Earl of Orkney

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1 Norse earls
- 1.1 Some jarls of Orkney
- 1.2 Earls of Orkney, Sinclair dynasty
2 Scottish earls
3 External links

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Norse earls

The original Earl of Orkney was a Norse jarl controlling Orkney in the period 875-1231. When the line became extinct, the earldom of Caithness was granted to Magnus, second son of the earl of Angus, whom the king of Norway apparently confirmed in the title.

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Some jarls of Orkney

Ragnvald Eysteinsson, 890
Turf-Einar, 910
Torfinn Hausakljuv, 963
Saint Magnus Erlendsson, 1108 to 1117

In the 13th and 14th centuries, the earldom became an unwanted anomaly as the only fief in an otherwise centralized Norwegian kingdom and the title was allowed to lapse from time to time. In 1379 Haakon VI Magnusson granted the earldom to the Scottish Henry Sinclair.

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Earls of Orkney, Sinclair dynasty

Henry Sinclair, 1st Earl of Orkney (d. 1400)
Henry Sinclair, 2nd Earl of Orkney (d. 1418)
William Sinclair, 3rd Earl of Orkney (d. 1480) (surrendered 1470)

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Scottish earls

The next Orkney title was the dukedom of Orkney, which was given to James Hepburn, 4th Earl of Bothwell, husband of Queen Mary I, in 1567. Later that year, however, he forfeited the title when his wife was forced to abdicate.

The second creation of the title was for Lord Robert Stewart, an illegitimate son of King James V. His successor Patrick, however, forfeit the title.

The last creation of the earldom was in favour of the man who would become the first British Field Marshal, Lord George Hamilton, the fifth son of William Douglas, Duke of Hamilton. By marriage, the title passed to the O'Brien family, then to the Fitzmaurice family, and finally to the St John family. The present earl holds the subsidiary titles of Viscount of Kirkwall and Lord Dechmont. Both subsidiary titles were created at the same time as the earldom, in 1696.

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Dukes of Orkney (1567)

James Hepburn, 1st Duke of Orkney (c. 1535-1578) (forfeit 1567)

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Earls of Orkney, Second Creation (1581)

Robert Stewart, 1st Earl of Orkney (1533-1593)
Patrick Stewart, 2nd Earl of Orkney (c. 1569-1614) (forfeit 1614)

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Earls of Orkney, Third Creation (1696)

The third creation, made for the husband of the discarded mistress of King William III, is a Scottish earldom created 3 Jan 1695/1696 (1696 modern style). A special remainder) allowed the title to be inherited by heirs male, then by heirs whatsover of the 1st Earl. Thus, failing sons, the 1st Earls daughters inherited successively (both married to successive Earl of Inchiquin, then the daughter of the 3rd Countess. It then passed to her grandson, of the FitzMaurice family (descended from kinsmen of the Marquess of Lansdowne) and remainded in that family until the 8th Earl died without issue 1998. It then passed to the new heir whatsover, the political scientist and terrorism expert Peter St. John, who was descended through a female from earlier peers. The earldom has thus been transmitted through four different families - Hamilton (of the dukes of Hamilton), O'Brien (of the earls of Inchiquin, sometime marquesses of Thomond), then Fitzmaurice (of the earls of Shelburne, later also earls of Kerry and marquesses of Lansdowne), and now St. John (of the barons St. John).