Lord Duffus - Lords Duffus (1650)

Lords Duffus (1650)

• Alexander Sutherland, 1st Lord Duffus (d. 1674) (son of William Sutherland, 10th of Duffus)
• James Sutherland, 2nd Lord Duffus (d. 1705) who had issue four sons (Kenneth, 3rd Lord, Sir James Dunbar, 1st Baronet and two others) and one daughter.
• Kenneth Sutherland, 3rd Lord Duffus (d. 1734) (attainted and forfeit 1734) for his part in the 1715 uprising. He fled to Sweden, where he married a Swedish lady, Christina Sjöblad, by whom he had:
• Eric Sutherland, 4th Lord Duffus (1710-1768) (not restored, but counted), married his first cousin Elizabeth, third daughter of Sir James Dunbar of Hempriggs, 1st Baronet by his wife Elizabeth Dunbar, daughter and heiress of Sir William Dunbar of Hempriggs, Baronet. They were parents of the 5th Lord Duffus, another son (who died issueless), and three daughters including an eldest daughter Elizabeth, wife firstly of Captain Alexander Sinclair, son of Sir William Sinclair of Keiss; secondly Charles Sinclair of Olrig (by whom one son and one daughter) and thirdly, in 1772, the Reverend James Rudd, rector in Yorkshire.
• James Sutherland, 5th Lord Duffus (1747-1827) (restored 1826), who died unmarried. He eloped in December 1771 with the seventeen-year-old Lady Mary Hay, the daughter of the Earl of Erroll, Hereditary Lord High Constable of Scotland, and the wife of Major-General John Scott; she was divorced by her husband, Sutherland's colonel at the time. He abandoned her, never married, and recognized ten illegitimate children in his will. However, he is said to have at least sixty illegitimate children. The barony was claimed by the nearest heir male (and also by the 5th Lord's nephew):
• Benjamin Dunbar, 6th Lord Duffus, 3rd Baronet of Hemprigss (1761-1843), grandson of Sir James Sutherland-Dunbar of the 5th Lord Duffus This man, together with his son, unsuccessfully petitioned the House of Lords in 1838 to be granted the title and the seat in the House of Lords, but the petition was not acted upon. (A challenge was mounted by the Rev. Eric Rudd, apparently the sole surviving nephew of the late 5th Lord. He was the son of Elizabeth Sutherland by her third husband Rev. James Rudd (d. 23 February 1827, aged 83) He was succeeded de facto by his son:
• George Sutherland Dunbar, 7th Lord Duffus (1799-1875) (extinct 1875) used the title of 7th Lord Duffus, but was also known as Sir George Dunbar of Hempriggs, 4th Baronet.