Earl of Rothes
Encyclopedia
Peerage of Scotland
The Peerage of Scotland is the division of the British Peerage for those peers created in the Kingdom of Scotland before 1707. With that year's Act of Union, the Kingdom of Scotland and the Kingdom of England were combined into the Kingdom of Great Britain, and a new Peerage of Great Britain was...
. 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
Extraordinary Lord of Session
Extraordinary Lords of Session were lay members of the Court of Session in Scotland from 1532 to 1762.When the Court of Session was founded in 1532, it consisted of the Lord President, 14 Ordinary Lords and three or four Extraordinary Lords. The Extraordinary Lords were nominees of the King, not...
. Lord Rothes was also tried for the murder of Cardinal Beaton but was acquitted.
His great-great-grandson, the seventh Earl, was a prominent statesman. He was notably Lord High Treasurer of Scotland from 1663 to 1667 and Lord Chancellor of Scotland
Lord Chancellor of Scotland
The Lord Chancellor of Scotland was a Great Officer of State in pre-Union Scotland.Holders of the office are known from 1123 onwards, but its duties were occasionally performed by an official of lower status with the title of Keeper of the Great Seal...
from 1667 to 1681. In 1663 he obtained a new charter conferring the earldom of Rothes and lordship of Leslie (which was regranted as Lord Leslie and Ballenbreich), in default of male issue of his own, on his eldest daughter Margaret, wife of Charles Hamilton, 5th Earl of Haddington, and her descendants male and female. It was stipulated in the charter that the earldoms of Rothes and Haddington should never be allowed to merge. In 1680 Lord Rothes was further honoured when he was made Lord Auchmotie and Caskieberry, Viscount of Lugtoun, Earl of Leslie, Marquess of Ballenbreich and Duke of Rothes, with normal remainder to the heirs male of his body. These titles were also in the Peerage of Scotland.
The Duke had no sons and on his death in 1681 the creations of 1680 became extinct. He was succeeded in the earldom of Rothes and the lordship of Leslie and Ballinbreich according to the charter of 1663 by his daughter Margaret, the eighth holder. Her husband Lord Haddington was succeeded by their second son Thomas (see the Earl of Haddington
Earl of Haddington
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...
for more information on this title) while Margaret was succeeded by their eldest son John, the ninth Earl. He assumed the additional surname of Leslie and sat in the British House of Lords as a Scottish Representative Peer
Representative peer
In the United Kingdom, representative peers were those peers elected by the members of the Peerage of Scotland and the Peerage of Ireland to sit in the British House of Lords...
between 1708 and 1710. His son, the tenth Earl, was a Lieutenant-General in the Army and notably served as Commander-in-Chief of the Forces in Ireland. From 1723 to 1734 and from 1747 to 1767 he was a Scottish Representative Peer in the House of Lords.
His son, the eleventh Earl, died unmarried at an early age and was succeeded by his eldest sister Jane Elizabeth, the twelfth holder of the titles. She was the wife of George Raymond Evelyn. Their son, the thirteenth Earl, served as a Scottish Representative Peer from 1812 to 1817. Lord Rothes assumed the surname of Leslie in lieu of Evelyn. He was succeeded by his daughter Henrietta Anne, the fourteenth holder. She was the wife of George Gwyther who along with his wife assumed the surname of Leslie. Their grandson, the sixteenth Earl (who succeeded his father) died unmarried at a young age and was succeeded by his sister Henrietta, the seventeenth holder. She was wife of the Hon. George Waldegrave, younger son of William Waldegrave, 8th Earl Waldegrave
William Waldegrave, 8th Earl Waldegrave
Vice-Admiral William Waldegrave, 8th Earl Waldegrave, CB was a British naval commander and politician.Waldegrave was the son of the 4th Earl Waldegrave and was educated at Eton. In 1802, he became a Midshipman in the Royal Navy, rising to the ranks of Lieutenant in 1806 and Commander in 1809...
.
They had no children and Henrietta was succeeded by her aunt Mary Elizabeth, the eighteenth holder. She was the second daughter of Henrietta Anne, the fourteenth holder, and the wife of Captain Martin Edward Haworth, who in 1886 assumed for himself and his family by Royal license the additional surname of Leslie. Their grandson, the nineteenth Earl, sat in the House of Lords as a Scottish Representative Peer between 1906 and 1923. The wife of the 19th Earl, Lucy Noël Martha Leslie, is best known as a survivor of the sinking of RMS Titanic in 1912. His son, the twentieth Earl, was a Scottish Representative Peer from 1931 to 1959. the titles are held by his grandson, the twenty-second Earl, who succeeded his father in 2005.
The courtesy title used by an heir apparent to the earldom is Lord Leslie.
Earls of Rothes (1457)
- George Leslie, 1st Earl of RothesGeorge Leslie, 1st Earl of RothesGeorge Leslie, 1st Earl of Rothes was a Scottish nobleman.Created Lord Leslie in 1445, the title of Earl of Rothes was created in 1458 in the Peerage of Scotland for him.-References:*Dictionary of National Biography...
(c. 1417–1490) - George Leslie, 2nd Earl of RothesGeorge Leslie, 2nd Earl of RothesGeorge Leslie, 2nd Earl of Rothes was a Scottish peer. He was the son of Andrew Leslie, Master of Rothes and Marjorie Sinclair, and the grandson of George Leslie, 1st Earl of Rothes....
(d. 1513) - William Leslie, 3rd Earl of RothesWilliam Leslie, 3rd Earl of RothesWilliam Leslie, 3rd Earl of Rothes, was the son of Andrew Leslie, Master of Rothes, and Marjory Sinclair. He succeeded his elder brother George as Earl in 1513....
(d. 1513) - George Leslie, 4th Earl of RothesGeorge Leslie, 4th Earl of RothesGeorge Leslie, 4th Earl of Rothes was a Scottish nobleman and diplomat.George became Earl of Rothes after his father's death at the Battle of Flodden. The title had previously been possesed by his uncle, William Leslie, the 2nd Earl...
(d. 1558) - Andrew Leslie, 5th Earl of RothesAndrew Leslie, 5th Earl of RothesAndrew Leslie, 5th Earl of Rothes was a Scottish nobleman. He was the son of George Leslie, 4th Earl of Rothes, and his third wife Agnes Somerville, daughter of Sir John Somerville of Cambusnethan and Elizabeth Carmichael. He succeeded his father as 5th Earl in 1558...
(d. 1611) - John Leslie, 6th Earl of RothesJohn Leslie, 6th Earl of RothesJohn Leslie, 6th Earl of Rothes was a Scottish nobleman, one of the main leaders of the Covenanters.-Life:Born in Leslie, Fife, he was the only son of James Leslie, Master of Rothes and Katherine Drummond, his second wife...
(d. 1641) - John Leslie, 7th Earl of RothesJohn Leslie, 1st Duke of RothesJohn Leslie , son of John Leslie, 6th Earl of Rothes, was the 7th Earl of Rothes and 1st Duke of Rothes. He was a descendant of Princess Beatrix, sister of King Malcolm III of Scotland...
(c. 1630–1681)
Earls of Rothes (1457; Reverted)
- Margaret Leslie, 8th Countess of Rothes (d. 1700)
- John Hamilton-Leslie, 9th Earl of RothesJohn Hamilton-Leslie, 9th Earl of RothesJohn Hamilton Leslie, 9th Earl of Rothes was a Scottish nobleman.The eldest son of Charles Hamilton, 5th Earl of Haddington and Margaret Leslie, 8th Countess of Rothes...
(d. 1722) - John Leslie, 10th Earl of RothesJohn Leslie, 10th Earl of RothesGeneral John Leslie, 10th Earl of Rothes KT was a senior British Army officer who became Commander-in-Chief, Ireland.-Military career:Born the son of the 9th Earl, Leslie was commissioned into the 9th Regiment of Dragoons in 1715...
(d. 1767) - John Leslie, 11th Earl of Rothes (1744–1773)
- Jane Elizabeth Leslie, 12th Countess of Rothes (1750–1810)
- George William Evelyn-Leslie, 13th Earl of Rothes (1768–1817)
- Henrietta Anne Evelyn-Leslie, 14th Countess of Rothes (1790–1819)
- George William Evelyn Leslie, 15th Earl of RothesGeorge Leslie, 15th Earl of RothesGeorge William Evelyn Leslie, 15th Earl of Rothes was the son of Henrietta Leslie, 14th Countess of Rothes and George Gwyther.On 7 May 1831, he married Louisa Morshead and they had two children:...
(1809–1841) - George William Evelyn Leslie, 16th Earl of Rothes (1835–1859)
- Henrietta Anderson Morshead Leslie, 17th Countess of Rothes (1832–1886)
- Mary Elizabeth Leslie, 18th Countess of Rothes (1811–1893)
- Norman Evelyn Leslie, 19th Earl of RothesNorman Leslie, 19th Earl of RothesColonel Norman Evelyn Leslie, 19th Earl of Rothes , a Scottish representative peer, was the son of Martin Leslie Leslie and Georgina Frances Study....
(1877–1927) - Malcolm George Dyer-Edwardes Leslie, 20th Earl of Rothes (1902–1974)
- Ian Lionel Malcolm Leslie, 21st Earl of RothesIan Leslie, 21st Earl of RothesIan Lionel Malcolm Leslie, 21st Earl of Rothes, was a Scottish nobleman.The eldest son of the 20th Earl and Beryl Dugdale, he was educated at Eton and was a Sub-Lieutenant in the Royal Naval Volunteer Reserve from 1953. In 1955 he married Marigold Evans-Bevan of Wales, daughter of Sir David...
(1932–2005) - James Malcolm David Leslie, 22nd Earl of Rothes (b. 1958)
The heir presumptive
Heir Presumptive
An heir presumptive or heiress presumptive is the person provisionally scheduled to inherit a throne, peerage, or other hereditary honour, but whose position can be displaced by the birth of an heir or heiress apparent or of a new heir presumptive with a better claim to the position in question...
is the present holder's younger brother the Hon. Alexander John Leslie (b. 1962)