Earl of Seaforth

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Earldom of Seaforth
Coronet of a British Earl.svg
MacKenzie of seaforth.jpg
Creation date3 December 1623 [1]
CreationFirst
Created by James I
Peerage Peerage of Scotland
First holder Colin Mackenzie, 1st Earl of Seaforth
Last holder Kenneth Mackenzie, 1st Earl of Seaforth
StatusExtinct
Extinction date1781
Seat(s) Brahan Castle
MottoLuceo Non Uro
("I shine but do not burn")

Earl of Seaforth was a title in the Peerage of Scotland and the Peerage of Ireland. It was held by the family of Mackenzie from 1623 to 1716, and again from 1771 to 1781. [2]

Contents

History

The Mackenzies trace their descent to Colin of Kintail (died 1278), and their name is a variant of Mackenneth. Kenneth, the twelfth head of the clan, was made Lord Mackenzie of Kintail in 1609, and his son Colin, who succeeded his father as 2nd Lord Mackenzie in March 1611, was created earl of Seaforth in 1623. [2]

Colin's successor was his half-brother George (died 1651), who became the 2nd earl in 1633. George was alternately a royalist and a covenanter between 1636 and 1646, and was afterwards in Holland with Charles II, who made him Secretary of State for Scotland. His grandson, Kenneth, the 4th earl, followed James VII to France and was with the dethroned king in Ireland. Elevated by James in 1690, to Marquess of Seaforth and Viscount Fortrose (in the Jacobite peerage), he was sent to head the 1689 rising in Scotland. He was soon captured and imprisoned. He was released in 1697 and died in Paris in January 1701. [2]

His successor was his son William, who rallied under the Jacobite standard at Braemar, during the rising of 1715, and then, having raised 3000 men, was present at the battle of Sheriffmuir and was appointed lieutenant-general of the northern counties. He also took part in the Jacobite enterprise of 1719, being wounded at Glenshiel. In 1716 he was attainted and his titles and estates forfeited; before his death in January 1740, he had been relieved of some of the penalties of his treason, although his titles were not restored. His son Kenneth (c. 1718–1761), who but for the attainder would have been the 6th earl, helped the British government during the rising of 1745, and was a member of parliament for some years. [2]

His son Kenneth Mackenzie was created Baron of Ardelve and Viscount Fortrose in the Peerage of Ireland in 1766 and Earl of Seaforth in 1771, also in the Peerage of Ireland. However, these peerages became extinct when he died in August 1781. Although there were still heirs to the older earldom, this remained under attainder. Kenneth raised a regiment of Highlanders, the 78th (later known as 72nd) in 1778, known later as the 1st battalion of the Seaforth Highlanders. [2]

The Seaforth title has twice been revived after the extinction of the second creation of the earldom in 1781. In 1797 the soldier and politician Francis Mackenzie was raised to the Peerage of Great Britain as Lord Seaforth, Baron Mackenzie, of Kintail in the County of Ross. He was the grandson of Colonel the Hon. Alexander Mackenzie, younger son of the fourth Earl of Seaforth of the 1623 creation and brother of the fifth Earl. All four of Lord Seaforth's sons predeceased him and on his death in 1815 the title became extinct. His daughter the Hon. Mary Elizabeth Frederica Mackenzie married as her second husband James Alexander Stewart-Mackenzie, son of Admiral Keith Stewart, third son of the sixth Earl of Galloway. Their grandson James Stewart-Mackenzie was a soldier, politician and philanthropist. In 1921 the barony of Seaforth held by his great-great-grandfather was revived when he was raised to the Peerage of the United Kingdom as Baron Seaforth, of Brahan, in Urray in the County of Ross and Cromarty. He was childless and the title became extinct on his death in 1923.

List of titleholders

Lords Mackenzie of Kintail (1609)

Earls of Seaforth (1623)

Earls of Seaforth (1771)

Barons Seaforth (1797)

Barons Seaforth (1921)

See also

Related Research Articles

Kenneth Mackenzie, Kenneth MacKenzie, or Kenneth McKenzie may refer to:

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Clan Mackenzie</span> Scottish clan

Clan Mackenzie is a Scottish clan, traditionally associated with Kintail and lands in Ross-shire in the Scottish Highlands. Traditional genealogies trace the ancestors of the Mackenzie chiefs to the 12th century. However, the earliest Mackenzie chief recorded by contemporary evidence is Alexander Mackenzie of Kintail who died some time after 1471. Traditionally, during the Wars of Scottish Independence, the Mackenzies supported Robert the Bruce, but feuded with the Earls of Ross in the latter part of the 14th century. During the 15th and 16th-centuries the Mackenzies feuded with the neighboring clans of Munro and MacDonald. In the 17th century the Mackenzie chief was made Earl of Seaforth in the peerage of Scotland. During the Scottish Civil War of the 17th century the Mackenzies largely supported the Royalists. During the Jacobite rising of 1715 the chief and clan of Mackenzie supported the Jacobite cause. However, during the Jacobite rising of 1745 the clan was divided with the chief, Kenneth Mackenzie, Lord Fortrose, supporting the British-Hanoverian Government and his relative, George Mackenzie, 3rd Earl of Cromartie, supporting the Jacobites.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Clan Macrae</span> Highland Scottish clan

The Clan Macrae is a Highland Scottish clan. The clan has no chief; it is therefore considered an armigerous clan.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Chanonry of Ross</span>

Castle Chanonry of Ross, also known as Seaforth Castle, was located in the town of Fortrose, to the north-east of Inverness, on the peninsula known as the Black Isle, Highland, Scotland. Nothing now remains of the castle. The castle was also known as Canonry or Chanonrie of Ross, the former county.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Francis Mackenzie, 1st Baron Seaforth</span> British Army general

Lieutenant-General Francis Humberston Mackenzie, 1st Baron Seaforth, was a British politician, soldier, and botanist. He was Chief of the Highland Clan Mackenzie, as which he raised the renowned 78th (Highlanders) Regiment of Foot.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">James Alexander Stewart-Mackenzie</span> British politician

James Alexander Stewart-Mackenzie was a Scottish politician and British colonial administrator.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Mary Elizabeth Frederica Mackenzie</span> Chief of the Scottish clan Mackenzie (1783–1862)

Mary Elizabeth Frederica Mackenzie was the eldest daughter and heiress of Francis Mackenzie, 1st Baron Seaforth. Also known as "Lady Hood Mackenzie", or by the sobriquet "The Hooded Lassie", she was married in turn to Vice Admiral Sir Samuel Hood and James Alexander Stewart of Glasserton.

Kenneth Mackenzie, 4th Earl of Seaforth, KT, PC (S) was a Scottish peer and Jacobite supporter, known as Lord Mackenzie of Kintail from birth until 1678.

Colonel James Alexander Francis Humberston Stewart-Mackenzie, 1st Baron Seaforth, was a Scottish soldier, who was regarded by many as chief of Clan Mackenzie.

Kenneth Mackenzie, the first Lord Mackenzie of Kintail, was a Highland clan chief who secured for himself and his heirs the entirety of the Isle of Lewis in the Outer Hebrides and successfully pursued a bloody feud with the Macdonells of Glengarry.

Colin Mackenzie, 1st Earl of Seaforth (1596/97–1633), was a Highland clan chief and Scottish nobleman, possessed of vast estates and wealth.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Kenneth Mackenzie, 3rd Earl of Seaforth</span>

Kenneth Mackenzie, 3rd Earl of Seaforth (1635–1678) was a Highland clan chief and Scottish nobleman, who adhered faithfully to Charles II through his tribulations. From his great stature he was known among the Highlanders as "Coinneach Mor".

Alexander Mackenzie, known as "Ionraic", traditionally counted as 6th of Kintail, was the first chief of the Clan Mackenzie of whom indisputable contemporary documentary evidence survives. During his long life, he greatly expanded his clan's territories and influence.

Colin Mackenzie of Kintail, nicknamed "Cam", was a Highland chief of the Scottish clan Mackenzie who greatly increased his ancestral estates through royal favour and a career of vigorous self-aggrandisement.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Brahan Castle</span>

Brahan Castle was situated 3.5 miles (5.6 km) south-west of Dingwall, in Easter Ross, Highland Scotland. The castle belonged to the Earls of Seaforth, chiefs of the Clan Mackenzie, who dominated the area.

Kenneth Mackenzie, was the 10th laird of Kintail and he was nicknamed Coinneach na Cuirc in Scottish Gaelic, was a Highland chief, head of the Clan Mackenzie, who flourished in the turbulent Scottish politics of the mid-16th century.

The chiefs of the Scottish highland Clan Mackenzie were historically known as the Mackenzies of Kintail. By tradition the Mackenzie chiefs descend from Kenneth Mackenzie, 1st of Kintail however their earliest ancestor proven by contemporary evidence is Alexander Mackenzie, 6th of Kintail. The chiefly line became the Earls of Seaforth during the 17th century but this title was later forfeited in the 18th century due to support of the Jacobite rising of 1715. The current official chief of the Clan Mackenzie is John Ruaridh Grant Mackenzie, 5th Earl of Cromartie.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Kenneth Mackenzie, 1st Earl of Seaforth</span>

Kenneth Mackenzie, 1st Earl of Seaforth FRS was a British peer, politician, soldier and Chief of the Highland Clan Mackenzie.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Kenneth Mackenzie, Lord Fortrose</span>

Kenneth Mackenzie, Lord Fortrose was a British politician and Chief of the Highland Clan Mackenzie.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Siege of Brahan</span>

The siege of Brahan took place in Scotland in November 1715 and was part of the Jacobite rising of 1715. Highlanders loyal to the British-Hanoverian government of George I of Great Britain laid siege to Brahan Castle, seat of William Mackenzie, 5th Earl of Seaforth, who was a staunch Jacobite, loyal to the House of Stuart.

References

  1. Kidd, Charles, Williamson, David (editors). Debrett's Peerage and Baronetage (1990 edition). New York: St Martin's Press, 1990.
  2. 1 2 3 4 5 Wikisource-logo.svg One or more of the preceding sentences incorporates text from a publication now in the public domain : Chisholm, Hugh, ed. (1911). "Seaforth, Earl of". Encyclopædia Britannica . Vol. 24 (11th ed.). Cambridge University Press. p. 533.