In 1625
John Wemyss was created a
Baronet, of
Wemyss in the County of Fife, in the
Baronetage of Nova Scotia. In 1628 he was raised to the Peerage of Scotland as
Lord Wemyss of Elcho, and in 1633 he was further honoured when he was made
Lord Elcho and Methel and
Earl of Wemyss, also in the Peerage of Scotland. He later supported the Scottish parliament against
Charles I, and died in 1649. He was succeeded by his son David, the second Earl. In 1810, upon the death of
William Douglas, 4th Duke of Queensberry and 3rd Earl of March, Francis Wemyss-Charteris succeeded as fourth Earl of March, fourth Viscount of Peebles and fourth Lord Douglas of Neidpath, Lyne and Munard as the lineal heir male of the aforementioned Lady Anne Douglas, sister of the first Earl of March (see below). On his accession to these titles he assumed the surname of Charteris-Wemyss-Douglas. In 1821 he was created
Baron Wemyss, of Wemyss in the County of Fife, in the
Peerage of the United Kingdom. In 1826 he also obtained a reversal of the attainder of the earldom of Wemyss via the ''''
(7 Geo. 4. c. 49'' ) and became the eighth Earl of Wemyss. He was succeeded by his son, the ninth Earl of Wemyss and fifth Earl of March. He served as
Lord-Lieutenant of Peeblesshire from 1853 to 1880. When he died the titles passed to his son, the tenth Earl. He represented
Gloucestershire and
Haddingtonshire in the
House of Commons for many years. He was succeeded by his fifth but eldest surviving son, the eleventh Earl. He sat as
Conservative Member of Parliament for Haddingtonshire and
Ipswich and served as Lord-Lieutenant of Haddingtonshire from 1918 to 1937. the titles are held by the thirteenth Earl of Wemyss and ninth Earl of March, who succeeded in 2008. He is also Chief of
Clan Charteris. Several other members of the Wemyss, later Charteris, family, have also gained distinction.
William Wemyss (1760–1822), son of the Hon.
James Wemyss (1726–1786), third son of the fifth Earl, was a
Lieutenant-General in the Army. His elder son
James Erskine Wemyss (1789–1854) was a
Rear-Admiral in the
Royal Navy and the grandfather of
Admiral of the Fleet Rosslyn Erskine-Wemyss, 1st Baron Wester Wemyss (12 April 186424 May 1933), known as Sir Rosslyn Wemyss between 1916 and 1919. William Wemyss (1790–1852), younger son of the aforementioned William Wemyss, was a Lieutenant-General in the Army. William Binfield Wemyss (1810–1890), son of James Wemyss (1778–1849), younger son of the aforementioned the Hon. James Wemyss, was a General in the Army. The Hon. Frederick William Charteris (1833–1887), third son of the ninth Earl, was a
captain in the Royal Navy. The Hon. Sir Evan Edward Charteris (1864–1940), sixth son of the tenth Earl, was a historian, biographer and barrister and notably published biographies of
John Singer Sargent and of
Edmund Gosse. The Hon.
Martin Michael Charles Charteris, second son of the aforementioned Captain Hugo Francis Charteris, Lord Elcho, eldest son of the eleventh Earl, was private secretary to
Queen Elizabeth II and was created a
life peer as Baron Charteris of Amisfield in 1978.
Hugo Charteris (1922–1970), grandson of the eleventh Earl, was a renowned post-war novelist and screenwriter. His son,
Jamie Charteris, became a successful cartoonist. The family seat is
Gosford House near
Longniddry,
East Lothian. The family also owns
Stanway House in
Gloucestershire,
Neidpath Castle near
Peebles and
Elcho Castle near
Perth. ==Earls of Wemyss (1633)==