History

Origin Story

The first Earls of Sutherland were men whose family name was de Moravia. The first of that name in Scotland was a warrior-knight, Freskin. He very likely descends from a Flemish man, Ollec, perhaps a knight, with land in Wales. The family may have originated from a Flemish knight who crossed the English Channel around the time of William the Conqueror’s conquest. Warrior-knights at the time were sometimes granted land in exchange for military service to a king. Freskin was granted land in Moray for helping  King David I of Scotland subdue adversaries in the region. Freskin’s first castles were in the region of Duffus. He also held lands in and around Sutherland. At that time, those lands were named by the Norse as “Suðrland”, referring to the land south of Caithness, part of the Norse Earldom which included Shetland, Orkney, Caithness, and Sutherland in the 9th and 10th centuries. The followers of Freskin’s family became known as Clan Sutherland. Freskin’s grandson inherited the lands in Sutherland and Moray. He was known as Hugh de Moravia, Lord of Sutherland. His son, William, became the first Earl of Sutherland. The Earldom followed the sequence:

 

The first Earls of Sutherland and the Main Branches of Sutherland

    William de Moravia, 1st Earl of Sutherland (c. 1210–1248)

    William de Moravia, 2nd Earl (c. 1235–1307)

    William de Moravia, 3rd Earl (died 1330)

    Kenneth de Moravia, 4th Earl (younger brother of the 3rd Earl, c. 1270–1333)

    William de Moravia, 5th Earl (also known as William Sutherland) (c. 1312–1370)

    Robert Sutherland, 6th Earl (c. 1350–1444)

    John Sutherland, 7th Earl (c. 1390–1460)

    John Sutherland, 8th Earl (1435–1508)

    John Sutherland, 9th Earl (died 1514)

    Elizabeth Sutherland, Countess of Sutherland (1470–1535) (older sister of the 9th         Earl; she married Adam Gordon, son of the 2nd Earl of Huntly)

        Two additional times, the Earldom was transferred to an Elizabeth Sutherland          and their husbands. First, a man from the Levison-Gower family, and then a            man from the Janson family.

 

In addition to the line of Earls, two other significant lines emerged on estates they were granted around the Moray Firth: the Lairds of Duffus and the Lairds of Forse. The Lairds of Duffus are descended from Nicholas, a son of Kenneth, 4th Earl and younger brother of William, 5th Earl. The Lairds of Forse are descended from Kenneth, son of William, 5th Earl and younger brother of Robert, 6th Earl.

 

A disputed transition

The transition from John, the 9th Earl of Sutherland, to his sister Elizabeth was not without dispute and controversy. Elizabeth had both her father and her brother, the 8th and 9th Earls, declared incompetent to manage their affairs, and they were kept by her at Dunrobin Castle. The 9th Earl died while still young, very soon after declaring his sister Elizabeth to be his heir. There have been a number of claims to the Earldom. The first was by Alexander Sutherland, a younger son of John, the 8th Earl. Alexander attempted to assert his claim by force and was ultimately killed in the attempt. It is said his head was placed on a spear atop Dunrobin. The descendants of Alexander’s line are the Sutherlands of Killipheder, who lived for generations in a beautiful area mostly along the Helmsdale River in Strath Ullie (or Kildonan Strath). The most recent claim was by George Sutherland, 14th of Forse, in the late 18th century. He proved his seniority in paternal descent from William, 5th Earl of Sutherland, but was not successful in his claim to the Earldom.