William Cunningham, 8th Earl of Glencairn (1575–1630) was a Scottish politician.
The son of James Cunningham, 7th Earl of Glencairn by his spouse Margaret (d. January 1610), daughter of Sir Colin Campbell of Glenurquhy by his spouse Catherine née Ruthven, William succeeded his father in 1630 but enjoyed the honours for a short time, dying himself in October that year.
He had three sons and five daughters, of whom:
- William Cunningham, 9th Earl of Glencairn
- Colonel Robert Cunningham, was Usher to King Charles II.
Famous quotes containing the word earl:
“A seeming ignorance is very often a most necessary part of worldly knowledge. It is, for instance, commonly advisable to seem ignorant of what people offer to tell you; and, when they say, Have you not heard of such a thing? to answer, No, and to let them go on, though you know it already.”
—Philip Dormer Stanhope, 4th Earl Chesterfield (1694–1773)