Earl of Rothes Earldom in the Baronage of Scotland | |
---|---|
Creation date | 1458 |
Created by | James II of Scotland |
First holder | Sir George Leslie, 1st Earl of Rothes |
Present holder | Ambassador Dario Item, Earl of Rothes |
Remainder to | heirs and assignees |
Subsidiary titles | Hereditary Sheriff of Fife |
Status | extant |
historically connected to peerage title, now separated |
The Earldom of Rothes in the Baronage of Scotland is a title of nobility of feudal origins, separated from the Earl of Rothes title (originally created in 1458) in 1886 and still extant today. The incumbent title holder is Ambassador Dario Item. [1] [2] [3]
The Earldom of Rothes is reported as being first created as a feudal title in 1458 by King James II; at the time the King also granted to the first Earl of Rothes the Barony of Ballinbreich. However, the first official entry in the Register of the Great Seal of Scotland recording the Earldom of Rothes dates to 1547. [4] [5]
In 1841 George William Evelyn became the thirteenth Earl of Rothes. As he died unmarried, he was succeeded by his sister Henrietta in 1859 as Countess of Rothes. [6] On her death in 1886 the peerage title passed to her aunt, separating from the feudal title of the Earldom of Rothes which, at the time, followed the ownership of the land, was earlier conveyed in trust by the Countess. The Earldom lands, including the feudal title, were later acquired by Captain William Crundall in 1919, and remained in his family until 2004, when Sir Christopher Ondaatje, a well-known explorer, succeeded as the Earl of Rothes, by this time no longer a feudal title, but instead a higher title of nobility and dignity within the Baronage of Scotland.
In 2024 Ambassador Dario Item, Prince of St. Rosalie [7] [8] [ citation needed ] succeeded in the Earldom of Rothes and is the current holder of the title within the Baronage of Scotland. [1] [2] [3]
Baron is a rank of nobility or title of honour, often hereditary, in various European countries, either current or historical. The female equivalent is baroness. Typically, the title denotes an aristocrat who ranks higher than a lord or knight, but lower than a viscount or count. Often, barons hold their fief – their lands and income – directly from the monarch. Barons are less often the vassals of other nobles. In many kingdoms, they were entitled to wear a smaller form of a crown called a coronet.
Earl of Rothes is a title in the Peerage of Scotland. It was created in 1458 for George Leslie, 1st Lord Leslie. He had already been created Lord Leslie in 1445, also in the Peerage of Scotland. His grandson, the third Earl, having only succeeded his elder brother in March 1513, was killed at the Battle of Flodden on 9 September of the same year. His son, the fourth Earl, served as an Extraordinary Lord of Session. Lord Rothes was also tried for the murder of Cardinal Beaton but was acquitted.
Earl of Haddington is a title in the Peerage of Scotland. It was created in 1627 for the noted Scottish lawyer and judge Thomas Hamilton, 1st Earl of Melrose. He was Lord President of the Court of Session from 1616 to 1625. Hamilton had already been created Lord Binning in 1613 and Lord Binning and Byres, in the County of Haddington, and Earl of Melrose, in the County of Roxburgh, in 1619. These titles were also in the Peerage of Scotland. The title of the earldom derived from the fact that he was in possession of much of the lands of the former Melrose Abbey. However, Hamilton was unhappy with this title and wished to replace it with "Haddington". In 1627 he relinquished the earldom of Melrose and was instead created Earl of Haddington, with the precedence of 1619 and with limitation to his heirs male bearing the surname of Hamilton. This derived from the fact that he considered it a greater honour to take his title from a county rather than from an abbey. Hamilton was a member of the prominent Scottish family of that name and descended from John de Hamilton, younger son of Walter de Hamilton, who was granted the feudal barony of Cadzow and who is also the ancestor of the Dukes of Hamilton and Dukes of Abercorn.
The hereditary peers form part of the peerage in the United Kingdom. As of November 2024, there are 801 hereditary peers: 30 dukes, 34 marquesses, 189 earls, 109 viscounts, and 439 barons.
Sir Philip Christopher Ondaatje between 2004 and 2024 TheEarl of Rothes, Lord of Leslie and Sheriff of Fife, is a Sri Lankan-born Canadian-English businessman, philanthropist, adventurer, writer and bob-sledding Olympian for Canada. Ondaatje is the older brother of the author Michael Ondaatje and lives in both Chester, Nova Scotia, and the United Kingdom. He was infeft in November 2004 and designed by the Lord Lyon in September 2006 as the Earl of Rothes, Lord of Leslie, and Sheriff of Fife in the Baronage of Scotland.
In Scotland, "baron" or "baroness" is a rank of the ancient nobility of the Baronage of Scotland, a hereditary title of honour, and refers to the holder of a barony, formerly a feudal superiority attached to land erected into a free barony by Crown Charter, this being the status of a minor baron, recognised by the crown as noble, but not a peer.
George Leslie, 4th Earl of Rothes was a Scottish nobleman and diplomat.
A feudal baron is a vassal holding a heritable fief called a barony, comprising a specific portion of land, granted by an overlord in return for allegiance and service. Following the end of European feudalism, feudal baronies have largely been superseded by baronies held as a rank of nobility, without any attachment to a fief.
The British nobility is made up of the peerage and the gentry of the British Isles.
A Lord in the Baronage of Scotland is an ancient title of nobility, held in baroneum, which Latin term means that its holder, who is a lord, is also always a baron. The holder may or may not be a Lord of Regality, which meant that the holder was appointed by the Crown and had the power of "pit and gallows", meaning the power to authorise the death sentence.
In England, the baronage was the collectively inclusive term denoting all members of the feudal nobility, as observed by the constitutional authority Edward Coke. It was replaced eventually by the term peerage.
The Much Honoured is an honorific style applied to various minor nobles in Scotland, including Scots barons.
An Earl/Marquis/Duke in the Baronage of Scotland is an ancient title of nobility that is held en baroneum, which means that its holder, who is a earl/marquis/duke in the Baronage of Scotland, is also always a baron. The holder may or may not be a Lord of Regality, which meant that the holder was appointed by the Crown and had the power of "pit and gallows", meaning the power to authorise the death sentence.
In the Baronage of Scotland, a Lord of Regality is an ancient noble title. Lords of regality were said to hold a regality - a type of territorial jurisdiction under old Scots law. This jurisdiction was created by erecting lands in liberam regalitatem, and the area over which this right extended became the regality.
Baron of Glengarnock is a title of nobility in the Baronage of Scotland in the county of Ayrshire.
Baron of Lundie is a nobility title in the Baronage of Scotland.
Lord of Balvaird or Baron of Balvaird is a title of nobility in the Baronage of Scotland. It was originally confirmed by James VI in 1624 for Andrew Murray as a barony and later erected into a lordship in favour of David Murray, 5th Viscount of Stormont in 1673.
The earldom of Arran currently exists in two forms within the Scottish nobility, in reference to the Isle of Arran. One is a peerage title in the Peerage of Scotland, held as a subsidiary title by the Duke of Hamilton.
The Scottish Barony Register is a non-statutory register established and maintained by legal professionals in Scotland. It was incorporated as a private company limited by guarantee, registered under the number SC276349. Snce November 2021, the Custodian has been Alastair Shepherd, a retired solicitor and a Writer to His Majesty's Signet, who succeeded Alistair Rennie in the post.
Lord Leslie (Fife) is a title of nobility in the Baronage of Scotland, connected to the county of Fife. Not to be confused with the baronage title Baron of Leslie in Aberdeenshire held by a Scottish baron who owns Leslie Castle, or peerage title Lord Leslie, subsidiary title for the living Scottish peer Earl of Rothes.