Earl of Crawford

Earldom of Crawford

Creation date	1398
Monarch	Robert II of Scotland
Peerage	Peerage of Scotland
First holder	David Lindsay, 1st Earl of Crawford
Present holder	Robert Lindsay, 29th Earl of Crawford
Heir apparent	Anthony Robert Lindsay, Lord Balniel
Remainder to	heirs male of the body of the grantee
Subsidiary titles	Lord Lindsay of Crawford, Lord Lindsay and Balniel, Baron Wigan of Haigh Hall, Earl of Balcarres
Seat(s)	Balcarres House
Former seat(s)	Haigh Hall Crawford Castle Crawford Priory

The title Earl of Crawford is one of the most ancient extant titles in Great Britain, having been created in the Peerage of Scotland for Sir David Lindsay in 1398. It is the premier earldom recorded on the Union Roll.^[1]

The title has a very complex history. Crawford Castle, along with the title of Earl of Crawford, was given by Robert II to David Lindsay, 1st Earl of Crawford.^[2]

Early history

The title descended to the first Earl's descendants without much incident, until the death of David Lindsay, 8th Earl of Crawford in 1542. The eighth Earl had a son, Alexander, commonly called the Wicked Master, who frequently quarreled with his father and even tried to murder him. The Wicked Master was sentenced to death for his crime, and the eighth Earl conveyed his title to a cousin, also called David Lindsay, a descendant of the third Earl of Crawford, and excluded from the succession all of the Wicked Master's descendants. However, the ninth earl, although he had his own sons, named the Wicked Master's son David as his heir; thus, in 1558, at the ninth Earl's death, the earldom returned to the main branch of the family. The ninth Earl is frequently referred to as an interpolated Earl, as are the 17th-22nd Earls.

Later history

At the death of Ludovic Lindsay, 16th Earl of Crawford, the title was passed, despite senior heirs, to a cousin, John, who had already been created Earl of Lindsay. The earldoms of Crawford and Lindsay continued to be united until the 22nd earl died unmarried in January 1808. The two earldoms then became dormant until the respective heirs could prove their claims to the titles.

In 1843, James Lindsay, 7th Earl of Balcarres put forward his claim to the Earldom of Crawford; in 1848, the House of Lords allowed it. The claim was based on the extensive research of his son Lord Lindsay.^[3] It was held that the seventh Earl's father, the sixth Earl, was the lawful successor to the earldom of Crawford (though he did not claim it); therefore, the sixth Earl of Balcarres was posthumously declared the 23rd Earl of Crawford, and his son, the seventh Earl of Balcarres, became the 24th Earl of Crawford. Thereafter, these two earldoms have remained united.

The Earl of Crawford was mentioned in an episode of Keeping Up Appearances, when Hyacinth Bucket insisted that her milk be sourced from the "very attractive herd" on his estate.

The subsidiary titles associated with the Earl of Crawford and Balcarres are: Lord Lindsay of Crawford (created 1398), Lord Lindsay and Balniel (1651) and Baron Wigan of Haigh Hall (1826). The former two subsidiary titles, as well as the two Earldoms, are in the Peerage of Scotland. The Barony is in the Peerage of the United Kingdom. By virtue of the title of Baron Wigan of Haigh Hall, the Earls of Crawford and Balcarres sat in the House of Lords until the passage of the Peerage Act 1963. The present Earl sits in the House of Lords as Baron Balniel, a life peerage conferred on him in 1974 after he left the House of Commons and before the death of his father.

The Earl of Crawford is the hereditary Clan Chief of Clan Lindsay.

Family seat

The family seat is Balcarres House in Colinsburgh, Fife. Until the 1940s they were also seated at Haigh Hall, Lancashire.

Earls of Crawford (1398)

David Lindsay, 1st Earl of Crawford (d. 1407)
Alexander Lindsay, 2nd Earl of Crawford (c. 1387–1438)
David Lindsay, 3rd Earl of Crawford (d. 1445)
Alexander Lindsay, 4th Earl of Crawford (d. 1453)
David Lindsay, 1st Duke of Montrose, 5th Earl of Crawford (1440–1495)
John Lindsay, 6th Earl of Crawford (d. c. 1513)
Alexander Lindsay, 7th Earl of Crawford (d. 1517)
David Lindsay, 8th Earl of Crawford (d. 1542)
David Lindsay, 9th Earl of Crawford (d. 1558)
David Lindsay, 10th Earl of Crawford (d. 1574)
David Lindsay, 11th Earl of Crawford (c. 1547–1607)
David Lindsay, 12th Earl of Crawford (d. 1621)
Henry Lindsay, 13th Earl of Crawford (d. 1622)
George Lindsay, 14th Earl of Crawford (d. 1633)
Alexander Lindsay, 15th Earl of Crawford (d. 1639)
Ludovic Lindsay, 16th Earl of Crawford (d. 1652)

Earls of Crawford (1642)

John Lindsay, 17th Earl of Crawford, 1st Earl of Lindsay (c. 1598–1678) (descended from 1st Earl's uncle, received Earldom of Crawford under regrant of 1642)
William Lindsay, 18th Earl of Crawford, 2nd Earl of Lindsay (1644–1698)
John Lindsay, 19th Earl of Crawford (3rd Earl of Lindsay) (d. 1713)
John Lindsay, 20th Earl of Crawford (4th Earl of Lindsay) (1702–1749)
George Lindsay-Crawford, 21st Earl of Crawford (5th Earl of Lindsay) (1723–1781)
George Lindsay-Crawford, 22nd Earl of Crawford (6th Earl of Lindsay) (1758–1808) (dormant 1808; last male line descendant of 1st Earl of Lindsay, Earldom of Lindsay passed (according to Lords decision in 1878) to a kinsman of 1st Earl of Lindsay and that of Crawford reverted to senior surviving line, as determined 1848)
Alexander Lindsay, 23rd Earl of Crawford (6th Earl of Balcarres) (1752–1825) (de jure; descended from second son of 3rd Earl of Crawford)
James Lindsay, 24th Earl of Crawford, 7th Earl of Balcarres (1783–1869) (revived 1848)
Alexander Lindsay, 25th Earl of Crawford, 8th Earl of Balcarres (1812–1880)
James Ludovic Lindsay, 26th Earl of Crawford (9th Earl of Balcarres) (1847–1913)
David Alexander Edward Lindsay, 27th Earl of Crawford (10th Earl of Balcarres) (1871–1940)
David Alexander Robert Lindsay, 28th Earl of Crawford (11th Earl of Balcarres) (1900–1975)
Robert Alexander Lindsay, 29th Earl of Crawford (12th Earl of Balcarres) (b. 1927)

The heir apparent is the present holder's son Anthony Robert Lindsay, Lord Balniel (b. 1958). Lord Balniel's heir apparent is his son, Alexander Thomas Lindsay, Master of Lindsay (b. 1991).^[4]

Notes

↑ Whitaker's Almanack
↑ See p.61, English translation of the Latin text of the Blaeu Atlas of Scotland, 1654 in the digital library of the National Library of Scotland at http://www.nls.uk/maps/atlas/blaeu/. According to the translator, the original text's reference to "James" Lindsay is a mistake for David Lindsay.
↑ Barker, Nicolas (1978) Bibliotheca Lindesiana: the Lives and Collections of Alexander William, 25th Earl of Crawford and 8th Earl of Balcarres, and James Ludovic, 26th Earl of Crawford and 9th Earl of Balcarres. London: for Presentation to the Roxburghe Club, and published by Bernard Quaritch
↑ The Peerage

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