1st Earl of Seafield

THE EARLS OF SEAFIELD WERE THE GREATEST LANDOWNERS IN MORAY, WITH 96,721 ACRES 

This family descends from a younger son of the noble house of AIRLIE.

SIR WALTER OGILVY, Knight, of Auchleven, second son of the Treasurer of Scotland, Ogilvie, by Isabel Durward, heir of Lintrathen, who married Margaret, only daughter and heir of Sir John Sinclair, of Deskford and Findlater, and thereby acquired those estates.

Sir Walter obtained permission from the Crown, in 1455, to fortify his castle at Findlater, and to make it a place of strength.

He died in 1473, and was succeeded by his eldest son,

SIR JAMES OGILVY, Knight, of Deskford and Findlater, who wedded Margaret, eldest daughter of Sir Robert Innes, of Innes, and was succeeded in 1510 by his grandson,

ALEXANDER OGILVY (son of Sir James Ogilvy, who died in 1505-6, by Agnes, natural daughter of George, 2nd Earl of Huntley), who obtained a charter, in 1511, for incorporating the lands of Deskford, Findlater, and Keithmore into one entire barony, to be designated by the name of Ogilvy.

He married Janet, second daughter of James Abernethy, 3rd Lord Saltoun, and had a son, JAMES, whom he disinherited, settling estates upon John Gordon, 2nd son of George, 4th Earl of Huntley; but after a feud and some bloodshed between the Gordons and Ogilvys, the baronies of Deskford and Findlater were restored by an arbitration, of which QUEEN MARY was overs-woman.

The rightful heir,

JAMES OGILVY,  of Cardell, who was succeeded by his grandson,

SIR WALTER OGILVY, Knight, who was elevated to the peerage, in 1616, in the dignity of Lord Ogilvy of Deskford.

His lordship wedded firstly, Agnes, eldest daughter of Robert, 3rd Lord Elphinstone, by whom he had a daughter,

Christian, married to Sir John Forbes of Pitsligo.

He espoused secondly, the Lady Mary Douglas, third daughter of William, Earl of Morton, and had by that lady,

JAMES, 2nd Lord, who was created, in 1638, Earl of Findlater.

His lordship married the Lady Elizabeth Leslie, daughter of Andrew, 5th Earl of Rothes, by whom he had two daughters,

ELIZABETH, m Sir Patrick Ogilvy, of Inchmartin;
Anne, m William, 9th Earl of Glencairn, LORD CHANCELLOR OF SCOTLAND.

He married secondly, the Lady Marion Cunningham, daughter of William, 8th Earl of Glencairn, but by her he had no issue.

Lord Findlater thus having no male issue, procured a renewed patent, dated 1641, conferring the titles of Earl and Countess of Findlater upon his son-in-law, Sir Patrick Ogilvy, and that gentleman's wife, the Lady Elizabeth Ogilvy, his lordship's elder daughter.

At his decease the peerage so devolved upon

SIR PATRICK OGILVY AND HIS LADY, as Earl and Countess of Findlater.

His lordship died in 1658, and was succeeded by his son,

JAMES, 3rd Earl, whose eldest surviving son,

JAMES, 4th Earl, a lawyer of great eminence at the Scottish bar, who filled successively the offices of Solicitor-General and Secretary of State for Scotland; Lord Chief Baron of the Exchequer; and High Commisssioner to the General Assembly of the church.

His lordship had been elevated to the peerage before the decease of his father, in 1698, in the dignity of Viscount Seafield; and, in 1701, Viscount Reidhaven and EARL OF SEAFIELD.

• James Ogilvy, 4th Earl of Findlater, 1st Earl of Seafield (1663–1730)
• James Ogilvy, 5th Earl of Findlater, 2nd Earl of Seafield (died 1764)
• James Ogilvy, 6th Earl of Findlater, 3rd Earl of Seafield (died 1770)
• James Ogilvy, 7th Earl of Findlater, 4th Earl of Seafield (1750–1811) (earldom of Findlater extinct)

Earls of Seafield (1701)

• Lewis Alexander Grant-Ogilvy, 5th Earl (1767–1840)
• Francis William Ogilvy-Grant, 6th Earl (1778–1853)
• John Charles Ogilvy-Grant, 7th Earl (1815–81)
• Ian Charles Ogilvy-Grant, 8th Earl (1851–84)
• James Ogilvy-Grant, 9th Earl (1817–88)
• Francis William Ogilvy-Grant, 10th Earl (1847–88)
• James Ogilvie-Grant, 11th Earl (1876–1915)
• Nina Caroline Studley-Herbert, 12th Countess (1906–69)
• Ian Derek Francis Ogilvie-Grant, 13th Earl (born 1939)

The heir apparent is the present holder's son James Andrew Studley, styled Viscount Reidhaven (b 1963). He became a Muslim in 1990.

CULLEN HOUSE, Buckie, Moray, was the ancestral seat of the Earls of Seafield.

The main part of the house dates from 1543.

An east wing was added in 1711, and there were alterations by David Bryce in 1858.

The House and estate buildings were converted into fourteen dwellings in 1983.

Prior to the use of Cullen House by the Earls of Seafield, the castle of Findlater, now a ruin, on a rocky coastal outcrop about two miles to the east, was the seat.

Several hundred yards from Cullen House, on the site of the old village, stands Old Cullen, a dower house, Georgian in design. Formerly the Factor's house, it is now the residence of Lord and Lady Seafield.

The Earls of Seafield owned a further 160,224 acres of land in Inverness-shire, and 48,936 acres in Banffshire.

First published in February, 2016.  Seafield arms courtesy of European Heraldry.