Earls of Southesk (1633)

1^st Earl of Southesk, David Carnegie, b.1575, a.1633, d.1658

The Carnegies were a well established family from Carmyllie in Angus, the principal branch of which occupied the lands of the South Esk River. When the main branch died out the chieftaincy of the clan was acquired by the Carnegies of Kinnaird, a town near Brechin. David Carnegie, 8^th Laird of Kinnaird, was the grandson of Sir Robert Carnegie of Kinnaird (b.?, d.1565-1566), who was a Lord of Session, and the son of the prominent politician and Privy Counsellor David Carnegie of Panbride & Colluthie (b.?, d.1598) and Eupheme Wemyss (b.?, d.1593), daughter of Sir John Wemyss of Wemyss (ancestor of the earls of Wemyss). He was created 1^st Lord Carnegie of Kinnaird in 1616 and joined the Privy Council as a Lord of Session and was one of the Commissioners that ratified the Five Articles of Perth in 1618. He was an Extraordinary Lord of Session from 1625 to 1628, and in 1633 he was created 1^st Earl of Southesk and 1^st Lord Carnegie of Kinnaird and Leuchars. He was a member of the Committee of Estates in 1645, 1648 and 1651 and in 1646 he obtained the hereditary Sheriffdom of Forfarshire. He was fined during Cromwell’s Act of Grace and Pardon in 1654. His eldest son, also David Carnegie, Master of Carnegie (b.?, d.1633) having died add had daughters, the titles were passed to his second son. The 1^st Earl’s younger brother John Carnegie was created 1^st Earl of Northesk in 1662, the two titles originating from the neighbouring rivers in Angus.

2^nd Earl of Southesk, James Carnegie, b.?, a.1657-1568, d.1669

Son of the 1^st Earl and Margaret Lindsay (b.?, d.1614), daughter of Sir David Lindsay, Lord Edzell (b.?, d.1610), a Scottish Law Lord and himself son of David Lindsay, 9^th Earl of Crawford. A Royalist like his father, he attended Charles II in exile in Holland. He fought and was captured by the English at the Battle of Preston in 1648 but escaped the following year. He was made a Privy Counsellor in 1660. Later that year he accidentally killed William Gray, Master of Gray, while fencing, although some say it was a duel.

3^rd Earl of Southesk, Robert Carnegie, b.? a.1669, d.1688

Son of the 2^nd Earl and Lady Isabel Ker (b.?, d.1650), daughter of Sir Robert Ker, 1^st Earl of Roxburghe. He fought in the Scots Guards in France in 1659, gaining the rank of Captain. He was Sheriff of Forfarshire, on his own or jointly with his son, from 1660 to his death. He was made a Privy Counsellor in 1681.

4^th Earl of Southesk, Charles Carnegie, b.1661, a.1688, d.1699

Son of the 3^rd Earl and Lady Anne Hamilton (b.1639-1649, d.1695), daughter of William Hamilton, 2^nd Duke of Hamilton. He was made a Privy Counsellor in 1688.

5^th Earl of Southesk, James Carnegie, b.1692, a.1699, d.1730

Son of the 4^th Earl and Lady Mary Maitland, daughter of Charles Maitland, 3^rd Earl of Lauderdale. He was a Jacobite and was attainted in 1716 following the failure of the Jacobite Rebellion. The line of inheritance now fell to the Baronets Carnegie of Pitcarrow.

Baronets Carnegie of Pitcarrow (1663)

1st Baronet Carnegie, David Carnegie, b.b.1674, a.1662-1663, d.1708

Grandson of David Carnegie, 1^st Earl of Southesk, and son of Sir Alexander Carnegie (b.?, d.1681-1682) and Margaret Arbuthnott (b.?, d.1701), daughter of Sir Robert Arbuthnott of that Ilk. He was an MP for Kincardineshire from 1667 to 1674 with one short gap and was created 1^st Baronet Carnegie of Pitcarrow, in the County of Kincardine, in the Baronetage of Nova Scotia in 1663. In 1690 he raised a militia to counter rebellious Highlanders in Kincardineshire and in reprisal his lands were ravaged. He claimed for compensation but received nothing.

2^nd Baronet Carnegie, John Carnegie, b.1673, a.1708, d.1729

Son of the 1^st Baronet and Catherine Primrose, daughter of Sir Archibald Primrose, 1^st Baronet Primrose of Carrington, and sister of Archibald Primrose, 1^st Earl of Rosebery.

3^rd Baronet Carnegie, James Carnegie, b.c.1715, a.1729, d.1765

Son of the 2^nd Baronet and Mary Burnett (b.?, d.1754), daughter of Sir Thomas Burnett, 3^rd Baronet Burnett of Leys in the County of Kincardineshire. In contrast to the 5^th Earl of Southesk, Baronet Carnegie served in the British Army at Fontenoy and fought for King George II during the Jacobite Rebellion of 1745, and was at the Battle of Culloden on the Royalist side in 1746. He was also MP for Kincardineshire from 1741 until his death, and purchased the forfeited estates of the attainted earl in 1764. He was posthumously granted the title of 6^th Earl of Southesk de jure.

4^th Baronet Carnegie, David Carnegie, b.1753, a.1765, d.1805

Son of the 3^rd Baronet and Christian Doig (b.c.1729, d.1820). He was educated at Eton, the University of St Andrews and Christ Church College Oxford, and then served an MP for the Aberdeen Burghs (Arbroath, Brechin and Montrose) from 1784 to 1790 and for Forfarshire from 1796 until his death. He sold the estates of Pitcarrow to his uncle and reconstructed the castle at Kinnaird.

5^th Baronet Carnegie, James Carnegie, b.1799, a.1805, d.1849

Son of the 4^th Baronet and Agnes Murray Elliot (b.c.1764, d.1860), a descendant of Sir Gilbert Elliot, 2^nd Baronet Elliot of Minto. He was educated at Eton and then went on the Grand Tour of Europe, during which he met his future wife. He was an MP for the Aberdeen Burghs from 1830 to 1831. In 1847 he claimed the forfeited titles of Earl of Southesk and Lord Carnegie but died before any decision was made.

6^th Baronet Carnegie, James Carnegie, b.1827, a.1849, d.1905

Son of the 5^th Baronet and Charlotte Lysons (b.?, d.1848). Born in Edinburgh, and educated at Sandhurst, he was commissioned in 1845 into the 92^nd Foot Regiment. He reached the rank of Lieutenant in the Grenadier Guards and was Lord-Lieutenant of Kincardineshire from 1849 to 1856. In 1855 he obtained a reversal of the attainder of the 5^th Earl, allowing him to succeed as 9^th Earl of Southesk, with his immediate predecessors as Baronet considered de jure 6^th to 8^th Earls.

Earls of Southesk (1633, continued)

9^th Earl of Southesk, James Carnegie, b.1827, a.1849, d.1905

In 1869 he was invested as a Knight of the Thistle and created 1^st Baron Balinhard of Farnell in the County of Forfar, in the Peerage of the United Kingdom.

10^th Earl of Southesk, Charles Noel Carnegie, b.1854, a.1905, d.1941

Son of the 9^th Earl and Lady Catherine Hamilton Noel (b.1829, d.1855), daughter of Sir Charles Noel, 1^st Earl of Gainsborough. He was a Lieutenant-Colonel in the Forfar and Kincardine Artillery and later made Honorary Colonel of that Regiment.

11^th Earl of Southesk, Charles Alexander Carnegie, b.1893, a.1941, d.1992

Son of the 10^th Earl and Ethel Mary Elizabeth Bannerman, daughter of Sir Alexander Bannerman, 9^th Baronet Bannerman of Elsick in the County of Kincardineshire. Educated at Eton and the Royal Military College at Sandhurst, he gained the rank of Major in the Officers Reserves, Scots Guards, and was Aide-de-Camp to the Viceroy of India from 1917 to 1919. In 1926 he was invested as a Knight Commander of the Royal Victorian Order (KCVO). He married Princess Maud of Fife, younger sister of Alexandra, Duchess of Fife, and their son James Carnegie succeeded his aunt as 3^rd Duke of Fife in 1959.

The courtesy title for the heir, prior to the elevation to the dukedom, was Lord Carnegie.

For a continuation of this line please consult the Fife page.

(Last updated: 08/06/2011)

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