Earl of Balcarres

Last updated

Earldom of Balcarres
Coronet of a British Earl.svg
Arms of Lindsay, Earl of Balcarres.svg
Quarterly, 1st & 4th: Gules, a fess chequy argent and azure (for Clan Lindsay); 2nd & 3rd: Or a lion rampant gules surmounted of a bend sable (for Abernethy) within a bordure azure powdered with 14 stars or (for Lindsay of Balcarres)
Creation date9 January 1651 [1]
Created by Charles II
Peerage Peerage of Scotland
First holder Alexander Lindsay, 2nd Lord Balcarres
Present holder Anthony Lindsay, 30th Earl of Crawford
Heir apparentAlexander Thomas Lindsay, Lord Balniel
Remainder toThe 1st Earl's heirs male bearing the name Lindsay [2]
Subsidiary titlesLord Lindsay of Balcarres
Lord Lindsay of Balneil
StatusExtant
Seat(s) Balcarres House
MottoAstra castra, numen, lumen munimen ("The stars my camp, and God my light and strength") [1] [3]

Earl of Balcarres is a title in the Peerage of Scotland, created in 1651 for Alexander Lindsay, 2nd Lord Balcarres. Since 1848, the title has been held jointly with the Earldom of Crawford, and the holder is also the hereditary clan chief of Clan Lindsay. [4]

Contents

The first earl's father was created Lord Lindsay of Balcarres on 27 June 1633. He was the grandson of the 9th Earl of Crawford. [2] The second Lord Lindsay succeeded his father in 1642. A prominent supporter of Charles I, he was further elevated as Earl of Balcarres and Lord Lindsay of Balneil in 1651. During the rule of Oliver Cromwell, the first earl died in exile in Breda in 1659. [1]

He was succeeded by Charles, his third but first surviving son, who in turn was succeeded by his younger brother, the third earl. In his youth, the third earl was a courtier of King Charles II after the restoration of the monarchy, but later became devoted to King James VII. He fled to Château de Saint-Germain-en-Laye after the Glorious Revolution when it was discovered he was part of a plot to restore James to the English throne. He returned to Scotland around 1701 and was received at the court of Queen Anne. He was stripped of his annuity during the revolution, but not his titles. [1]

In January 1808, the ancient Earldom of Crawford, held by members of another branch of the Lindsay family since 1398, became dormant after the death of the George Lindsay-Crawford, 22nd Earl of Crawford. In 1843, James Lindsay, 7th Earl of Balcarres, put forward his claim, based on the research of his eldest son Alexander. [5] In 1848, the House of Lords allowed the claim. It was held that the seventh Earl's father, the sixth Earl, was the lawful ( de jure ) successor to the earldom of Crawford (though he did not claim it). Therefore, the sixth Earl of Balcarres was posthumously declared the twenty-third Earl of Crawford, and his son, the seventh Earl of Balcarres, became the twenty-fourth Earl of Crawford. Thereafter, the two earldoms have remained united. [1]

The family seat is Balcarres House, near Colinsburgh, Fife.

Lords Lindsay of Balcarres (1633)

Earls of Balcarres (1651)

See Earl of Crawford for the remaining Earls of Balcarres

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Duke of Abercorn</span> Title in the Peerage of Ireland

The title Duke of Abercorn is a title in the Peerage of Ireland. It was created in 1868 and bestowed upon James Hamilton, 2nd Marquess of Abercorn. Although the Dukedom is in the Peerage of Ireland, it refers to Abercorn, West Lothian, and the Duke also bears four titles in the Peerage of Scotland and two in the Peerage of Great Britain, and is one of only three peers who have titles in those three peerages. The Duke of Abercorn also claims the French title of Duke of Châtellerault, created in 1548.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Earl of Warwick</span> Title in the United Kingdom

Earl of Warwick is one of the most prestigious titles in the peerages of the United Kingdom. The title has been created four times in English history, and the name refers to Warwick Castle and the town of Warwick.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Earl of Crawford</span> Title in the peerage of Scotland

Earl of Crawford is one of the most ancient extant titles in Great Britain, having been created in the Peerage of Scotland in 1398 for Sir David Lindsay. It is the premier earldom recorded on the Union Roll.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Earl of Lindsay</span>

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.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Earl of Moray</span> Scottish noble title

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.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Earl of Cromartie</span> Earldom in the Peerage of the United Kingdom

Earl of Cromartie is a title that has been created twice, both for members of the Mackenzie family. It was first created as Earl of Cromarty in the Peerage of Scotland in 1703 for Sir George Mackenzie, 2nd Baronet, but his titles were forfeited after the Jacobite rising of 1745. It was recreated in 1861 in the Peerage of the United Kingdom for Anne Sutherland-Leveson-Gower, Duchess of Sutherland. Since 1979, the Earl of Cromartie has been chief of Clan Mackenzie.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">David Carnegie, 3rd Earl of Northesk</span> Scottish aristocrat and landowner

David Carnegie, 3rd Earl of Northesk was a Scottish aristocrat and landowner.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Robert Lindsay, 29th Earl of Crawford</span> Scottish hereditary peer (1927–2023)

Robert Alexander Lindsay, 29th Earl of Crawford, 12th Earl of Balcarres, Baron Balniel,, known by courtesy as Lord Balniel between 1940 and 1975, was a Scottish hereditary peer and Conservative politician who was a member of Parliament from 1955 to 1974. Lord Crawford and Balcarres was chief of Clan Lindsay and also acted, from 1975 to 2019, as Premier Earl of Scotland.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Alexander Lindsay, 6th Earl of Balcarres</span> Scottish nobleman, soldier, politician and colonial administrator

General Alexander Lindsay, 6th Earl of Balcarres, 23rd Earl of Crawford, styled Lord Balniel until 1768, was a Scottish nobleman, soldier, politician and colonial administrator.

William Cochrane of Kilmaronock, Dunbarton was a Scottish politician who sat in the Parliament of Scotland between 1689 and 1707 and as a Tory in the House of Commons from 1708 to 1713.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Alexander Lindsay, 1st Earl of Balcarres</span> Scottish nobleman and courtier

Alexander Lindsay, 1st Earl of Balcarres was a Scottish nobleman and courtier.

David Alexander Robert Lindsay, 28th Earl of Crawford and 11th Earl of Balcarres,, known as Lord Balniel from 1913 to 1940, was a British Unionist politician.

Alexander William Crawford Lindsay, 25th Earl of Crawford, 8th Earl of Balcarres, styled Lord Lindsay between 1825 and 1869, was a Scottish peer, art historian and collector.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">James Lindsay, 24th Earl of Crawford</span> Scottish peer, politician and military officer (1783–1869)

James Lindsay, 24th Earl of Crawford was a Scottish peer, politician and military officer.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Balcarres House</span> Historic site

Balcarres House lies 1km north of the village of Colinsburgh, in the East Neuk of Fife, in eastern Scotland. It is centred on a mansion built in 1595 by John Lindsay (1552–1598), second son of David, 9th Earl of Crawford. The house became the family seat of the Earl of Crawford. The present house is the result of substantial extensions in the early nineteenth century, using part of a fortune made in India, but preserves much of the original mansion.

William Lindsay, 18th Earl of Crawford and 2nd Earl of Lindsay was a Scottish noble and politician.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Anna Mackenzie</span> Scottish courtier

Lady Anna Mackenzie (1621–1707), also Ann MacKenzie, was a Scottish courtier, wife of the first Earl of Balcarres and the mother of the second and third. After her first husband died, she married Archibald Campbell, 9th Earl of Argyll. She was a governess to William III when he was a child. Mackenzie suffered because she was a Jacobite and her second husband was executed for leading a rising against James VII and II which was intended to support the Monmouth Rebellion. She worked to keep together the estates of Balcarres despite the tumultuous times in which she lived and her family's support of the Jacobite cause. Her memoirs were published more than a century after her death.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">John Lindsay, 17th Earl of Crawford</span> Scottish nobleman (c. 1598–1679)

John Lindsay, 17th Earl of Crawford, 1st Earl of Lindsay was a Scottish nobleman.

Mary Campbell, Countess of Argyll, formerly Lady Mary Stuart, was the wife of Archibald Campbell, 9th Earl of Argyll.

Robert Lindsay, 9th Lord Lindsay PC, was a Scottish landowner.

References

  1. 1 2 3 4 5 Balfour Paul, James (1904). The Scots Peerage: Vol. I. Edinburgh : D. Douglas. pp. 510–519. Retrieved 21 October 2017.
  2. 1 2 Mosley 2003, p. 952
  3. Lindsay, Alex Will Crawford (1849). Lives of the Lindsays; or, a Memoir of the Houses of Crawford and Balcares: In three volumes. John Murray. p. 56. Retrieved 21 October 2017.
  4. Mosley, Charles, ed. (2003). Burke's Peerage, Baronetage & Knighthood (107 ed.). Burke's Peerage & Gentry. p. 950. ISBN   0-9711966-2-1.
  5. Barker, Nicolas (1978) Bibliotheca Lindesiana: the Lives and Collections of Alexander William, 25th Earl of Crawford and 8th Earl of Balcarres, and James Ludovic, 26th Earl of Crawford and 9th Earl of Balcarres. London: for Presentation to the Roxburghe Club, and published by Bernard Quaritch
  6. Rosalind K. Marshall, ‘Mackenzie, Anna , countess of Balcarres and countess of Argyll (c.1621–1707)’, Oxford Dictionary of National Biography, Oxford University Press, 2004; online edn, Oct 2006 accessed 29 Nov 2014

See also