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Duke of Montrose

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Dukedom of Montrose
Arms: Quarterly, 1st and 4th: Or on a Chief Sable three Escallops Or (Graham); 2nd and 3rd: Argent three Roses Gules barbed and seeded proper (Montrose). Crest: An Eagle wings hovering Or preying on a Stork on its back proper, Alias: A Falcon proper, beaked and armed or, killing a stork argent, armed gules. Supporters: On either side a Stork Argent beaked and membered Gules.
Creation date1707
CreationSecond
Created byAnne I
PeeragePeerage of Scotland
First holderJames Graham, 4th Marquess of Montrose
Present holderJames Graham, 8th Duke
Heir apparentJames Graham, Marquess of Graham
Remainder toThe 1st Duke's heirs male of the body lawfully begotten, heirs female, and heirs of nomination[1]
Subsidiary titlesMarquess of Montrose
Marquess of Graham and Buchanan
Earl of Montrose
Earl of Kincardine
Earl Graham
Viscount Dundaff
Lord Graham
Lord Graham and Mugdock
Lord Aberruthven, Mugdock and Fintrie
Baron Graham, of Belford
SeatAuchmar House
Former seatBuchanan Castle
MottoN'oubliez ("Forget not")

Duke of Montrose (named for Montrose, Angus) is a title that has been created twice in the Peerage of Scotland. The title was created anew in 1707, for James Graham, 4th Marquess of Montrose, great-grandson of famed James Graham, 1st Marquess of Montrose.[2] Montrose was elevated as a reward for his important support of the Act of Union. It has remained since then in the Graham family, tied to the chieftainship of Clan Graham.

Subsidiary titles

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The Duke's subsidiary titles are: Marquess of Montrose (created 1644), Marquess of Graham and Buchanan (1707), Earl of Montrose (1503), Earl of Kincardine (1644), Earl Graham (1722), Viscount Dundaff (1707), Lord Graham (1445),[3] Lord Graham and Mugdock (1644), Lord Aberruthven, Mugdock and Fintrie (1707) and Baron Graham, of Belford (1722). The titles of Earl Graham and Baron Graham are in the Peerage of Great Britain; the rest are in the Peerage of Scotland. The eldest son of the Duke uses the courtesy title of Marquess of Graham and Buchanan.

List of titleholders

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Lords Graham (1445)

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  • Patrick Graham, 1st Lord Graham (d. c. 1466)
  • William Graham, 2nd Lord Graham (d. 1472), eldest son of the 1st Lord
  • William Graham, 3rd Lord Graham (1464–1513), became Earl of Montrose in 1503; a great-grandson of Robert III

Dukes of Montrose, first creation (1488)

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Other titles: Earl of Crawford (1398), Lord Brechin and Navar (1472 for life)

Earls of Montrose (1503)

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Other titles: Lord Graham (1445)

Marquesses of Montrose (1644)

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Other titles: Earl of Montrose (1503), Earl of Kincardine (1644), Lord Graham (1445) and Lord Graham and Mugdock (1644)

Dukes of Montrose, second creation (1707)

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Other titles: Marquess of Montrose (1644), Marquess of Graham and Buchanan (1707), Earl of Montrose (1503), Earl of Kincardine (1644), Earl of Kincardine (1707), Viscount Dundaff (1707), Lord Graham (1445), Lord Graham and Mugdock (1644) and Lord Aberruthven, Mugdock and Fintrie (1707)
Other titles (Lord Graham & 2nd Duke onwards): Earl Graham and Baron Graham (1722)
  • David Graham, Marquess of Graham (1705–1731), second son of the 1st Duke, predeceased his father without issue

Estates and residences

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Buchanan Castle in the late 1890s

Country seats

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Buchanan Castle, Stirlingshire

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The seat of the Earls and Dukes of Montrose was historically Buchanan Auld House near Drymen, Stirlingshire. The house burned down in 1852, after which James Graham, 4th Duke of Montrose oversaw the construction of Buchanan Castle on this site of Buchanan Auld House from 1852 to 1858.

Buchanan Castle remained as the seat of the Dukes of Montrose until 1932, when James Graham, 6th Duke of Montrose vacated the house owing to the financial burden of death duties levied on his estates following the death of the 5th Duke in 1925.[4] After failing to find a buyer for the Castle, the house was converted into a hotel which opened in April 1933.[5] The Duke again tried to sell the castle for £25,000 in 1949, but no buyer could be found.[6]

Auchmar House

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In 1932 the 6th Duke of Montrose commissioned the construction of a smaller contemporary residence on the Buchanan Castle estate, which was named Auchmar House. The house, which sits on the banks of Loch Lomond, has served as the country seat of the Dukes of Montrose since Buchanan Castle was vacated as a private residence.[7]

Brodick Castle, Arran and Easton Park, Suffolk

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Brodick Castle, Isle of Arran

Through the marriage of the 6th Duke to Lady Mary Hamilton, only child of William Douglas-Hamilton, 12th Duke of Hamilton in 1906, the family came into possession of Brodick Castle on the Isle of Arran and Easton Park, Suffolk in 1895.

The combined valuation of the 4,900-acre Easton Park estate and 102,000-acre Isle of Arran estates centred on Brodick Castle was £374,713 for probate purposes in 1895.[8][9]

Easton Park served primarily as the residence of Lady Mary's mother, the Dowager Duchess of Hamilton, during the early 20th century,[10] and was later used as a hospital during the First World War. The estate surrounding the house was sold for £58,000 in 1919, and the house was sold in 1922 for £11,200.[10]

Following the death of Mary, Dowager Duchess of Montrose in 1957, her daughter Lady Jean Fforde transferred Brodick Castle to the National Trust in 1958 in lieu of death duties on her mother's estate.[11]

Easton Park in 1909

Landholdings

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In the 1883 edition of John Bateman's The Great Landowners of Great Britain and Ireland, Douglas Graham, 5th Duke of Montrose's estates were recorded as spanning 103,447 acres across Scotland, including 68,565 acres in Stirlingshire, 32,294 acres in Perthshire, and 2,588 acres in Dunbartonshire, which produced a combined annual income of £24,892.[12]

London residences

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William Graham, 2nd Duke of Montrose lease No. 41 Upper Grosvenor Street from 1743 until his death in 1790.[13] His son James Graham, 3rd Duke of Montrose leased No. 25 Grosvenor Square as his London house from 1786 until his death in 1836.[14] After his death, his widow Caroline Graham, Duchess of Montrose lived at Montrose House, Petersham from 1837 until 1847; the existing house derives its name from her period of occupancy.[15][16]

James Graham, 4th Duke of Montrose leased No. 45 Belgrave Square from c. 1839;[17] following his death in 1874, his wife Caroline Graham, Dowager Duchess of Montrose continued to live at the house until she died in 1894.[18][19]

Their son Douglas Graham, 5th Duke of Montrose leased No. 41 Eaton Square from c. 1879 until 1883.[20][21][22] He later maintained his London residence at No. 27 Pont Street from c. 1895 until 1904.[23][24]

Family tree and succession

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See also

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References

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  1. ↑ Mosley, Charles, ed. (2003). Burke's Peerage, Baronetage & Knighthood (107 ed.). Burke's Peerage & Gentry. p. 2753. ISBN 978-0-9711966-2-9.
  2. ↑ Duke of Montrose Archived 5 January 2011 at the Wayback Machine, Cracroft's Peerage.
  3. ↑ Graham, Lord (S, 1445)
  4. ↑ Hird, Frank (6 January 1932). "The Knell of the Country House". The Bystander. p. 39. Retrieved 22 May 2026 – via Newspapers.com.
  5. ↑ "Duke takes in paying guests: new role for castle". The Daily Telegraph. 10 April 1933. p. 13. Retrieved 22 May 2026 – via Newspapers.com.
  6. ↑ "£602 Estate of Duke of Montrose: £18 Duty Paid". The Daily Telegraph. 13 May 1954. p. 1. Retrieved 22 May 2026 – via Newspapers.com.
  7. ↑ "Auchmar including outbuilding, gates, gatepiers and wing walls (LB50450)". Historic Environment Scotland. Historic Environment Scotland. Retrieved 21 September 2026.
  8. ↑ Bateman, John (1883). The Great Landowners of Great Britain and Ireland: A List of All Owners of Three Thousand Acres and Upwards Worth £3,000 a Year; Also, One Thousand Three Hundred Owners of Two Thousand Acres and Upwards in England, Scotland, Ireland and Wales, Their Acreage and Income from Land Culled from The Modern Domesday Book; Also Their Colleges, Clubs, and Services; Corrected in the Vast Majority of Cases by the Owners Themselves. London: Harrison. p. 203. Retrieved 23 April 2026.
  9. ↑ "Action by the Duke of Hamilton. Duke of Hamilton v. Marquis of Graham &c. (Trustees)". Hamilton Advertiser. Hamilton, Scotland. 18 March 1916. p. 3. Retrieved 23 April 2026 – via Newspapers.com.
  10. 1 2 "History". Easton Parish Council - Suffolk. Retrieved 22 May 2026.
  11. ↑ Coventry, Martin (2006). The Castles of Scotland. Birlinn. p. 139. ISBN 1-84158-449-5.
  12. ↑ Bateman, John (1883). The Great Landowners of Great Britain and Ireland. London: Harrison. p. 317. Retrieved 21 September 2026 – via Internet Archive.
  13. ↑ Sheppard, F. H. W., ed. (1980). "Upper Grosvenor Street: South Side". Survey of London. London: London County Council. pp. 231–238. Retrieved 22 May 2026 – via British History Online.
  14. ↑ Sheppard, F. H. W., ed. (1980). "Grosvenor Square: Individual Houses built before 1926". Survey of London. London: London County Council. pp. 117–166. Retrieved 22 May 2026 – via British History Online.
  15. ↑ Cloake, John (1998). "New Light on Old Petersham Houses – 2". Richmond History: Journal of the Richmond Local History Society. 19: 17. ISSN 0263-0958.
  16. ↑ Hibbert, Christopher; Keay, John; Keay, Julia (2010). The London Encyclopaedia. Pan Macmillan. p. 559. ISBN 9781405049252.
  17. ↑ Benedict, Julius (1839). "The daily journal. 1839". Internet Archive. Royal College of Music Library. p. 152. Retrieved 22 May 2026.
  18. ↑ S Reynolds Hole, A Little Tour in America, p. 180
  19. ↑ Catalogue of the valuable collection of porcelain, old French and other decorative objects and furniture, of her grace Caroline, Duchess of Montrose, deceased, removed from 45 Belgrave Square, and Sefton Lodge, Newmarket ... Christie's London. London : Christie, Manson & Woods, 1895
  20. ↑ Glasgow Daily Mail. (4 July 1879). Duchess of Montrose - 41 Eaton Square. Newspapers.com. Retrieved 22 May 2026, from https://www.newspapers.com/article/glasgow-daily-mail-duchess-of-montrose/198028683/
  21. ↑ Glasgow Daily Mail. (27 January 1881). The Gold Mining Association of Canada (Ltd) - Chairman - Duke of Montrose. Newspapers.com. Retrieved 22 May 2026, from https://www.newspapers.com/article/glasgow-daily-mail-the-gold-mining-assoc/198028692/
  22. ↑ The Directory of Directors. London: Thomas Skinner & Co. 1883. p. 296. Retrieved 22 May 2026.
  23. ↑ "Duke of Montrose - Letter to the Editor". The Daily Telegraph. 24 June 1895. p. 8. Retrieved 22 May 2026 – via Newspapers.com.
  24. ↑ "27 Pont Street, Belgrave Square". The Times. 20 February 1904. p. 17. Retrieved 22 May 2026 – via Newspapers.com.
  25. ↑ Morris, Susan; Bosberry-Scott, Wendy; Belfield, Gervase, eds. (2019). "Montrose, Duke of". Debrett's Peerage and Baronetage. Vol. 1 (150th ed.). London: Debrett's Ltd. pp. 2530–2533. ISBN 978-1-999767-0-5-1.
  26. 1 2 3 4 "James Graham, 8th Duke of Montrose (1935–)". Clan Graham Society. Retrieved 20 April 2025.
  27. ↑ "Graham, Douglas Malise Lord". Generals.dk. Retrieved 20 April 2025.
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  • Wikimedia Commons logo Media related to Dukes of Montrose at Wikimedia Commons
  • Cracroft's Peerage page
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