department