Earl of Haddington
Earl of Haddington is a hereditary British title in the Peerage of Scotland , named after the traditional county of Haddingtonshire , now called East Lothian .
Award
The title was created on March 20, 1619 for the lawyer Thomas Hamilton, 1st Lord Binning . Originally the title was Earl of Melrose , in the County of Roxburgh , and it became along with the subordinate title Lord Binning and Byres , in the County of Haddington . He had already been raised to Lord Binning on November 30, 1613, also in the Peerage of Scotland . The title Earl of Melrose was named after the former Cistercian Melrose Abbey , the lands of which were largely owned by Hamilton. Hamilton, who belonged to the noble Hamilton family , was dissatisfied with the naming of the title, as he was of the opinion that his title should not be derived from an abbey, but a county. After the title Viscount of Haddington had expired on February 28, 1626 , his award document ( Letters Patent ) was changed retrospectively on August 17, 1627 and his earl title was renamed Earl of Haddington .
His descendant, who later became the 9th Earl of Haddington, was also raised to Baron Melros , of Tyninghame in the County of Haddington, in the Peerage of the United Kingdom on July 24, 1827 . In contrast to the Scottish titles, this title was then associated with a hereditary seat in the House of Lords . The 9th Earl died childless in 1858, so that the barony became extinct again, while his remaining titles fell to a cousin as the 10th Earl.
The current title holder is John Baillie-Hamilton as 13th Earl.
The Earls' family seat was formerly Tyninghame House near Tyninghame in East Lothian and is now Mellerstain House near Kelso in Berwickshire .
Earls of Haddington (1619)
- Thomas Hamilton, 1st Earl of Haddington (1563–1637)
- Thomas Hamilton, 2nd Earl of Haddington (1600–1640)
- Thomas Hamilton, 3rd Earl of Haddington (1626-1645)
- John Hamilton, 4th Earl of Haddington (1626–1669)
- Charles Hamilton, 5th Earl of Haddington (around 1650–1685)
- Thomas Hamilton, 6th Earl of Haddington (around 1680–1735)
- Thomas Hamilton, 7th Earl of Haddington (1721–1794)
- Charles Hamilton, 8th Earl of Haddington (1753–1828)
- Thomas Hamilton, 9th Earl of Haddington (1780-1858)
- George Baillie-Hamilton, 10th Earl of Haddington (1802-1870)
- George Baillie-Hamilton-Arden, 11th Earl of Haddington (1827-1917)
- George Baillie-Hamilton, 12th Earl of Haddington (1894–1986)
- John Baillie-Hamilton, 13th Earl of Haddington (1941-2016)
- George Baillie-Hamilton, 14th Earl of Haddington (* 1985)
Probable heir to the title ( Heir Presumptive ) is a descendant of the 6th Earl, Thomas Baillie-Hamilton (* 1948).
Literature and web links
- Charles Kidd: Debrett's Peerage and Baronetage. Debrett's Ltd, London 2014, ISBN 0-9929348-2-6 .
- Leigh Rayment's Peerage Page