LENCK, JAKOB [SSNE 4358]
Text source
James Lenck was born in Scotland on 30 December 1578, of noble origins, the son of James Lenck. He emigrated to Sweden around 1610 where, in 1625, he became a lieutenant in Otto von Scheiding's Småland regiment. After probably serving at Wittstock in 1636, Lenck became a major under Colonel Thomas Thomsson's [SSNE 1648] Närke and Värmland regiment where he remained until 1645. He probably died later that year. In 1642 there was some debate in Sweden as to whether Lenck was a bonafide nobleman, and Lieutenant-General Ruthven was approached to verify this. Although he knew of a noble Scottish family called Lenck, he could not guarantee that James was from this family. Various sources note different brides and dates of death, with some claiming he died in 1641 after 35 years service as a soldier. Others say he was married to ? Frankelin, daughter of the regional governor Henrik Frankelin. Another source says her name was Constantia Frankelin, and she was the daughter of Major Carl Frankelin. Yet another source establishes his wife as Marta Hard. The discrepancies continue over his rank with Marryat noting that Lenck was a colonel when he died. One of his sons, Jakob jr. [SSNE 4359] was ennobled and was also in Swedish service. He had another son called Gustav who was brn in 1634 and was also in the army.
C.O. Nordensvan, (ed.), Värmlands Regementes [Närkes och Värmlands Regementes] Historia: Andra Delen, Personal Historia (Stockholm, 1911), 40; Several letters can be found in 'Krigskollegium Kancelliet; Adressatregistratur till Krigskollegiets Registratur 1631-1654' including "fullmakt att vara major under col Tomas Tomassons reg Närkes och Värmlands knektar i Karl Svinhufvuds ställe 15/3/1637"; "att hålla sig vederredo med 300 män av col Tomas Tomasson reg till vidare order 25/3 1637"; "att han med tvenne kompletta komp Närkes fotfolk sig till Göteborg förfogar 8/12/1643"; S. Hedar, Kammarkollegiets Protokoll med bilagor, vol.3 (Stockholm, 1941),p.293; Svenska Adelns Ättartavlor, vol. 4, p.591; H. Marryat, One Year in Sweden, including a visit to the isle of Gotland (London, 1862); Otto Donner, A brief sketch of the Scottish families in Finland and Sweden (Helsingfors, 1884), p.32; F. Fryxell, Wermelandia Nobilitata (Landsarkivet, Gothenburg, 1945), p.35; F. Rudelius, 'Kalmar Regementes Personhistoria 1623-1927 (2 vols., Norrköping, 1952) I, p.44.
Service record
- SWEDEN, SMALAND
- Arrived 1610-01-01, as LIEUTENANT
- Departed 1624-12-31, as LIEUTENANT
- Capacity OFFICER, purpose MILITARY
- SWEDEN, VON SCHEIDING
- Arrived 1625-01-01, as LIEUTENANT
- Departed 1636-12-31, as CAPTAIN
- Capacity OFFICER, purpose MILITARY
- SWEDEN, NARKE OCH VARMLAND
- Arrived 1637-01-01, as MAJOR
- Departed 1645-12-31, as MAJOR
- Capacity OFFICER, purpose MILITARY