Elizabeth Gordon, Heiress of Gordon

Scottish baroness

Elizabeth Gordon, Baroness Gordon

Died| 16 March 1439
Huntly Castle, Strathbogie, Aberdeenshire
Noble family| Clan Gordon
Spouse(s)| Alexander Seton, Lord Gordon, j.u.
Father| Adam de Gordon, Lord Gordon
Mother| Elizabeth Keith

Elizabeth Gordon, Heiress of Gordon († 1439), Scottish baroness and progenitress of the Gordon Earls and Marquesses of Huntly.

## Life

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Elizabeth Gordon was the daughter of Adam de Gordon, Lord of Gordon[a] and Elizabeth Keith, daughter of William Keith, Marischal of Scotland.[1]

Elizabeth, underage at the time of her father's death, was a ward of Walter Haliburton of Dirleton. Sir William Seton purchased her wardship on 7 March 1408 for a liferent of 50 merks from the barony of Tranent. Sir William betrothed her to his eldest son Sir John Seton but he declined preferring a daughter of the Earl of March; Elizabeth was then married to his younger brother, Alexander Seton, who in 1406 was a prisoner along with the future king James I of Scotland.[2]

Huntly Castle, originally called Strathbogie, erected by Sir Adam de Gordon, Lord of Gordon, Elizabeth's father.

Elizabeth and Alexander wed in 1408.[3] He acquired through his marriage to Elizabeth Gordon the lands of Gordon and Huntly, confirmed to them on 20 July 1408.[3] This was according to custom of the time that Elizabeth Gordon, of her own free will, resigned her lands before Parliament at Perth and she and the Regent Albany issued a new charter of "All and whole of the lands and baronies of Gordon and Huntly lying within the sheriffdom of Berwick; the lands of Fogo and Faunes with their pertinents; the lands of Strathbogie and Beldygordon with the pertinents in Aberdeenshire; to be held by the said Alexander and Elizabeth and their heirs lawfully procreated; whom failing the true and lawful heirs of the said Elizabeth whomsoever; rendering the services used and wont."[2]

Three years later, Alexander fought at the Battle of Harlaw and was knighted before 1419.[4] In 1421–2 he traveled to France and visited King James of Scotland. Alexander Seton was one of those who negotiated for the release of the Scottish monarch and was a hostage for his king, but was released after a year in England to return to his family in Scotland.[4] In that same year Alexander and Elizabeth were granted a charter for half the lands of Culclarochy and part of Gerry in the barony of Drumblade.[5] About 1436 Alexander was created a Lord of Parliament as Alexander Seton, Lord Gordon.[4]

In 1428, Alexander and Elizabeth were granted a dispensation from the pope long after their marriage when it was determined they were within the forbidden degrees of consanguinity; the dispensation stating that Alexander Seton had contracted marriage with Elizabeth, the heiress of Gordon, "per verba de presenti publici, juxta morem patriae" (Latin: publicly in accordance with all customs of the time).[2] Elizabeth died at Strathbogie on 16 March 1439 while Alexander died in 1440–41.[6] Elizabeth was buried at St. Nicholas Church in Aberdeen.[7]

## Family

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The children of Alexander Seton and Elizabeth Gordon were:

* Alexander Seton († 1470), succeeded his parents, took the name of Gordon and was created 1st Earl of Huntly[7]
* William Seton († 1452), married Elizabeth, daughter and heiress of William Meldrum of Meldrum, ancestor of the Setons of Meldrum[7]
* Henry Seton († 1452) killed with his brother William at the Battle of Brechin[7]
* Elizabeth Seton, married to Alexander of Islay, Earl of Ross († 1449)[7]

* Scotland portal

## Notes

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1. ^ The Gordons were originally from Normandy, the founder of the family coming to Scotland in the twelfth century, probably in the train of David I of Scotland, and received a grant of the lands of Gordon in Berkshire. See: Robert Seton, An old family: or, The Setons of Scotland and America (New York: Brentano's, 1899), pp. 49-50.

## References

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1. ^ George Edward Cokayne, The Complete Peerage; or, a History of the House of Lords and all its members from the earliest times, Vol. VI, eds. H. A. Doubleday & Howard de Walden (London: The St. Catherine Press, Ltd., 1926), pp. 1, 2, 675
2. ^ a b c The records of Aboyne MCCXXX-MDCLXXXI, ed. Charles Gordon Huntly (Aberdeen: The New Spalding Club, 1894), p. 372
3. ^ a b George Edward Cokayne, The Complete Peerage; or, a History of the House of Lords and all its members from the earliest times, Vol. VI, eds. H. A. Doubleday & Howard de Walden (London: The St. Catherine Press, Ltd., 1926), p. 1
4. ^ a b c The Scots Peerage, Founded on Wood's Edition of Sir Robert Douglas's Peerage of Scotland, ed. James Balfour Paul, Vol. IV (Edinburgh: David Douglas, 1907), p. 519
5. ^ John Malcolm Bulloch, The House of Gordon, Vol. 1, (Aberdeen: Aberdeen University Press, Ltd., 1903), p. 121
6. ^ George Edward Cokayne, The Complete Peerage; or, a History of the House of Lords and all its members from the earliest times, Vol. VI, eds. H. A. Doubleday & Howard de Walden (London: The St. Catherine Press, Ltd., 1926), pp. 2, 43
7. ^ a b c d e The Scots Peerage, Founded on Wood's Edition of Sir Robert Douglas's Peerage of Scotland, ed. James Balfour Paul, Vol. IV (Edinburgh: David Douglas, 1907), p. 521