... [Lt. Gov. Alexander Spotswood's] grandfather, Sir Robert Spotswood, was an eminent lawyer, who was elected president of the court of sessions in Scotland. In the civil war, Sir Robert was a staunch supporter of Charles I. and was temporary secretary of state in 1643. Taken prisoner at the battle of Philiphaugh, he was tried by the Scotch parliament, sentenced to death, and executed.
Alexander Spotswood's father was Dr. Robert Spotswood, who was a physician to the governor and garrison at Tangier. His mother was Catherine Elliott, a widow who had by her first husband a son, General Roger Elliott, whose portrait is now in the state library at Richmond, Virginia. ...