Earls of Northesk (1662)

 

1st Earl of Northesk, John Carnegie, b.c.1579, a.1662, d.1667

 

John Carnegie was the son of the prominent politician and Privy Counsellor David Carnegie (b.?, d.1598) and Eupheme Wemyss (b.?, d.1593) and the younger brother of David Carnegie, 1st Earl of Southesk, the two titles originating from the neighbouring rivers in Angus. His father had passed to him the estate of Aithie in Forfarshire. In 1639 he was raised to the peerage as 1st Lord Lour and in 1647 was created 1st Earl of Ethie and 1st Lord Lour & Egglismadie. A prominent Royalist, he was fined during Cromwell’s Act of Grace and Pardon in 1654. In 1662 he succeeded in exchanging his earlier titles for the newer titles of 1st Earl of Northesk and 1st Lord Rosehill & Eglismauldie.

 

2nd Earl of Northesk, David Carnegie, b.b.1627, a.1667, d.1679

 

Son of the 1st Earl and Magdalen Haliburton (b.c.1580, d.1650), daughter of Sir James Haliburton of Pitcur.

 

3rd Earl of Northesk, David Carnegie, b.1643, a.1679, d.1688

 

Son of the 2nd Earl and Lady Jean Maule (b.?, d.1685), daughter of Patrick Maule, 1st Earl of Panmure.

 

4th Earl of Northesk, David Carnegie, b.?, a.1688, d.1729

 

Son of the 3rd Earl and Lady Elizabeth Lindsay, daughter of John Lindsay, 17th Earl of Crawford. He was made a Privy Counsellor in 1698 and took over as Sheriff of Forfarshire in 1702 (an hereditary post shared by various members of the extended Carnegie family). He served as a Commissioner on the Scottish Parliament and was Lord of Police. A supporter of the Union, he was a Representative Peer from 1708 to 1715.

 

5th Earl of Northesk, David Carnegie, b.1701, a.1729, d.1741

 

Son of the 4th Earl and Lady Margaret Wemyss, daughter of James Wemyss, Lord Burntisland, and Margaret Wemyss, 3rd Countess of Wemyss. He died unmarried.

 

6th Earl of Northesk, George Carnegie, b.1716, a.1741, d.1792

 

Younger brother of the 5th Earl. He joined the Royal Navy in 1737 and served on HMS Preston in 1744 and HMS Oxford in 1755. He reached the rank of Admiral of the White.

 

7th Earl of Northesk, William Carnegie, b.1756, a.1792, d.1831

 

Son of the 6th Earl and Lady Anne Leslie-Melville (b.?, d.1779), daughter of Alexander Leslie-Melville, 7th Earl of Leven. He joined the Royal Navy in 1771 and served during the American War of Independence, being promoted to Commander in 1780 and then Post Captain in 1782, and given command of HMS Enterprise. In 1797, while in commands of HMS Monmouth, he was involved in the Nore Mutiny, and removed of his command following his failure to maintain order, although he sympathised with the mutineers. He was re-instated in 1803 and raised to Rear-Admiral, with his flagship HMS Britannia. He took part in the Battle of Trafalgar, although third in command after Nelson and Collingwood. Following this he was promoted to full Admiral in 1814 and invested as a Knight Grand Cross in the Order of the Bath in 1815. He was also given the ceremonial posts of Rear-Admiral of Great Britain in 1821 and Commander-in-Chief of Plymouth in 1827. He also served as a Representative Peer from 1796 to 1807. At his death he was buried alongside Nelson and Collingwood in St Paul’s Cathedral.

 

8th Earl of Northesk, William Hopetoun Carnegie, b.1794, a.1831, d.1878

 

Son of the 7th Earl and Mary Ricketts (b.?, d.1836).

 

9th Earl of Northesk, George John Carnegie, b.1843, a.1878, d.1891

 

Son of the 8th Earl and Georgiana Maria Elliot (b.?, d.1874), daughter of Admiral George Elliot and grand-daughter of Sir Gilbert Elliot, 1st Earl of Minto. He joined the 1st Dragoons in 1862 before transferring to the Scots Fusilier Guards as a Lieutenant. He reached the rank of Captain in 1866 and of Lieutenant-Colonel in 1873 and was a Representative Peer from 1885 to 1891.

 

10th Earl of Northesk, David John Carnegie, b.1865, a.1891, d.1921

 

Son of the 9th Earl and Elizabeth Georgina Frances Elliot (b.?, d.1933), a grand-daughter of Admiral George Elliot. He was Aide-de-Camp to the Governor of Victoria from 1889 to 1891 and was a Representative Peer in 1900.

 

11th Earl of Northesk, David Ludovic George Hopetoun Carnegie, b.1901, a.1921, d.1963

 

Son of the 10th Earl and Elizabeth Boyle Hallowes (b.?, d.1950). He won a bronze medal at the 1928 Winter Olympics and served in the Intelligence Corps during the Second World War, given the nominal rank of Major at his retrial. He had no children.

 

12th Earl of Northesk, John Douglas Carnegie, b.1895, a.1963, d.1975

 

Grandson of the 9th Earl and son of Douglas George Carnegie (b.1870, d.1937) and Margaret Jean Johnstone-Douglas (b.1872, d.1960), a descendent of the 1st Earl of Queensberry by way of the Baronets Douglas of Kelhead. Educated at Gresham’s School and King’s College Cambridge, he fought in the First World War and reached the rank of Captain in the Territorial Army Royal Field Artillery.

 

13th Earl of Northesk, Robert Andrew Carnegie, b.1926, a.1975, d.1994

 

Son of the 12th Earl and Dorothy May Campion, daughter of Colonel Sir William Robert Campion.

 

14th Earl of Northesk, David John MacRae Carnegie, b.1954, a.1994, d.2010

 

Son of the 13th Earl and Jean Margaret MacRae. He was elected to the House of Lords after the 1999 Act. His only son, Alexander Robert MacRae Carnegie, Lord Rosehill (b.1980, d.2001) having died before him, the title passed to a distant relative.

 

15th Earl of Northesk, Patrick Charles Carnegy, b.1940, a.2010

 

Patrick Carnegy (sic) of Lour (b.?, d.1723), a younger brother of the 3rd Earl, married Marjorie Threipland (b.?, d.1702), daughter of Sir Patrick Threipland of Fingask. Their son Patrick Carnegy (b.1684, d.1729) married Alison Watson. Their son Patrick Carnegy (b.1720, d.1799) married Elizabeth Graham. Their son Patrick Carnegy (b.1757, d.1819) married Margaret St Clair Bowyer (b.?, d.1835), daughter of Alexander Bowyer of Kincaldrum. Their second son, Major-General Alexander Carnegy (b.1793, d.1862), married Isabella Don (b.?, d.1835). Their second son, General Alexander Carnegy (b.1829, d.1900), married Frances Jane Whitehead (b.?, d.1857). Their son, Lieutenant-Colonel Charles Gilbert Carnegy (b.1864, d.1928), married Evelyn Mary Prichard (b.?, d.1953). Their son, the Reverend Canon Patrick Charles Alexander Carnegy (b.1893, d.1969), married Joyce Eleanor Townsley (b.?, d.1995), and their son succeeded as 15th Earl of Northesk and 15th Lord Rosehill & Eglismauldie. The heir-presumptive is his younger brother.

 

The courtesy title for the heir is Lord Rosehill.

 

(Last updated: 09/06/2011)

 

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