George Leslie, 1st Earl of Rothes (c. 1406/1417 – 1490) was a Scottish nobleman and the first to hold the title of "Earl of Rothes", a hereditary title of the ruler of

Leslie, Fife Leslie (Scottish Gaelic: Fiodh Chill) is a large village and parish on the northern tip of the River Leven Valley, to the west of Glenrothes in Fife. According to the population estimates (2006), the village has a population of 3,092. The village ...

and the lands belonging to the Earl of Rothes.

Family

George was the son of Norman Leslie of Fythkill in

Fife Fife (, ; gd, Fìobha, ; sco, Fife) is a council area, historic county, registration county and lieutenancy area of Scotland. It is situated between the Firth of Tay and the Firth of Forth, with inland boundaries with Perth and Kinross (i ...

, and was born sometime between 1406 and 1417. George was the brother of Elizabeth Leslie and father of George Leslie, First Laird of Aikenway; Christian Sinclair, Countess of Orkney; Andrew Leslie, Master of Rothes; Lady Elizabeth Leslie and John Leslie, First Laird of Pitnamoon. He was also the husband of Margaret Lundie, Christina Halyburton and Elizabeth Campbell.

Lord Leslie and Earl of Rothes

George was created Lord Leslie in 1445, and the title of

Earl of Rothes Earl of Rothes (pronounced "''Roth''-is") is a title in the Peerage of Scotland. It was created in 1458 for George Leslie, 1st Lord Leslie. He had already been created Lord Leslie in 1445, also in the Peerage of Scotland. His grandson, the thir ...

was created in 1458 in the

Peerage of Scotland The Peerage of Scotland ( gd, Moraireachd na h-Alba, sco, Peerage o Scotland) is one of the five divisions of peerages in the United Kingdom and for those peers created by the King of Scots before 1707. Following that year's Treaty of Union, ...

for him by

James II James II may refer to: * James II of Avesnes (died c. 1205), knight of the Fourth Crusade * James II of Majorca (died 1311), Lord of Montpellier * James II of Aragon (1267–1327), King of Sicily * James II, Count of La Marche (1370–1438), King C ...

. He died in 1490 at between 76 and 92 years old at the time; most likely 84.

Successor

Rothes was succeeded by his grandson, also called George Leslie, who ruled as Earl from 1492 to 1509. It is not known why there was a brief interregnum of Earls from 1490 to 1492, also some say

James IV James IV (17 March 1473 – 9 September 1513) was King of Scotland from 11 June 1488 until his death at the Battle of Flodden in 1513. He inherited the throne at the age of fifteen on the death of his father, James III, at the Battle of Sauchi ...

prevented him from being Earl until 1492.

References

1 Year of birth uncertain 1490 deaths {{Scotland-earl-stub