Earl of Orkney

Arms of the feudal Earldom of Orkney[lower-alpha 9]

The lack of haste with which a new title was granted by the Norwegians to Orkney has led to the suggestion that Magnus Jonsson may have had an heir who was a minor, but who died before 1330. It is also likely that unravelling the genealogy of his potential successors and providing proofs of their descent was a time-consuming project.[49] Whatever the reason, about a decade after Magnus's death the title was granted to Maol Íosa, mormaer of Strathearn, a distant relative of Earl Gilbert. He ruled Orkney and Caithness from 1330 to 1350 and had several daughters, but no sons.[50]

The earldom was then left vacant for about three years,[lower-alpha 10] following which Erengisle Suneson was a titular earl for a few years but when his right to the title lapsed prior to 1360[52] the jarldom lay vacant again. King Haakon VI of Norway had married Margaret, the daughter of King Valdemar IV of Denmark. The sudden death of Haakon's brother King Eric XII of Sweden triggered the foreign policy obligations Haakon had to Valdemar, as a result of the marriage. These drew Haakon's attention away from Orkney, until the death of Valdemar, in 1375.

In 1375, Haakon decided upon Alexander of Ard, the son of Maol Íosa's daughter Matilda and Weland of Ard[53] (Aird, west of Inverness)[51] as Suneson's successor. However, Alexander was merely appointed "Lieutenant, Captain and Keeper" of Orkney for a year on 30 June 1375.[51] This was to be a probationary role, the intention being that if Haakon had been satisfied by Alexander's behaviour after a year, he would be appointed as jarl. However, Haakon did not do so, possibly because Alexander failed to deal with the violence that had become rife during the long absence of an earl's authority.[54] In 1379, the jarldom was granted to another grandson of Maol Íosa, Henry Sinclair, by Haakon VI on 2 August 1379.[55]

When James III of Scotland married Margaret of Denmark, her father, Christian I, king of the Kalmar Union, was unable to immediately provide a dowry. Instead, he promised that he would provide the dowry at a later date, and pledged the Norðreyjar as security for his promise. In 1470, James persuaded William to quitclaim his rights over Orkney and Shetland only, in return for lands in Fife; technically the Norðreyjar remained in existence as a Norwegian Jarldom, but William's authority became limited to the mainland parts, while Orkney and Sheltland became jarl-free. After a few years, it became clear that the dowry was unlikely ever to be paid, so in 1472, James declared the Norðreyjar to be forfeit (and forwent the dowry). As an immediate consequence, the diocese of Caithness was transferred from the Archdiocese of Niðaróss (Trondheim), in Norway, to that of St Andrews, in Scotland.[57]

• The next Orkney title was the dukedom of Orkney, which was given to James Hepburn, 4th Earl of Bothwell, husband of Mary, Queen of Scots, in 1567. Later that year, however, he forfeited the title when Mary was forced to abdicate.

The second earldom was created by James VI of Scotland. The Stewart earls were based at Kirkwall Castle, which had been built by Henry I Sinclair. It was demolished on the forfeiture of the title in 1614.[58]

Earldom of Orkney (Third creation of 1696)
Blazon. Quarterly: 1st grandquarters, Argent, on a Chief Gules two Mullets Or;2nd grandquarters, Argent on a Saltire Gules a Lymphad sails furled Or a Chief Ermine (Fitz-Maurice); 3rd grandquarter, quarterly: 1st and 4th, Gules three Cinquefoils Ermine (Hamilton); 2nd, Argent a Lymphad sails furled Sable (Arran); 3rd, Argent a Heart Gules imperially crowned Or on a Chief Azure three Mullets of the first (Douglas); over all at the fess point an Escallop Or for difference (for Lord George Hamilton, 1st Earl of Orkney); 4th grandquarter, quarterly: 1st and 4th, Gules three Lions passant guardant per pale Or and Argent (O'Brien); 2nd, Argent three Piles meeting in the point issuing from the chief Gules (Bryan); 3rd, Argent a Pheon Azure (Sydney).
Creation date	3 January 1696 (Third creation)
Created by	William II of Scotland
Peerage	Peerage of Scotland
First holder	Lord George Hamilton
Present holder	Peter St John, 9th Earl of Orkney
Heir apparent	Oliver Robert St John, Viscount Kirkwall
Subsidiary titles	Viscount of Kirkwall Lord Dechmont

The last creation of the earldom was in favour of the man who in 1735 would become the first Field Marshal of Great Britain, Lord George Hamilton, the fifth son of William Douglas, Duke of Hamilton. The peerage was created with "remainder to the heirs whatsoever of his body", meaning that the title can be passed on through both male and female lines. The title passed to the O'Brien family, then to the Fitzmaurice family, and later to the St John family. The subsidiary titles of Viscount of Kirkwall and Lord Dechmont were created at the same time as the earldom.

None of these earls appear to have any connection with Orkney other than the honorific itself. The current earl, for example, was born and lives in Canada.[59]

The 9th Earl is the son of Frederick Oliver St John, son of Isabella Annie Fitzmaurice, daughter of James Terence Fitzmaurice, fifth son of the fifth Earl. The heir apparent is the present holder's son Oliver Robert St John (b. 1969), who holds the courtesy title, Viscount Kirkwall.

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