SUTHERLAND, John 8th Earl of Sutherland ^{1 3}

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  General Notes:

"John, eighth Earl of Sutherland, who was the second, but eldest surviving, son of the seventh Earl, is first mentioned in the resignation made in his favour by his father on 22 February 1455-56."

"Sir Robert Gordon charges the Earl with unkindness to his mother, and with ruthless cruelty towards some of his own relatives, but he says nothing about the probable cause of these and other shortcomings, namely the Earl's mental weakness. A brieve of idiotry was issued by King James IV. in 1494, and after the usual proceedings the Earl was, by a jury, declared incapable of managing his own affairs, and he was placed under the care of a tutor. Sir James Dunbar of Cumnock."

from Scots Peerage (vol 8) ¹

John married Daughter MACDONALD?, daughter of Alexander MACDONALD 10th Earl of Ross, Lord of the Isles and Unknown.¹ (Daughter MACDONALD? was born about 1448.)

  Marriage Notes:

"Sir Robert Gordon says this Earl married a daughter of Alexander Macdonald, Lord of the Isles, though no proof is forthcoming. Sir Robert adds that this lady was nearly drowned wliile crossing the ferry at Unes, and was found in a state of weakness and slain by a robber. She must have been his first wife."

from Scots Peerage (vol 8)




"There is considerable difficulty about the marriage or marriages of this Earl. Sir Robert Gordon says he married a daughter of the Lord of the Isles, Earl of Ross. No evidence has been found of this, but, as already stated, the earl, in 1467, received a grant of the lands of Spinningdale and Pulrossie, which, in 1464, had been granted and confirmed to Celestine of the Isles, a natural brother of the then Earl of Ross. It is not improbable that the lands may have been a marriage portion, and that it was a daughter of Celestine whom the earl married. Sir Hubert states that this lady met her death by drowning, while crossing the ferry at Unes, but he gives no date."

from The Sutherland Book ^{1 2}

John next married Finvola CALDER, daughter of William CALDER 7th Thane of Cawdor, Crown-Chamberlain 'beyond the Spey' and Mariot SUTHERLAND.^{1 2} (Finvola CALDER was born about 1459.)

  Marriage Notes:

"His (John, 8th Earl of Sutherland's) second wife was apparently Fingole (said to have been a daughter of William of Calder, Thane of Cawdor), widow of John Monro of Fowlis, who died some time before April 1491. She must have been the mother of Alexander named below, as he had a brother, Mr. Robert Monro. In February 1497-98 there were preparations for a divorce between her and the Earl, which the Lords of Council referred to the Vicar-General of Caithness."

from Scots Peerage (vol 8)




"The question of the earl's marriage or marriages is complicated by facts which were unknown to Sir Robert (Gordon). In 1499, when the lords of council ordered tlie earl to be brought to Edinburgh, they refer to a divorce between him and his wife, thus -

'And as to the mater of diuorce betuix the sade Jhone, Erle of Sutherland and Fingole, his spouse, the lordis reservis that mattr to the vycare-generale of Cathnes, requerand him that he call the partiis bofor him, and with the consale of my lord of Moray and his cheptoure avise the process, and as he findis it and concludes in the samyn, that he send it to the lordis of consale, that the kings hienes may be veryfeit in the mater how it is procedit, and how scho sal haf hir [liv]ing and be sustenit in tyme to cum.'

Who this ' Fingole ' was has not been ascertained, but the fact that the wife of Celestine of the Isles bore a similar name suggests a descent from that family. On the other hand, in the years 1509 to 1512, during which period the rents of the earldom were administered by the Crown, a Catherine, Countess of Sutherland, is found drawing terce from the lands, a clear proof that she was the widow of Earl John, but who she was, or whether she was identical with Fingole, has not been ascertained."

from The Book of Sutherland ^{1 2}

John next married Catherine By 1512.² (Catherine was born about 1455.)

  Marriage Notes:

"Who this ' Fingole ' (a wife of John, 8th Earl of Sutherland) was has not been ascertained, but the fact that the wife of Celestine of the Isles bore a similar name suggests a descent from that family. On the other hand, in the years 1509 to 1512, during which period the rents of the earldom were administered by the Crown, a Catherine, Countess of Sutherland, is found drawing terce from the lands, a clear proof that she was the widow of Earl John, but who she was, or whether she was identical with Fingole, has not been ascertained."

from The Book of Sutherland




"The Earl (John 8th of Sutherland) married a third time, as between 1509 and 1512 a Catherine, Countess of Sutherland, is credited with her terce from the earldom."

from Scots Peerage (vol 8) ^{1 2}