Earls of Rothes (1457)
1st Earl of Rothes, George Leslie,
b.c.1471, a.1457, d.1490
The Leslies were a well established family of noble origin, reputably
descended from Bartolf, or Bartholomew, an Hungarian noble who accompanied Margaret Atheling to
Scotland in 1067, and Beatrix, a daughter of Duncan
I. The clan developed into a number of major branches, of which that of Rothes became predominant after Sir George Leslie (b.?, d.1411-1412) was rewarded with substantial estates in the
Mearns (Kincardineshire) by King Robert III. His
grandson, also George Leslie, was first raised to the peerage as 1st
Lord Leslie in 1445. Due to his parentage, he had many connections within the
noble houses of the realm, his mother being a Seton and his paternal
grandmother of the Hays of Erroll. His main claim to
fame is that he obtained a divorce from his second wife, on the spurious
grounds of consanguinity, but with the condition that their children would not
thereby become illegitimate, allowing the succession to pass to them rather
than any other children he might produce, all this to placate the Sinclair
in-laws of his eldest son, who might otherwise have raised objections if the
offspring of a later marriage were allowed to inherit.
2nd Earl of Rothes, George Leslie,
b.?, a.1490, d.b.1513
Grandson of the 1st Earl and Christian Haliburton,
daughter of Sir Walter Halyburton of Dirletoun and a
grand-daughter of Robert Stewart, 1st Duke of Albany,
and son of Andrew Leslie, Master of Leslie (b.?, d.b.1473) and Elizabeth
Sinclair (b.?, d.1508), daughter of William Sinclair, 1st Earl of Caithness. He seems to have been a bit of a waster who
ran down the family estates, following which his brother obtained authority to
take control of what was left.
3rd Earl of Rothes, William Leslie,
b.?, a.b.1513, d.1513
Younger brother of the 2nd Earl. He died at
4th Earl of Rothes, George Leslie,
b.?, a.1513, d.1558
Son of the 3rd Earl and Margaret Balfour, daughter of Sir
Michael Balfour of Monquhanny. He was Sheriff of Fife
from 1529 to 1540 and he was created an Extraordinary Lord of Session in 1541.
He was tried for the murder of Cardinal David Beaton,
but acquitted, although his oldest sons Norman Leslie (b.?, d.1554) and William
Leslie, children of the earl’s first wife Margaret Crichton, daughter of
William Crichton, 3rd Lord Crichton of Sanquhar
and were forfeit and taken as prisoners to France, where Norman gained renown
as a soldier in the French Army. George Leslie was Ambassador to Denmark in
1550 and was one of the ill-fated Commissioners who attended Queen Mary’s
marriage to the French Dauphin, only to be killed by poison at Dieppe while on
the way back to Scotland.
5th Earl of Rothes, Andrew Leslie,
b.a.1525, a.1558, d.1611
Son of the 4th Earl and his third wife Agnes Somerville
(b.c.1500, d.?), daughter of Sir John Somerville of Quothquan,
himself a younger son of John Somerville, 3rd Lord Somerville. His two older half-brothers were forfeit by implication in the murder
of Cardinal Beaton. Although a prominent supporter of
the Lords of the Congregation, he fought for Queen Mary at the Battle of Langside.
6th Earl of Rothes, John Leslie,
b.?, a.1611, d.1641
Grandson of the 5th Earl and Grizel
Hamilton, daughter of Sir James Hamilton of Finnart,
and son of James Leslie, Master of Rothes (b.?, d.1607) and Catherine Drummond (b.1576, d.?), daughter of
Patrick Drummond, 3rd Lord Drummond (for whom see the earls of Perth). He was a Covenanter and resisted the King’s
attempts to preserve the episcopacy, voting against the Five Articles of Perth
in 1621 and leading the opposition to the imposition of the Book of Common
Prayer in 1638. When James Hamilton, 3rd Marquess
of Hamilton, the King’s Commissioner to the General
Assembly, dissolved parliament in 1639, he joined with other prominent members
of the Leslie clan, Alexander Leslie, 1st Earl of Leven and General David Leslie, 1st Lord
Newark (for whom see the lords Lindores)
in mobilising for war. The following year he was one of the Commissioners from
the Scottish Parliament to Charles I, and was one of the chief negotiators of
the Treaty of Ripon. He was a potential ally of the King against the growing
English Parliamentarianism, but his early death while in England finished off
the hopes of any further agreement between the Scots and the King.
7th Earl of Rothes, John Leslie,
b.c.1630, a.1641, d.1681
Son of the 6th Earl and Anne Erskine,
daughter of Sir John Erskine, 2nd Earl of Mar. He was a staunch
Royalist and carried the sword of state at the coronation of Charles II in
8th Earl (Countess) of Rothes,
Margaret Leslie, b.?, a.1681, d.1700
Daughter of the 7th Earl and Anne Lindsay, daughter of John
Lindsay, 17th Earl of Crawford. She married Charles Hamilton, 5th Earl of Haddington. Their second
son succeeded to his father’s titles and their first son succeeded to his
mother’s titles as these were regarded as the more senior.
9th Earl of Rothes, John Hamilton,
b.1679, a.1700, d.1722
Son of the 8th Countess and Charles Hamilton, 5th
Earl of Haddington. He was briefly Keeper of the Privy Seal from 1704 to 1705. He was a
supporter of the Union and served as a Representative Peer from 1708 to 1710.
He was appointed as Vice-Admiral of Scotland in 1714, Governor of Stirling
Castle in 1716 and he was Lord High Commissioner to the General Assembly of the
Church of Scotland from 1715 to 1721. When the Jacobite
Uprising took place in 1715 he came out strongly in support of the government
and led local militia in various confrontations with the rebels and commanded
the volunteer horse troops at the Battle of Sheriffmuir
to great acclaim.
10th Earl of Rothes, John Hamilton,
b.?, a.1722, d.1767
Son of the 9th Earl and Lady Jean Hay (b.?,
d.1731), daughter of John Hay, 1st Marquess
of Tweeddale. He joined the 9th Dragoons
in 1715, moving to the Scots Guards in 1717 and became Colonel of the 21st
Foot Regiment in 1721. He took command of the 25th Foot Regiment in 1732
and fought with them at the Battle of Dettingen in
1743. The following year, at the Battle of Rocoux, he
led the Grenadier Guards from the front line with great bravery. In 1747 his
hereditary sheriffship of Fife was purchased from him
by the state. In 1751 he was transferred to Ireland and in 1758 was made
Commander-in-Chief of Ireland with the rank of General, Colonel of the Scots
Guards and an Irish Privy Counsellor. He was also a Representative Peer, one
two occasions, from 1723 to 1734 and from 1747 to 1767 and he was made a Knight
of the Thistle in 1753.
11th Earl of Rothes, John Hamilton,
b.1744, a.1767, d.1773
Son of the 10th Earl and Hannah Howard (b.?, d.1761).
12th Earl (Countess) of Rothes,
Jane Elizabeth Leslie, b.1750, a.1773, d.1810
Older sister of the 11th Earl. He right to succeed was disputed by her uncle Andrew Leslie (b.1712, d.1776)
but both the Court of Session and the House of Lords upheld her rights.
13th Earl of Rothes, George William
Glanville, b.1768, a.1810, d.1817
Son of the 12th Countess and George Raymond Evelyn Glanville
(b.?, d.1770).
14th Earl (Countess) of Rothes,
Henrietta Anne Glanville, b.1790, a.1817, d.1819
Daughter of the 13th Earl and Henrietta Anne Pelham (b.?,
d.1797), daughter of Sir Thomas Pelham, 1st Earl of Chichester.
15th Earl of Rothes, George William
Evelyn Leslie, b.1809, a.1819, d.1841
Son of the 14th Countess and George Gwyther
(b.?, d.1829).
16th Earl of Rothes, George William
Evelyn Leslie, b.1835, a.1841, d.1859
Son of the 15th Earl and Louisa Morshead
(b.?, d.1886). He died unmarried.
17th Earl (Countess) of Rothes,
Henrietta Anderson Morshead Leslie, b.1832, a.1859,
d.1886
Older sister of the 16th Earl. She had no children.
18th Earl (Countess) of Rothes,
Mary Elizabeth Leslie, b.1811, a.1886, d.1893
Younger sister of the 15th Earl and aunt of the previous
holder.
19th Earl of Rothes, Norman Evelyn
Leslie, b.1877, a.1893, d.1927
Grandson of the 18th Countess and Captain Martin Edward
Haworth (b.?, d.1886), and son of Martin Leslie Leslie (sic) (b.1839, d.1882) and Georgina Frances Studdy (b.?, d.1934). In 1895 he joined a militia battalion
of the Devonshire Regiment, but resigned his commission in 1899, only to be
appointed as Captain of the Fife Royal Garrison Artillery in 1905. He resigned
again but subsequently was appointed Lieutenant-Colonel of the Highland Cyclist
Battalion attached to the Black Watch. He fought gallantly in the First World War,
while his family seat of Leslie House was used as a military hospital. He reached
the rank of Colonel in 1918, though sustaining injures from which he never
fully recovered. His wife, Lucy Noel Dyer-Edwardes, was
a passenger on the Titanic, and heroically manned the tiller of a lifeboat
until rescued by HMS Carpathia.
20th Earl of Rothes, Malcolm George
Dyer-Edwardes Leslie, b.1902, a.1927, d.1975
Son of the 19th Earl and Lucy Noel Dyer-Edwardes
(b.?, d.1956).
21st Earl of Rothes, Ian Lionel
Martin Leslie, b.1932, a.1975, d.2005
Son of the 20th Earl and Beryl Violet Dugdale
(b.?, d.1994).
22nd Earl of Rothes, James Malcolm
David Leslie, b.1958, a.2005
Son of the 21st Earl and Marigold Evans-Bevan
(b.1934). He is also 22nd Lord
Leslie.
The courtesy title for the heir is Lord Leslie.
(Last updated: 26/01/2011)