Peerage of Scotland
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The Peerage of Scotland (Scottish Gaelic: Moraireachd na h-Alba; Scots: Peerage o Scotland) is one of the five divisions of peerages in the United Kingdom and for those peers created by the King of Scots before 1707. Following that year's Treaty of Union, the Kingdom of Scots and the Kingdom of England were combined under the name of Great Britain, and a new Peerage of Great Britain was introduced in which subsequent titles were created.
Scottish Peers were entitled to sit in the ancient Parliament of Scotland. After the Union, the Peers of the old Parliament of Scotland elected 16 Scottish representative peers to sit in the House of Lords at Westminster. The Peerage Act 1963 granted all Scottish Peers the right to sit in the House of Lords, but this automatic right was revoked, as for all hereditary peerages (except those of the incumbent Earl Marshal and Lord Great Chamberlain), when the House of Lords Act 1999 received the Royal Assent.
Unlike most peerages, many Scottish titles have been granted with remainder to pass via female offspring (thus an Italian family has succeeded to and presently holds the earldom of Newburgh[1]), and in the case of daughters only, these titles devolve to the eldest daughter rather than falling into abeyance (as is the case with ancient English baronies by writ of summons). Unlike other British peerage titles, Scots law permits peerages to be inherited by or through a person who was not legitimate at birth, but was subsequently legitimised by their parents marrying later.[2][3]
The ranks of the Scottish Peerage are, in ascending order: Lord of Parliament, Viscount, Earl, Marquess and Duke. Scottish Viscounts differ from those of the other Peerages (of England, Great Britain, Ireland and the United Kingdom) by using the style of in their title, as in Viscount of Oxfuird. Though this is the theoretical form, most Viscounts drop the "of". The Viscount of Arbuthnott and to a lesser extent the Viscount of Oxfuird still use "of".
The Peerage of Scotland differs from those of England and Ireland in that its lowest rank is not that of baron. In Scotland, "baron" is a rank within the Baronage of Scotland, considered noble but not a peer, approximately equivalent to a baron in some continental countries. The Scottish equivalent to the English or Irish baron is a Lord of Parliament. Barons in Scotland were historically feudal barons until 2004, when a change in Scottish law abolished the feudal system.[4] This reform "expressly preserves the dignity of baron... and any other dignity or office, whether or not of feudal origin," converting feudal titles into non-territorial dignities—personal titles no longer attached to the land, including the quality, precedence, and heraldic rights pertaining.
In the following table of the Peerage of Scotland as it currently stands, each peer's highest ranking title in the other peerages (if any) are also listed. Those peers who are known by a higher title in one of the other peerages are listed in italics.
Extant dukedoms
[edit]- Subsidiary title.
- Secondary dukedom in the Peerage of Scotland.
Shield | Title | Creation | Other Dukedom or higher titles | Title used in the House of Lords prior to the Peerage Act 1963 | Monarch |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
The Duke of Rothesay | 1398 | Since 1603, usually Prince of Wales as the heir to the throne Duke of Cornwall in the Peerage of England. |
King Robert III | ||
The Duke of Hamilton | 12 September 1643 | Duke of Brandon | King Charles I | ||
The Duke of Buccleuch | 20 April 1663 | Earl of Doncaster | King Charles II | ||
The Duke of Lennox | 9 September 1675 | Duke of Richmond in the Peerage of England. | |||
The Duke of Queensberry | 3 February 1684 | Duke of Buccleuch in the Peerage of Scotland. | |||
The Duke of Argyll | 23 June 1701 | Duke of Argyll | King William III and II | ||
Baron Sundridge | |||||
Baron Hamilton of Hameldon | |||||
The Duke of Atholl | 30 January 1703 | Queen Anne | |||
The Duke of Montrose | 24 April 1707 | Earl Graham | |||
The Duke of Roxburghe | 25 April 1707 | Earl Innes |
Extant marquessates
[edit]Shield | Title | Creation | Other Marquessate or higher titles | Title used in the House of Lords prior to the Peerage Act 1963 | Monarch |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
The Marquess of Huntly | 17 April 1599 | Baron Meldrum | King James VI and I | ||
The Marquess of Queensberry | 11 February 1682 | King Charles II | |||
The Marquess of Tweeddale | 17 December 1694 | Baron Tweeddale | King William III and II | ||
The Marquess of Lothian | 23 June 1701 | Baron Ker of Kersehugh |
Extant earldoms
[edit]- Secondary earldom in the Peerage of Scotland.
Shield | Title | Creation | Other Earldom or higher titles | Title used in the House of Lords prior to the Peerage Act 1963 | Monarch |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
The Earl of Sutherland | 1230 | King Alexander II | |||
The Earl of Crawford | 21 April 1398 | Baron Wigan | King Robert II | ||
The Earl of Mar | 1404 | King Robert III | |||
The Earl of Erroll | 12 June 1452 | King James II | |||
The Earl of Caithness | 28 August 1455 | ||||
The Earl of Rothes | 20 March 1457 | ||||
The Earl of Morton | 14 Mar 1458 | ||||
The Earl of Buchan | 1469 | Baron Erskine | King James III | ||
The Earl of Eglinton | 3 January 1507 | Earl of Winton | |||
Baron Ardrossan | King James IV | ||||
The Earl of Moray | 30 January 1562 | Baron Stuart | Queen Mary I | ||
The Earl of Mar | 22 July 1565 | ||||
The Earl of Home | 4 March 1605 | Baron Douglas | King James VI and I | ||
The Earl of Perth | 4 March 1605 | ||||
The Earl of Strathmore and Kinghorne | 10 July 1606 | Earl of Strathmore and Kinghorne | |||
Baron Bowes | |||||
The Earl of Haddington | 20 March 1619 | ||||
The Earl of Kellie | 12 March 1619 | Earl of Mar (1565) in the Peerage of Scotland. | |||
The Earl of Galloway | 19 September 1623 | Baron Stewart of Garlies | |||
The Earl of Lauderdale | 14 March 1624 | ||||
The Earl of Lindsay | 8 May 1633 | King Charles I | |||
The Earl of Loudoun | 12 May 1633 | ||||
The Earl of Kinnoull | 25 May 1633 | Baron Hay of Pedwardine | |||
The Earl of Elgin | 21 June 1633 | Baron Elgin | |||
The Earl of Wemyss | 25 June 1633 | Baron Wemyss | |||
The Earl of Dalhousie | 29 June 1633 | Baron Ramsay | |||
The Earl of Airlie | 2 April 1639 | ||||
The Earl of Leven | 11 October 1641 | ||||
The Earl of Dysart | 3 August 1643 | ||||
The Earl of Selkirk | 4 August 1646 | ||||
The Earl of Northesk | 1 November 1647 | ||||
The Earl of Kincardine | 26 December 1647 | Earl of Elgin in the Peerage of Scotland. | |||
The Earl of Balcarres | 9 January 1651 | Earl of Crawford in the Peerage of Scotland. | King Charles II | ||
The Earl of Dundee | 8 September 1660 | Baron Glassary | |||
The Earl of Newburgh | 31 December 1660 | ||||
The Earl of Annandale and Hartfell | 23 April 1662 | ||||
The Earl of Dundonald | 12 May 1669 | ||||
The Earl of Kintore | 20 June 1677 | Viscount Stonehaven | |||
Baron Stonehaven | |||||
The Earl of Dunmore | 16 August 1686 | King James VII and II | |||
The Earl of Melville | 8 April 1690 | Earl of Leven in the Peerage of Scotland. | King William II and III | ||
The Earl of Orkney | 3 January 1696 | ||||
The Earl of March | 20 April 1697 | Earl of Wemyss in the Peerage of Scotland. | |||
The Earl of Seafield | 24 June 1701 | ||||
The Earl of Stair | 8 April 1703 | Baron Oxenfoord | Queen Anne | ||
The Earl of Rosebery | 10 April 1703 | Earl of Midlothian | |||
Baron Rosebery | |||||
The Earl of Glasgow | 12 April 1703 | Baron Fairlie |
Extant viscountcies
[edit]Shield | Title | Creation | Other Viscountcy or higher titles | Monarch |
---|---|---|---|---|
The Viscount Falkland | 10 November 1620 | King James VI and I | ||
The Viscount of Arbuthnott | 16 November 1641 | King Charles I | ||
The Viscount of Oxfuird | 19 April 1651 | King Charles II |
Extant Lords of Parliament
[edit]- Subsidiary title.
Shield | Title | Creation | Other Lordship or higher titles | Monarch |
---|---|---|---|---|
The Lord Forbes | 1442 | King James III | ||
The Lord Gray | 1445 | |||
The Lord Saltoun | 1445 | |||
The Lord Sinclair | 1449 | |||
The Lord Borthwick | 1452 | |||
The Lord Lovat | 1464 | Baron Lovat | King James III | |
The Lord Sempill | 1488 | King James IV | ||
The Lord Herries | 1490 | |||
The Lord Elphinstone | 14 January 1510 | Baron Elphinstone | ||
The Lord Torphichen | 24 January 1564 | Queen Mary I | ||
The Lord Kinloss | 2 February 1602 | King James VI and I | ||
The Lord Balfour of Burleigh | 16 July 1607 | |||
The Lord Dingwall | 8 June 1609 | Baron Lucas in the Peerage of England. | ||
The Lord Napier | 4 May 1627 | Baron Ettrick | King Charles I | |
The Lord Fairfax of Cameron | 18 October 1627 | |||
The Lord Reay | 20 June 1628 | |||
The Lord Elibank | 18 March 1643 | |||
The Lord Belhaven and Stenton | 15 December 1647 | |||
The Lord Rollo | 10 January 1651 | Baron Dunning | King Charles II | |
The Lord Polwarth | 26 December 1690 | King William II and III |
See also
[edit]- The Scots Peerage, nine-volume book series
- Barons in Scotland
- Noblesse
- Peerage of England
- Welsh peers and baronets
- Peerage of Ireland
- History of the Peerage
References
[edit]- ^ "Representative Peers of Scotland". The Scottish Review. 25: 357. 1895.
- ^ "LEGITIMATION (SCOTLAND) BILL [H.L.]". Parliamentary Debates (Hansard). 5 December 1967.
- ^ Lauderdale Peerage Claim, House of Lords, 1884–1885
- ^ "Abolition of Feudal Tenure etc. (Scotland) Act 2000 - Explanatory Notes". web.archive.org. 23 August 2024. Retrieved 22 December 2024.