Earl of Seaforth was a title in the
Peerage of Scotland and
Peerage of Great Britain. It was held by the family of Mackenzie from 1623 to 1716, and again from 1771 to 1781.
The Mackenzies trace their descent to Colin of
Kintail (d. 1278), and their name is a variant of Mackenneth. Kenneth, the twelfth head of the clan, was made
Lord Mackenzie of Kintail in 1609, and his son
Colin, who succeeded his father as 2nd Lord Mackenzie in March 1611, was created earl of Seaforth in 1623.
Colin's successor was his half-brother
George (d. 1651), who became the 2nd earl in 1633. George was alternately a royalist and a
covenanter between 1636 and 1646, and was afterwards in Holland with
Charles II, who made him
Secretary of State for Scotland. His grandson,
Kenneth, the 4th earl, followed
James VII to France and was with the dethroned king in Ireland. Elevated by James in 1690, to Marquess of Seaforth (in the
Jacobite peerage), he was sent to head a rising in Scotland. He was soon captured and imprisoned. He was released in 1697 and died in Paris in January 1701.
His successor was his son
William, who joined the
Jacobite standard at
Braemar, during the
rising of 1715, and then, having raised 3000 men, was present at the
battle of Sheriffmuir and was appointed lieutenant-general of the northern counties. He also took part in the Jacobite enterprise of 1719, being wounded at
Glenshiel. In 1716 he was
attainted and his titles and estates forfeited; before his death in January 1740, he had...
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