1st Earl Cawdor

THE EARLS CAWDOR WERE THE LARGEST LANDOWNERS IN NAIRNSHIRE, WITH 46,176 ACRES

This is a branch of the ducal house of ARGYLL, springing from the Hon Sir John Campbell, third son of Archibald, 2nd Earl of Argyll.

SIR ALEXANDER CAMPBELL OF CAWDOR wedded Elizabeth, daughter of Sir John Lort, 2nd Baronet (c1637-c1673), of Stackpole Court, Pembrokeshire, and sole heiress of Sir Gilbert Lort, 3rd Baronet.

JOHN CAMPBELL OF CAWDOR (1695-1777), of Cawdor Castle, Nairnshire, and Stackpole Court (son and heir of Sir Alexander Campbell), married Mary, eldest daughter and co-heir of Lewis Pryse, and had issue,

PRYSE, his heir;
John Hooke, Lord Lyon King of Arms;
Alexander;
Anne.

The eldest son,

PRYSE CAMPBELL (1727-68), of Cawdor Castle, and Stackpole Court, Pembrokeshire, MP for Inverness-shire, 1754-61, Nairnshire, 1761-8, Cardigan Boroughs, 1868, Lord of the Treasury, 1766, wedded Sarah, daughter and co-heir of Sir Edmund Bacon Bt, and was succeeded by his son,

JOHN CAMPBELL (1753-1821), who was elevated to the peerage, in 1796, in the dignity of Baron Cawdor, of Castlemartin, Pembrokeshire.

His lordship had previously represented the town of Cardigan in parliament.

He wedded, in 1789, the Lady Caroline Howard, eldest daughter of Frederick, 5th Earl of Carlisle, and had issue, his eldest son,

JOHN FREDERICK, 2nd Baron (1790-1860), who married, in 1816, the Lady Elizabeth Thynne, eldest daughter of Thomas, 2nd Marquess of Bath.

His lordship was advanced to the dignity of an earldom, in 1827, as EARL CAWDOR.

• John Frederick Campbell, 1st Earl (1790–1860);
• John Frederick Vaughan Campbell, 2nd Earl (1817–98);
• Frederick Archibald Vaughan Campbell, 3rd Earl (1847–1911);
• Hugh Frederick Vaughan Campbell, 4th Earl (1870–1914);
• John Duncan Vaughan Campbell, 5th Earl (1900–70);
• Hugh John Vaughan Campbell, 6th Earl (1932–93);
• Colin Robert Vaughan Campbell, 7th Earl (b 1962).

The heir apparent is the present holder's son James Chester Campbell, styled Viscount Emlyn (b 1998).

CAWDOR CASTLE, near Nairn, is the ancestral seat of the Earls Cawdor.

The earliest documented date for the castle is 1454, the date a licence to fortify was granted to William Calder, 6th Thane of Cawdor (or Calder, as the name was originally spelled).

However, some portions of the 15th-century tower house or keep may precede that date.

Architectural historians have dated the style of stonework in the oldest portion of the castle to ca 1380.

The castle was expanded numerous times in the succeeding centuries.

In 1510, the heiress of the Calders, Muriel, married Sir John Campbell of Muckairn, who set about extending the castle.

Further improvements were made by John Campbell, 3rd of Cawdor, who purchased rich lands on Islay.

By 1635, a garden had been added; and after the Restoration, Sir Hugh Campbell of Cawdor added or improved the north and west ranges, employing the masons James and Robert Nicolson of Nairn.

The architects Thomas Mackenzie and Alexander Ross were commissioned to add the southern and eastern ranges to enclose a courtyard, accessed by a drawbridge.

In the 20th century John, 5th Earl Cawdor, moved permanently to Cawdor and was succeeded by the 6th Earl, whose second wife Angelika, the Dowager Countess Cawdor, lives there still.

The castle is renowned for its gardens, which include the Walled Garden (originally planted in the 17th Century), the Flower Garden (18th century), and the Wild Garden (added in the 1960s).

In addition, the castle property includes a wood featuring numerous species of trees.

First published in January, 2014.   Cawdor arms courtesy of European Heraldry.