Earldom of Stirling Held with Earldom of Dovan | |
---|---|
![]() ![]() Arms:Quarterly, 1st & 4th: Per pale argent and sable a chevron and a crescent in base counterchanged (Alexander of Menstrie); 2nd & 3rd: Or, a lymphad sable between three crosses crosslet bottony fitchée gules 2 and 1 (Stirling). In the point of honour, an escutcheon argent, a cross saltire azure charged with an escutcheon of the arms of Scotland (Nova Scotia) Contents | |
Creation date | 14 June 1633 |
Created by | Charles I of England |
Peerage | Peerage of Scotland |
First holder | William Alexander, 1st Earl of Stirling |
Last holder | Henry Alexander, 5th Earl of Stirling |
Subsidiary titles | Viscount of Canada Lord Alexander of Tullibody Baronet Alexander of Menstrie |
Status | Dormant |
Extinction date | 1739 |
Seat(s) | Menstrie Castle |
Earl of Stirling was a title in the Peerage of Scotland. It was created on 14 June 1633 for William Alexander, 1st Viscount of Stirling. [1] He had already been created a Baronet, of Menstrie, Clackmannanshire in the Baronetage of Nova Scotia on 12 July 1625, then Lord Alexander of Tullibody and Viscount of Stirling on 4 September 1630, then Earl of Dovan in 1639. [1] [2] He was made Viscount of Canada at the same time that he was granted the earldom of Stirling. [3] The other peerage titles were also in the Peerage of Scotland. The titles became dormant upon the death of the fifth Earl in 1739.
William Alexander, a military officer from New Jersey who was a major-general in the Continental Army during the American War of Independence, pursued a claim to succeed to the dormant earldom from 1756 to 1759. The claim from senior male descent from the first Earl's grandfather was ultimately turned down by the House of Lords in 1762, although he was allowed to vote in the election of the Scottish representative peers.[ citation needed ]
In the 19th century, there was an attempt to assert that there was a new grant of the title of Earl of Dovan connected with the title of Earl of Stirling, and a new destination of descent for the title of Earl of Stirling, with the title claimed by Alexander Humphrys-Alexander (1783–1859). Mary Hill, Marchioness of Downshire brought a petition before the House of Lords in 1832, claiming that she would be the rightful heir as the descendant of Judith Alexander, sister of Henry Fifth Earl of Stirling. [4] A court case filed in 1839 ruled that at least two of the seventeen documents in support of the case were forgeries; Humphrys-Alexander himself was acquitted of personal responsibility for making them. [5]
The case and the associated forgery was one inspiration for the very popular three-volume novel Ten Thousand a-Year , by Samuel Warren (1807–1877). Warren also wrote directly of the case in his "Miscellanies", titling the article "The Romance of Forgery".
The Peerage of the United Kingdom is one of the five Peerages in the United Kingdom. It comprises most peerages created in the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland after the Acts of Union in 1801, when it replaced the Peerage of Great Britain. New peers continued to be created in the Peerage of Ireland until 1898.
There are currently two earldoms of Mar in the Peerage of Scotland, and the title has been created seven times. The first creation of the earldom is currently held by Margaret of Mar, 31st Countess of Mar, who is also clan chief of Clan Mar. The seventh creation is currently held by James Erskine, 14th Earl of Mar and 16th Earl of Kellie, who is also clan chief of Clan Erskine.
Marquess of Lothian is a title in the Peerage of Scotland, which was created in 1701 for Robert Kerr, 4th Earl of Lothian. The Marquess of Lothian holds the subsidiary titles of Earl of Lothian, Earl of Lothian, Earl of Ancram (1633), Earl of Ancram, Viscount of Briene (1701), Lord Newbattle (1591), Lord Jedburgh (1622), Lord Kerr of Newbattle (1631), Lord Kerr of Nisbet, Langnewtoun, and Dolphinstoun (1633), Lord Kerr of Newbattle, Oxnam, Jedburgh, Dolphinstoun and Nisbet (1701), and Baron Ker, of Kersheugh in the County of Roxburgh (1821), all but the last in the Peerage of Scotland. As The Lord Ker in the Peerage of the United Kingdom, previous marquesses sat in the House of Lords before 1963, when Scottish peers first sat in the House of Lords in their own right. The holder of the marquessate is also the Chief of Clan Kerr.
Earl of Suffolk is a title which has been created four times in the Peerage of England. The first creation, in tandem with the creation of the title of Earl of Norfolk, came before 1069 in favour of Ralph the Staller; but the title was forfeited by his heir, Ralph de Guader, in 1074. The second creation came in 1337 in favour of Robert de Ufford; the title became extinct on the death of his son, the second Earl, in 1382. The third creation came in 1385 in favour of Michael de la Pole. The fourth creation was in 1603 for Lord Thomas Howard, the second son of Thomas Howard, 4th Duke of Norfolk, by his second wife Margaret Audley, the daughter and eventual sole heiress of Thomas Audley, 1st Baron Audley of Walden, of Audley End in the parish of Saffron Walden in Essex. Howard was a prominent naval commander and politician and served as Earl Marshal, as Lord Chamberlain of the Household and as Lord High Treasurer. In 1597 he was summoned to Parliament as Baron Howard de Walden, and in 1603 he was further honoured, at the start of the reign of King James I, when he was created Earl of Suffolk. His second son the Hon. Thomas Howard was created Earl of Berkshire in 1626.
Earl of Lindsay is a title in the Peerage of Scotland. It was created in 1633 for John Lindsay, 10th Lord Lindsay, who later inherited the ancient Earldom of Crawford. The two earldoms remained united until the death of the 22nd Earl of Crawford, also sixth Earl of Lindsay, in 1808. Then the earldom of Lindsay passed to David Lindsay, while the earldom of Crawford became dormant because no-one could prove a claim to the title until 1848. Both David, 7th Earl of Lindsay, and his successor Patrick, 8th Earl of Lindsay, died without sons, and the disputed claim over the earldom was resolved by the House of Lords in 1878 in favour of Sir John Trotter Bethune, 2nd Baronet.
The title Earl of Kellie or Kelly is a title in the Peerage of Scotland, created in 1619 for Sir Thomas Erskine, who was Captain of the Guard and Groom of the Stool for James VI. It is named after Barony of Kellie in Fife, Scotland. Since 1875, it has been held jointly with the Earldom of Mar.
The Mormaer or Earl of Buchan was originally the provincial ruler of the medieval province of Buchan. Buchan was the first Mormaerdom in the High Medieval Kingdom of the Scots to pass into the hands of a non-Scottish family in the male line. The earldom had three lines in its history, not counting passings from female heirs to sons. Today, it is held by the Erskine family as a peerage. The current holder is Harry Erskine, 18th Earl of Buchan.
The title Earl of Moray, Mormaer of Moray or King of Moray was originally held by the rulers of the Province of Moray, which existed from the 10th century with varying degrees of independence from the Kingdom of Alba to the south. Until 1130 the status of Moray's rulers was ambiguous and they were described in some sources as "mormaers", in others as "Kings of Moray", and in others as "Kings of Alba". The position was suppressed by David I of Scotland some time after his defeat of Óengus of Moray at the Battle of Stracathro in 1130, but was recreated as a feudal earldom by Robert the Bruce and granted to Thomas Randolph, 1st Earl of Moray in 1312.
Earl of Dundee is a title in the Peerage of Scotland. It was created in 1660 for John Scrymgeour, 3rd Viscount Dudhope. At his death in 1668, the Duke of Lauderdale declared that the first Earl had no heirs-male, and had the crown seize all of his lands. The earldom of Dundee became dormant and its holdings and offices were granted to Charles Maitland, 3rd Earl of Lauderdale, the Duke's younger brother. The title was revived in 1953, when it was determined that the first Earl did indeed have heirs-male, contrary to the assertion of the crown. The title was given to Henry James Scrymgeour-Wedderburn, who had previously served in the House of Commons and in the Cabinet.
Earl of Annandale and Hartfell is a title in the Peerage of Scotland, created in 1661 for James Johnstone.
Earl of Stair is a title in the Peerage of Scotland. It was created in 1703 for the lawyer and statesman John Dalrymple, 2nd Viscount of Stair.
Earl of Seafield is a title in the Peerage of Scotland. It was created in 1701 for James Ogilvy, who in 1711 succeeded his father as 4th Earl of Findlater. The earldoms of Findlater and Seafield continued to be united until 1811, when the earldom of Findlater became dormant, while the earldom of Seafield remains extant.
Lord Polwarth, of Polwarth in the County of Berwick, is a title in the Peerage of Scotland. It was created in 1690 for Sir Patrick Hume of Polwarth, 2nd Baronet, Lord Chancellor of Scotland from 1696 to 1702. In 1697 he was further created Lord Polwarth, of Polwarth, Redbraes and Greenlaw, Viscount of Blasonberrie and Earl of Marchmont, also in the Peerage of Scotland. Upon the death of his grandson, the third Earl, the creations of 1697 became dormant (unclaimed).
Earl of Strafford is a title that has been created three times in English and British history.
Baron Hunsdon is a title that has been created three times.
The hereditary peers form part of the peerage in the United Kingdom. As of August 2023, there are 805 hereditary peers: 30 dukes, 34 marquesses, 189 earls, 110 viscounts, and 442 barons.
Earl of Glencairn was a title in the Peerage of Scotland. It was created in 1488 for Alexander Cunningham, 1st Lord Kilmaurs. The name was taken from the parish of Glencairn in Dumfriesshire so named for the Cairn Waters which run through it.
Thomas Christopher Banks (1765–1854), who for a while styled himself by the bogus title "Sir T.C. Banks, Baronet of Nova Scotia", was a British genealogist and lawyer. He is notorious for having assisted several claimants to dormant peerages, based on the very flimsiest evidence, which he strengthened with imaginary pedigrees. During his later years, he resided near Ripon, Yorkshire.
There have been two baronetcies created for persons with the surname Banks, on in the Baronetage of England and one in the Baronetage of Great Britain. Both creations became extinct on the death of the first holder.
Alexander Humphrys-Alexander was a claimant to the vacant Earldom of Stirling and rights to vast lands in eastern Canada, referring back to a Royal Charter granted to the 1st Earl by James I in 1621 to colonize Nova Scotia and surrounding areas of North America.