David Leslie, 3rd Earl of Leven

In 1681, with the death of the rival claimant, John Leslie, 1st Duke of Rothes, he was permitted to enter into the Earldom of Leven.

[citation needed] In 1683, Leven and his father were suspected of complicity in the Rye House Plot,[1] a Whig conspiracy to assassinate Charles II and his brother James, Duke of York.

To escape arrest they fled to the Netherlands[1] where they joined the band of British Protestant exiles at the court of Prince William of Orange.

Leven served as Governor of the Bank of Scotland between 1697 and 1728, and in 1702 was promoted to brigadier-general, followed by major-general in 1704.

Also in 1706 he was elected one of the representative peers to sit in the House of Lords after the Acts of Union in 1707 abolished the Parliament of Scotland.