Innes

The barony of Innes lies in Morayshire. Berowald, a Flemish nobleman, was granted this barony in 1160 by Malcolm IV. In 1226, Alexander II granted a charter of confirmation to Berowald’s grandson, Walter, who assumed the surname of Innes. The eighth Laird, ‘Good Sir Robert’, who died around 1381, had three sons: Sir Alexander, who later succeeded as ninth Laird, and who married the heiress of Aberchirder; John, later Bishop of Moray, who restored Elgin Cathedral after it had been destroyed by the Wolf of Badenoch; and George, head of the Scottish Order of Trinitarian Friars. Sir Alexander’s son, Sir Walter, was chief for forty-two years until his death in 1454. His son, Sir Robert Innes, the eleventh Laird, fought under the Earl of Huntly at the Battle of Brechin in 1452 and sought to expiate the sins of his life by founding the Greyfriars of Elgin. His eldest son, James, was armour bearer to James III, and entertained James IV at the Castle of Innes in 1490. He and his son, Alexander, were noted patrons of the arts and architecture. Alexander the Proud, the sixteenth chief, was executed by the Regent Morton for the murder of Walter Innes and was succeeded by his brother, John, who resigned his chiefship to his cousin, Alexander Innes of Crommey. He was murdered at Aberdeen in 1580 by his kinsman, Robert Innes of Innermarkie, during a family quarrel. His grandson, Sir Robert, the twentieth chief, was a Privy Councillor who represented Moray in Parliament, and he was created a Baronet of Nova Scotia in 1625. Although a prominent Covenanter, he welcomed the uncrowned Charles II at Garnoch in 1650, and raised a regiment to fight for the royalist cause. He sold the Aberchirder estates but built Innes House. The third Baronet married Lady Margaret Ker through whom Sir James Innes, the sixth Baronet and twenty-fifth chief, succeeded to the dukedom of Roxburgh in 1805. His son was granted an additional title of ‘Earl Innes’ in 1836. The present Duke of Roxburgh would be the chief of Clan Innes but is barred from the title as he bears a compound, or double-barrelled surname. Walter of Innermarkie, the second son of Sir Robert Innes the eleventh chief, was succeeded by his son, Robert, who was created hereditary constable of Redcastle and married a niece of James II. Sir Robert, fifth of Innermarkie, was created Baronet of Balveny. He built a fine castle on Speyside, but his son, Walter, lost everything in his support of Charles I. The family continued to support the cause of the Stuarts in exile as did their kinsmen, the Inneses of Coxton. When the present Register of Arms and Bearings in Scotland was instituted in 1672, the Lyon Depute was Robert Innes of Blairton. Sir Thomas Innes of Learney, a descendant of the Lairds of Innermarkie, was Lord Lyon, King of Arms from 1945 to 1969 and was one of Scotland’s greatest heraldic experts. His son, Sir Malcolm Innes of Edingight, occupied the same office from 1981 to 2001.