JAMES GAMMELL was the 4th child and 2nd son of Lt. General ANDREW GAMMELL and MARTHA STAGELDOIR, and was born on January 3rd 1797. We know nothing of his early life nor any details of his education, and the first definite information we have is that he was gazetted as an Ensign in the 59th Regiment in June 1813 at the age of sixteen and a half. It is understood that this commission was presented to him by Prince Frederick, Duke of York, who, as mentioned elsewhere was a friend of his father's. Immediately on being commissioned, James proceeded to the Peninsula War, and was present at the siege of Bayonne in 1814. He became a Lieutenant in 1815, saw service with various other regiments including the 30th and 61st, and finally retired from the Army, with the rank of Captain in September 1826, after the death of his grandfather, James Gammell the Banker. He was then serving in the 92nd Regiment, The Gordon Highlanders.

A few years after he had bought Ardiffery for James, there was a serious quarrel between James and his grandfather on the subject of a his marriage. His grandfather wished him to marry Charlotte, daughter of Lord Forbes, but it is reported that he flatly refused to do so, saying that the lady was ill-favoured, and that instead he intended to marry a beautiful Irish lady, by name Sydney Holmes whom he had met while serving in the Army in Ireland. Whether this was the reason why his younger brother inherited their grandfather's other landed properties rather than he, history does not relate, but it may be significant that he refrained from marrying Sydney Holmes during his grandfather's lifetime, although the wedding took place, either by accident or design, just exactly one week after his grandfather's death.

The marriage of James to SYDNEY HOLMES, who was the daughter of Frederick Holmes Esq., merchant in Dublin, took place on September 23rd 1825, conducted by the Revd. E. Coates at Donoghmore Church in County Down, Northern Ireland, and after their honeymoon, they took up residence at a house called Beech Hill, in the same parish of Donoghmore in which they had been married, and there the first six of their ten children were born;

In 1834, James and his family moved to Edinburgh, and took up residence at 52 Inverleith Row. Presumably the move had something to do with the education of their children, as immediately on arrival in Edinburgh, the eldest sons were sent to a preparatory school in Circus Place, and later to Edinburgh Academy. Their last four children were born in Edinburgh:

In 1856/7, when the education of his children at Edinburgh Academy had been completed, James and his wife moved to Bath, where the climate was no doubt more congenial, and took up residence at 16 Grosvenor Place. Here James lived until he died on September 23rd 1893, by which time he had reached the venerable age of 96. He is buried at Locksbrook Cemetery in Bath. His wife predeceased him by more that fifteen years, dying in Hampstead in 1878 aged 80.

At the time of his death, James' photograph appeared (full page) in the Admiralty & Horse Guards Gazette of October 14th 1893, under the title of; 'Our Portrait Gallery No. 19 - The late Captain James Gammell'. There were evidently two reasons for this special honour, as the following quotations from the Gazette show:

1) 'This grand old officer was reputed to be the last commissioned veteran survivor of the Peninsula War in the British Service', and

2) 'He served through all the Peninsula War . . . . It seems that never having received his medal for his share in these operations having been brought recently by H.R.H. The Duke of Cambridge to the notice of Her Majesty, she presented the veteran with her Jubilee Medal, in addition to the Peninsula decoration, accompanying the gift with an expression of warm appreciation of his worth, and the hope that he might long enjoy the consideration he merited'.

Unfortunatly this letter from Queen Victoria has been lost, but a copy of the gazette is still in the hands of the family, as also are the medals. James' name also appears in Boas' Biographical Dictionary as the last Peninsula Officer to die.

In his later years James is reputed to have become rather cantankerous, to have quarrelled with his wife, and even to have thrown her out of his house. He is also said to have thrown a fine minature of his wife by Cosway, on to the floor and stamped on it; this damaged minature is still in the hands of the family.

Although he never resided in Aberdeenshire, he became a Deputy Lieutenant of that county in 1826, and retained this position until his death. It was bestowed on him presumably on account of his ownership of the estate of Ardiffery, and possibly through the influence of the Duke of York, who had presented him with his original commission in the Army. In his will, he left practically all his estate amounting to nearly £60.000 to his third son Harcourt. His eldest son James Stewart is not mentioned in the will, presumably as he automatically inherited the entailed property of Ardiffery, and because this son had already inherited the estates of Drumtochty and Countesswells from his uncle, Andrew. James left his nephew Sydney Albert the sum of £3,000, and instructions to his son Harcourt to pay out to his brother Frederick (James second son) the sum of £70 annually. Otherwise, apart from a few small legacies to servants etc. the residue, as has been stated, went to Harcourt absolutely.