Earl of Crawford

Coat of arms of the Earl of Crawford

Earl of Crawford is a hereditary British title in the Peerage of Scotland . The name refers to Crawford Castle near Crawford, South Lanarkshire in Scotland .

The respective earl is the head of the Lindsay clan . The Earls family home is Balcarres House in Colinsburgh , Fife .

Award and history

The title was created for Sir David Lindsay on April 21, 1398 . This was a famous jousting champion of his time and a close follower of the Scottish king.

The dignity changed several times in branch lines of the family, although there were direct descendants or close relatives. In 1642 there was an express assignment to John Lindsay, 1st Earl of Lindsay , an uncle of the first Earl. However, this was not a new award; rather, 1398 is still the year of the award.

The title was suspended from 1808 to 1848, as it was initially unclear who the next of kin of the late 22nd Earl had been. When this was determined by the House of Lords , he had already died, so that his son was awarded the title. His father is de iure the 23rd Earl, although he never carried the dignity himself.

From 1963 to 2019, the respective Earl of Crawford was considered the rangerster Earl of the Peerage of Scotland ( Premier Earl of Scotland ) because the older title of Earl of Sutherland was worn by a woman during this period.

Subordinate title

The Earl of Crawford also carries the title of Earl of Balcarres , so that the respective holder of the title is often referred to as the Earl of Crawford and Balcarres . The aforementioned assignment by the House of Lords was made in 1848 to Alexander Lindsay, 6th Earl of Balcarres . Since then, both titles have been used together. The current 29th Earl of Crawford is also the 12th Earl of Balcarres.

Other subordinate titles of the Earl dignity are Lord Lindsay of Crawford (created 1398), Lord Lindsay and Balniel (created 1651) and Baron Wigan of Haigh Hall (created 1826). While the first two titles also belong to the Peerage of Scotland, the latter is assigned to the Peerage of the United Kingdom . Through him, the respective earl had a hereditary seat in the House of Lords even before the Peerage Act 1963 .

As Earl of Balcarres , the title holder also carries the title Lord Balcarres , created in 1633 , which also belongs to the Peerage of Scotland.

The current Earl was raised to Life Peer in 1975 as Baron Balniel , of Pitcorthie in the County of Fife, in the Peerage of the United Kingdom . Because of this, he continues to sit in the House of Lords after the House of Lords Act 1999 .

The eldest son of the respective earl carries the courtesy title of Lord Balniel as his heir apparent . His eldest son is called Master of Lindsay .

Other titles

The 5th Earl was born on May 18, 1488 by King James III. to the Duke of Montrose He was loyal to the king and the first Scot to receive a duke dom without being a member of the royal family. In the same year, King James IV revoked his title, but awarded it to him again the next year on September 19, 1489, with the stipulation that the dignity could not be inherited. The title expired when he died in December 1495.

The 17th Earl had also been raised to Earl of Lindsay in 1633 . Both titles were held at the same time by the title holder until George Lindsay-Crawford, 22nd Earl of Crawford, 6th Earl of Lindsay died in 1808 without a male descendant and this title fell to another line of the family. This also applies to the titles of Viscount of Garnock (created 1703), Lord Lindsay of The Byres (created 1445), Lord Parbroath (created 1633) and Lord Kilbirny and Drumry (created 1703), which are subordinate to this earliest dignity . All of these titles belong to the Peerage of Scotland.

List of the Earls of Crawford (1398)

• David Lindsay, 1st Earl of Crawford († 1407)
• Alexander Lindsay, 2nd Earl of Crawford (around 1387–1438)
• David Lindsay, 3rd Earl of Crawford († 1446)
• Alexander Lindsay, 4th Earl of Crawford († 1453)
• David Lindsay, 1st Duke of Montrose , 5th Earl of Crawford (1440–1495)
• John Lindsay, 6th Earl of Crawford († around 1513)
• Alexander Lindsay, 7th Earl of Crawford († 1517)
• David Lindsay, 8th Earl of Crawford († 1542)
• David Lindsay, 9th Earl of Crawford († 1558)
• David Lindsay, 10th Earl of Crawford († 1574)
• David Lindsay, 11th Earl of Crawford (around 1547–1607)
• David Lindsay, 12th Earl of Crawford († 1621)
• Henry Lindsay, 13th Earl of Crawford († 1622)
• George Lindsay, 14th Earl of Crawford († 1633)
• Alexander Lindsay, 15th Earl of Crawford († 1639)
• Ludovic Lindsay, 16th Earl of Crawford († 1652)
• John Lindsay, 17th Earl of Crawford , 1st Earl of Lindsay (around 1598–1678)
• William Lindsay, 18th Earl of Crawford , 2nd Earl of Lindsay (1644–1698)
• John Lindsay, 19th Earl of Crawford , 3rd Earl of Lindsay († 1713)
• John Lindsay, 20th Earl of Crawford , 4th Earl of Lindsay (1702–1749)
• George Lindsay-Crawford, 21st Earl of Crawford , 5th Earl of Lindsay (1723–1781)
• George Lindsay-Crawford, 22nd Earl of Crawford , 6th Earl of Lindsay (1758–1808) (dormant since 1808)
  • Alexander Lindsay, 6th Earl of Balcarres , de iure 23rd Earl of Crawford (1752–1825)
• James Lindsay, 24th Earl of Crawford , 7th Earl of Balcarres (1783–1869) (resting ended 1848)
• Alexander Lindsay, 25th Earl of Crawford , 8th Earl of Balcarres (1812–1880)
• James Ludovic Lindsay, 26th Earl of Crawford , 9th Earl of Balcarres (1847–1913)
• David Alexander Edward Lindsay, 27th Earl of Crawford , 10th Earl of Balcarres (1871–1940)
• David Alexander Robert Lindsay, 28th Earl of Crawford , 11th Earl of Balcarres (1900–1975)
• Robert Alexander Lindsay, 29th Earl of Crawford , 12th Earl of Balcarres (* 1927)

The heir to the title is the son of the current earl, Anthony Robert Lindsay, Lord Balniel (* 1958).
His heir is his son, The Hon. Alexander Thomas Lindsay, Master of Lindsay (* 1991).

Literature and web links

• Charles Kidd, David Williamson (Eds.): Debrett's Peerage and Baronetage. St Martin's Press, New York 1990.
• Leigh Rayment's Peerage Page
• Crawford, Earl of (S, 1398) at Cracroft's Peerage