William Ruthven, 2nd Lord Ruthven (died December 1552) was a Scottish

Scotland

Scotland is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. Occupying the northern third of the island of Great Britain, it shares a border with England to the south and is bounded by the North Sea to the east, the Atlantic Ocean to the north and west, and the North Channel and Irish Sea to the...

 nobleman

Peerage of Scotland

The Peerage of Scotland is the division of the British Peerage for those peers created in the Kingdom of Scotland before 1707. With that year's Act of Union, the Kingdom of Scotland and the Kingdom of England were combined into the Kingdom of Great Britain, and a new Peerage of Great Britain was...

. He served as an Extraordinary Lord of Session

Extraordinary Lord of Session

Extraordinary Lords of Session were lay members of the Court of Session in Scotland from 1532 to 1762.When the Court of Session was founded in 1532, it consisted of the Lord President, 14 Ordinary Lords and three or four Extraordinary Lords. The Extraordinary Lords were nominees of the King, not...

 and Keeper of the Privy Seal

Keeper of the Privy Seal of Scotland

The office of Keeper of the Privy Seal of Scotland, one of the Great Officers of State, first appears in the reign of David II. After the Act of Union 1707 its holder was normally a peer, like the Keeper of the Great Seal...

.

Life

He was the son of the master of Ruthven who was known as Lindsay until his legitimation on 2 July 1480, and was the son of the first Lord Ruthven; he was killed at the battle of Flodden on 9 September 1513. The second lord's mother was Catherine, born Buttergask. He succeeded his grandfather, the first Lord Ruthven, some time before 10 September 1528, when the king bestowed on him the office of custodian and constable of the king's hospital, near the Speygate, Perth.

In February 1532 he, Lord Oliphant, and various barons in that district of Scotland were fined for not appearing to sit as jurymen at the trial of Lady Glamis at Forfar

Forfar

Forfar is a parish, town and former royal burgh of approximately 13,500 people in Angus, located in the East Central Lowlands of Scotland. Forfar is the county town of Angus, which was officially known as Forfarshire from the 18th century until 1929, when the ancient name was reinstated, and...

 for poisoning her husband. He was admitted an extraordinary lord of session on 27 November 1533; and on 8 August 1542 he was named a member of the privy council. On 28 August 1536 the king confirmed to him and his heirs the lands of Glenshie in Strathearn

Strathearn

Strathearn or Strath Earn is the strath of the River Earn, in Scotland. It extends from Loch Earn in Perth and Kinross to the River Tay....

, erected into a free forest.

At the parliament held at Edinburgh in March 1543, after the death of James V, Ruthven spoke on behalf of liberty being granted to the laity to read the Scriptures in the English tongue; and at the same parliament he was chosen one of the eight noblemen, two of whom were to have the charge of the young queen every three months. On 24 July 1543 he signed a band

Secret Bond

The Secret Bond was a document drawn up by Cardinal Beaton and signed by a number of Scottish peers on 24 July 1543...

 to support Cardinal Beaton, but his adherence to the cardinal was only temporary, for in 1544 he resisted by force of arms the cardinal's candidate for the provostship of Perth.

Ruthven was appointed keeper of the privy seal in July 1546 . On 24 August of the same year he appeared before the privy council with Patrick Hepburn, 3rd Earl of Bothwell

Patrick Hepburn, 3rd Earl of Bothwell

Patrick Hepburn, 3rd Earl of Bothwell , was the son of Adam Hepburn, Lord Hailes, who died at the Battle of Flodden the year after Patrick's birth.Hepburn was known as the Fair Earl...

, as caution that Bothwell's ship, the Mary, and other four barks should not take any ships belonging to the Dutch, Flemings, or Hungarians. On 13 September he obtained an heritable grant of the king's house of Perth, of which he was keeper. He died early in December 1552.

Family

In 1515 he married Janet Haliburton, heiress of the Haliburtons of Dirleton Castle

Dirleton Castle

Dirleton Castle is a medieval fortress in the village of Dirleton, East Lothian, Scotland. It lies around west of North Berwick, and around east of Edinburgh...

. Their eldest son, Patrick

Patrick Ruthven, 3rd Lord Ruthven

Patrick Ruthven, 3rd Lord Ruthven , played an important part in the political intrigues of the 16th century. He succeeded to the lordship in December 1552...

, inherited the earldom on his father's death. They had three sons and seven daughters;

• Patrick, the heir
• James Ruthven of Forteviot;
• Alexander Ruthven of Freeland
• Lilias Ruthven, married to David, second lord Drummond (she was reputed for her piety, and to her Robert Alexander in 1539 dedicated the Testament of William Hay, 6th Earl of Erroll, which he set forth in Scottish metre, printed Edinburgh 1571)
• Catherine Ruthven, married Sir Colin Campbell of Glenorchy
• Cecilia Ruthven, married Sir David Wemyss of Wemyss
• Barbara Ruthven, to Patrick, 5th lord Gray
• Janet Ruthven, married John Crichton of Strathaird
• Margaret Ruthven, to John Johnstone of Elphinstone
• Christina Ruthven, to William Lundin of Lundin.