William Sutherland, 17th Earl of Sutherland, previously named William Gordon, 17th Earl of Sutherland,William Gordon (later Sutherland)
clanmacfarlanegenealogy.info. Retrieved January 1, 2017. (2 October 1708 – 1750), was a Scottish 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 until 1733 when he succeeded to the peerage as Earl of Sutherland. He was chief of the Clan Sutherland, a

Scottish clan A Scottish clan (from Scottish Gaelic , literally 'children', more broadly 'kindred') is a kinship group among the Scottish people. Clans give a sense of shared heritage and descent to members, and in modern times have an official structure r ...

of the

Scottish Highlands The Highlands (; , ) is a historical region of Scotland. Culturally, the Highlands and the Scottish Lowlands, Lowlands diverged from the Late Middle Ages into the modern period, when Scots language, Lowland Scots language replaced Scottish Gae ...

Early life

Sutherland was born as William Gordon, the eldest surviving son of William Gordon, Lord Strathnaver and his wife Catherine Morrison, daughter of William Morrison, MP, of Preston-grange, Haddington. His father died in 1720 and he succeeded his elder brother on 12 December 1720. He undertook a grand tour in France and Hanover from 1726 to 1727. 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 ...

Sutherland was put up by his grandfather for the constituency of

Sutherland Sutherland () is a Counties of Scotland, historic county, registration county and lieutenancy areas of Scotland, lieutenancy area in the Scottish Highlands, Highlands of Scotland. The name dates from the Scandinavian Scotland, Viking era when t ...

at the age of 18. There existed a resolution that the eldest sons of peers of Scotland should not sit in the House of Commons and his grandfather expressed the hope to the Duke of Argyll that this would not be invoked because Sutherland was a grandson, and not a son. He was returned as Member of Parliament without difficulty. In 1730 he claimed repayment for arms surrendered to the Government, under the Act for disarming the Highlands, but his claim was deferred because some of his receipts for arms appeared very suspicious. He voted with the Administration on the Hessians in 1730 and on the

Excise Bill The Excise Bill of 1733 was a proposal by the British government of Robert Walpole to impose an excise tax on a variety of products. This would have allowed Excise officers to search private dwellings to look for contraband untaxed goods. The per ...

in 1733. When he succeeded his grandfather John Gordon, 16th Earl of Sutherland as 17th Earl of Sutherland on 27 June 1733, he was said to have made a deal with Walpole and Ilay by which, he would vote for the court list of representative peers, provided he was made one of them himself, which transpired in 1734. He was also appointed a lord of police in Scotland at £800 p.a., and granted a pension of £1,200 p.a He vacated his seat in the House of Commons. In 1744, he was promoted to be first lord of police.

Jacobite rising of 1745

During the

Jacobite rising of 1745 The Jacobite rising of 1745 was an attempt by Charles Edward Stuart to regain the Monarchy of Great Britain, British throne for his father, James Francis Edward Stuart. It took place during the War of the Austrian Succession, when the bulk of t ...

, Sutherland supported the British-Hanoverian Government and raised two independent companies on behalf of the Government. At one stage, the Jacobites stormed the Earl's home at

Dunrobin Castle Dunrobin Castle is a stately home in Sutherland, in the Highland area of Scotland, that serves as the family seat of the Earl of Sutherland, Chief of Clan Sutherland. It is located north of Golspie and approximately south of Brora, overlo ...

, but he narrowly escaped them through a back door and sailed to join the army of

Prince William, Duke of Cumberland Prince William Augustus, Duke of Cumberland (15 April 1721 Old_Style_and_New_Style_dates.html" ;"title="/nowiki>Old Style and New Style dates">N.S./nowiki> – 31 October 1765) was the third and youngest son of Great Britain and Kingdom of Ire ...

. One day before the

Battle of Culloden The Battle of Culloden took place on 16 April 1746, near Inverness in the Scottish Highlands. A Jacobite army under Charles Edward Stuart was decisively defeated by a British government force commanded by the Duke of Cumberland, thereby endi ...

an Independent Highland Company of soldiers that were raised from the Clan Sutherland by the Earl of Sutherland, took part in the Battle of Littleferry in support of the Government where the Jacobites were defeated. He was also present at the Battle of Culloden where the Jacobites were finally defeated. Despite this, some people in the Government were unhappy with the Earl's strength of support and he struggled to prove to the parliament in London that he had not had Jacobite sympathies.Clan Sutherland History
clansutherland.org. Retrieved 4 May 2013. During the Jacobite rising of 1745, Eric Sutherland, 4th Lord Duffus remained loyal to the Crown and gave intelligence of the rebels to the Earl of Sutherland. According to

James Balfour Paul Sir James Balfour Paul (16 November 1846 – 15 September 1931) was the Lord Lyon King of Arms, the officer responsible for heraldry in Scotland, from 1890 until the end of 1926. Life James Balfour Paul was educated at Royal High School, Edinbur ...

, he did not take part in any military operations. According to William Fraser, he was a captain in the Earl of Sutherland's regiment. James Balfour Paul stated that Eric Sutherland's relations with the Earl of Sutherland's family were extremely friendly.

Later life

Sutherland joined the party of Frederick, Prince of Wales, and as a result, lost his police post in 1747. He wrote to the Duke of Newcastle on 30 July 1747, complaining of the loss of his post and seeking recompense for his expenditure during the Jacobite rising. He waited around court for two years, leaving his mother in charge of the management of his estates in Scotland and then decided to go abroad. Sutherland died at Montauban in France on 7 December 1750, leaving debts of £15,797, and was buried in the grave of his great-grandfather, Gordon, the 15th Earl, in

Holyrood Abbey Holyrood Abbey is a ruined abbey of the Canons Regular in Edinburgh, Scotland. The abbey was founded in 1128 by David I of Scotland. During the 15th century, the abbey guesthouse was developed into a List of British royal residences, royal r ...

Edinburgh Edinburgh is the capital city of Scotland and one of its 32 Council areas of Scotland, council areas. The city is located in southeast Scotland and is bounded to the north by the Firth of Forth and to the south by the Pentland Hills. Edinburgh ...

Family

Sutherland married Elizabeth Wemyss, daughter of David Wemyss, 3rd Earl of Wemyss in a marriage contract signed on 17 April 1734. They had the following children: # William Sutherland, 18th Earl of Sutherland (1735 - 1766) #Elizabeth Gordon (d.1803)

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Sutherland, William Sutherland, 17th Earl of 1708 births 1750 deaths Nobility from Highland (council area) 17