James Duff, 5th Earl Fife

The Right Honourable
The Earl Fife
KT
The Right Honourable The Earl Fife KT
	The Earl Fife in 1863
Member of Parliament for Banffshire
	In office; 1837–1857
Preceded by	George Ferguson
Succeeded by	Lachlan Gordon-Duff
Personal details
Born	James Duff; 6 July 1814; Edinburgh, Scotland
Died	7 August 1879 (aged 65)
Spouse	Lady Agnes Hay; (m. 1846; died 1869)
Children	5
Parent(s)	Sir Alexander Duff; Anne Stein

James Duff, 5th Earl Fife, KT (6 July 1814 – 7 August 1879) was a Scottish nobleman and politician.

Early life[edit]

Duff was the son of Sir Alexander Duff, younger brother of James Duff, 4th Earl Fife, and Anne Stein, the daughter of James Stein of Kilbagie and Kennetpans House.^[1]^[2]

He was Member of Parliament for Banffshire from 1837 to 1857; his brother, George Skene Duff, was Member of Parliament for Elgin Burghs. He succeeded as the 5th Earl Fife, 5th Baron Braco of Kilbryde, and 5th Viscount MacDuff on 9 March 1857, and inherited many baronies including MacDuff, named for James Duff, 2nd Earl Fife.^[3] He was also created Baron Skene, of Skene, in the Peerage of the United Kingdom, on 26 September 1857 in his own right, which allowed him to sit and vote in the House of Lords.^[4] He was appointed Knight of the Order of the Thistle (K.T.) in 1860.

He was appointed Lord Lieutenant of the counties of Banff and Moray.^[4]

In 1845, Duff resided at 30 Pall Mall, London and at Delgatie Castle.^[5]

On 16 March 1846, he married Lady Agnes Georgiana Elizabeth Hay, daughter of William Hay, 18th Earl of Erroll and Lady Elizabeth FitzClarence (an illegitimate daughter of William IV). Together, they were the parents of five children, including:^[6]

Lady Anne Elizabeth Clementine Duff (d. 1925), who married John Townshend, 5th Marquess Townshend, and had issue.^[4]
Lady Ida Louisa Alice Duff (d. 1918), who married firstly Adrian Elias Hope, of Deepdene House, and had one daughter. They were divorced and she married secondly William Wilson, a London stockbroker, with no issue.^[4]
Alexander William George Duff (1849–1912), who was created Duke of Fife in 1889. He married Princess Louise, the eldest daughter of Edward VII.^[4]
Lady Alexina Duff (1851–1882), who married Henry Coventry, third son of Hon. Henry Amilius Coventry, and died without issue.^[4]
Lady Agnes Cecil Emmeline Duff (1852–1925), who married firstly George Hay-Drummond, son of George Hay-Drummond, 12th Earl of Kinnoull, and had issue. She married secondly Herbert Flower (brother of Cyril Flower, 1st Baron Battersea), with no issue. She married thirdly Alfred Cooper, with issue (Duff Cooper, 1st Viscount Norwich). David Cameron, the former British prime minister, is a descendant of this third marriage.^[4]

Lord Fife died on 7 August 1879.^[7]

Ancestors of James Duff, 5th Earl Fife

16. William Duff

17. Helen Gordon

18. Sir James Grant, 6th Bt.

9. Jean Grant

19. Anne Colquhoun

20. George Skene, 17th of Skene

10. George Skene, 18th of Skene

21. Elizabeth Skene

5. Mary Skene

22. George Forbes

11. Mary Forbes

23. Jane Skene

1.James Duff, Earl Fife

24. Andrew Stein

12. John Stein of Kennetpans

25. Anna MacKenzie

6. James Stein of Kilbagie

26. Robert Caldom

13. Margaret Caldom

27. Margaret Lamont

3. Anne Stein

14. John Buchanan

7. Catherine Buchanan

15. Jean Harley

^ "James Duff, 5th Earl of Fife". www.npg.org.uk. National Portrait Gallery, London. Retrieved 13 August 2021.
^ "History of Kennetpans". Kennetpans Trust. 5 September 2019. Retrieved 22 September 2022.
^ Mosley, Charles (2003). Burke's Peerage Baronetage & Knightage: Clan Chiefs, Scottish Feudal Barons, 107th Edition, Volumes I-III. Wilmington, Delaware, U.S.A: Burke's Peerage and Gentry LLC. pp. I., 1021, 1759.
^ ^a ^b ^c ^d ^e ^f ^g Debrett's Illustrated Peerage and Titles of Courtesy of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland. Dean & Son. 1869. p. 184. Retrieved 13 August 2021.
^ Oliver and Boyd's Edinburgh Almanac and National Repository, 1845
^ Tayler, Alistair; Tayler, Henrietta (August 2001). Lord Fife and His Factor Being the Correspondence of James Second Lord Fife, 1729 - 1809. The Minerva Group, Inc. ISBN 978-0-89875-571-8. Retrieved 13 August 2021.
^ Robert P. Dod, The Peerage, Baronetage and Knightage of Great Britain for 1860, London, 1860, p. 255.

Parliament of the United Kingdom
Preceded by George Ferguson	Member of Parliament for Banffshire 1837–1857	Succeeded by Lachlan Gordon-Duff
Honorary titles
Preceded by Sir Alexander Duff	Lord Lieutenant of Elginshire 1851–1856	Succeeded by George Skene Duff
Preceded by The Earl Fife	Lord Lieutenant of Banffshire 1856–1879	Succeeded by The Duke of Richmond
Peerage of Ireland
Preceded by James Duff	Earl Fife 1857–1879	Succeeded by Alexander Duff
Peerage of the United Kingdom
New creation	Baron Skene 1857–1879	Succeeded by Alexander Duff