Earl of Breadalbane and Holland

Arms of the Earl and Marquess
of Breadalbane.

The title Earl of Breadalbane and Holland was created in the Peerage of Scotland for John Campbell of Glenorchy, sometime Earl of Caithness.

John Campbell of Glenorchy, as a principal creditor, had 'acquired' the estates of George Sinclair, 6th Earl of Caithness who had died without issue in 1670. Campbell was consequently created Earl of Caithness in 1673, but after much litigation and even bloodshed, George Sinclair of Keiss (d. 1698), second son of George, 5th Earl of Caithness (d. 1643), recovered the estates, and successfully petitioned parliament regarding the Earldom, which was removed from Campbell. Sinclair's title was finally restored to him in 1681.

Deprived by parliament of the Caithness Earldom, John Campbell of Glenorchy was created on 13 Aug 1681 Lord Glenorchy, Benederaloch, Ormelie and Weick, Viscount of Tay and Paintland, and Earl of Breadalbane and Holland, with the precedency of the former patent, and with remainder to whichever of his sons by his first wife he should think proper in writing to designate and to the heirs male of that son, which failing to the heirs male of his body, which failing to his own heirs male, which failing to his heirs whatsoever.

The 4th Earl was created Marquess of Breadalbane in the Peerage of the United Kingdom in 1831, but this title became extinct at the death of the 2nd Marquess (and 5th Earl). The Marquessate was created again for the 7th Earl, but became extinct at his death.

The Earldom has been dormant since the death of the 10th Earl in 1995.

Hungarian-born Huba Campbell (born 1945), a third cousin once removed from the 10th earl, has petitioned the Lord Lyon for recognition of his right to the undifferenced arms. The claim is disputed between the Hungarian Campbells and a British aristocrat, Sir Lachlan Campbell, a direct descendant of the first earl. The latter, however, is apparently unable to succeed because his line of ancestry from the first earl is illegitimate.

The main seat of the Earls of Breadalbane and Holland from the early 19th century was the vast Taymouth Castle in Scotland, which was sold by the 9th Earl shortly after the end of the First World War.

Earls of Breadalbane and Holland (1681)

• John Campbell, 1st Earl of Breadalbane and Holland (1635–1717)
• John Campbell, 2nd Earl of Breadalbane and Holland (1662–1752)
• John Campbell, 3rd Earl of Breadalbane and Holland (1692–1782)
• John Campbell, 1st Marquess of Breadalbane, 4th Earl of Breadalbane and Holland (1762–1834)
• John Campbell, 2nd Marquess of Breadalbane, 5th Earl of Breadalbane and Holland (1796–1862)
• John Alexander Gavin Campbell, 6th Earl of Breadalbane and Holland (1824–1871)
• Gavin Campbell, 1st Marquess of Breadalbane, 7th Earl of Breadalbane and Holland (1851–1922)
• Iain Edward Herbert Campbell, 8th Earl of Breadalbane and Holland (1885–1923)
• Charles William Campbell, 9th Earl of Breadalbane and Holland (1889–1959)
• John Romer Boreland Campbell, 10th Earl of Breadalbane and Holland (1919–1995)

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