SUTHERLAND, EARLS AND DUKES OF. The first earl of Sutherland was a certain William (d. 1284), whose father, Hugh Freskin (d. 1204), acquired the district of Sutherland about 1197. Probably about 123o William was created earl of Suther land. His descendant William, the 4th earl (d. 1370), was a per son of some importance in the history of Scotland; he married Margaret (d. 5358), daughter of King Robert Bruce. His de scendant John, the 9th earl, died unmarried in 1514.
John's sister Elizabeth (d. 1535) married Adam Gordon (d. 1537), a younger son of George Gordon, 2nd earl of Huntly, and a grandson of King James I., ,and before 1516 Gordon became earl of Sutherland by right of his wife. He was succeeded by his grandson John (c. 1526-1567), the 2nd earl of his line, who was poisoned at the instigation of George Sinclair, 4th earl of Caithness. His great-grandson John, the 5th earl (1609-1663), was a strong Covenanter, being called by his associates "the good Earl John"; he fought against Montrose at Auldearn, but after wards he rendered good service to Charles II. John Gordon (c. 166o-1733), who became the seventh earl in 1703, supported the revolution of 1688 and was a commissioner for the union of Eng land and Scotland. He was a Scottish representative peer in four parliaments, president of the board of trade and manufactures, and lord-lieutenant of the eight northern counties of Scotland. He was active in putting down the rising of 1715. This earl, who took the name of Sutherland instead of that of Gordon, was succeeded by his grandson William (c. 1708-1750), a representative peer, who helped to suppress the rebellion of 1745. William, the next earl, died without male issue in 1766, his daughter Elizabeth claiming the peerage. Her title thereto was con
firmed by the House of Lords in 1771.
Established in the possession of the title and estates of the earldom, the countess of Sutherland was married in 1785 to George Granville Leveson-Gower (1758-1833), who succeeded his father as znd marquess of Stafford in 1803. In addition to the estates of the marquessate of Stafford, Leveson-Gower inherited the Bridgewater Canal and estates from his maternal uncle, Francis Egerton, 2nd duke of Bridgewater, and these properties, together with his wife's estates, which included almost the whole of the county of Sutherland, made him a "leviathan of wealth," as he is called by Charles Greville. In 1833 he was created duke of Sutherland. Leveson-Gower was a member of parliament from 1778 to 1784, and again from 1787 to 1798 and was British am bassador in Paris from 1790 to 1792. From 1799 to 1810 he was joint postmaster-general. He was a collector of paintings, and purchased Stafford House, London. He was responsible for the construction of about 450 m. of road and of many bridges, but his policy of removing a large number of his tenants from the interior to the coast aroused bitterness and criticism. However, he reduced rents and brought thousands of acres into cultivation. He died at Dunrobin Castle on July 5, 1833.
See Sir Robert Gordon and George Gordon, Genealogical History of the Earldom of Sutherland (Edinburgh, 1813) ; and also the articles STAFFORD ; and BUCKINGHAM, EARLS, MARQUESSES AND DUKES OF.