Other Events and Attributes:

• Appointments / Titles: 1527, Sutherland, Scotland; Earl of Sutherland

Notes:

Alexander Gordon, Master of Sutherland (c.1505-1530), Scottish magnate, made Earl of Sutherland in 1527.

Early life
Alexander Gordon was the son of Adam Gordon of Aboyne (d.1538) and Elizabeth Sutherland, 10th Countess of Sutherland (d.1535), the daughter of John Sutherland, 8th Earl of Sutherland.

Sutherland estate
19th-20th century historian Angus Mackay rejects the history written by 17th century historian Sir Robert Gordon, 1st Baronet who himself was a son of Alexander Gordon, 12th, Earl of Sutherland. Sir Robert Gordon stated that between 1517 and 1522, John Mackay, 11th of Strathnaver led six warlike expeditions of his clansmen into Sutherland in which the Mackays were defeated in every one of them.[1] According to Sir Robert Gordon, one of these battles was the Battle of Torran Dubh, in which Elizabeth, Countess of Sutherland had persuaded her half brother, Alexander Sutherland, to resist John Mackay, whose sister Alexander Sutherland later married.[1] However, both historians Angus Mackay and Sir William Fraser show that it can be proved that Alexander Sutherland was in prison in 1517 when the Battle of Torran Dubh is supposed to have taken place.[2] Angus Mackay says that the Battle of Torran Dubh was actually fought by the Clan Mackay against the Murrays, Clan Ross and Clan Gunn, and not against the family of Sutherland.[3] According to historian Angus Mackay a few months after the battle another skirmish took place upon the borders of Ross in the parish of Rogart in which on one side William Mackay, chieftain of the Mackay of Aberach branch of clan was killed as was his brother Donald, and on the other side was killed John Murray of Aberscross.[1] Shortly after this the Mackays burned the town of Pitfure in Strathfleet, Rogart.[1] However, this was immediately followed by a bond of friendship between the Mackays and Adam Gordon, Earl of Sutherland dated 16 August 1518, in which Mackay renewed the bond that his father had made with the Gordon Earl of Sutherland before him.[1] Angus Mackay states that historian Sir Robert Gordon incorrectly refers to these skirmishes as "defeats" for the Mackays, and that Gordon also fails to mention that the Mackays rounded the year off by securing a title to the lands in the said parish of Rogart as confirmed by the Reay Papers.[1] Angus Mackay also disputes Sir Robert Gordon's account that in 1522, Sir Alexander Gordon, Master of Sutherland overthrew John Mackay of Strathnaver at Lairg and that Mackay then submitted himself to Gordon, the Earl of Sutherland.[1] Angus Mackay explains that Earl Adam, resigning the earldom into his son Alexander's hands was simply renewing the bond of friendship that he had made with Mackay in 1518 this time with his son Alexander.[1]

William Sutherland, 6th of Duffus, as the new Laird of Skelbo and having entered into a fresh acquisition of territory gave a bond of manrent to Alexander Gordon, Master of Sutherland on September 4, 1529 which acknowledged that the Master of Sutherland had received him as a tenant and vassal in the lands. A breach of the bond of service and manrent would incur a fine of £1500 Scots, £500 of which would have to be paid to Dornoch Cathedral, £500 to the Master of Sutherland and £500 to the King.[4]

Perhaps in connection with Alexander's marriage to Janet Stewart, daughter of John Stewart, 2nd Earl of Atholl, his parents resigned the Earldom of Sutherland to Alexander in November 1527, and a crown charter to this effect was issued in December. Alexander, now Earl of Sutherland lived at Dunrobin Castle, and died there on 13 January 1530.[5]

Master's charter
Alexander's royal charter of the earldom, dated 1 December 1527 describes his parents as the Earl of Countess of Sutherland. They resigned to him the earldom of Sutherland and its lands, Dunrobin with all its tenants and outliers, mills, sea and freshwater fishing, patronage of the church and chapel there, with some reservations to Adam and Elizabeth in their lifetimes. As Alexander pre-deceased his parents, he did not profit from the earldom in full.[6]

Family
With Janet Stewart, Alexander had children:

John Gordon, 11th Earl of Sutherland
Alexander Gordon (of Kintessock), (d.1552)
William Gordon
Janet Gordon, married Patrick Dunbar of Westfield and Cumnock
Beatrice Gordon, married William Sinclair of Dunbeath.
References
Robert Gordon of Gordonstoun, A Genealogical History of the Earldom of Sutherland, from Its Origin to the Year 1630; with a Continuation to the Year 1651, Edinburgh (1813)
Mackay, Angus (1906). The Book of Mackay. pp. 77–85.
Mackay, Angus. (1906). The Book of Mackay. p. 82. Quoting: Fraser, Sir William, The Sutherland Book.
Mackay, Angus. (1906). The Book of Mackay. pp. 82 – 83. Quoting: the MS Account of the Gunns.
Paul, James Balfour (1906). The Scots Peerage; Founded on Wood's Edition of Sir Robert Douglas's Peerage of Scotland; Containing an Historical and Genealogical Account of the Nobility of that Kingdom. Vol. III. Edinburgh: David Douglas. pp. 197-198. Retrieved 28 August 2021.
Fraser, William, ed., Sutherland Book, vol.1 (1892), pp.90-98
Register of the Great Seal of Scotland, 1513-1546, (1883), p.116 no.520

Alexander married Stewart, Lady Janet. Janet (daughter of Stewart, Earl John II and Campbell, Lady Janet Mary) was born on 17 Jul 1502 in Scotland; died on 5 Oct 1562 in Richmond Palace (Demolished), Surrey, England. [Group Sheet] [Family Chart]

Other Events and Attributes:

• Appointments / Titles: Countess of Sutherland
• FSID: LJLL-LF2
• Residence: Edinburgh, Midlothian, Scotland

Notes:

Henry was discovered to have been keeping a mistress in one of Margaret's castles. Margaret Tudor wished to divorce him but James V was reluctant to allow it. After she died in 1541, Methven was able to marry his mistress, Janet Stewart, daughter of John Stewart, 2nd Earl of Atholl and Lady Janet Campbell. Her maternal grandparents were Archibald Campbell, 2nd Earl of Argyll and Elizabeth Stewart. Elizabeth was a daughter of John Stewart, 1st Earl of Lennox and Margaret Montgomerie. Margaret was a daughter of Alexander Montgomerie, 1st Lord Montgomerie and Margaret Boyd.

Other Events and Attributes:

• Appointments / Titles: Scotland; 2nd Earl of Auchleuchries
• Appointments / Titles: Lennox, Scotland; 2nd Earl of Lennox
• Appointments / Titles: Restalrig, Midlothian, Scotland; 4th Baron
• Appointments / Titles: Earl of Marr
• Appointments / Titles: Darnley Mill, Renfrewshire, Scotland; Lord Darnley
• House: Stewart
• FSID: LZNF-SRR
• Residence: Coldingham, Berwickshire, Scotland
• Appointments / Titles: 19 Apr 1475, Atholl, Perthshire, Scotland; 2nd Earl
• Appointments / Titles: 1497, Glasgow, Lanarkshire, Scotland; Lord Provost of Glasgow
• Appointments / Titles: Between 1509 and 1513, Glasgow, Lanarkshire, Scotland; Lord Provost of Glasgow
• Military: 9 Sep 1513, Battle of Flodden Field, Branxton, Northumberland, England

Notes:

II. John, second Earl of Atholl, succeeded his father. He is usually stated to have fallen at Flodden, but in reality he died after 1520, and before 1522. On 3 May 1522 his son was infeft as heir by a precept from chancery dated 4 January 1521-22. He married Janet, daughter of Archibald Campbell, second Earl of Argyll, who survived him, and died about Candlemas 1545-46. Had issue:-
1. John, third Earl.
2. Janet, married, first, about 1520, to Alexander Gordon, Master of Sutherland, eldest son of Adam Earl of Sutherland; secondly, before 1532, to Sir Hugh Kennedy of Girvanmains; thirdly, before 1544, to Henry Stewart, Lord Methven; fourthly, in 1557, to Patrick, Lord Ruthven.
3. Helen, married to John, fifth Lord Lindsay of the Byres. She was married, secondly, to Thomas Moncur, a dependant, and died May 1577. Her son Patrick, Lord Lindsay, attempted to stop this marriage in January 1564.
4. Jean, married, August 1507, to James Arbuthnott of that Ilk.
5. Elizabeth, stated to have been married to Colin Mackenzie of Kintail.
6. Isabel, stated to have been married to James Hering of Lethendy.

Source: THE SCOTS PEERAGE, ed. by Sir James Balfour Paul, Vol I, Edinburgh, 1906, p. 443.
——————————————

Death: Battle of Flodden Field,

John married Campbell, Lady Janet Mary in 1500 in Scotland. Janet was born on 23 Jun 1478 in Eglinton Castle,, Kilwinning, Ayrshire, Scotland; died on 2 Feb 1546 in Castle Balveny, Dufftown, Banffshire, Scotland; was buried after 2 Feb 1546 in Dunkeld Cathedral, Dunkeld, Perthshire, Scotland. [Group Sheet] [Family Chart]

Other Events and Attributes:

• Appointments / Titles: Countess of Argyll
• FSID: LBZB-Q9R
• Appointments / Titles: 15 Sep 1512; After her marriage, Lady Janet Campbell was styled as Countess of Atholl.
• Appointments / Titles: 15 Sep 1512, Atholl, Perthshire, Scotland; Countess of Atholl

Notes:

The Life Summary of Janet Mary
Lady Janet Mary Campbell was born in 1475, in Fife, Scotland, to her father, Sir Archibald Gillispie Campbell 2nd Earl of Argyll and Elizabeth Stewart of the Lennox Stewart Earls .She married Sir John Stewart 2nd Earl of Atholl on 20 June 1489, in Fife, Scotland. They were the parents of at least 2 sons and 6 daughters. She died on 2 February 1546, in her hometown, at the age of 71, and was buried in Dunkeld, Perthshire, Scotland.

Janet Campbell married to John Stewart, 2nd Earl of Atholl

http://fmg.ac/Projects/MedLands/SCOTTISH%20NOBILITY.htm#John2Atholldied1521

JOHN Stewart, son of Sir JOHN Stewart of Balveny 1st Earl of Atholl & his second wife Eleanor Sinclair (-1521). 2nd Earl of Atholl. m JANET Campbell, daughter of ARCHIBALD Campbell 2nd Earl of Argyll & his wife Elizabeth Stewart of the Earls of Lennox (-[2 Feb 1546]).

Earl John & his wife had six children:

Other Events and Attributes:

• Appointments / Titles: First Earl of Buchan
• Appointments / Titles: Lord Auchterhouse (by marriage)
• FSID: LZJ2-RSB
• Appointments / Titles: 1457, Scotland; 1st Earl of Atholl
• Life Event: 1484; Scottish Nobleman and Ambassador to England
• Possessions: 1 Apr 1517; Redeemed by Purchase

Notes:

PAF - RIN: 34592.

Sir John Stewart, first Earl of Atholl, was the son of Sir James Stewart, Black Knight of Lorn, and Lady Joan Beaufort. He was married to Beatrix (Margaret) Douglas, Fair Maid of Galloway who died before 1470. Their daughter, Janet Stewart, was married to Alexander Gordon, 3rd Earl of Huntley. After Beatrix's death, he married Eleanor of Nithsdale Sinclair by April 19, 1470

Their children are:

Lady Jean or Janet Stewart Arbuthnott
Sir John Stewart, 2nd Earl of Atholl
Anne Stewart (married to John Stewart, 3rd Earl of LennoxO
Andrew Stewart, Bishop of Caithness
Catherine Stewart
Christina Stewart
Margaret Stewart Murray
Elizabeth Stewart
Marjory Stewart
Isabel Stewart

John married Sinclair, Lady Eleanor on 19 Apr 1470 in Dunkeld Cathedral, Dunkeld, Perthshire, Scotland. Eleanor was born on 19 Apr 1457 in Ravenscraig Castle, Kirkcaldy, Fife, Scotland; died on 21 Mar 1518 in Laighwood Castle, Dunkeld, Perthshire, Scotland; was buried on 31 Mar 1518 in Dunkeld, Perthshire, Scotland. [Group Sheet] [Family Chart]

Other Events and Attributes:

• Appointments / Titles: 2nd Countess of Atholl
• FSID: LYVL-B5N

Notes:

The Life Summary of Eleanor

When Lady Eleanor Sinclair was born on 19 April 1457, in Kirkcaldy, Fife, Scotland, her father, William Sinclair, was 49 and her mother, Marjory Sutherland, was 21. She married Sir John Stewart of Balveny, 1st Earl of Atholl on 19 April 1470, in Dunkeld, Perthshire, Scotland, United Kingdom. They were the parents of at least 2 sons and 9 daughters. She died on 21 March 1518, in Dunkeld, Perthshire, Scotland, at the age of 60, and was buried in Dunkeld, Perthshire, Scotland.

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