William tried to preserve the grant of the Islands of Orkney and Zetland which had been given to his grandfather, Sir William, 7th Earl of Morton. The wadset (a loan masked as a sale of land under right of reversion) of the Lordship had been set aside, and annexed to the Commonwealth in 1657.[1] On the Restoration, he obtained a new grant, which confirmation was ratified by Parliament in 1661. However, this too was pronounced null and void, and the islands were vested in the Crown by the Orkney and Shetland Act 1669 on 17 December 1669.[1][2] Thenceforward the Earls of Morton held these islands under a form of mortgage from the Crown.
On 9 September 1672 he resigned the Barony of Dalkeith in favour of James Scott, 1st Duke of Monmouth. The estate of Dalkeith and other lands, to the total value of £100,000 Scots yearly rental,[3] had been sold circa 1643 to Buccleuch to enable the 7th Earl meet his expenses supporting the King.
William married Lady Grizel Middleton, daughter of John Middleton, 1st Earl of Middleton, in 1662. Their only son, Charles, Lord Dalkeith, died in infancy in 1663.[3] William died in 1681 leaving no heir, passing the Earldom to his uncle, James Douglas, 10th Earl of Morton, who was the son of William Douglas, 7th Earl of Morton and Lady Anne Keith.
↑ "The Laws and Acts of the Second Parliament of Our High and Dread Sovereign, Charles the Second, by the Grace of God, King of Scotland, England, France and Ireland, Defender of the Faith, Begun at Edinburgh, the 19. of October, 1669" (Heirs of Andrew Andreson, 1679) p. 28
Duke of Hamilton is a title in the Peerage of Scotland, created in April 1643. It is the senior dukedom in that peerage, and as such its holder is the premier peer of Scotland, as well as being head of both the House of Hamilton and the House of Douglas. The title, the town of Hamilton in Lanarkshire, and many places around the world are named after members of the Hamilton family. The ducal family's surname, originally "Hamilton", is now "Douglas-Hamilton". Since 1711, the dukedom has been held together with the Dukedom of Brandon in the Peerage of Great Britain, and the dukes since that time have been styled Duke of Hamilton and Brandon, along with several other subsidiary titles.
Marquess of Zetland is a title in the Peerage of the United Kingdom. It was created on 22 August 1892 for the former Lord Lieutenant of Ireland, Lawrence Dundas, 3rd Earl of Zetland. Zetland is an archaic form of Shetland. The Dundas family descends from the wealthy Scottish businessman and Member of Parliament, Lawrence Dundas. In 1762 he was created a Baronet, of Kerse in the County of Linlithgow, in the Baronetage of Great Britain. The title was created with remainder, failing heirs male of his own, to his brother Thomas Dundas and the heirs male of his body. He was succeeded by his son, the second Baronet. He represented Richmond and Stirling in the House of Commons and also served as Lord Lieutenant of Orkney and Shetland. In 1794 he was created Baron Dundas, of Aske in the North Riding of the County of York, in the Peerage of Great Britain. Lord Dundas notably purchased the right to the earldom of Orkney and lordship of Zetland from James Douglas, 14th Earl of Morton.
Duke of Buccleuch, formerly also spelt Duke of Buccleugh, is a title in the Peerage of Scotland created twice on 20 April 1663, first for James Scott, 1st Duke of Monmouth, and second suo jure for his wife Anne Scott, 4th Countess of Buccleuch. Monmouth, the eldest illegitimate son of King Charles II, was attainted after rebelling against his uncle King James II and VII, but his wife's title was unaffected and passed on to their descendants, who have successively borne the surnames Scott, Montagu-Scott, Montagu Douglas Scott and Scott again. In 1810, the 3rd Duke of Buccleuch inherited the Dukedom of Queensberry, also in the Peerage of Scotland, thus separating that title from the Marquessate of Queensberry.
William Sinclair (1410–1480), 1st Earl of Caithness (1455–1476), last Earl (Jarl) of Orkney, 2nd Lord Sinclair and 11th Baron of Roslin was a Norwegian and Scottish nobleman and the builder of Rosslyn Chapel, in Midlothian.
The title Earl of Morton was created in the Peerage of Scotland in 1458 for James Douglas of Dalkeith. Along with it, the title Lord Aberdour was granted. This latter title is the courtesy title for the eldest son and heir to the Earl of Morton.
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. Subsidiary titles are Lord Cardross and Lord Auchterhouse and Baron Erskine.
Earl of Caithness is a title that has been created several times in the Peerage of Scotland, and it has a very complex history. Its first grant, in the modern sense as to have been counted in strict lists of peerages, is now generally held to have taken place in favor of Maol Íosa V, Earl of Strathearn, in 1334, although in the true circumstances of 14th century, this presumably was just a recognition of his hereditary right to the ancient earldom/mormaership of Caithness. The next year, however, all of his titles were declared forfeit for treason.
Earl of March is a title that has been created several times, respectively, in the Peerage of Scotland and the Peerage of England. The title derives from the "marches" or borderlands between England and either Wales or Scotland, and it was held by several great feudal families which owned lands in those districts. Later, however, the title came to be granted as an honorary dignity, and ceased to carry any associated power in the marches.
Earl of Carrick is the title applied to the ruler of Carrick, subsequently part of the Peerage of Scotland. The position came to be strongly associated with the Scottish crown when Robert the Bruce, who had inherited it from his maternal kin, became King of Scots in the early 14th century. Since the 15th century, the title of Earl of Carrick has automatically been held by the heir apparent to the throne, thus the current holder of the title is Prince William, Duke of Rothesay.
William Douglas, 6th Earl of Morton was the son of Robert Douglas of Lochleven and Margaret Erskine, a former mistress of James V of Scotland.
William Douglas, 7th Earl of Morton was a grandson of the 6th Earl of Morton. He was Treasurer of Scotland, and a zealous Royalist.
Clan Douglas is an ancient clan or noble house from the Scottish Lowlands.
The Orkney and Shetland Act 1669 was an act of Parliament passed by the Parliament of Scotland to establish Orkney and Shetland's status as Crown Dependencies following a legal dispute with William Douglas, 9th Earl of Morton, who held the estates of Orkney and Shetland.
Robert Douglas, Earl of Morton was a Scottish nobleman and Earl of Morton. He was the son of William Douglas, 7th Earl of Morton and Lady Anne Keith, daughter of George Keith, 5th Earl Marischal. In 1627, he married Anne Villiers, a daughter of Sir Edward Villiers.
Agnes Douglas, Countess of Argyll was a Scottish noblewoman and the first wife of Archibald Campbell, 7th Earl of Argyll. She was the mother of three of his children, including his heir, Archibald Campbell, 1st Marquess of Argyll, the de facto head of the government in Scotland throughout most of the conflict known as the Wars of the Three Kingdoms. Lady Agnes was considered so beautiful that she was described as a "pearl of Lochleven."
George Douglas, 13th Earl of Morton, of St Ola, Orkney, styled The Honourable George Douglas between 1681 and 1730, was a Scottish nobleman, soldier and politician who sat in the House of Commons from 1708 until he succeeded to a peerage in 1730.
Before the Acts of Union 1707, the barons of the stewartry of Orkney and lordship of Shetland elected commissioners to represent them in the unicameral Parliament of Scotland and in the Convention of Estates. They were re-annexed to the Crown in 1669.
John Stewart, Earl of Carrick, Lord Kinclaven was a Scottish nobleman, the third son of Robert, Earl of Orkney, a bastard son of King James V.
John Lindsay, 17th Earl of Crawford, 1st Earl of Lindsay was a Scottish nobleman.
Charles Douglas, 2nd Earl of Selkirk, was a Scottish aristocrat and courtier.
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