The titles of Viscount of Melfort and Lord Drummond of Gillestoun were created in the
Peerage of Scotland on 14 April 1685 for
John Drummond, second son of
James Drummond, 3rd Earl of Perth, with remainder to the heirs male of his body by his second marriage, to Euphemia Wallace, failing whom to the heirs male of his body whatsoever. He was further created, on 12 August 1686, Earl of Melfort, Viscount of Forth and Lord Drummond of Riccartoun, Castlemains and Gilstoun, also in the peerage of Scotland, and with a similar remainder.
A supporter of
King James II and VII, Melfort escaped to France on 16 December 1688, following the "
Glorious Revolution" which installed
William of Orange and
Mary II on the English and Scottish thrones. Drummond was further created ''Baron Cleworth'' in the
Jacobite Peerage of England by the exiled monarch, on 7 August 1689, and ''Duke of Melfort'', ''Marquess of Forth'', ''Earl of Isla and Burntisland'', ''Viscount of Rickerton'' and ''Lord Castlemains and Galston'' in the Jacobite Peerage of Scotland 17 April 1692, all with a similar remainder to the 1685 viscountcy.
The 1st Earl and titular 1st Duke of Melfort was outlawed by the ''de facto'' régime in England on 23 July 1694 and was
attainted by Act of Parliament on 2 July 1695, when his honours became forfeit. In 1701, after the death of James II and VII, the Duke of Melfort was granted the honours and precedence of a French peer by
Louis XIV
, house = Bourbon
, father = Louis XIII
, mother = Anne of Austria
, birth_date =
, birth_place = Château de Saint-Germain-en-Laye, Saint-Germain-en-Laye, France
, death_date =
, death_place = Palace of Ver ...
. He and his descendants used the title "Duc de Melfort" in France, but this was a French translation of their Jacobite dukedom and not a French dukedom. The dukedom was never recognised by the governments of England and later of
Great Britain
Great Britain is an island in the North Atlantic Ocean off the northwest coast of continental Europe. With an area of , it is the largest of the British Isles, the largest European island and the ninth-largest island in the world. It i ...
.
On 2 July 1800 the titular 4th Duke of Melfort succeeded as heir male to the attainted
Earldom of Perth and as titular 9th Duke of Perth, Marquess of Drummond, Earl of Stobhall, Viscount of Cargill and Lord Concraig, on the death of his
second cousin once removed
Most generally, in the lineal kinship system used in the English-speaking world, a cousin is a type of familial relationship in which two relatives are two or more familial generations away from their most recent common ancestor. Commonly, ...
, James Drummond, Lord Perth and Baron Drummond of Stobhall, a descendant of the 1st Earl and Duke of Melfort from his first marriage, to Sophie Maitland. In 1841 the titular 6th Duke of Melfort established his right before the French
Council of State
A Council of State is a governmental body in a country, or a subdivision of a country, with a function that varies by jurisdiction. It may be the formal name for the cabinet or it may refer to a non-executive advisory body associated with a head o ...
and the ''
Tribunal de la Seine'' to the French titles of ''Duc de Melfort'', ''Comte de Lussan'' and ''Baron de Valrose'' (his great-grandfather the 2nd Duke of Melfort had been married in 1707 to Marie Gabrielle d'Audebert, widow of the
Duke of Albemarle
The Dukedom of Albemarle () has been created twice in the Peerage of England, each time ending in extinction. Additionally, the title was created a third time by James II in exile and a fourth time by his son the Old Pretender, in the Jacobite ...
and only daughter of Jean d'Audebert, Comte de Lussan). The titular 6th Duke of Melfort proved to the incumbent British authorities his descent from the 1st Earl of Melfort in 1848, and by a reversal of his ancestors' attainder on 28 June 1853 became 5th Earl of Perth and Lord Drummond of Stobhall, Earl of Melfort, Viscount of Forth and Lord Drummond of Riccartoun, Castlemains and Gilstoun, Viscount of Melfort and Lord Drummond of Gillestoun and Lord Drummond of Cargill. He died on 28 February 1902, when the Melfort titles became dormant or extinct and the Perth titles passed to the
Viscount of Strathallan {{Use dmy dates, date=November 2019
The title of Lord Maderty was created in 1609 for James Drummond, a younger son of the 2nd Lord Drummond of Cargill. The titles of Viscount Strathallan and Lord Drummond of Cromlix were created in 1686 for Willia ...
.
Viscounts (1685), Earls (1686) and titular Dukes (1692) of Melfort
*
John Drummond, 1st Duke of Melfort (1650–1714), attainted 1695
*
John Drummond, 2nd Duke of Melfort
John is a common English name and surname:
* John (given name)
* John (surname)
John may also refer to:
New Testament
Works
* Gospel of John, a title often shortened to John
* First Epistle of John, often shortened to 1 John
* Second ...
(1682–1754)
*
James Drummond, 3rd Duke of Melfort (1708–1766)
*
James Louis Drummond, 4th Duke of Melfort (1750–1800)
*
Charles Edouard Drummond, 5th Duke of Melfort (1752–1840)
*
George Drummond, 5th Earl of Perth (1807–1902), restored 1853
{{DEFAULTSORT:Melfort
Extinct earldoms in the Peerage of Scotland
*
Dormant earldoms in the Peerage of Scotland
Noble titles created in 1686