Earl of Wemyss
Earl of Wemyss is a hereditary British title in the Peerage of Scotland .
Award, subordinate and other titles
The title was bestowed on June 25, 1633 for John Wemyss, 1st Lord Wemyss . Along with the earliest dignity, he was given the subordinate title of Lord Elcho and Methell . As early as 1625 he was given the title of Baronet , of Wemyss in the County of Fife, and on April 1, 1628 the title of Lord Wemyssbeen awarded. All named titles belong to the Peerage of Scotland or Baronetage of Nova Scotia. The titles were bestowed as inheritable only in the male line. Therefore, the 2nd Earl, who had no sons, obtained in 1672 that the award deeds of his peerages were changed retrospectively and that the titles could now also be passed on to his daughters and their male descendants in the absence of male descendants of their own. Thus, when he died without sons in 1679, his daughter Margaret inherited all of his titles, with the exception of Baronetcy, which became extinct.
The son and heir of the 5th Earl, David Wemyss, Lord Elcho , took part in the Second Jacobite Rebellion and was convicted of high treason for it in 1746 ( Act of Attainder ). As a result, when his father died in 1756, he could not inherit the titles, but used them without authorization ( soi disant ). Likewise, after his childless death in 1787, his heir and brother Francis Charteris soi disant used the title. The latter had taken the surname Charteris from his maternal grandfather after he had inherited him. His grandson, Francis Charteris-Wemyss-Douglas , achieved the retrospective restoration of the title for him as 8th Earl of Wemyss in 1826. In 1810 he had inherited the title of 4th Earl of March from his relative William Douglas, 4th Duke of Queensberry , along with the subordinate titles 4th Viscount of Peebles and 4th Lord Douglas of Neidpath, Lyne and Munard . The Earldoms Wemyss and March have been united since then. On July 17, 1821, he was also awarded the title Baron Wemyss , of Wemyss in the County of Fife, in the Peerage of the United Kingdom .
The Earls' family home is Gosford House near Aberlady in East Lothian . The family also owns Stanway House in Gloucestershire , Neidpath Castle near Peebles and Elcho Castle near Perth .
List of the Earls of Wemyss (1633)
- John Wemyss, 1st Earl of Wemyss (1586–1649)
- David Wemyss, 2nd Earl of Wemyss (1610–1679)
- Margaret Wemyss, 3rd Countess of Wemyss (1659–1705)
- David Wemyss, 4th Earl of Wemyss (1678-1720)
- James Wemyss, 5th Earl of Wemyss (1699–1756)
- David Wemyss , soi disant 6th Earl of Wemyss (1721–1787) (title forfeited 1746)
- Francis Charteris , soi disant 7th Earl of Wemyss (1723-1808)
- Francis Douglas, 8th Earl of Wemyss , 4th Earl of March (1772-1853) (title restored 1826)
- Francis Wemyss-Charteris, 9th Earl of Wemyss , 5th Earl of March (1796–1883)
- Francis Charteris, 10th Earl of Wemyss , 6th Earl of March (1818–1914)
- Hugo Charteris, 11th Earl of Wemyss , 7th Earl of March (1857–1937)
- David Charteris, 12th Earl of Wemyss , 8th Earl of March (1912-2008)
- James Charteris, 13th Earl of Wemyss , 9th Earl of March (* 1948)
Estimated heir ( Heir apparent ) is the son of the current title holder Richard Charteris, Lord Elcho (* 1984).
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