John Leslie-Melville, 9th Earl of Leven

[1] His paternal grandfather was David Melville, 6th Earl of Leven (who also sat in the House of Lords as a Scottish representative peer), and his maternal grandfather was merchant and philanthropist John Thornton.

[2] He was Deputy Paymaster to the Forces in the Peninsula in 1809; he was a founding partner in the banking partnership Williams, Deacon, Labouchere, Thornton & Co; he was a Representative Peer for Scotland (Conservative) from 1865 to 1876.

Together, they were the parents of:[1] After the death of his first wife, he married another cousin, Sophia Thornton (1806–1887) on 23 April 1834.

Together, they were the parents of the following children:[1] Lord Leven died on 16 September 1876 and was succeeded in the earldoms by his eldest surviving son, Alexander.

He is buried with his second wife Sophia on the south side of the southern roundel in Brompton Cemetery in London.