William Duff, 1st Earl Fife (1697 – 30 September 1763), of Braco, Banff, was a Scottish landowner and politician who sat in the

House of Commons The House of Commons is the name for the elected lower house of the Bicameralism, bicameral parliaments of the United Kingdom and Canada. In both of these countries, the Commons holds much more legislative power than the nominally upper house of ...

from 1727 to 1734.

Early life

Duff was the eldest surviving son of William Duff, merchant, of Dipple and Braco, and his wife Jean Gordon, daughter of Sir George Gordon,

Shire Commissioner A commissioner was a legislator appointed or elected to represent a royal burgh or shire in the Parliament of Scotland and the associated Convention of the Estates. Member of Parliament (MP) and Deputy are equivalent terms in other countri ...

in the

Parliament of Scotland In modern politics and history, a parliament is a legislative body of government. Generally, a modern parliament has three functions: Representation (politics), representing the Election#Suffrage, electorate, making laws, and overseeing ...

, of Edinglassie, Aberdeen.The Complete Peerage (V. Gibbs & H. A. Doubleday (eds.), 1926) Vol. V, p. 376

Career

Duff was returned unopposed as Member of Parliament for

Banffshire Banffshire (; ; ) is a historic county in Scotland. The county town is Banff, although the largest settlement is Buckie to the west. The historic county ceased to be used for local government purposes in 1975. Since 1996 the area has been spli ...

at the

1727 British general election The 1727 British general election returned members to serve in the House of Commons of the 7th Parliament of Great Britain to be summoned, after the merger of the Parliament of England and the Parliament of Scotland in 1707. The election was trigg ...

. He spoke and voted against the Government on the Hessians in 1730 and also voted against the Administration on the repeal of the Septennial Act in 1734. At the

1734 British general election The 1734 British general election returned members to serve in the House of Commons of Great Britain, House of Commons of the 8th Parliament of Great Britain to be summoned, after the merger of the Parliament of England and the Parliament of Scot ...

, he stood down in favour of his brother-in-law James Abercromby. Abercrombie was a government supporter, and as a reward, Duff was created Lord Braco of Kilbryde in the

Peerage of Ireland The peerage of Ireland consists of those Peerage, titles of nobility created by the English monarchs in their capacity as Lordship of Ireland, Lord or Monarchy of Ireland, King of Ireland, or later by monarchs of the United Kingdom of Great B ...

on 28 July 1735. He continued to dominate the political scene at Banffshire. In 1740, he commissioned the construction of

Duff House Duff House is a Georgian estate house in Banff, Aberdeenshire, Scotland. Now in the care of Historic Environment Scotland, it is part of the National Galleries Scotland and is a Category A listed building. The house is built of ashlar in ...

in Banff. He was later created

Earl Fife Earl Fife was a title in the Peerage of Ireland created by letters patent dated 26 April 1759 for William Duff, 1st Earl Fife, William Duff, 1st Baron Braco, after asserting (but not proving) his descent from Macduff, the medieval Earl of Fife. ...

and Viscount Macduff, also in the peerage of Ireland, by letters patent dated 26 April 1759, after proving his descent from the MacDuffs,

Earls of Fife The Earl of Fife or Mormaer of Fife was the ruler of the province of Fife in medieval Scotland, which encompassed the modern counties of Fife and Kinross. Due to their royal ancestry, the earls of Fife were the highest ranking nobles in the re ...

Personal life

In 1719 he married Lady Janet Forbes (–1720), widow of Hugh Forbes, Younger of Craigievar, and second daughter of

James Ogilvy, 4th Earl of Findlater James Ogilvy, 4th Earl of Findlater and 1st Earl of Seafield, (11 July 166419 August 1730) was a Scottish politician, prominent during the reign of Queen Anne. He was created Earl of Seafield in 1701 and was an active supporter of the 1707 Ac ...

and the former Anne Dunbar (a daughter of

Sir William Dunbar, 1st Baronet ''Sir'' is a formal honorific address in English for men, derived from Sire in the High Middle Ages. Both are derived from the old French "" (Lord), brought to England by the French-speaking Normans, and which now exist in French only as part ...

). After her death in 1720, he married Jean Grant (1705–1788), second daughter of Sir James Grant, 6th Baronet, of Pluscardine. in 1723. He inherited substantial estates from his father on his death in 1722. By his second wife Jean he had seven sons and seven daughters, including: * Hon. William Duff (1724–1753), who died unmarried.G.E. Cokayne; with Vicary Gibbs, H.A. Doubleday, Geoffrey H. White, Duncan Warrand and Lord Howard de Walden, editors, ''The Complete Peerage of England, Scotland, Ireland, Great Britain and the United Kingdom, Extant, Extinct or Dormant, new ed., 13 volumes in 14'' (1910-1959; reprint in 6 volumes,

Gloucester Gloucester ( ) is a cathedral city, non-metropolitan district and the county town of Gloucestershire in the South West England, South West of England. Gloucester lies on the River Severn, between the Cotswolds to the east and the Forest of Dean ...

Alan Sutton Publishing The History Press is a British publishing company specialising in the publication of titles devoted to local and specialist history. It claims to be the United Kingdom's largest independent publisher in this field, publishing approximately 300 ...

, 2000), volume V, page 378. * Lady Anne Duff (1725–1805), who married Alexander Duff, 2nd of Hatton, son of Alexander Duff, 1st of Hatton, in 1745. * Lady Janet Duff (1727–1758), who married Sir William Gordon of Park, 3rd Baronet, son of Sir James Gordon of Park, 2nd Baronet and Hon. Helen Fraser (a daughter of William Fraser, 12th Lord Saltoun), in 1745. After his death, she married George Hay of Mountblary, son of Andrew Hay. *

James Duff, 2nd Earl Fife James Duff, 2nd Earl Fife (29 September 1729 – 1809) was a Scottish aristocrat and Member of Parliament. Heritage James Duff was second son of William Duff, 1st Earl Fife, and Jean Grant (daughter of Sir James Grant of Pluscardine, Baron ...

(1729–1809), MP for Elginshire and

; he married Lady Dorothea Sinclair, only child of Alexander Sinclair, 9th Earl of Caithness, in 1759. *

Alexander Duff, 3rd Earl Fife Alexander Duff, 3rd Earl Fife (18 April 1731 – 17 April 1811) was a Scottish nobleman. Early life Duff was born on 18 April 1731. He was a son of William Duff, 1st Earl Fife, and, his second wife, Jean Grant. Among his siblings were brothers J ...

(1731–1811), who married Mary Skene, daughter of George Skene, 18th of Skene, in 1775. * Lady Jane Duff (1732–1776), who married Keith Urquhart of Meldrum, son of William Urquhart, in 1753. * Hon. George Duff (1736–1828), who married Frances Dalzell, daughter of Gibson Dalzell, in 1757. * Hon. Ludovic Duff (1737–1811), who married Deborah Davis, daughter of Griffith Davis, in 1767. * Patrick Duff (1738–1738), who died young. * Lady Helen Duff (1739–1778), who married

Vice-Admiral Vice admiral is a senior naval flag officer rank, usually equivalent to lieutenant general and air marshal. A vice admiral is typically senior to a rear admiral and junior to an admiral. Australia In the Royal Australian Navy, the rank of vic ...

Robert Duff of Logie and Fetteresso, son of Patrick Duff, in 1764. * Lady Sophia Henrietta Duff (1740–1826), who married Thomas Wharton-Duff in 1774. * Lady Catherine Duff (1741–1765), who died unmarried. * Hon.

Arthur Duff Arthur Knox Duff (13 March 1899 – 23 September 1956) was an Irish composer and conductor, best known for his short orchestral pieces such as the Handel-inspired ''Echoes of Georgian Dublin''. His career also encompassed senior positions in the ...

(1743–1805), MP for Elginshire who died unmarried. * Lady Margaret Duff (1745–1786), who married James Brodie, 21st

Thane Thane (; previously known as Thana, List of renamed Indian cities and states#Maharashtra, the official name until 1996) is a metropolitan city located on the northwestern side of the list of Indian states, state of Maharashtra in India and on ...

and Chief of

Clan Brodie Clan Brodie is a Scottish clan whose origins are uncertain. The first known Brodie Clan chief, chiefs were the thegn, Thanes of Brodie and Dyke in Morayshire. The Brodies were present in several clan conflicts and, during the Wars of the Three ...

, son of James Brodie, in 1768. Lord Fife died on 30 September 1763, and was buried in the parish church of

Grange Grange may refer to: Buildings * Grange House, Scotland, built in 1564, and demolished in 1906 * Grange Estate, Pennsylvania, built in 1682 * The Grange (Toronto), Toronto, Ontario, built in 1817 * Monastic grange, a farming estate belonging to ...

, before being moved to the mausoleum at Duff House. He was succeeded by his eldest surviving son

James James may refer to: People * James (given name) * James (surname) * James (musician), aka Faruq Mahfuz Anam James, (born 1964), Bollywood musician * James, brother of Jesus * King James (disambiguation), various kings named James * Prince Ja ...

. On his death without issue in 1809, he was succeeded by his younger brother

Alexander Alexander () is a male name of Greek origin. The most prominent bearer of the name is Alexander the Great, the king of the Ancient Greek kingdom of Macedonia who created one of the largest empires in ancient history. Variants listed here ar ...

.Mosley, Charles, editor. ''Burke's Peerage, Baronetage & Knightage, 107th edition, 3 volumes.''

Wilmington, Delaware Wilmington is the List of municipalities in Delaware, most populous city in the U.S. state of Delaware. The city was built on the site of Fort Christina, the first Swedish colonization of the Americas, Swedish settlement in North America. It lie ...

Burke's Peerage Burke's Peerage Limited is a British genealogical publisher, considered an authority on the order of precedence of noble families and information on the lesser nobility of the United Kingdom. It was founded in 1826, when the Anglo-Irish genea ...

(Genealogical Books) Ltd, 2003, volume 1, page 1426.

References

External links

Macduff baronage
, - {{DEFAULTSORT:Fife, William Duff, 1st Earl 1697 births 1763 deaths Nobility from Aberdeenshire Peers of Ireland created by George II Members of the Parliament of Great Britain for Scottish constituencies

William William is a masculine given name of Germanic languages, Germanic origin. It became popular in England after the Norman Conquest, Norman conquest in 1066,All Things William"Meaning & Origin of the Name"/ref> and remained so throughout the Middle ...

Duff family