NameWilliam DUFF, 1ST EARL OF FIFE, 1331
Birth1697
Death1763
Spouses
ChildrenJames , 1332 (1729-1809)
Notes for William DUFF, 1ST EARL OF FIFE
Of Braco and Dipple. From whom are descended the Earls (later Dukes) of Fife.
M.P. for Banffshire from 1727 to 1734. In the following year he was made Baron Braco of Kilbride in the peerage of Ireland, and twenty-four years later was raised to be Viscount Macduff and Earl Fife in that same peerage.
He continued the policy of his family by purchasing further large estates in the counties of Aberdeen, Banff, and Moray, and managed all his possessions with much care and ability. Two years after his father’s death he rebuilt the castle of Balveny, and between 1740 and 1745 he built the splendid mansion of Duff House at a cost of £70,000. During the Jacobite rebellion in 1745 he joined the Duke of Cumberland, and offered the Government his free services in any way that might be desired.