Elizabeth, lady of the Isles

There is no documentary evidence available currently to affirm that Elizabeth, daughter of Sir Alexander Seton of Winton, Lord Gordon & Lady Elizabeth Gordon & sister of Alexander Gordon, 1st Earl of Huntly, is the same person as the wife of Alexander MacDonald, 9th Lord of the Isles (this profile). Do not merge with Elizabeth Seton.

Elizabeth is seen in peerage reports as Elizabeth Seton. She was dead by 2 November 1467, when Alexander's son John granted a charter confirming a gift to the monastery of Fearn "for the salvation of the souls of his parents, Alexander earl of Ross and Elizabeth his wife." (See Munros, at 143.) <link>

Apparently she was the first “legal” wife of Alexander MacDonald (d 1449), 9th Lord of the Isles, 12th Earl of Ross, son of Donald MacDonald, 8th Lord of the Isles and Mary (Marion) de Leslie, and married by 1431, when his mother appears as the elder Lady of the Isles.

Alexander’s sons Celestine Macdonald of Lochalsh and Hugh of Sleat were older than his heir John of the Isles, and had different mothers, but they are not considered to have been born illegitimately.

Children

1. John MacDonald, 13th Earl of Ross, Last Lord of the Isles+3 b. c 1435, d. between 10 Jan 1502/3 and 5 Feb 1503 as a pensioner, Lodging House In Dundee, Scotland. Married Elizabeth Livingston.
2. (perhaps called) Margaret MacDonald [b c 1442?] married John Sutherland, 8th Earl Sutherland, son of John Sutherland, 7th Earl Sutherland and Margaret Baillie. died circa 1490 at Unes, Scotland; Murdered. (Seen as 1st daughter; mother uncertain, marriage uncertain)
3. Flora or Florence MacDonald+6 [b. c 1449?] married Duncan MacIntosh, 11th Laird of MacIntosh, 12th Chief of Clan Chattan (Seen as 2nd daughter; mother uncertain, marriage uncertain)

Notes

https://www.stirnet.com/genie/data/british/ss4tz/stewart23.php mentions that Elizabeth Gordon, wife of Niel Stewart, 2nd of Fothergill and Garth might possibly be a sister of the Earl of Huntly. So some studies suggest the widowed Elizabeth, lady of the Isles married Niel Stewart as her 2nd husband. The sources do not seem to support this, however.

Identity

Highland papers by MacPhail, J. R. N. (James Robert Nicolson), 1858-1933 (1914). Page 92. <Archive.Org>

Vll. Papal Mandate to admonish Alexander, Earl of Ross and Lord of the Isles, and Christina, his Concubine. 24th March 1445-6. (Archivio Vaticaiio. 1-145-0. An. xvi. Eug. iv. Vol. 426, fol. 297 v.)

Alexander, Earl of Ross and Lord of the Isles, is generally said to have married Elizabeth, daughter of Sir Alexander Seton and Elizabeth Gordon, and thus sister of the first Earl of Huntly. This statement made by Crawford (Peerage, p. 232) on the authority of Ferrerius is not supported by the terms of any known charter or other contemporary writ, but there seems- no reason for doubting its accuracy, unless indeed from the fact that in a charter dated 5th October 1442 by Alexander to Huntly (then Sir Alex.inder Seton), of the barony of Kynedward, there is no hint of any relationship.

Very little is known about this lady. Hugh Macdonald (cf. ante, p. 35) plainly confuses her with her son's wife ; but the anonymous author of the marginal note on p. 35, besides accepting her identity, asserts that he has seen her name in a charter, and that that charter proves her to have been the mother of Hugh of Sleat as well as of his brother John.

The document now printed shows that her Christian name was Elizabeth, so far corroborating the tradition, and it also shows that in their later years she and her husband had become seriously estranged. According to Hugh Macdonald there were three sons of the marriage, and there were certainly daughters also, facts which entirely coincide with the assertion that the spouses had lived together until Alexander, damnabiliter illectus, by the wiles of Christina Maclaide [Macleod] had practically repudiated his wife and installed Christina in her place. Information would be welcome on many points, e.g. the identity of Christina — whether she was the mother of Hugh, Donald and Alexander, whose legitimation has just been discussed, and what was the upshot of the whole matter. If the petition on which the mandate proceeds is still extant, it and perchance other documents preserved in the Vatican archives may throw more lighten the history of Alexander and his family.

It is interesting to note the wholesome respect entertained for the power of Alexander, and the apprehension that any attempt to inflict personal admonition on him or his paramour might have grave consequences for the adventurous ecclesiastic.

https://ancestorium.com/tng/getperson.php?personID=I037488&tree=1

The Clan Donald Genealogy Database at http://www.clandonald.org.uk/Genealogy/d0003/g0000070.html#I0172 (dead link) shows mother of most of his children to be Elizabeth SETON. Neither Burke's nor The Clan Donald Genealogy Database mention a "Jacobella".

The case of the identity of Alexander's wife, who was mother of his heir John and two daughters, illustrates some of the difficulties faced in identifying spouse's maiden names and their parents. Even such meticulous and experienced researchers as Jean Munro, Ph.D., and R. W. Munro can apparently be led astray, as the two letters from Douglas Hickling below illustrate.

The "note of a discharge" mentioning "Dame Elizabeth Haliburton, countess of Ross," is dated 40 years after Isabel Stewart, of Albany first husband's death and close to that after her second marriage. Given that, and the differences in first names, this may not be the end of this discussion. So Elizabeth (probably of Dirleton) Halyburton shown here as possibly one of his wives may or may not have existed. (If she was a “Halyburton of Dirleton, then she could have been a daughter of Walter Haliburton of Dirleton).

1st letter from Douglas Hickling based on research of Jean Munro, Ph.D., and R. W. Munro.

"I am going to comment on the name of Alexander's wife. Virtually all of the authorities state, without any documentary proof, that Alexander's wife was Elizabeth Seton, a daughter of Sir Alexander Seton and his wife Elizabeth Gordon. The Munros in their ACTS OF THE LORDS 0F THE ISLES, at 302-303 and elsewhere provide convincing evidence that Elizabeth's surname was Haliburton. At, 63, the Munros set forth a 1443 note of a discharge to Sir John Scrymgeour by "Dame Elizabeth Haliburton, countess of Ross," apparently the only contemporary record which gives Elizabeth's surname. The Munros, at 241, set forth a reference to a papal indult, dated 19 October 1433, to Alexander and Jacobella, his wife, for a portable altar. There seems to be no other record of this earlier marriage or of any children resulting therefrom. On 2 November 1467, Alexander's son John granted a charter confirming a gift to the monastery of Fearn "for the salvation of the souls of his parents, Alexander earl of Ross and Elizabeth his wife." (See Munros, at 143.) This shows that Elizabeth, not Jacobella, was John's mother. BURKE'S PEERAGE & BARONETAGE (106th edition), at 328, accepts "Elizabeth Halyburton, probably of Dirletoun," as Alexander's wife. "

Douglas Hickling
(August 2003)

2nd letter from Douglas Hickling

Based on my previous e-mail to you, you now show that the wife of Alexander Macdonald ID: I37488, and the mother of John, Lord of the Isles, was Dame Elizabeth Haliburton.

A correction seems to be needed. In the fall 2003 issue of THE GENEALOGIST, there is an article by Andrew B. W. MacEwen, beginning at 222, on Cristina de Brus, Countess of Dunbar. At page 225, the author, as an illustration of the difficulty in sometimes determining a woman's maiden name, says:

And the twice married Isabella Stewart of Albany in a discharge dated 10 December 1443 was styled "Dame Elizabeth Haliburton, countess of Ross," taking the rank of her first husband, Alexander Lesley, Earl of Ross, and the surname of her second husband, Sir Walter Haliburton of Dirleton--and seriously misleading such acute modern scholars as the Munros.

Footnote 13 says: "Jean Munro, Ph.D., and R. W. Munro, eds. ACTS OF THE LORDS OF THE ISLES 1336-1493, Scottish History Society, 4th ser., 22 (1986); 63, No. 41. Corrected in WEST HIGHLAND NOTES & QUERIES [Isle of Coll. Argyll], ser. 2, No. 19 (March 1999): 24-25."

The foregoing means that Isabel, daughter of Robert Duke of Albany, married (in 1398) Alexander, Earl of Ross (died 1402). She subsequently married Sir Walter Haliburton of Direlton. The wife of Alexander, Lord of the Isles and Earl of Ross (died 1499) [? date should be 1449?] and the mother of their son John, the last earl of Ross and lord of the Isles, cannot be named with certainty. As the Munros point out at p. 63 in their comment regarding the note of a discharge No. 41, and in a subsequent comment at p. 303, Elizabeth Seton, daughter of Sir Alexander Seton and Elizabeth Gordon, and sister of the first earl of Huntly, has been accepted as the wife of Alexander, but she is not so named in any contemporary record. Her place as the wife of Alexander, Lord of the Isles and Earl of Ross depends upon a 16th century Gordon genealogy by John Ferrerius . Ferrerius is generally well-regarded and I suggest that you may wish to show Elizabeth Seton as the earl's wife.

The Munros were not alone in failing to discern the true identity of "Dame Elizabeth Haliburton, Countess of Ross," referred to in the note of a discharge cited above. Complete Peerage V. 11, p. 151, published in 1949, makes the same mistake.

Doug Hickling
(November 2003)

Basis for identification of Elizabeth as a Haliburton of Dirleton:

Acts of the lords of the Isles, 1336-1493 (1986). Page 303, Appendix D. <link>

According to genealogist Andrew B. W. MacEwen (2003), the woman in the transaction was Alexander’s relative, Lady Isobel Stewart, styling herself as “Elizabeth” (rather than Isabel), using her second married name of “Haliburton”, and her former title of “countess of Ross.” She is not described as Alexander’s wife in the discharge.

Posible daughters

Volume 22 - Acts of the lords of the Isles, 1336-1493 (1986). Page 309. Appendix D. <link>

References

• "Jean Munro, Ph.D., and R. W. Munro, eds. ACTS OF THE LORDS OF THE ISLES 1336-1493, Scottish History Society, 4th ser., 22 (1986); 63, No. 41.
• 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.<Archive.Org> “Elizabeth Seton, said to be married to Alexander, Earl of Ross, who died in 1449.”
• http://our-royal-titled-noble-and-commoner-ancestors.com/p1254.htm#... (has errors)
• The peerage of Scotland: containing an historical and genealogical account of the nobility of that kingdom, ... collected from the public records, and ancient chartularies of this nation, ... Illustrated with copper-plates. By Robert Douglas, Esq;. Douglas, Robert, Sir, 1694-1770. Page 361. <link> Alexander, earl of Ross (d 1449) … married Elizabeth,* daughter of sir A∣lexander Seton, lord of Gordon, and sister of Alexander, first earl of Huntly, by whom he had three sons, and two daughters. … 1. John, 2. Hugh [sic], 3. Celestine [sic], 1st daughter Margaret, married to John Earl of Sutherland, and was mother of Elizabeth, heiress of that noble family; 2. 2. Florence,* married to Duncan MacIntosh, captain of the clan Chatton.
• The Scots Peerage, Vol. VIII, edited by Sir James Balfour Paul, p. 334. <Archive.Org> “Sir Robert Gordon says this Earl married a daughter of Alexander Macdonald, Lord of the Isles, though no proof is forthcoming. Sir Robert adds that this lady was nearly drowned while crossing the ferry at Unes, and was found in a state of weakness and slain by a robber. She must have been his first wife. His second wife was apparently Fingole (said to have been a daughter of William of Oalder, Thane of Cawdor), widow of John Monro of Fowlis,2 who died some time before April 1491”
• https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Duncan_Mackintosh,_11th_of_Mackintosh... “Duncan Mackintosh, 11th of Mackintosh had married Flora or Florence, second daughter of Alexander of Islay, Earl of Ross”.[2]
  • 2. Burke, John; Burke, Bernard (1847). Burke's Genealogical and Heraldic History of the Landed Gentry. Vol. 2. Great Marlborough Street, London: Henry Colburn. p. 807. Retrieved 31 December 2020.
• https://en.wikisource.org/wiki/Dictionary_of_National_Biography,_1885-1900/Macdonald,_Alexander_(d.1449) By his wife Elizabeth, daughter of Alexander Seton, lord of Gordon and Huntly, he had a son John [q. v.] who succeeded him. He had also two other sons, Celestine, styled also Archibald, and its Gaelic equivalent Gillespie, lord of Lochalsh and Lochearne; and Hugh (Gaelic, Huistean), also called Austin, and Augustine, lord of Sleat. These two sons are usually supposed to have been children of his lawful wife, but as entries in the Exchequer Rolls clearly show that John was younger than they, the presumption is that they were sons merely by concubinage. Of several daughters, Margaret married John, twelfth [SIC] earl of Sutherland, and Florence, Duncan MacIntosh, ninth of MacIntoch.
  • [Bower's Continuation of Fordun; Exchequer Rolls of Scotland; Gregory's Hist. of the Western Highlands; Mackenzie's Hist. of the Macdonalds.]
• “History of the Macdonalds and Lords of the Isles: With Genealogies of the ... “ By Alexander Mackenzie. (1881) Page 89. <GoogleBooks>
• “A family memoir of the Macdonalds of Keppoch,” ed. by C.R. Markham, with notes by C.E. Stuart, comte d’Albanie. By Angus Macdonald. (1885) Page 13. <GoogleBooks>
• https://www.wikitree.com/wiki/Seton-4
• https://www.genealogics.org/getperson.php?personID=I00056752&tree=LEO shows the wife of Alexander Macdonald Lord of The Isles, Earl of Ross as Elizabeth Halyburton (No parents), cites
  • The Complete Peerage, 1936 , Doubleday, H.A. & Lord Howard de Walden. 11:151
• https://www.clanmacfarlanegenealogy.info/genealogy/TNGWebsite/getpe...
• https://www.clandonald.org.uk/chiefs.htm
• http://www.stirnet.com/HTML/genie/british/mac/macdonald01.htm
• “History of the clan Donald, the families of MacDonald, McDonald and McDonnell” by Lee, Henry James, 1864- Publication date 1920. Page 29. <Archive.Org>
• “Historic Memorials of the Stewarts of Forthergill, Perthshire and Their Male ...” edited by Charles Poyntz Stewart. Page 10. <GoogleBooks> “John had a younger brother, Niel Stewart, who married Elizabeth Gordon, both being named in the deed by which John bequeaths money for prayers for himself and others. This Elizabeth Gordon is believed to have been a sister of the Earl of Huntly, with whose family there was great intimacy for several generations. For example, we find George, Lord Huntly, surety for Niel, son of John Stewart of Forthergill, in the “ Band” with Duncan Campbell of Glenorchy in 1488; in 1477, by the bond of manrent between John, Earl of Athole, and said Niel, Niel reserves “his allegiance to the Earl of Huntlie,” besides several other instances, which will be found in the proofs printed in the Appendix.”
• http://thepeerage.com/p14701.htm#i147010
• https://archive.org/details/historyofancient00bain/page/86/mode/2up...
• Complete Peerage, Volume 11, page 151 - Ross (1949) document attached
  • e. He had a wife before 1431, when his mother is referred to as the elder Lady of the Isles.
• Highland papers by MacPhail, J. R. N. (James Robert Nicolson), 1858-1933 (1914). Page 92. <Archive.Org>
• Unknown author, The Complete Peerage, by Cokayne, (1953) Vol. XII/1, p. 547, note h. http://www.familysearch.org/library/books/idurl/1/583084. Lists as “… Elizabeth, da. of Alexander Seton, lord of Gordon and Huntly …. “
• Cochran-Yu, David Kyle (2016) A keystone of contention: the Earldom of Ross, 1215-1517. PhD thesis. https://theses.gla.ac.uk/7242/1/2015cochran-yuphd.pdf