Earl of Rothes (Baronage of Scotland)
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| Earl of Rothes Earldom in the Baronage of Scotland | |
|---|---|
| Creation date | 1458 |
| Created by | James II of Scotland |
| First holder | Sir George Leslie, 1st Earl of Rothes |
| Present holder | Ambassador Dario Item, Earl of Rothes |
| Remainder to | heirs and assignees |
| Subsidiary titles | Hereditary Sheriff of Fife |
| Status | extant |
| historically connected to peerage title, now separated | |
The Earldom of Rothes in the Baronage of Scotland is a title of nobility of feudal origins, separated in 1886 from the Earl of Rothes title (originally created in 1458) and still extant today.[1] Not to be confused with the Scottish peer title Earl of Rothes. The incumbent title holder is Ambassador Dario Item.[2]
An earl in the Baronage of Scotland is also always a Scots baron.
History
[edit]The Earldom of Rothes is reported as being first created as a feudal title in 1458 by King James II; at the time the King also granted to the first Earl of Rothes the Barony of Ballinbreich. However, the first official entry in the Register of the Great Seal of Scotland recording the Earldom of Rothes dates to 1547.[3][4] In 1841 George William Evelyn became the thirteenth Earl of Rothes. As he died unmarried, he was succeeded by his sister Henrietta in 1859 as Countess of Rothes.[5]
The Barony was confirmed on 19th October 1859 by Queen Victoria in the Crown Charter of Confirmation in favour of Henrietta Anderson Morshead Leslie, Countess of Rothes.[6] Its described within this deed on the sixth page, as “All and Whole the weekly market to be held within the said Burgh of Leslie upon Tuesday with the whole tolls, customs, casualties, profits and duties of the same, which whole lands Baronies free fairs, weekly markets, dwelling houses, tenant, animal rents, office of the Sheriff of Fife and others particularly on generally above mentioned within certain other lands and Baronies and honour title and Dignity of Rothes were all untied, created erected and incorporated into a whole and free Lordship and Earldom, Barony, burgh of Barony and Lordship of Leslie and Earldom of Rothes.”[6]
On her death in 1886 the peerage title passed to her aunt, separating from the feudal title of the Earldom of Rothes which, at the time, followed the ownership of the land, was earlier conveyed in trust by the Countess. The Earldom lands, including the feudal title, were later acquired by Captain William Crundall in 1919, and remained in his family until 2004, when Sir Christopher Ondaatje, a well-known explorer, succeeded as the Earl of Rothes, by this time no longer a feudal title, but instead a higher title of nobility and dignity within the Baronage of Scotland.[1] In 2024 Ambassador Dario Item succeeded in the Earldom of Rothes and in the Sheriffdom of Fife and is the current holder of the titles within the Baronage of Scotland.[2][7]
In November 2004, the feudal land ownership system in Scotland was abolished by the Abolition of Feudal Tenure etc (Scotland) Act 2000. This stated in particular that feudal titles were no longer “heritable” by nature, in other words, they were “moveable” and therefore transferred without any need for a transfer of land.[1] The original powers of Barons were already removed following the 1745 Jacobite Rebellion. Nowadays, Barony titles are simply personal titles of dignity with a cultural and historical heritage and with no other power or responsibility.
References
[edit]- ^ a b c "Abolition of Feudal Tenure etc. (Scotland) Act 2000, Section 63". legislation.gov.uk. Retrieved 2025-06-06.
- ^ a b "The Feudal Baronies of Scotland". debretts.com. Retrieved 2024-12-23.
- ^ Register of the Great Seal of Scotland. 1547. pp. Charter no. 149.
- ^ "The register of the great seal of Scotland = Registrum magni sigilli regum scotorum / edited by John Maitland Thomson... [et al.] 1546-1580". HathiTrust. Retrieved 2025-01-25.
- ^ "A/AAF/39/3/19". OnFife. Retrieved 2024-12-23.
- ^ a b Crown Charter of Confirmation dated October 19, 1859. NAS Ref. C2/262/No. 4/Folio 8
- ^ "Baronage – Registry of Scots Nobility". Retrieved 2024-12-23.