Earl of Wemyss and March - Later Earls

Later Earls

On his death the titles passed to his second but eldest surviving son James, the fifth Earl. He married the great heiress Janet Charteris, daughter of Colonel Francis Charteris, who had made a large fortune by gambling and was noted for the rape of Anne Bond. Their eldest son David, Lord Elcho, was implicated in the Jacobite rising of 1745, and was consequently attainted. On his father's death in 1756 he was not allowed to succeeded to the peerages but nonetheless assumed the title of Earl of Wemyss. Lord Elcho died childless and the peerages would have but for the attainder devolved upon his younger brother Francis, the soi disant seventh Earl, who nevertheless assumed the title. He assumed the surname of Charteris in lieu of Wemyss on being made heir his maternal grandfather Colonel Charteris's estate. His successor was his grandson Francis, the soi disant eighth Earl (the son of Francis Wemyss Charteris, "Lord Elcho"). In 1810, upon the death of William Douglas, 4th Duke of Queensberry and 3rd Earl of March, he 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 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. As of 2010 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 1864 – 24 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 12th Earl of Wemyss resided at Gosford House near Longniddry, East Lothian. The large mansion was designed by Robert Adam (although there have been many alterations) and built 1790–1800. The family also owns Stanway House in Gloucestershire, Neidpath Castle near Peebles and Elcho Castle near Perth.