Baron of Macduff is a title of nobility in the Baronage of Scotland.
The current baron is The Much Honoured Eric Cotton Dexter, 9th Baron of MacDuff.[1]
The title originates in Macduf contained mostly within the boundaries of the Town of Macduff, in the Banff and Buchan area of Aberdeenshire, Scotland.[2] Clan MacDuff traces origins to the historic, Lowland, Scottish Duff Clan.[3] William Shakespeare's MacBeth has always played a role in the legend of Clan MacDuff, as few can determine the line between The Duff Family history and historical fiction.[4] This ambiguity worked to the benefit of future MacDuff Barons, who were able to prove they were descended from the first Duff to receive a charter in Northeast Scotland.[5] In 1404 David Duff received the charter, in Aberdeenshire, from Robert III of Scotland.[5] In 1759, William Duff was granted the historic Celtic Title of “Fife”, further tying the Duffs of Northeast Scotland, with their ancient Lowland ancestors - the original Earls of Fife from the 11th century.[6] William Duff had five sons - the eldest, James, would become the 2nd Earl Fife and the 1st Baron of MacDuff.[7] James invested heavily in the village of Doune, or “Down”, across the River Deveron from Banff. He built a harbor there in 1760, which quickly became more successful than the harbor at neighboring Banff, which had been established much earlier.[8] In 1783 a charter was granted by King George III, changing the name from Doune to Macduff in his favor and, although a lesser title than Earl, bestowing on him the dignity of the 1st Baron of Macduff.[7]
Barons of MacDuff
James Duff, 2nd Earl Fife, 1st Baron of MacDuff [7]
Born: 1729
Died: 1809
Preceded by: N/A
Succeeded by: Alexander Duff
Seat: Duff House
Alexander Duff, 3rd Earl Fife, 2nd Baron of MacDuff[9]
Born: 1731
Died: 1811
Preceded by: James Duff
Succeeded by: James Duff
Seat: Duff House
James Duff, 4th Earl Fife, 3rd Baron of MacDuff[9]
Born: 1776
Died: 1857
Preceded by: Alexander Duff
Succeeded by: James Duff
Seat: Duff House
Born: 1814
Died: 1857
Preceded by: James Duff
Succeeded by: Alexander Duff
Seat: Duff House
Alexander Duff, 1st Duke of Fife, 5th Baron of MacDuff[10]
Born: 1849
Died: 1912
Preceded by: James Duff
Succeeded by: Lady Alexandra Duff
Seat: Mar Lodge
Princess Alexandra, 2nd Duchess of Fife, 6th Baroness of MacDuff[11]
Born: 1891
Died: 1959
Preceded by: Alexander Duff
Succeeded by: Alexander Ramsay of Mar
Seat: Mar Lodge
Born: 1919
Died: 2000
Preceded by: Lady Alexandra Duff
Succeeded by: James Mark Domesek
Seat: Mar Lodge
Born: unknown
Died: unknown
Preceded by: Alexander Ramsay of Mar
Succeeded by: Eric Cotton Dexter
Eric Cotton Dexter, 9th Baron of MacDuff[1]
Born: 1971
Died: N/A
Preceded by: James Mark Domesek
Succeeded by: N/A
J.C. Dexter, Younger of MacDuff
Born: 2000
Died N/A
Heir Apparent to the Barony of MacDuff
References
- ^ a b Scottish Barony Register, Vol.5, Folio 44-46. Edinburgh, UK. 2021. pp. 44–46.
{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: location missing publisher (link) - ^ Charter to James, Earl of Fife For Uniting and Erecting the Lands of Down and others therein mentioned into a Barony As also erecting the Village of Down now to be called the Village of MacDuff into a Burgh of Barony. National Records of Scotland. 1783.
- ^ Way, George, Squire, Romily (1998). Collins Scottish Clan and Family Encyclopedia. Harper Collins. pp. 419–420.
{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link) - ^ Tayler, Alistair and, Henrietta Tayler (1914). The Book of Duffs. W. Brown. p. 212.
- ^ a b Anderson, William (1864). The Scottish Nation: or the Surnames, Families, Literature and Honours, and Biographical History of the People of Scotland. Google Books: A. Fullerton & Company. p. 212.
- ^ Cokayne, George Edward (1889). Complete Peerage of England, Scotland, Ireland, Great Britain and the United Kingdom, Extant, Extinct, Or Dormant; Volume 2. William Pollard & Co. p. 462.
- ^ a b c d Fife, James Duff, 2nd Earl of 1729-1809, Henrietta Tayler, and Alistair Norwich Tayler (1925). Lord Fife and his factor: being the correspondence of James, Second Lord Fife, 1729-1809. Heinemann. pp. 149–159, 226.
{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link) CS1 maint: numeric names: authors list (link) - ^ Smiles, Samuel (1877). Life of a Scotch Naturalist, 4th Edition. J. Murray. p. 129.
- ^ a b c d Mosley, Charles (2003). Burke's Peerage Baronetage & Knightage: Clan Chiefs, Scottish Feudal Barons, 107th Edition, Volumes I-III. Wilmington, Delaware, U.S.A.: Burke's Peerage and Gentry LLC. pp. I., 1021, 1759.
- ^ Pine, L.G. (1972). The New Extinct Peerage 1884-1971: Containing Extinct, Abeyant, Dormant and Suspended Peerages With Genealogies and Arms. London, UK: Heraldry Today. p. 124.
- ^ Eilers, Marlene A. (1987). Queen Victoria's Descendants. Baltimore, Maryland: Genealogical Publishing Co. p. 176.
- ^ The General Register of Sasines, Book 1001, Folio 70. Edinburgh, UK: Public Records Office, Register House. 1982. p. 76.
- ^ The General Register of Sasines, Fiche 52, Frame 33. Banff UK: Counties of Caithness, Moray and Aberdeen. 2002. p. 40.
- ^ The General Register of Sasines, Fiche 98, Frame 41. Banff, UK: County of Banff. 2004. pp. 11–13.