Elizabeth (Sutherland) Sutherland Countess of Sutherland (abt. 1475 - 1535)

Born about 1475 in Sutherland, Scotland

Ancestors

Descendants

Died Sep 1535 at about age 60 in Aboyne Castle, Aberdeenshire, Scotland

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Biography

Elizabeth (Sutherland) Sutherland Countess of Sutherland is a member of Clan Sutherland.

Elizabeth Sutherland was the daughter of John Sutherland, 8th Earl of Sutherland, and his first wife, Margaret MacDonald.^[1] She was likely born c. 1480.

In 1514 steps were taken to pronounce her brother, John, legally incapable of managing his affairs. A commission was issued to certain noblemen to act as sheriffs, and to summon a jury to meet at Perth, to be free from local influences. The Earl himself was present, and before the proceedings were closed he was asked as to his succession.

On 13 June 1514, he declared that his sister Elizabeth, her husband Adam Gordon, and their children, were his nearest heirs, and he also entered into what was in law a voluntary interdiction of himself from making improper settlements or conveyances of his estate.^[2]

She succeeded to the Earldom of Sutherland, in her own right, at the death of her brother, John. After some preliminary proceedings she was, on 3 October 1514, served heir to her brother as the last holder of the earldom.^[3] Her half-brother, Alexander, sent a procurator to Inverness to oppose the service, alleging an entail by royal charter of the lands and earldom of Sutherland. But he did not produce it, and the jury duly made the service. She was finally infeft on 30 June 1515. After this she and her husband were styled Earl and Countess of Sutherland. The disputes with her half-brother were not resolved and led to significant conflict. As a result the Countess was rarely in Sutherland.

The Countess died in September 1535, at Aboyne, and the Earl died on 17 March 1537-38, at Ferrar, near Aboyne, and they were both buried there.^[4]

Family

She married c.1500 her 2nd cousin Adam Gordon of Aboyne, second son of George Gordon, 2nd Earl of Huntly, and chief of Clan Gordon by his second wife the Princess Annabella, 6th dau. of James I, King of Scotland.^[5]

Children:

• Alexander Gordon, Master of Sutherland. He is said to have lived at Dunrobin, and died there, it is said, on 15 January 1529-30, before his mother. He married Janet Stewart, eldest daughter of John Stewart, second Earl of Atholl, and Janet Campbell, his wife. The marriage probably took place about 16 June 1520, though Sir Robert Gordon suggests 1518. His eldest son John will become the 10th Earl of Sutherland.

• John Gordon. He is named in the agreement of 1527, when the earldom was resigned to his eldest brother. John was, by favour of the Earl of Huntly, to be received as tenant of certain lands of Aboyne, with other provision for him. Sir Robert Gordon says he lived at Tillichaudie, or Tilly chaddy, in Aberdeenshire. His wife is not named in source but he had a daughter, married to George Gordon of Cochlarachie.

• Mr. Adam Gordon, who lived at Ferrar, in Aboyne. He was killed at the battle of Pinkie in September 1547, leaving only an illegitimate son, Adam Gordon of Golspie Kirkton, who died, said to be very old, in 1626.

• Gilbert Gordon of Garty, named in a charter of 1563, as uncle of John, tenth Earl of Sutherland. He married Isabel Sinclair, daughter of Alexander Sinclair of Dunbeath, and had issue two sons, John and Patrick, who succeeded him in Garty. It was Gilbert's wife who was accused of and tried for the crime of poisoning the tenth Earl of Sutherland and his Countess in June 1567. He had also an illegitimate son, George Gordon of Marie, in Strathullie.

• Beatrix Gordon, married to the Laird of Gormack.

• Helenor Gordon, married, first, to Gordon of Tilliwhoudie, and secondly, to George Gordon of Craig.

• Elizabeth Gordon, married to the Laird of Lethintie.

• Unknown Gordon, married to the Laird of Leys and Birkenbog.

Sources

1. ↑ Balfour Paul: Vol 8, Page 334
2. ↑ Balfour Paul: Vol 8, Page 336
3. ↑ Balfour Paul: Vol 8, Page 336
4. ↑ Balfour Paul: Vol 8, Page 337
5. ↑ Balfour Paul: Vol 8, Page 337

• Balfour Paul, Sir James. The Scots Peerage (David Douglas, Edinburgh, 1904-1914); in 9 Volumes; Earl of Sutherland - Volume 8
• Sutherland, Earl of (S, 1235) Cracroft's Peerage
• Gordon, Robert. Genealogical History of The Earldom of Sutherland (Edinburgh, 1813) Page 204

The family tree of the Dukes, Earls, Lairds and Chiefs of Clan Sutherland 1100-2015 by John M Sutherland-Fisher, Genealogist of Clan Sutherland
The Peerage of Scotland by Sir Robert Douglas (1764)
The History of the Earldom of Sutherland by Sir Robert Gordon (1650)
The Sutherland Books Volumes 1-3 by Sir William Fraser (1892) [presented in 1894 by the Duke of Sutherland to Queen Victoria]
Burke’s Peerage and Baronetage
Burke’s Landed Gentry
Private papers referring to various cadet branches of the Sutherland family in the collection of John M Sutherland-Fisher, Genealogist of Clan Sutherland
A short history of Clan Sutherland , the families of Sutherland, Forse and Duffus 12th -19th centuries by Daniel J J Sutherland, Historian Emeritus of Clan Sutherland.
A Fighting Clan: Officers in Clan Sutherland 1250-1850 by Malcolm Sutherland, Historian Emeritus of Clan Sutherland.
Private papers in the collection of James B Sutherland, Historian of Clan Sutherland