Earl Fife

Earl Fife
1st and 4th: Or, a lion, rampant, gules (Macduff) 2nd and 3rd: vert, a fesse dancettee, ermine between a hart's head, cabossed, in chief, and two escallops in base or (Duff)
Creation date	26 April 1759
Created by	King George II
Peerage	Peerage of Ireland
First holder	William Duff, 1st Baron Braco
Last holder	Alexander Duff, 6th Earl Fife
Remainder to	1st Earl's heirs male of the body
Subsidiary titles	Viscount Macduff Baron Braco Baron Skene
Extinction date	29 January 1912
Former seat(s)	Duff House Balvenie Castle Innes House Mar Lodge Skene House Delgatie Castle
Motto	Deo juvante (Latin for 'With God's help')

Earl Fife was a title in the Peerage of Ireland created by letters patent dated 26 April 1759 for William Duff, 1st Baron Braco, after asserting (but not proving) his descent from Macduff, the medieval Earl of Fife. Though in the Irish peerage, the title's name refers to Fife in Scotland.

History

William Duff, 1st Earl Fife, had previously been created Baron Braco, of Kilbryde in the County of Cavan, in 1735, and he was created Viscount Macduff at the same time that he was raised to the earldom. Both of these junior titles were in the Peerage of Ireland, although they referred to places in Scotland – namely Braco and Macduff in Banffshire.

Between 1790 and 1885, the Earls Fife received several additional titles in the Peerage of Great Britain and of the United Kingdom, respectively, which allowed them to sit and vote in the House of Lords. In 1790, the 2nd Earl was created Baron Fife, of the County of Fife, in the Peerage of Great Britain, but this title became extinct on his death in 1809. The 4th Earl was also created Baron Fife, of the County of Fife, in the Peerage of the United Kingdom, in 1827, but this title became extinct on his death in 1857. Later that year, the 5th Earl was created Baron Skene, of Skene in the County of Aberdeen, in the Peerage of the United Kingdom. In 1885, the 6th Earl was created Earl of Fife in the Peerage of the United Kingdom.

In 1889, the 6th Earl Fife was further created Duke of Fife, in Scotland, and Marquess of Macduff, in the County of Banff, in the Peerage of the United Kingdom, two days after his marriage to Princess Louise of Wales, the eldest daughter of Albert Edward, Prince of Wales (the future King Edward VII). When it became clear that he would have no sons, he was further created Duke of Fife and Earl of Macduff, in the County of Banff, also in the Peerage of the United Kingdom, with a special remainder to his daughters and their heirs male.

When the 1st Duke died in 1912 without male issue, the earldom of 1759 became extinct, along with the first Dukedom of Fife, the Marquessate of Macduff, the 1885 Earldom of Fife, the Viscountcy of Macduff and the Baronies of Braco and Skene. The second Dukedom of Fife and the Earldom of Macduff passed by their special remainders to his daughters and their heirs male. Princess Alexandra of Fife thus succeeded to the second Dukedom of Fife. (See Duke of Fife for the succession to those titles.)

Barons Braco (1735)

• William Duff, 1st Baron Braco (c. 1696–1763), created Earl Fife in 1759

Earls Fife (1759)

• William Duff, 1st Earl Fife (c. 1696–1763)
• James Duff, 2nd Earl Fife (1729–1809)
• Alexander Duff, 3rd Earl Fife (1731–1811)
• James Duff, 4th Earl Fife (1776–1857)
• James Duff, 5th Earl Fife (1814–1879)
• Alexander William George Duff, 6th Earl Fife (1849–1912), created Earl of Fife in 1885 and Duke of Fife in 1889