Inheritance of title

[maxwelldm]

I am seeking clarification of the rules surrounding titles. Tell me if I have understood correctly. I can trace my lineage directly back to John Maxwell, First of Broomholm. And indeed the Broomholm estate itself was owned by my grandfather, and sold by him only in the early 1900's. Now, my inderstanding is that the successive Maxwells of Broomholm got their title (eg. John Maxwell, Second of Broomholm) by virtue of the estate being passed on from one generation to the next by fee tail inheritance, from John, First of Broomholm). This all makes sense up to my grandfather, Herbert, who would have been either 9'th or 10'th of Broomholm, (depending on when his elder brother died - I don't have this information at present). But then two things happen: 1) fee tail title was abolished. (The laws were changed in 1925). I presume with the abolition of fee tail title, the property reverted to fee simple ownership. 2) the property was sold.

My questions are the following:
1) Is the title "Maxwell, n'th of Broomholm" tied to ownership of the property? (Did the line stop at Herbert, when he sold the Broomholm Maxwell seat?)
2) If not, do the rules surrounding the passage of fee tail ownership apply to subsequent family? (eg. David Ardill Maxwell, 9'th of Broomholm, had an eldest son Eustace, who died without issue. Under the rules, his title would then "retour" to the next son, Herbert Bowen. When Herbert died, it would pass to his eldest son, Patrick, who similarly died without issue, at which point the title would presumably retour to the next son - Ian David, who was my father. And thence to me, Ian's eldest son. And on to my son...) Is this a correct interpretation? In other words, am I in fact David Maxwell, 14'th of Broomholm?
3) Finally, if all this is correct, what am I the 14'th of. (I don't think I can call myself "Laird of Broomhom", can I?_)

[Currie]

Hello David, and Welcome to TalkingScot.

I was hoping that someone else would attempt to answer your questions because it’s a subject I know nothing about.

However there is a Wiki about Scottish Lairdship. I haven’t tried to digest it but it seems that the final arbiter on these matters is Lord Lyon, King of Arms. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Laird

The term “Laird of Broomholm” doesn’t appear to have ever cropped up very often. There’s mention of it in a newspaper report of the 1894 train accident in which young Eustace was killed, and in obituaries in the Bristol newspaper, and in the Times, for the 1936 death of your grandfather. http://www.britishnewspaperarchive.co.u ... rder=score

There’s also this in reference to your father.
https://www.google.com.au/search?tbo=p& ... oomholm%22

Should all else fail I suppose you could give your house an appropriate name and a nice nameplate.

You may find this 1912 history of Langholm parish interesting.
https://archive.org/stream/langholmasit ... 6/mode/2up


All the best,
Alan