Earl of March is a title that has been created several times, respectively, in the
Peerage of Scotland and the
Peerage of England. The title derives from the "
marches" or borderlands between
England and either
Wales (
Welsh Marches) or
Scotland (
Scottish Marches), and it was held by several great
feudal families which owned lands in those districts.[1] Later, however, the title came to be granted as an honorary dignity, and ceased to carry any associated power in the marches.
The Earls of March on the Scottish border were descended from
Gospatric, Earl of Northumbria, but being soon afterwards deprived of this position he fled to Scotland, where
Máel Coluim III, King of Scotland, welcomed him and granted him
Dunbar and the adjoining lands.[2] His successors controlled the Marches, but Earl of March was only assumed as an alternative title to that of
Earl of Dunbar by
Patrick de Dunbar, 8th Earl of March. The last of his successors was
George de Dunbar, 11th Earl of March and Dunbar, whose honours and lands were forfeited to the Crown. He retired to England and died in obscurity.
Following his forfeiture, the next creation of the Earldom of March was for Alexander Stuart, Duke of Albany. At the death of his successor John, the dukedom and earldom became extinct. The next creation was for Robert Stuart, but at his death, the earldom again became extinct.
The most recent Scottish creation of the Earldom of March was in 1697 for Lord William Douglas, second son of the
William Douglas, 1st Duke of Queensberry. He was also created Lord Douglas of Neidpath, Lyne and Munard, and Viscount of Peebles, with remainder to heirs male of his body, failing which to his other heirs male and of
tailzie.[3] He was succeeded by his son, also William, who married Anne Douglas-Hamilton, 2nd Countess of Ruglen. They were both succeeded by their son, another William, who became 3rd Earl of March and 3rd Earl of Ruglen.
In 1768 the third earl was created Baron Douglas of Amesbury, and in 1778 he succeeded his first cousin twice removed,
Charles Douglas, 3rd Duke of Queensberry, as fourth Duke of Queensberry. The duke died childless in 1810, however, and his titles were inherited by several different individuals. The earldom of Ruglen and barony of Douglas of Amesbury became extinct. The dukedom of Queensberry was inherited by his second cousin once removed,
Henry Scott, 3rd Duke of Buccleuch (see the
Duke of Buccleuch for later history of this title). The marquessate and earldom of Queensberry passed to his kinsman Sir Charles Douglas, 5th Baronet (see the
Marquess of Queensberry for later history of these titles). The earldom of March and its two subsidiary titles were inherited by his second cousin once removed Francis Wemyss-Charteris, later the eighth Earl of Wemyss.
Scottish Earls of March, first Creation
See
Earl of Dunbar, for which "Earl of the March" is used as an alternate title
William Douglas 1637–1695 1st Duke of Queensberry, Marquess of Queensberry, Marquess of Dumfriesshire, and Earl of Drumlanrig and Sanquhar, 3rd Earl of Queensberry
Lady Catherine Douglas
James Douglas 1639–1708 1st Baronet of Kelhead
Dukedoms of Monmouth and Buccleuch (1st creation) and earldoms of Buccleuch and Doncaster forfeit, 1663
James Douglas 1662–1711 2nd Duke of Queensberry, 1st Duke of Dover and Marquess of Beverley, 2nd Marquess of Queensberry, Marquess of Dumfriesshire, and Earl of Drumlanrig and Sanquhar
James Douglas 1697–1715 3rd Marquess of Queensberry, Marquess of Dumfriesshire, and Earl of Drumlanrig and Sanquhar
Charles Douglas 1698–1778 3rd Duke of Queensberry, 2nd Duke of Dover and Marquess of Beverley, 4th Marquess of Queensberry, Marquess of Dumfriesshire, and Earl of Drumlanrig and Sanquhar, Earl of Solway
Charles Douglas 1726–1756 styled Earl of Drumlanrig
William Douglas 1724–1810 4th Duke of Queensberry, 5th Marquess of Queensberry, Marquess of Dumfriesshire, and Earl of Drumlanrig and Sanquhar, Earl of March
Henry Scott 1746–1812 3rd Duke of Buccleuch and Earl of Dalkeith, 5th Duke of Queensberry
Sholto Francis Guy Douglas
b. 1967 styled Viscount Drumlanrig
Lord Torquil Oberon Tobias Douglas
b. 1978
Walter John Francis Montagu Douglas Scott
b. 1984 styled Earl of Dalkeith
Willoughby Ralph Montagu Douglas Scott
b. 2016 Lord Eskdaill
Earls of March in the Peerage of England
The Earls of March on the
Welsh Marches were descended from
Roger Mortimer,[5] as there had been no single office in this region since the
Earl of Mercia. He forfeited his title, which was in the Peerage of England, for treason in 1330, but his grandson
Roger managed to have it restored eighteen years later. With the death of the
fifth Earl, however, there remained no more Mortimers who were heirs to the first Earl, and the title passed to the fifth earl's nephew, Richard Plantagenet, Duke of York. Duke Richard passed the title on to his son Edward, who would later become King Edward IV, causing the earldom of March to merge into the Crown.
In the Peerage of England, the next creation of the earldom came when Edward Plantagenet, Duke of Cornwall was made Earl of March in 1479. In 1483, he succeeded as King Edward V, and the earldom merged in the crown. Later that year, however, his uncle Richard of Gloucester acceded to the throne as Richard III. The fate of the young Edward and his brother, Richard has never been confirmed.
The next English creation was in favour of Esme Stewart, the third Duke of Lennox. His successors bore the earldom, until the death of the sixth Duke, when both the earldom and the dukedom became extinct. The last English creation was in favour of Charles Lennox, 1st Duke of Richmond and Lennox. His successors have borne the English earldom of March since then.
The title is now held by the Duke of Richmond, and is used as a courtesy title by his heir apparent, currently Charles Henry Gordon-Lennox (born 1994), Earl of March and Kinrara.
^James Douglas, 3rd Marquess of Queensberry, a homicidal maniac, was excluded from the line of succession to the Dukedoms of Queensberry and Dover when his father — the 2nd Duke of Queensberry — surrendered all of his titles except the Marquessate and its subsidiary titles back to the Crown and obtained a new grant with the same precedence for the surrendered titles that altered the succession to his second son and then the heirs male and female of the 1st Earl of Queensberry. The succession of the Marquessate continued in remainder to the heirs male of the 1st Earl of Queensberry.