Baronets Mackenzie of Tarbat (1628)

1^st Baronet Mackenzie, John Mackenzie, b.?, a.1628, d.1654

A descendant of the Mackenzies of Kintail and closely related to the Earls of Seaforth, he was created 1^st Baronet Mackenzie of Tarbat in the Baronetage of Nova Scotia by Charles I. Though a staunch Presbyterian he joined in the Engagement of Scottish Covenanters who invaded England to aid the King only to suffer heavy defeat at the Battle of Preston.

2^nd Baronet Mackenzie, George Mackenzie, b.1630, a.1654, d.1714

Son of the 1^st Baronet and Margaret Erskine. He was a committed Royalist and was active with William Cunningham, 9^th Earl of Glencairn, in the West Highlands against the forces of General Monck. He lived in exile on the continent between 1655 and 1660, returning at the Restoration to hold senior administrative posts. However he took the side of John Middleton, 1^st Earl of Middleton against John Maitland, 2^nd Earl of Lauderdale in their battle for supremacy in Parliament, and on the losing side he was marginalised until 1678, when he was made Lord Justice-General for Scotland, exchanging this post for that of Lord Clerk Register in 1681. In 1685 he was made 1^st Viscount of Tarbat and 1^st Lord Macleod and Castlehaven. He was made a Fellow of the Royal Society in 1692. He was created 1^st Earl of Cromartie in 1702-1703.

Earls of Cromartie (1702-1703)

1^st Earl of Cromartie, George Mackenzie, as above

In 1704 he resigned as baronet in favour of his second son Kenneth Mackenzie (b.c.1656, d.1728). He held the post of Lord Justice-General for the second time from 1705 to 1710 and was also Captain General of the Royal Company of Archers from 1703 to 1714.

2^nd Earl of Cromartie, John Mackenzie, b.c.1656, a.1714, d.1730-1731

Son of the 1st Earl and his first wife Anne Sinclair (b.b.1639, d.1699), daughter of Sir James Sinclair of Mey, 1^st Baronet Sinclair of Canisbay.

3^rd Earl of Cromartie, George Mackenzie, b.c.1703, a.1730-1731, d.1766

Son of the 2^nd Earl and Mary Murray (b.1681, d.b.1717), daughter of Patrick Murray, 3^rd Lord Elibank. He was the Grand Master of the Freemasons in Scotland from 1737 to 1738. He led 400 of his clan during the Jacobite Rebellion, but was later taken prisoner and sentenced to death for high treason. Although he received a conditional pardon, his titles were forfeit, and without the income from his estates he lived on in comparative poverty. His heir, John Mackenzie, Lord Macleod (b.1727, 1789), was also sentenced to death, but later received a full pardon. He became a mercenary and spent 27 years in the Swedish Army, being created a Count of Sweden. He returned to Scotland in 1777 and as commissioned to raise a new Highland Regiment, which became the 73^rd Foot. In 1782 he was raised to the rank of Major-General in the British Army, and in 1784 the forfeited family estates were restored to him by Act of Parliament.

Earls of Cromartie (1861)

1^st Earl (Countess) of Cromartie, Anne Hay-Mackenzie, b.1829, a.1861, d.1888

The 3^rd Earl’s daughter Isabella Mackenzie (b.c.1725, d.1801) married George Murray (b.1706, d.1785), 6^th Lord Elibank. Their daughter Maria Murray (b.?, d.1858) married Edward Hay-Mackenzie (b.?, d.1814), brother of George Hay, 7^th Marquess of Tweeddale. Their son John Hay-Mackenzie (b.?, d.1849) married Anne Gibson-Craig (b.?, d.1869), daughter of Sir James Gibson-Craig, 1^st Baronet Gibson-Craig of Riccarton. Their daughter Anne Hay-Mackenzie married the George Granville William Sutherland Leveson-Gower, Marquess of Stafford, heir to the 2^nd Duke of Sutherland in 1849. In 1861 he became Duke in his own right, and the earldom of Cromartie was revived for his wife in the Peerage of the United Kingdom, with special remainder to their younger surviving son, together with the lesser titles of 1^st Viscountess of Tarbat and 1^st Baroness Macleod & Castlehaven.

2^nd Earl of Cromartie, Francis Mackenzie Sutherland-Leveson-Gower, b.1852, a.1888, d.1893

Son of the Countess of Cromartie and George Granville William Sutherland-Leveson-Gower, 3^rd Duke of Sutherland. He was survived by two daughters, and the title remained temporarily in abeyance until 1895.

3^rd Earl (Countess) of Cromartie, Sibell Lilian Sutherland-Leveson-Gower, b.1878, a.1895, d.1962

Daughter of the 2^nd Earl and Lilian Janet Macdonald (b.1856, d.1926), daughter of Godfrey William Wentworth Bosville Macdonald, 4^th Baron Macdonald of Slate. She wrote several novels.

4^th Earl of Cromartie, Roderick Grant Francis Mackenzie, b.1904, a.1962, d.1989

Son of the Countess of Cromartie and Colonel Edward Walter Blunt-Mackenzie (b.1869, d.1949). Educated at Charterhouse and Sandhurst, he served with the Seaforth Highlanders in the North-West Frontier, and then in the Second World War, reaching the rank of Major. He became a POW in 1940 and received the Military Cross in 1945. He was invested as a Fellow of the Society of Antiquaries of Scotland. In 1979 he changed his name legally to Mackenzie from Blunt-Mackenzie.

5^th Earl of Cromartie, John Ruaridh Grant Mackenzie, b.1948, a.1989

Son of the 4^th Earl and Olga Laurence (b.?, d.1996). Unusually, he became an explosives engineer and was registered as a Member of the Institution of Explosives Engineers. As well as being the 5^th Earl, he is also 5^th Viscount Tarbat and 5^th Baron Macleod & Castlehaven. He is also Chief of Clan Mackenzie.

The courtesy title for the heir is Viscount Tarbat.

(Last updated: 24/02/2010)