Archibald Angus Charles Kennedy, 8th Marquess of Ailsa

[WilliamD]

The American Kennedys are mourning the death of their hereditary clan chief, Archibald Angus Charles Kennedy, 8th Marquess of Ailsa, 19th Earl of Cassilis, 21st Lord Kennedy, 8th Baron Ailsa, (born 13 September 1956) (Possibly known as Charles).

I can find no reference to this in the UK press. Is this true?

[Richard R]

Can't confirm either way. When you say the "American Kennedys are mourning...", what's the source for them doing that?

[Richard R]

OK, the following is from the American Kennedy Society website:

The Kennedy Society is saddened to report of the untimely death of our Lord Charles Kennedy.
Lord Archibald Angus Charles Kennedy was the 8th Marquess of Ailsa, 19th Earl of Cassillis, 21st Lord Kennedy and 8th Baron Ailsa, eldest son of the 7th Marquess of Ailsa, was born in 1956 at Culzean Castle in Ayrshire Scotland. His frequent travel to the United States to attend Scottish Games and visit with Kennedy Society members and friends was well anticipated by all who knew and loved him.
He will be missed by all.
http://www.kennedysociety.org/

[Richard R]

The heir is the 8th Marquess' brother:

Lord David Thomas KENNEDY (b 3 July 1958). He m 1991 Anne d of Bernard KELLY of Warwick, and has a son: Archibald David (b 7 Sept 1995) and a dau: Katherine Jean (b 1993).

[WilliamD]

This from Wikipedia - so it must be correct...

The heir presumptive to the Marquesate and title of Clan Chief is the Marquess' brother, Lord David Thomas Kennedy (b. 1958). It is unclear who is the heir presumptive to the family's other titles, which, depending on the terms of the original letters patent which granted the peerages, can be inherited by a female, therefore making the Marquess' daughter Lady Rosemary Margaret Kennedy potentially the heir to those titles. However, a dispute on the inheritance of the Earldom and the Lordship arose on the death of The 8th Earl of Cassillis in 1759 between an heir male and an heir general (through the female line) was resolved by the Court of Session and the House of Lords in 1762 in favour of the heir male. This would indicate, based on precedent, that the Earldom of Cassillis and the Kennedy Lordship will pass to the brother of the current Marquess as heir presumptive

[pyvery]

he seems to have been very active as a visiting Chief .there are pictures of him visiting everywhere from Hawaii to New Hampshire so it is not surprising that the American clan was told of his death fairly quickly.

[pyvery]

The Council of scottish clans & associations inc have posted on their website that he died on January 15th in Florida whilst attending the Florida games .

On Saturday, January 17, 2015 at 6:22:14 PM UTC, WilliamD wrote:

[cmpblldd]

An OBIT is forthcoming in the Scotsman this week put together
 by Gordon Casely

[WilliamD]

And see this one here: http://www.bletherskite.net/2015/01/16/chief-of-clan-kennedy-marquis-of-ailsa-dies-suddenly/

[pyvery]

The obituary has been published in to-days Scotsman.

Can the eldest daughter now become the Head of Clan Kennedy ?

and would she also be able to claim the older Scottish titles in spite of the lawsuits of the middle of the Eighteenth Century ?

On Saturday, January 17, 2015 at 6:22:14 PM UTC, WilliamD wrote:

[marquess]

I think that a lot of those ancient Scottish peerages were to the heirs-general, but when a male relative challenged the female heir general there was a tendency to favour the male, which then means that we have the same pattern repeating itself ad infinitum. I will have to look at what the Scots Peerage says, but from recollection there was a challenge by the heir male against the heir general in the 1700's. I think at the present time it is well worth a challenge. Should a challenge prove successful then the new marquess would only be left with the UK honours which comprise of the marquisate and a UK barony. It would be of interest to this group if one of its more informed members could compile a lost of Scots peerages where the heir male has prevailed against the heir general (female) and visa versa?

[Hovite]

John Kennedy, 8^th Earl of Cassilis, was childless, and entailed his lands upon his heir male, perhaps in order to keep the lands and title together. The succession was disputed by William Douglas, later Duke of Queensberry, who claimed both land and titles, as heir general. The House of Lords ruled against him on both points. The original grant of the Earldom no longer exists, so the House of Lords ruling established the fact that the remainder was to heirs male of the body. As that point has now been determined, I suspect that nothing short of an Act of Parliament can change the remainder. If such a change did occur, I would have thought that the Earldom of Cassilis would pass to the heir general of the 8^th Earl, rather than a daughter of the 19^th Earl.

[Peter FitzGerald]

William Douglas, 3rd Earl of Ruglen and 3rd Earl of March, later 4th Duke of Queensberry (1725-1810), was the heir general as the only son of the elder daughter (Lady Anne Hamilton, later 2nd Countess of Ruglen) of the eldest daughter (Lady Anne Kennedy, later Countess of Selkirk and Ruglen) of the 7th Earl.

As far as I can ascertain, on his death, the heirs general of the body of the 7th Earl became extinct. The line of such heirs would then pass through the younger daughter of the 6th Earl, as follows:

- Lady Catherine Kennedy, later Lady Cochrane (d. 1653)

- John Cochrane, Lord Cochrane, later 2nd Earl of Dundonald (d. 1690)

- William Cochrane, 3rd Earl of Dundonald (d. 1705)

- John Cochrane, 4th Earl of Dundonald (1687-1720)

- William Cochrane, 5th Earl of Dundonald (1708-1725)

- [Lady Anne Cochrane, later Duchess of Hamilton and Brandon (1707-1724)]

- James Hamilton, Marquess of Clydesdale, later 6th Duke of Hamilton and 3rd Duke of Brandon (1724-1758)

- James Hamilton, 7th Duke of Hamilton and 4th Duke of Brandon (1755-1769)

- Douglas Hamilton, 8th Duke of Hamilton and 5th Duke of Brandon (1756-1799)

- [Lady Elizabeth Hamilton, later Countess of Derby (1753-1797)]

- Edward Smith-Stanley, Lord Stanley, later 1st Baron Stanley and later still 13th Earl of Derby (1775-1851)

So if the future Duke of Queensberry had been successful in his claim, on his death the Earldom would have passed to the then Lord Stanley, who would have become 10th Earl of Cassilis. It would then have been inherited by his son, the Prime Minister, and would have passed along with the Earldom of Derby to the present day. It would currently be held by his descendant the 19th Earl of Derby and 16th Earl of Cassilis.

[marquess]

Thank you Peter and Hovite, for those two extremely informative posts!

On Sunday, January 18, 2015 at 1:22:14 AM UTC+7, WilliamD wrote:

[pyvery]

The Scottish Daily Record is also worth reading

On Saturday, January 17, 2015 at 6:22:14 PM UTC, WilliamD wrote:

[cmpblldd]

See

http://www.kennedysociety.net/LordCharlesNews.pdf


and

http://www.scotsman.com/news/obituaries/obituary-archibald-angus-charles-kennedy-8th-marquess-of-ailsa-1-3666070

On Saturday, January 17, 2015 at 1:22:14 PM UTC-5, WilliamD wrote:

[Michael Rhodes]

The Marquess of Ailsa's funeral takes place at Kirkmichael Parish Church, Thurs 29 January, 2015.

[Richard R]

Thanks Michael.

Here's the full text of the death notice from the Telegraph and Times of 23 January 2015: AILSA MARQUESS OF - ARCHIBALD ANGUS CHARLES KENNEDY 8th Marquess of Ailsa, sadly died on Thursday 15th January 2015. Funeral Service at Kirkmichael Parish Church on Thursday 29th January at 11am followed by a private burial. No flowers please but donations, if desired, to NHS Ayshire & Arran Physiotherapy Endowment Fund - www.justgiving.com/ayrshireandarranhbef

[pyvery]

Having recently collected information for the obituary of another marquis I feel that if you read the obituary in the Scotsman and then read the piece in the Scottish daily record one can get a fuller record of what the 8th marquis was like.I doubt if any other Chieftains were as active in the Scottish Diaspora as he was.

On Saturday, January 17, 2015 at 6:22:14 PM UTC, WilliamD wrote: