Earl of Crawford
Earl of Crawford is one of the most ancient titles extant in Great Britain, having been created in the Peerage of Scotland in 1398 for Sir David Lindsay. It is the premier earldom recorded on the Union Roll.
Early history
Sir David Lindsay, who married Elizabeth Stewart, Countess of Crawford, a daughter of Robert II, was the 9th baron of Crawford, Lanarkshire. He was given the title of Earl of Crawford by Robert II in 1398, along with Crawford Castle.The title descended to the first Earl's descendants without much incident, until the death of David Lindsay, 8th Earl of Crawford, in 1542. The eighth Earl had a son, Alexander, commonly called the Wicked Master, who frequently quarrelled with his father and even tried to murder him. The Wicked Master was sentenced to death for his crime, and the eighth Earl conveyed his title to a cousin, also called David Lindsay, a descendant of the third Earl of Crawford, and excluded from the succession all of the Wicked Master's descendants. However, the ninth earl, although he had his own sons, named the Wicked Master's son David as his heir; thus, in 1558, at the ninth Earl's death, the earldom returned to the main branch of the family. The ninth Earl is frequently referred to as an interpolated Earl, as are the 17th-22nd Earls.
Later history
At the death of Ludovic Lindsay, 16th Earl of Crawford, the title was passed, despite senior heirs, to a cousin, John, who had already been created Earl of Lindsay. The earldoms of Crawford and Lindsay continued to be united until the 22nd earl died unmarried in January 1808. The two earldoms then became dormant until the respective heirs could prove their claims to the titles.In 1843, James Lindsay, 7th Earl of Balcarres put forward his claim to the Earldom of Crawford; in 1848, the House of Lords allowed it. The claim was based on the extensive research of his son Lord Lindsay. It was held that the seventh Earl's father, the sixth Earl, was the lawful successor to the earldom of Crawford ; therefore, the sixth Earl of Balcarres was posthumously declared the 23rd Earl of Crawford, and his son, the seventh Earl of Balcarres, became the 24th Earl of Crawford. Thereafter, these two earldoms have remained united.
Between 1963 and 2019, the 28th Earl and the 29th Earl acted as Premier Earl of Scotland.
Subsidiary titles
The subsidiary titles associated with the Earl of Crawford and Balcarres are: Lord Lindsay of Crawford, Lord Lindsay and Balniel and Baron Wigan of Haigh Hall. The former two subsidiary titles, as well as the two Earldoms, are in the Peerage of Scotland. The barony is in the Peerage of [the United Kingdom], and so entitled the Earls of Crawford and Balcarres to sit in the House of Lords even before the passage of the Peerage Act 1963 extended that right to peers of Scotland.The 29th Earl sat in the House of Lords as Baron Balniel, of Pitcorthie in the County of Fife, a peerage under the Life Peerages Act 1958 conferred on him in 1974 after leaving the House of Commons in the aftermath of the October 1974 general election while his father was still living.
The Earl of Crawford is the hereditary Clan Chief of Clan Lindsay.
Family seat
The family seat is Balcarres House in Colinsburgh, Fife. Until the 1940s they were also seated at Haigh Hall, Lancashire. The traditional burial place of the Earls of Crawford is the family chapel at Balcarres House.Earls of Crawford (1398)
- David Lindsay, 1st Earl of Crawford
- Alexander Lindsay, 2nd Earl of Crawford
- David Lindsay, 3rd Earl of Crawford
- Alexander Lindsay, 4th Earl of Crawford
- David Lindsay, 1st Duke of Montrose, 5th Earl of Crawford
- John Lindsay, 6th Earl of Crawford
- Alexander Lindsay, 7th Earl of Crawford
- David Lindsay, 8th Earl of Crawford
- David Lindsay, 9th Earl of Crawford
- David Lindsay, 10th Earl of Crawford
- David Lindsay, 11th Earl of Crawford
- David Lindsay, 12th Earl of Crawford
- Henry Lindsay, 13th Earl of Crawford
- George Lindsay, 14th Earl of Crawford
- Alexander Lindsay, 15th Earl of Crawford
- Ludovic Lindsay, 16th Earl of Crawford
Earls of Crawford (1642)
- John Lindsay, 17th Earl of Crawford, 1st Earl of Lindsay
- William Lindsay, 18th Earl of Crawford, 2nd Earl of Lindsay
- John Lindsay, 19th Earl of Crawford, 3rd Earl of Lindsay
- John Lindsay, 20th Earl of Crawford, 4th Earl of Lindsay
- George Lindsay-Crawford, 21st Earl of Crawford, 5th Earl of Lindsay
- George Lindsay-Crawford, 22nd Earl of Crawford, 6th Earl of Lindsay
- Alexander Lindsay, 23rd Earl of Crawford, 6th Earl of Balcarres
- James Lindsay, 24th Earl of Crawford, 7th Earl of Balcarres
- Alexander Lindsay, 25th Earl of Crawford, 8th Earl of Balcarres
- James Ludovic Lindsay, 26th Earl of Crawford, 9th Earl of Balcarres
- David Alexander Edward Lindsay, 27th Earl of Crawford, 10th Earl of Balcarres
- David Alexander Robert Lindsay, 28th Earl of Crawford, 11th Earl of Balcarres
- Robert Alexander Lindsay, 29th Earl of Crawford, 12th Earl of Balcarres
- Anthony Robert Lindsay, 30th Earl of Crawford, 13th Earl of Balcarres
The heir apparent’s heir apparent is Ludovic James Lindsay, Master of Crawford