Duke of Sutherland

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Duke of Sutherland, derived from Sutherland in Scotland, is a title in the Peerage of the United Kingdom. It was created by William IV in 1833 for George Granville Leveson-Gower, 2nd Marquess of Stafford. A series of marriages to heiresses by members of the (Leveson)-Gower family made the Dukes of Sutherland one of the richest handful of landowning families in the United Kingdom.

The subsidiary titles of the Duke of Sutherland are: Marquess of Stafford (created 1786), Earl Gower (1746), Earl of Ellesmere, of Ellesmere in the County of Shropshire (1846), Viscount Trentham, of Trentham in the County of Stafford (1746), Viscount Brackley, of Brackley in the County of Northampton (1846), and Baron Gower, of Sittenham in the County of York (1703). The Marquessate of Stafford, the Earldom of Gower and the Viscounty of Trentham are in the Peerage of Great Britain, the Dukedom, the Earldom of Ellesmere and the Viscounty of Brackley in the Peerage of the United Kingdom, and the Barony of Gower in the Peerage of England. The Duke is also a Baronet of Sittenham, a title created in the Baronetage of England in 1620.

The family seat was originally Lilleshall Hall and later, grander, family seats included Trentham Hall, Dunrobin Castle, and Cliveden. In the 19th and early Twentieth century the family's London residence was Stafford House, which was rated as the most valuable private residence in London.

1 Family history
2 Baronets of Sittenham (1620)
3 Barons Gower (1703)
4 Earls Gower (1746)
5 Marquesses of Stafford (1786)
6 Dukes of Sutherland (1833)
7 See also
8 External links

[edit] Family history

The Gower family descends from Sir Thomas Gower, who was created a Baronet, of Sittenham in the County of York, in 1620. His son, the second Baronet, married Frances Leveson, daughter of Sir John Leveson. Their younger son William, the fourth Baronet, assumed the additional surname of Leveson. Sir William married Lady Jane Granville (d. 1696), daughter of John Granville, 1st Earl of Bath and sister of Grace Carteret, 1st Countess Granville. Their son John, the fifth Baronet, was raised to the peerage as Baron Gower, of Sittenham in the County of York, in 1706.

His son, the second Baron, served three times as Lord Privy Seal. In 1746 he was created Viscount Trentham and Earl Gower. His eldest son from his first marriage, John, the second Earl, was also a prominent politician. In 1786 he was created Marquess of Stafford. Lord Stafford married secondly Lady Louisa Egerton, daughter of Scroop Egerton, 1st Duke of Bridgewater. His son from his third marriage to Lady Susanna Stewart, Lord Granville Leveson-Gore, was created Earl Granville in 1833, a revival of the title created for his great-great-aunt in 1715.

Lord Stafford's eldest son from his second marriage to Lady Louisa, George, married Elizabeth Gordon, 19th Countess of Sutherland. In 1833 George was created Duke of Sutherland, the year the present Lilleshall Hall was completed. In 1803 George had succeeded to the vast estates of his maternal uncle Francis Egerton, 3rd Duke of Bridgewater. According to the will of the Duke of Bridgewater, these passed on the death of the first Duke of Sutherland to his third son Lord Francis Leveson-Gower, who assumed by Royal license the surname of Egerton in lieu of his patronymic. In 1846 he was created Viscount Brackley and Earl of Ellesmere.

The Duke was succeeded by his eldest son and namesake George, the second Duke. In 1839 he also succeeded his mother in the ancient Scottish titles of Earl of Sutherland and Lord Strathnaver. His eldest son, the third Duke, married Anne Hay-Mackenzie, who in 1864 was created Countess of Cromarty, with remainder to their younger sons.

In 1914, one year after the fifth Duke succeeded to the seat at the age of 25, he decided on the outbreak of the First World War that it was unwise to have so much of his riches tied up in land and property. He sold the entire estate except Lilleshall Hall and 50 acres of gardens. He then decided he wanted to live closer to London, and sold the whole package in 1917 to Sir John Lee.

On his death in 1963, the line of the eldest son of the first Duke failed. He died childless and was succeeded in the Earldom of Sutherland and Lordship of Strathnaver, which could be inherited by females, by his niece Elizabeth. The Dukedom and other titles could only be passed on to male heirs, and he was succeeded in these by his kinsman John Sutherland Egerton, 5th Earl of Ellesmere, who became the 6th Duke of Sutherland as well. He was a great-great-grandson of the first Earl of Ellesmere, third son of the first Duke of Sutherland. However, he also died childless and was succeeded by his second cousin once removed, Francis Ronald Egerton, the seventh and present holder of the Dukedom of Sutherland. He is the grandson of a younger son of the third Earl of Ellesmere.

Frederick Leveson-Gower, son of Lord Albert Leveson-Gower, younger son of the second Duke, sat as Member of Parliament for Sutherland.