Lord Leslie

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Lord Leslie (Fife) is a title of nobility in the Baronage of Scotland, connected to the county of Fife. It was crown chartered in 1932, and its seat is Leslie House.

History of the Lordship of Leslie (Fife)

The actual earliest mention of the Barony is found in a charter by Robert II of 1382. King Robert III in 1398 granted a further charter to Sir George Leslie of the Barony of Fythkill on the provision that his heirs should render to the King or his successors ‘a pair of white gloves at the Market Cross of Cupar every Whitsunday’. Shortly after, the Barony of Fythkill was renamed, as in 1455 a charter related to Sir George's heir Norman refers to ‘the Barony of Leslie in the County of Fife’. In 1458 the town of Leslie Green was erected into a free burgh of the Barony. Norman was succeeded by his grandson George Leslie in 1489, who received a Crown charter of the barony of Fythkill ‘now called Leslie’ in 1510.

In 1542 the Barony of Leslie was defined as ‘the lands of Pitgeddie, Ballingall, Formanhills, Hoill, Drummane, Strathenrie, Basillie, Pitcairn, Uchtermarnie, Blackhall, Awdy, Lalethin, Drummard, and Kennoquhy.’ The title was later confirmed in a 1606 charter under the Great Seal of Scotland, describing it as 'the Lordship and Barony of Leslie with the palace.

After the Restoration of the Monarchy in 1660, the original Leslie Castle was incorporated into a new mansion known as Leslie House designed by William Bruce. During the Jacobite Rising of 1715 the Leslie family supported the Hanoverian government and commanded a cavalry unit at the Battle of Sheriffmuir. This support resulted in Leslie House being looted by the rebels.

In 1731 William Adam was commissioned to landscape the gardens around Leslie House, which had once impressed Daniel Defoe, who wrote in 1720 that it "[...] is the glory of the place, and indeed the whole province of Fife." After Leslie House was destroyed in a fire in 1763, it was rebuilt as a three-storey classical mansion between 1765 and 1767, with later modifications by Sir Robert Lorimer.

In 1819 George William Gwyther Evelyn inherited the Barony and Lordship of Leslie. His heir George William Evelyn died unmarried and was succeeded by his sister Henrietta Anderson-Morshead in 1859, who conveyed the lands and barony to trustees in 1873. The trustees sold the barony to Captain William Crundall in 1919, and it was purchased in turn by Sir Robert Spencer Nairn 1920. Nairn donated Leslie House to the Church of Scotland in 1952, while retaining other parts of the feudal lands, including all the titles. In 2004, the title was sold to Canadian philanthropist Sir Philip Christopher Ondaatje.

Leslie House was run as a care home by the Church of Scotland from 1952 until 2005, when a fire severely damaged the building; a second fire broke out in 2009. In 2020, plans were announced to restore the building and redevelop it into 28 luxury apartments.

Family tree

References