George John Whyte-Melville (19 June 1821 – 5 December 1878)[1][citation needed] was a Scottish novelist much concerned with field sports, and also a poet.Major George John Whyte-Melville was born in 1821,[3] at Mount Melville near St Andrews, Scotland, as a son of Major John Whyte-Melville and Lady Catherine Anne Sarah Osborne and a grandson on his mother's side of the 5th Duke of Leeds. His father was a well-known sportsman and Captain of St Andrews Golf Club. The son was Grand Master of the Freemasons of Scotland from 1834 to 1866.[4] George was tutored privately at home by the young Robert Lee,[5] then educated at Eton.[3] He entered the army in 1839,[3] became a captain in the Coldstream Guards in 1846 and retired in 1849.[3] He married The Hon Charlotte Hanbury-Bateman in 1847,[3] and they had one daughter, Florence Elizabeth, who went on to marry Clotworthy John Skeffington, 11th Viscount Massereene and 4th Viscount Ferrard. In 1849 Whyte-Melville was the subject of a summons for maintenance by Elizabeth Gibbs, described as "a smartly-dressed and interesting looking young woman", who alleged that he was the father of her child. She stated that she had known Whyte-Melville since December 1846 and that she had given birth to his child in September 1847. The Judge found for the defendant as the written evidence could not be proved to be in Whyte-Melville's hand, but allowed the complainant to apply for a further summons in order to obtain proof.[ Less