Draft:Lordship and Barony of Coupar
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Lord of Coupar or Baron of Coupar is a title of nobility in the Baronage of Scotland (a lordship of higher baronial nobility than barony).
Coupar
[edit]Coupar Angus lies approximately four miles south of Blairgowrie, in the Valley of Strathmore. While the burgh currently lies in Perth and Kinross, it was historically on the border between Angus and Perthshire, with the older part in Angus. For centuries, it has been known as "Coupar of Angus" or simply "Coupar Angus" to distinguish it from Cupar in Fife.
The Creation of the Barony and Lordship of Coupar
[edit]The early history of Coupar (sometimes spelt Cowpar, Cowper, or Cupar) can be traced to the 12th century founding of a Cistercian Abbey by King Malcolm IV. Coupar Angus grew into a significant market town, and by the time of the Reformation Coupar was said to be the wealthiest Cistercian Abbey in Scotland.
In the wake of the Reformation, an act of parliament was passed in 1606 dissolving the Abbacy and erecting the Abbey's lands and properties within the Regality of Coupar into "a whole and free barony and estate of a lordship of his highness's parliament, with all privileges and commodities pertaining thereto," which were granted by royal charter in 1607 to James Elphinstone, son of Lord Balmerino and godson to King James VI, "to be held of our sovereign lord and his successors in free barony and free lordship with the honour and dignity of a lord parliament forever."[1]
Following the 1617 Register of Sasines Act, these privileges and commodities were reaffirmed in a royal charter of 1618 and registered in the General Register of Sasines.[2] A Resignation and Taillie of 1811 in favour of Archibald Stuart confirmed the continuity of the barony and lordship and its foundation in the 1618 royal charter.[3]
The Lords Coupar
[edit]The 1st Lord Coupar took the Abbey as one of his family seats, but his support for the Covenanters attracted the attention of the Royalist commander in Scotland, the Marquis of Montrose. In 1645, Montrose gave orders to his soldiers to wreck and plunder the Coupar estate, including the Abbey buildings.[4] All that remains today of the Abbey of Coupar Angus is a portion of the gatehouse.
In 1669, James Ogilvy, 2nd Earl of Airlie, bought the barony and lordship from his daughter, Marion Ogilvy, the widow of the late 1st Lord Coupar. The Ogilvy of Airlie family had a long association with Coupar, having held the office of Hereditary Bailie of the Regality of Coupar.
A legal dispute over the passage of the Coupar estates to the Ogilvy family led to the restitution of the title to the Elphinstones, and as James, 1st Lord Coupar died without issue, the title fell to his half-brother, John Elphinstone, 3rd Lord Balmerino and 2nd Lord Coupar. Both titles were held jointly until 1746.
Arthur Elphinstone, 6th Lord Balmerino and 5th Lord Coupar and the last Elphinstone to hold both titles, was an active Jacobite supporter during both the 1715 and 1745 Risings. He was captured during the Battle of Culloden, convicted of treason, and along with the Earls of Kilmarnock and Cromartie was beheaded in 1746 at the Tower of London.[5] As a result of his treason, the 5th Lord Coupar's property was confiscated by the Crown and his Lord of Parliament peerage title was extinguished.
James Stuart, the 8th Earl of Moray and a nephew of the executed 5th Lord Coupar bought the barony and lordship of Coupar from the Barons of Exchequer in 1756. The barony and lordship was held by a Stuart until 1926, after which the title was inactive for nearly a century.
| Barons of Coupar | |
|---|---|
| 1587-1668 | James Elphinstone, 1st lord Coupar |
| 1611-1703 | James Ogilvy, 2nd Earl of Airlie |
| 1623-1704 | John Elphinstone, 3rd Lord Balmerino and 2nd Lord Coupar |
| 1652-1736 | John Elphinstone, 4th Lord Balmerino and 3rd Lord Coupar |
| 1675-1746 | James Elphinstone, 5th Lord Balmerino and 4th Lord Coupar |
| 1668-1746 | Arthur Elphinstone, 6th Lord Balmerino and 5th Lord Coupar |
| Barons of the Exchequor | |
| 1708-1767 | James Stuart, 8th Earl of Moray, KT |
| 1737-1810 | Francis Stuart, 9th Earl of Moray |
| 1771-1832 | The Honourable Lt. Col. Archibald Stuart |
| 1793-1875 | Francis Archibald Stuart, Esquire of Balmerino |
| 1840-1901 | Edmund Archibald Stuart Gray, 15th Earl of Moray |
| 1842-1909 | Lt. Col. Francis James Stuart Gray, 16th Earl of Moray |
| 1855-1930 | Morton Gray Stuart-Gray, 17th Earl of Moray |
The Regality of Coupar
[edit]A Regality was among the highest jurisdictions in pre-Union Scotland, including criminal and civil authority by royal delegation. The Regality of Coupar, originally held by the Cistercian Abbey of Coupar Angus, conferred near-sovereign authority within its bounds, including high civil and criminal jurisdiction (the right of pit and gallows).
These rights and territorial honours were expressly acknowledged in the royal charters of 1607 and 1618 in favour of James, Lord Coupar.[6] They were reaffirmed in the Resignation and Taillie of 1811 in favour of Archibald Stuart, which confirmed the Charter's terms and preserved the continuity of the feudal title and territory.[7] Though all Regality jurisdictions were judicially abolished by the Heritable Jurisdictions (Scotland) Act 1746, the historical dignity of the Regality remains.
References
[edit]- ^ "Records of the Parliaments of Scotland". www.rps.ac.uk. Retrieved 2025-05-28.
- ^ Scotland; Great Britain. General Register Office (Scotland) (1882). Registrum magni sigilli regum Scotorum : The register of the Great seal of Scotland, A.D. 1306-1668. University of California Libraries. Edinburgh : General register house.
{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: publisher location (link) - ^ "NRS Web Archive - National Records of Scotland (NRS)". www.nrscotland.gov.uk. Retrieved 2025-05-28.
- ^ "Strathmore Past and Present". www.electricscotland.com. Retrieved 2025-05-28.
- ^ Walton, Geri (2017-08-18). "Earl of Kilmarnock and Lord Balmerino: Their Executions". geriwalton.com. Retrieved 2025-05-28.
- ^ Scotland; Great Britain. General Register Office (Scotland) (1882). Registrum magni sigilli regum Scotorum : The register of the Great seal of Scotland, A.D. 1306-1668. University of California Libraries. Edinburgh : General register house.
{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: publisher location (link) - ^ "NRS Web Archive - National Records of Scotland (NRS)". www.nrscotland.gov.uk. Retrieved 2025-05-28.