Alexander Duff, 3rd Earl Fife (18 April 1731 – 17 April 1811) was a Scottish nobleman.

Early life

Duff was born on 18 April 1731. He was a son of

William Duff, 1st Earl Fife William Duff, 1st Earl Fife (1697 – 30 September 1763), of Braco, Perth and Kinross, Braco, Banff, was a Scottish landowner and politician who sat in the House of Commons of the United Kingdom, House of Commons from 1727 to 1734. Early life Du ...

, and, his second wife, Jean Grant. Among his siblings were brothers

James Duff, 2nd Earl Fife James Duff, 2nd Earl Fife (29 September 1729 – 1809) was a Scottish aristocrat and Member of Parliament. Heritage James Duff was second son of William Duff, 1st Earl Fife, and Jean Grant (daughter of Sir James Grant of Pluscardine, Baron ...

and

Arthur Duff Arthur Knox Duff (13 March 1899 – 23 September 1956) was an Irish composer and conductor, best known for his short orchestral pieces such as the Handel-inspired ''Echoes of Georgian Dublin''. His career also encompassed senior positions in the ...

, MP for

Elginshire The County of Moray, ( ) or Morayshire, called Elginshire until 1919, is a historic county in Scotland. The county town was Elgin. The historic county ceased to be used for local government purposes in 1975. Since 1996 most of the historic ...

. His sister, Hon. Helen Duff, married their father's cousin,

Vice-Admiral Vice admiral is a senior naval flag officer rank, usually equivalent to lieutenant general and air marshal. A vice admiral is typically senior to a rear admiral and junior to an admiral. Australia In the Royal Australian Navy, the rank of vic ...

Robert Duff. Before his parents' marriage, his father was married to Lady Janet Ogilvy (a daughter of the 4th Earl of Findlater). His paternal grandparents were merchant William Duff of Braco and the former Helen Gordon (a daughter of Sir George Gordon,

Shire Commissioner A commissioner was a legislator appointed or elected to represent a royal burgh or shire in the Parliament of Scotland and the associated Convention of the Estates. Member of Parliament (MP) and Deputy are equivalent terms in other countri ...

in the

Parliament of Scotland In modern politics and history, a parliament is a legislative body of government. Generally, a modern parliament has three functions: Representation (politics), representing the Election#Suffrage, electorate, making laws, and overseeing ...

). His maternal grandparents were

Sir James Grant, 6th Baronet Sir James Grant, 6th Baronet (28 July 1679 – 16 January 1747) was a Scottish Whig politician who sat in the House of Commons from 1722 to 1747. He was Chief of Clan Grant from 1719 until his death. Early life Grant was the third, but second su ...

and the former Anne Colquhoun (a daughter of

Sir Humphrey Colquhoun, 5th Baronet ''Sir'' is a formal honorific address in English for men, derived from Sire in the High Middle Ages. Both are derived from the old French "" (Lord), brought to England by the French-speaking Normans, and which now exist in French only as part o ...

Career

Upon the death of his elder brother,

James James may refer to: People * James (given name) * James (surname) * James (musician), aka Faruq Mahfuz Anam James, (born 1964), Bollywood musician * James, brother of Jesus * King James (disambiguation), various kings named James * Prince Ja ...

, in 1809, he succeeded to the title of

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

. In addition to that title, he succeeded as the 3rd Viscount MacDuff and the 2nd Baron of MacDuff.

Personal life

On 17 August 1775 he married Mary Skene (1754–1790), daughter of George Skene, 18th of

Skene Skene may refer to: * Skene, Aberdeenshire, a community in North East Scotland, United Kingdom * Skene, Mississippi, an unincorporated community in Mississippi, United States * Skene, Sweden, a village now part of Kinna, Sweden * Skene (automobil ...

, at Carriston, Angus.G.E. Cokayne; with Vicary Gibbs, H.A. Doubleday, Geoffrey H. White, Duncan Warrand and Lord Howard de Walden, editors, ''The Complete Peerage of England, Scotland, Ireland, Great Britain and the United Kingdom, Extant, Extinct or Dormant, new ed., 13 volumes in 14'' (1910-1959; reprint in 6 volumes,

Gloucester Gloucester ( ) is a cathedral city, non-metropolitan district and the county town of Gloucestershire in the South West England, South West of England. Gloucester lies on the River Severn, between the Cotswolds to the east and the Forest of Dean ...

Alan Sutton Publishing The History Press is a British publishing company specialising in the publication of titles devoted to local and specialist history. It claims to be the United Kingdom's largest independent publisher in this field, publishing approximately 300 ...

, 2000), volume V, page 378. Together, they were the parents of two sons and four daughters, including:Mosley, Charles, editor. ''Burke's Peerage, Baronetage & Knightage, 107th edition, 3 volumes.''

Wilmington, Delaware Wilmington is the List of municipalities in Delaware, most populous city in the U.S. state of Delaware. The city was built on the site of Fort Christina, the first Swedish colonization of the Americas, Swedish settlement in North America. It lie ...

Burke's Peerage Burke's Peerage Limited is a British genealogical publisher, considered an authority on the order of precedence of noble families and information on the lesser nobility of the United Kingdom. It was founded in 1826, when the Anglo-Irish genea ...

(Genealogical Books) Ltd, 2003, volume 1, page 1426. *

James Duff, 4th Earl Fife James Duff, 4th Earl Fife, KT, GCH (6 October 1776 – 9 March 1857), was a Scottish nobleman who became a Spanish general. Biography James was the elder son of the Hon. Alexander Duff, who succeeded his brother as third Earl Fife in 1809. H ...

(1776–1857), who married Lady Maria Manners, daughter of John Manners and

Louisa Tollemache, 7th Countess of Dysart Louisa Manners Tollemache, 7th Countess of Dysart (2 July 1745 – 22 September 1840) was an English peeress. Her father held considerable estates in England largely due to the two marriages of Elizabeth Maitland, Duchess of Lauderdale, earlier ...

, in 1799. * The Hon. Alexander Duff (–1851), who married Anne Stein, daughter of James Stein and sister to John Stein, MP for

Bletchingley Bletchingley (historically "Blechingley") is a village in Surrey, England. It is on the A25 road to the east of Redhill and to the west of Godstone, has a conservation area with medieval buildings and is mostly on a wide escarpment of the Gre ...

. * Lady Jane Duff (1780–1850), who married Maj. Alexander Francis Tayler in 1802. * Lady Anne Duff (d. 1829), who married her cousin, Richard Wharton Duff (who inherited Orton House from their

), in 1809. * Lady Sarah Duff (d. 1811), who married Daniel Collyer in 1807. Lord Fife died on 17 April 1811 at

Duff House Duff House is a Georgian estate house in Banff, Aberdeenshire, Scotland. Now in the care of Historic Environment Scotland, it is part of the National Galleries Scotland and is a Category A listed building. The house is built of ashlar in ...

in Banff. He was succeeded by his eldest son,

Descendants

Through his second son, Alexander, he was a grandfather of

James Duff, 5th Earl Fife James Duff, 5th Earl Fife, (6 July 1814 – 7 August 1879) was a Scottish nobleman and politician. Early life Duff was the son of Sir Alexander Duff, younger brother of James Duff, 4th Earl Fife, and Anne Stein, the daughter of James Stein o ...

, who married Lady Agnes Georgiana Elizabeth Hay (a daughter of

William Hay, 18th Earl of Erroll William George Hay, 18th Earl of Erroll, KT, GCH, PC (21 February 1801 – 19 April 1846), styled Lord Hay between 1815 and 1819, was a Scottish peer and politician. Early life Erroll was the son of William Hay, 17th Earl of Erroll, and h ...

and Lady Elizabeth FitzClarence, an illegitimate daughter of King

William IV William IV (William Henry; 21 August 1765 – 20 June 1837) was King of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland and King of Hanover from 26 June 1830 until his death in 1837. The third son of George III, William succeeded hi ...

), and George Skene Duff, an MP for Elgin Burghs.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Fife, Alexander Duff, 3rd Earl 1731 births 1811 deaths Nobility from Aberdeenshire

Alexander Alexander () is a male name of Greek origin. The most prominent bearer of the name is Alexander the Great, the king of the Ancient Greek kingdom of Macedonia who created one of the largest empires in ancient history. Variants listed here ar ...

Duff family