Earl of Selkirk
Earl of Selkirk is a hereditary British title in the Peerage of Scotland , named after the Scottish town of Selkirk .
Granting and inheritance regulation
The title was created on August 4, 1646 for the then twelve-year-old Lord William Douglas . Along with the earliest dignity, he was given the subordinate title of Lord Daer and Shortcleugh .
He was a younger son of William Douglas, 1st Marquess of Douglas from the House of Douglas . In 1656 he married Anne Hamilton, 3rd Duchess of Hamilton from the House of Hamilton , thus establishing the Douglas-Hamilton line . In 1660 he changed his surname to Douglas-Hamilton with royal permission .
Since his descendants also inherited the higher-ranking title Duke of Hamilton from his wife , the two titles Earl of Selkirk and Lord Daer and Shortcleugh are always held by a younger brother and his descendants in accordance with the inheritance law of 1688, only when no brothers and descendants are alive , they fall to the Duke.
The 11th Earl, who inherited the titles in 1994, renounced the titles in order not to lose his seat in the House of Commons in favor of a seat in the House of Lords . After the end of his mandate, he was promoted to Life Peer on September 29, 1997 as Baron Selkirk of Douglas , of Cramond in the City of Edinburgh , and is still in the House of Lords today. Due to his renunciation, the earl title is suspended until his death.
List of the Earls of Selkirk (1646)
- William Douglas-Hamilton, Duke of Hamilton , 1st Earl of Selkirk (1634–1694)
- Charles Douglas, 2nd Earl of Selkirk (1663–1739) (younger brother of the 4th Duke)
- John Hamilton, 3rd Earl of Selkirk (1664–1744) (younger brother of the 2nd Earl)
- Dunbar Douglas, 4th Earl of Selkirk (1722–1799) (grandson of the younger brother of the 3rd Earl)
- Thomas Douglas, 5th Earl of Selkirk (1771–1820) (son of the 4th Earl)
- Dunbar Douglas, 6th Earl of Selkirk (1809–1885) (son of the 5th Earl)
- Charles Douglas-Hamilton, 7th Earl of Selkirk (1847–1886) (younger brother of the 12th Duke of Hamilton)
- William Douglas-Hamilton, 12th Duke of Hamilton , 8th Earl of Selkirk (1845–1895) (older brother of predecessor)
- Alfred Douglas-Hamilton, 13th Duke of Hamilton , 9th Earl of Selkirk (1862–1940) (distant cousin of the 12th Duke)
- George Douglas-Hamilton, 10th Earl of Selkirk (1906-1994) (younger brother of the 14th Duke of Hamilton)
- James Douglas-Hamilton, Baron Selkirk of Douglas , 11th Earl of Selkirk (* 1942) (younger brother of the 15th Duke of Hamilton; title waiver 1994)
The heir ( Heir apparent ) is Lord Selkirk's eldest son John Andrew Douglas-Hamilton, Lord Daer (* 1978).