Elizabeth Keith, Countess of Huntly

Elizabeth Keith, Countess of Huntly
Personal details
BornUnknown
Dunnottar Castle, Aberdeenshire, Scotland
DiedUnknown
SpouseGeorge Gordon, 4th Earl of Huntly
Children12, including George, Jean, James, Adam, and Patrick
Parent(s)Robert Keith, Master of Marischal
Lady Elizabeth Douglas

Elizabeth Keith, Countess of Huntly (fl. 1566), was a Scottish noblewoman and the wife of George Gordon, 4th Earl of Huntly, Scotland's leading Catholic magnate during the reign of Mary, Queen of Scots. In 1562, Elizabeth encouraged her husband to raise forces against Queen Mary which led to his being outlawed, and after his death, his titles forfeited to the Crown.[1] Elizabeth's son Sir John Gordon was executed for having taken part in his father's rebellion.

She succeeded to the title of Countess of Huntly at her marriage on 27 March 1530, but like all Scottish married women in the sixteenth century would never have used her husband's surname.[2][3] Her daughter, Lady Jean Gordon, Countess of Bothwell was the first wife of James Hepburn, 4th Earl of Bothwell, third husband of Mary, Queen of Scots.

  1. ^ Antonia Fraser, Mary, Queen of Scots, p. 229, Dell Publishing Co. Inc., New York, March 1971, originally published by Weidenfeld and Nicolson, London, 1969
  2. ^ J. Wormald, Court, Kirk, and Community: Scotland, 1470–1625 (Edinburgh: Edinburgh University Press, 1991), ISBN 0-7486-0276-3, pp. 29–35
  3. ^ History Workshop, What's in a Surname? Rebecca Mason