countess is the title of the wife of an earl.
what is the title of the wife of an earl?
countess
in 1469 the earldom was conferred on james stewart. he was made lord auchterhouse at the same time, also in the peerage of scotland. stewart was the second son of sir james stewart, the black knight of lorn, and the younger brother of john stewart, 1st earl of atholl (see earl of atholl, 1457 creation). the title descended in the direct male line until the death of his grandson, john, the third earl, in 1551. john's only son by his first marriage, john stewart, master of buchan, had been killed at the battle of pinkie in 1547. buchan was therefore succeeded by his granddaughter, christina, "suo jure" countess of buchan, the daughter of the master of buchan. she married robert douglas, son of sir robert douglas of lochleven and brother of william douglas, 6th earl of morton. robert assumed the title of earl of buchan in right of his wife. he was succeeded by his daughter, mary, "suo jure" countess of buchan. she married james erskine, younger son of john erskine, earl of mar. james assumed the earldom in right of his wife. in 1617 they were created by royal charter earl and countess of buchan, with remainder to the heirs male of the marriage, whom failing, to the legitimate and nearest heirs-male and assignees of the earl. in 1633 the precedence of the earldom was established by act of parliament as 1469. this line of the family failed on the death of their grandson, the eighth earl, who died unmarried in 1695. the title passed by the terms of the 1617 charter to the heirs male of the 6th earl i.e. to the heirs male of his younger brother henry erskine (see below). since 1695, the earls of buchan are not heirs of line of the 1st earl of buchan.
earl of buchan
earl of breadalbane and holland is a title in the peerage of scotland. it was created in 1681 for sir john campbell, 5th baronet, of glenorchy, who had previously been deprived of the title earl of caithness. he, as a principal creditor, had "acquired" the estates of george sinclair, 6th earl of caithness who had died heavily in debt and without issue in 1670. campbell was consequently created earl of caithness in 1673, but after much litigation and even bloodshed, george sinclair of keiss (died 1698), second son of george, 5th earl of caithness (died 1643), recovered the estates, and successfully petitioned parliament regarding the earldom, which was removed from campbell. sinclair's title was finally restored to him in 1681. deprived by parliament of the caithness earldom, sir john campbell was created lord glenorchy, benederaloch, ormelie and weick, viscount of tay and paintland, and earl of breadalbane and holland on 13 august 1681, with the precedency of the former patent and with the power to nominate any of his sons by his first wife to succeed him. the titles were created with remainder to the heirs male of the son chosen to succeed him, failing which to the heirs male of his body, failing which to his own heirs male, failing which to his heirs whatsoever. the "of holland" part of the title derived from the fact that campbell was the husband of lady mary rich, daughter of henry rich, 1st earl of holland (see earl of holland).
earl of breadalbane and holland