The title Lord Duffus was created by Charles II in the Peerage of Scotland on 8 December 1650 for Alexander Sutherland. He was a descendant of the 4th Earl of Sutherland, who fell in battle in 1333. The title is now extinct, although there may be male-line Sutherlands descended from earlier lairds of Duffus.
In 1734, the 3rd Lord was attainted and the lordship was forfeited. His son Eric tried but failed to get a reverse of the attainder. His son James Sutherland of Duffus got the attainder reversed, and was restored to the lordship as 4th (titular 5th) Lord Duffus on 25 May 1826. The last two Lords Duffus were also baronets, of Hempriggs in the County of Caithness (3rd and 4th). The lordship became extinct on the death of the 6th (titular 7th) Lord Duffus on 28 August 1875.
The Sutherland family of Duffus descended from Nicholas Sutherland, only brother of William de Moravia, 5th Earl of Sutherland (d. 1370), and younger son of Kenneth de Moravia, 4th Earl of Sutherland. The village of Duffus is outside of the county of Sutherland. Some of the Sutherland of Duffus family may have assumed the surname Duffus, which was the family title instead of the surname Sutherland.
These are the early ancestors of the Lords Duffus.
Kenneth de Moravia, 4th Earl of Sutherland (Kenneth Sutherland).
Nicholas Sutherland, 1st of Duffus. (younger son of Kenneth)
John Sutherland, 2nd of Duffus.
Alexander Sutherland, 3rd of Duffus and Torboll (d. c.1484) (son of Henry Sutherland of Torboll, younger son of Nicholas, 1st of Duffus)
William Sutherland of Quarrywood, later 4th of Duffus (d. c.1513) (son of William Sutherland of Berriedale, son of Alexander, 3rd of Duffus)
William Sutherland, 5th of Duffus. (d. c.1529)
William Sutherland, 6th of Duffus. (d. c.1530)
William Sutherland, 7th of Duffus.
Alexander Sutherland, 8th of Duffus. (1534 - 1579)
William Sutherland, 9th of Duffus. (d. 1616)
William Sutherland, 10th of Duffus. (d. 1626)
Alexander Sutherland, 1st Lord Duffus (d. 1674) (son of William Sutherland, 10th of Duffus)
James Sutherland, 2nd Lord Duffus (d. 1705) who had issue four sons (Kenneth, 3rd Lord, Sir James Dunbar, 1st Baronet and two others) and one daughter.
Kenneth Sutherland, 3rd Lord Duffus (d. 1734) (attainted and forfeit 1734) for his part in the 1715 uprising. He fled to Sweden, where he married a Swedish lady, Christina Sjöblad, by whom he had:
Eric Sutherland, 4th Lord Duffus (1710-1768) (not restored, but counted), married his first cousin Elizabeth, third daughter of Sir James Dunbar of Hempriggs, 1st Baronet by his wife Elizabeth Dunbar, daughter and heiress of Sir William Dunbar of Hempriggs, 1st Baronet of Northfield. They were parents of the 5th Lord Duffus, another son (who died issueless), and three daughters including an eldest daughter Elizabeth, wife firstly of Captain Alexander Sinclair, son of Sir William Sinclair of Keiss; secondly Charles Sinclair of Olrig (by whom one son and one daughter) and thirdly, in 1772, the Reverend James Rudd, rector in Yorkshire.
James Sutherland, 5th Lord Duffus (1747-1827) (restored 1826), who died unmarried. He eloped in December 1771 with the seventeen-year-old Lady Mary Hay, the daughter of the Earl of Erroll, Hereditary Lord High Constable of Scotland, and the wife of Major-General John Scott; she was divorced by her husband, Sutherland's colonel at the time. He abandoned her, never married, and recognized 10 illegitimate children in his will. However, he is said to have at least 60 illegitimate children. The barony was claimed by the nearest heir male (and also by the 5th Lord's nephew):
Benjamin Dunbar, 6th Lord Duffus, 3rd Baronet of Hempriggs (1761-1843), grandson of Sir James Sutherland-Dunbar of the 5th Lord Duffus This man, together with his son, unsuccessfully petitioned the House of Lords in 1838 to be granted the title and the seat in the House of Lords, but the petition was not acted upon. (A challenge was mounted by the Rev. Eric Rudd, apparently the sole surviving nephew of the late 5th Lord. He was the son of Elizabeth Sutherland by her third husband Rev. James Rudd (d. 23 February 1827, aged 83) He was succeeded de facto by his son:
George Sutherland Dunbar, 7th Lord Duffus (1799-1875) (extinct 1875) used the title of 7th Lord Duffus, but was also known as Sir George Dunbar of Hempriggs, 4th Baronet.
