Worldwide Guide to Women
in Leadership
United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland
Substates
See also United Kingdom Heads and United Kingdoms Ministers
Kingdom of Scotland
1234-90 Lady Devorguilla MacDowall of Galloway
Her father, Lord Alan FitzRoland of Galloway, was the last of the MacFergus
dynasty of quasi-independent Lords of Galloway in the south-west of
Scotland. He was also hereditary Constable of Scotland. When he died his
possessions were devided among her and her two surviving sisters. She passed the
Lordship of Galloway and heirship of the crown to her son John I Balliol, King
of Scotland (1992-96), by her husband, John, 5th Baron de Balliol and her son John Balliol was king of
Scotland for four years. Devorguilla endowed a college for the poor which later
became Balliol College. Her mother was Margaret of Huntingdon, the daughter of
David of Scotland, 8th Earl of Huntingdon, grand-son of the Scottish king David
I. She lived (circa 1210-90).
1286-90 Queen Margaret, The Maid of Norway
She was daughter of Princess Margaret and succeeded her grandfather King Alexander III
of Scotland. Her death on the way from Norway to Scotland meant civil war over
the succession in, since there were no other close heirs to the throne
1390-1401 Queen Anabella Drumond
She was very powerful during the reign of her husband, Robert Johan Stuart of
Kyle, who was partly paralyzed. In 1398 she had her son, David, Duke of Rothsay
appointed regent. Husband succeeded by second son, James I.
1377-88 Territorial Countess
Margaret Mormaer of Mar, Lady Garioch
Succeeded her brother,
Thomas Mormaer, 9th Earl of Mar (circa 1330-1377). She had married William, first Earl of Douglas,
who was succeeded by their son, James. 2. Earl of Douglas and Earl of Mar and Garioch in right of his
mother, and when he fell, leading the Scots at the battle of Otterburn. he was
succeeded by her daughter, Isabel, who became owner of the
Earldom of Mar and the Lordship of the Garioch and became the owner the unentailed lands of the House of Douglas.
Circa 1388-1408
Territorial Countess Isabel Douglas of Mar, Lady of Garioch
In 1390, Robert III. granted to his brother-in-law, Sir Malcolm Drummond, Lord
of Mar in right of his wife, the 11th Countess, a licence to erect a tower on
the lands of Castletown of Braemar. The King, in 1393, granted to Sir Malcolm by
charter, forty pounds sterling per annum from the great custom of Aberdeen,
until the King shall give him forty pounds worth of lands. In 1402 he was
murdered by Alexander Stewart.
In the summer of 1404 Alexander Stewart captured her castle and forced her to sign a charter on August 12, 1404. She
revoked the charter later that year, but on marrying him, she gave him the
earldom for life; the King confirmed her last action the next year. She lived (c. 1360-1408)
1437-39 Regent Dowager Queen Joan Beaufort
Widow of James I and regent for son James II
1460-63 Regent Dowager Queen Maria de Guelders
Widow of James III and regent for son James III until her death
1513-14 Regent Dowager Queen Margaret Tudor
She was married to James IV of Scotland; daughter of Henry VII of England and
sister of Henry VIII. Her husband was killed and she became regent for her
infant son, James V. She lived (1489–1541).
1552-67/87 Queen Mary Stuart
She became Queen of Scotland when she
was just six days old. At age five she was sent to France to be brought up in
the French court, and eventually married King Francis II, who died the next year.
A widow, Mary returned to Scotland where a series of politically unwise love
affairs and her continued adherence to Catholicism in a Protestant country led
to trouble and a revolt against her. Forced to flee to England for refuge, she
now faced the fears of Queen Elizabeth I who saw her as a rival to her throne.
Elizabeth kept Mary under a form of imprisonment for the next 19 years. Watched
closely, she was implicated in a series of conspiracies against Queen Elizabeth,
and was executed.
1554-60 Regent Dowager Queen Mary de Guise
Married to James V of Scotland and regent for her daughter, Mary Queen of
Scots. She
lived (1515-60)
1717-58 18th Hereditary Lord High Constable and Knight Marischal of
Scotland, The 14th Countess of Erroll
Mary Hay was the Senior Great Officer Royal Office of Scotland and Chief of the
King's Household in Scotland. She succeeded to the title in 1717 when she also
became Lady Hay and Baroness of Stain, 23rd Chief of the Hays (since 1171) and
Mac Garaidh Mhar (a celtic title) etc., etc. She succeeded her brother and was by
grand-nephew
1824-40 Head of the Sovereign Family, Titular
Queen Mary III and II of England, Scotland, France and Ireland, Defender of the
Faith
Maria Beatrice Vittoria Giuseppina di Savoia was the eldest daughter of Don
Vittorio Emanuele di Savoia, Duke of Aosta, later king of Sardinia and
Archduchess Maria Theresa of Austria-Este. 1812 Mary Beatrice married her uncle,
Archduke Francis of Austria, Duke of Modena, with special dispensation for the
marriage was received from the Holy See. After her father's death she was
recognized by the Jacobites as "Queen Mary III and II". She was called "Queen
Mary II" by those Jacobites who do not number Mary Stuart as Mary II of England.
She lived (1792-1840).
1875-1919 Head of the Sovereign Family, Titular Queen
Mary IV and III of England, Scotland, France and Ireland, Defender of the Faith
Marie Therese von Habsburg-Lothringen, Archduchess of Austria, Princess of
Hungary-Bohemia and Modena, succeeded her uncle as claimant of the Jacobite
throne of Scotland and England. Her grandmother was Mary III and II Beatrice of
Modena (1824-40). Marie Therese descended from a sister of the last Stuart-kings
of England and Scotland. She was married to Ludwig, King of Bavaria (1913-1918).
Her grandson, Francis II, Duke of Bavaria has been claimant since 1996. His
brother, Max Emanuel is heir and his oldest daughter, the Hereditary Princess
Sophia von und zu Liechtenstein, is next in line for the succession. One of
Marie Theresa's half-sisters by her mother's second marriage, Queen
Maria-Cristina of Spain was regent for her son (1885-1902). Marie Therese had
five children and lived (1849-1919).
1941-78 27th Hereditary Lord High Constable and
Knight Marischal of Scotland, The 23rd Countess of Erroll
Diana D. Hay was the Senior Great Officer Royal Office of Scotland and Chief of
the Monarch's Household in Scotland, President of the Court of the Verge etc.
etc. She succeeded to the title in 1941 when she also became Lady Hay and
Baroness of Stain, 32th Chief of the Hays (since 1171) and Mac Garaidh Mhar (a
celtic title). She was succeeded by her son, Martin Hay. She lived (1926-78)
The Lord High Commissioner to the
General Assembly of the Church of Scotland
The British Sovereign's personal representative to the General Assembly of the
Church of Scotland (the Kirk), reflecting the Church's role as the national
church of Scotland, and the Sovereign's role as protector and member of that
Church. While the General Assembly is meeting, the Lord High Commissioner is
treated as if a Regent. By custom, he or she is addressed as "Your Grace
1970 Rt Hon Margaret Herbison
1994 and 1995 Lady Marion Anne Fraser
1996 The Princess Royal (HRH Princess Anne)
Territorial Counties in Scotland
County of Athol
1211-37 4th Countess Isabella
1242-44 6th Countess Forflissa of Galloway
1244 7th Countess Ada Hastings
County of Sutherland
1515-35 10th Countess Elizabeth
She succeeded her brother John by "infeftment"
of 1515 after a protracted
lawsuit and some bloodshed, became Countess of Sutherland in her own right. She resigning the earldom to her eldest son Alexander, the ancestor of the
family of Gordon, Earls of Sutherland. The earls would not bear the name of
Sutherland again until William Sutherland, the 17th Earl, adopted it. She was
succeeded in 1530 by her grandson, the 11th Earl ("Good John Earl").
(d. 1535).
1771-1839 19th Countess Elizabeth
Gordon
She was one year old when her father, William, the 18th Earl of Sutherland, and
her mother both died in 1766. In the lawsuit that followed, known as the "Sutherland
Peerage Case", the old Sutherland house of Forse claimed superior rights, but
the verdict was finally given in favor of the infant countess in 1771. Elizabeth
married an Englishman, George Granville Leveson-Gower whose father, the Earl of
Gower, was created the Marquess of Stafford, titles to which he himself
succeeded in 1803. As the husband of a great landed heiress, to whose
inheritance he added substantial acreages of his own at Trentham in
Staffordshire and Lilleshall in Shropshire, Lord Stafford had considerable
influence, becoming the 1st Duke of Sutherland. She lived
(1765-1839).
1963- 24th Countess of
Elizabeth Sutherland-Leveson-Gower
She succeeded her uncle, The 5th Duke of Sutherland, George Granville Sutherland,
who held several
ministerial offices. Her father, Lord Alistair
Sutherland-Leveson-Gower M.C. who had died in 1921. She is married to
Charles Janson and they have three sons and a daughter. The Dukedom was
inherited by another male relative.
County Ross (Check this information)
1372-94/95 Countess Euphemia I
Ross
First married to John Randolph Earl
of Moray and then to King Robert II of Scotland. Their son,
David, Earl Palatine of Strathearn and Earl of Caithness
(circa 1356-89) had one daughter and
Euphemla, Countess Palatine of Steathearn and Countess of
Caithness, which latter Earldom she resigned to her uncle, Walter
Leslie
1402-15 Countess Eupemia II
Leslie
In succssion to Alexander. After her death, the County was vacant until Johan
Stewart, Earl of Buchan became Earl.
1424-36 Margaret Leslie
1908-68 Chief of Ross Miss Ross of Pitcalnie
Last update 23.12.06