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Cromartie, 3rd Earl of
George Mackenzie, 3rd Earl of Cromartie born circa. 1702-1766

Arms: Quarterly: 1st Or, a mountain Azure in flames Proper ( MacLeod of Lewis )
2nd Azure a Stag’s head cabossed Or ( Mackenzie )
3rd Argent on a pale Sable an imperial crown Or within a double tressure flory counterflory Gules (Erskine of Innertiell )
4th Gules three legs of a man armed Proper, conjoined in fess at the upper part of the thigh, flexed in triangle garnished and spurred Or ( Isle of Man )

SOURCES, NOTES & CREDITS: The illustration is based on a blazon alone of the arms found on page 89 in George Crawfurd’s “The Peerage of Scotland” of 1716, regarding the Earls of Cromartie. J. H. Gaylor did the illustration. The text is based primarily on information on the Earls of Cromartie, on pp 69-86 of “The Peerage of Scotland” (the fourth edition ) Volume III, edited by Sir James Balfour Paul, Lord Lyon, 1906, the Wikipedia internet articles on the Cromartie Earls, and the Second edition of “The Peerage of Scotland by Robert Douglas ( later Sir Robert Douglas of Glenbervie, Bt. ) published in 1764, in which it was discovered that the 3rd & 4th quarters of the Earl of Cromartie’s arms were switched and that this later version of the arms are those used by the current Earl today. However the arms as displayed are correct for the 3rd Earl. The text was compiled by D.Q. Wedvick.

Sir George Mackenzie of Tarbat, Bt. Was created as the 1st Earl of Cromartie, Viscount of Tarbat, Lord Macleod and Lord Castlehaven on 1 Jan 1703...( First Creation of the Earldom of Cromartie )

He was followed by his son John as 2nd Earl and whose son George followed as 3rd Earl. George became one of the Jacobite lords in the 1745 rising. We know that he raised about 400 of his clan who were with him at the Battle of Falkirk After the 1745 rising was put down he was brought to trial before the House of Lords on 28 Jul 1746. He pleaded guilty, and was sentenced to death and his honours and estates were forfeited.

Three other lords lost their estates and were beheaded as well for their actions in the rising: the Earl of Kilmarnock, Lord Balmerino and the famous or infamous Simon
( the Fox ), the 11th Lord Lovat, who was the very last lord to be beheaded in Great Britian on 9 Apr 1747. ( See their entries ).

Due to the efforts of his wife the 3rd Earl was respited on 9 Aug 1746. On 18 Feb 1748 he was permitted to leave the Tower and received a pardon under the Privy Seal on 4 Oct 1749 provided he would remain in such place as directed by the King. He lived in tight circumstances until his death on 28 Sep 1766.

His son John, Lord Macleod also a Jacobite who took part in the rising as a minor, also pleaded guilty to high treason on 20 Dec 1746. He was pardoned on 22 Jan 1748 on condition that within six months of attaining his majority he would convey to the Crown all his rights in the estates of the Earls of Cromartie, which he did.

The estates, but not the title, were restored to John in 1784. On 3 May 1786 John Macleod executed an entail of the Cromartie-Mackenzie estates, in virtue of which he was succeeded by his cousin, Kenneth Mackenzie of Cromartie who was the only son of Capt. Roderick Mackenzie, brother of the 3rd Earl. Thru entail he was succeeded by Lady Isabella Mackzenie and she by her daughter, The Hon. Maria Murray Hay-Mackenzie, and she by her son John Hay-Mackenzie who was succeeded by his only child, Anne Hay-Mackenzie,

Anne Hay-Mackenzie, married the Duke of Sutherland in 1861, on 21 October of the same year she was created Baroness Macleod of Castle Leod, Baroness of Castlehaven of Castlehaven, Viscountess Tarbat of Tarbat and Countess of Cromartie, all in county Cromartie, for life but with remainder to Francis Sutherland Leveson Gower (2nd son of the Duke of Sutherland ) or other younger sons. This was the second (and extant) creation of the Earldom of Cromartie.... She died on 25 Nov 1888.

Francis and his heirs have succeeded her. Today the estates and titles are held by John Ruaridh Grant Mackenzie, 5th Earl of Cromartie.

The artwork is a rendering by John Hamilton Gaylor

2018 1003 dqw266@gmail.com

CunninghamHyndhopeCrest.jpg CunninghamHyndhope.jpg Mackenzie3.jpg Craufurd4132.jpg 2019_1216_Cowan_of_Ross_Hall_003.jpg
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