Earl of Wigtown

Coat of arms of the Earls of Wigtown (second award)

Earl of Wigtown (also Wigtoun or Wigton ) was a hereditary British title of nobility that was awarded twice in the Peerage of Scotland . It is named after Wigtown in Dumfries and Galloway .

Award and subordinate titles

For the first time the title was bestowed on Sir Malcolm Fleming in 1341 . His grandson, the 2nd Earl, sold the Earldom including its lands in 1372 to Archibald Douglas, Lord of Galloway , who later became the 3rd Earl of Douglas. The sales deed was subsequently confirmed by King Robert II . To what extent the transfer formally justified the Earls of Douglas to use the title Earl of Wigtown is unclear, in any case they had the de facto rule over Wigtownshire until 1455, when the 9th Earl of Douglas stripped of all titles due to high treason and his lands were stripped from the Scottish Crown were drafted.

In the second bestowal, the title was recreated on March 19, 1606 for John Fleming, 6th Lord Fleming , along with the subordinate title Lord Fleming and Cumbernauld . This was a great-great-grandson of Robert Fleming of Biggar and Cumbernauld , who was raised to Lord Fleming around 1445 , and in turn was a great-great-grandson of the brother of the 1st Earl of the first award and son-in-law of the 7th Earl of Douglas. Since the death of his descendant, the 7th Earl, on May 22nd, 1747, the titles have expired or are dormant because no one has been able to effectively enforce an inheritance claim to them since then.

The Fleming Earls were also hereditary clan chiefs of Clan Fleming . The Fleming clan has been an Armigerous clan since the last Earl's death .

List of the Earls of Wigtown and Lords Fleming

Earls of Wigtown, first bestowal (1341)

• Malcolm Fleming, 1st Earl of Wigtown († around 1363)
• Thomas Fleming, 2nd Earl of Wigtown († 1382), title given up in 1372
  • Archibald Douglas, 3rd Earl of Douglas , de facto Earl of Wigtown (1325–1400)
  • Archibald Douglas, 4th Earl of Douglas , de facto Earl of Wigtown (1370–1424)
  • Archibald Douglas, 5th Earl of Douglas , de facto Earl of Wigtown (1390–1439)
  • William Douglas, 6th Earl of Douglas , de facto Earl of Wigtown (1426–1440)
  • James Douglas, 7th Earl of Douglas , 1st Earl of Avondale, de facto Earl of Wigtown († 1443)
  • William Douglas, 8th Earl of Douglas , 2nd Earl of Avondale, de facto Earl of Wigtown (1425–1452)
  • James Douglas, 9th Earl of Douglas , 3rd Earl of Avondale, de facto Earl of Wigtown († 1488), title forfeited in 1455

Lords Fleming (around 1445)

• Robert Fleming, 1st Lord Fleming († 1494)
• John Fleming, 2nd Lord Fleming († 1524)
• Malcolm Fleming, 3rd Lord Fleming (around 1494–1547)
• James Fleming, 4th Lord Fleming (1538–1558)
• John Fleming, 5th Lord Fleming († 1572)
• John Fleming, 6th Lord Fleming (1567–1619) ( elevated to Earl of Wigtown in 1606 )

Earls of Wigtown, second bestowal (1606)

• John Fleming, 1st Earl of Wigtown (1567-1619)
• John Fleming, 2nd Earl of Wigtown (1589-1650)
• John Fleming, 3rd Earl of Wigtown († 1665)
• John Fleming, 4th Earl of Wigtown († 1668)
• William Fleming, 5th Earl of Wigtown († 1681)
• John Fleming, 6th Earl of Wigtown (1673-1744)
• Charles Fleming, 7th Earl of Wigtown (1675–1747)

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