The current baron is The Much HonouredEric Cotton Dexter, 9th Baron of MacDuff.[1]
The title originates in Macduf contained mostly within the boundaries of the Town of Macduff, in the Banff and Buchan area of Aberdeenshire, Scotland.[2]Clan MacDuff traces origins to the historic, Lowland, Scottish Duff Clan.[3] William Shakespeare's MacBeth has always played a role in the legend of Clan MacDuff, as few can determine the line between The Duff Family history and historical fiction.[4] This ambiguity worked to the benefit of future MacDuff Barons, who were able to prove they were descended from the first Duff to receive a charter in Northeast Scotland.[5] In 1404 David Duff received the charter, in Aberdeenshire, from Robert III of Scotland.[5] In 1759, William Duff was granted the historic Celtic Title of “Fife”, further tying the Duffs of Northeast Scotland, with their ancient Lowland ancestors - the original Earls of Fife from the 11th century.[6] William Duff had five sons - the eldest, James, would become the 2nd Earl Fife and the 1st Baron of MacDuff.[7] James invested heavily in the village of Doune, or “Down”, across the River Deveron from Banff. He built a harbor there in 1760, which quickly became more successful than the harbor at neighboring Banff, which had been established much earlier.[8] In 1783 a charter was granted by King George III, changing the name from Doune to Macduff in his favor and, although a lesser title than Earl, bestowing on him the dignity of the 1st Baron of Macduff.[7]
Barons of MacDuff
James Duff, 2nd Earl Fife, 1st Baron of MacDuff [7]
^Charter to James, Earl of Fife For Uniting and Erecting the Lands of Down and others therein mentioned into a Barony As also erecting the Village of Down now to be called the Village of MacDuff into a Burgh of Barony. National Records of Scotland. 1783.
^Way, George, Squire, Romily (1998). Collins Scottish Clan and Family Encyclopedia. Harper Collins. pp. 419–420.{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link)
^Tayler, Alistair and, Henrietta Tayler (1914). The Book of Duffs. W. Brown. p. 212.
^ abAnderson, William (1864). The Scottish Nation: or the Surnames, Families, Literature and Honours, and Biographical History of the People of Scotland. Google Books: A. Fullerton & Company. p. 212.
^Cokayne, George Edward (1889). Complete Peerage of England, Scotland, Ireland, Great Britain and the United Kingdom, Extant, Extinct, Or Dormant; Volume 2. William Pollard & Co. p. 462.
^ abcdFife, James Duff, 2nd Earl of 1729-1809, Henrietta Tayler, and Alistair Norwich Tayler (1925). Lord Fife and his factor: being the correspondence of James, Second Lord Fife, 1729-1809. Heinemann. pp. 149–159, 226.{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link) CS1 maint: numeric names: authors list (link)
^Smiles, Samuel (1877). Life of a Scotch Naturalist, 4th Edition. J. Murray. p. 129.
^ abcdMosley, Charles (2003). Burke's Peerage Baronetage & Knightage: Clan Chiefs, Scottish Feudal Barons, 107th Edition, Volumes I-III. Wilmington, Delaware, U.S.A.: Burke's Peerage and Gentry LLC. pp. I., 1021, 1759.
^Pine, L.G. (1972). The New Extinct Peerage 1884-1971: Containing Extinct, Abeyant, Dormant and Suspended Peerages With Genealogies and Arms. London, UK: Heraldry Today. p. 124.
^Eilers, Marlene A. (1987). Queen Victoria's Descendants. Baltimore, Maryland: Genealogical Publishing Co. p. 176.
^The General Register of Sasines, Book 1001, Folio 70. Edinburgh, UK: Public Records Office, Register House. 1982. p. 76.
^The General Register of Sasines, Fiche 52, Frame 33. Banff UK: Counties of Caithness, Moray and Aberdeen. 2002. p. 40.
^The General Register of Sasines, Fiche 98, Frame 41. Banff, UK: County of Banff. 2004. pp. 11–13.
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