Earl of Selkirk is a title in thePeerage of Scotland, used since 1646. It has rules of inheritance subject to unusual and unique provisions.

The title was created on 14 August 1646 forLord William Douglas, third son ofWilliam Douglas, 1st Marquess of Douglas, along with the titleLord Daer and Shortcleuch.^[1] On 29 April 1656, the first earl marriedAnne Hamilton, 3rd Duchess of Hamilton. In 1660, after the birth of two sons, he changed his surname from Douglas to "Hamilton", and was createdDuke of Hamilton for life, as was then a not uncommon practice in Scotland when a peeress in her own right married someone of lesser degree.^[2]

On 6 October 1688, during the reign ofJames VII, the new Duke of Hamilton surrendered his previous titles to the Crown (except Hamilton). They were reconferred on his third (but second surviving) son Charles, who thereby became second Earl of Selkirk, and who also reverted to his original surname of "Douglas". Thus, while the eldest son was to inherit the title of Duke of Hamilton and have his mother's maiden name for surname, the younger son was to inherit his father's dignities and perpetuate the name of Douglas.

Thisnovodamus for this arrangement embodied a unique remainder, the effect of which was that:

1. the titles would pass to the heirs male of the 1st earl'syounger sonsbefore the heirs male of hiseldest son (who was heir apparent to his mother's Dukedom of Hamilton);
2. if the person who would otherwise inherit the title was already duke of Hamilton (or would inherit that dukedom at the same time), the titles would pass instead to that duke's next surviving brother;
3. if the titles were ever held by a duke of Hamilton (either because an earl of Selkirk succeeded as duke of Hamilton, or because provision 2 was unable to operate because the heir was a duke of Hamilton who had no surviving younger brothers), the titles would pass on that duke's death to his second surviving son;
4. if the titles had passed to a younger brother or younger son under provisions 2 or 3, they would then pass to his heirs male on his death; but
5. if such a younger son or younger brother's heirs male died out, the title would not pass to his own younger brothers and their heirs male, but would instead revert to the senior male line, with provisions 2 and 3 operating as before.^[3]

This remainder is so unusual that "Hamilton House", aScottish country dance, reputedly was created around it.^[4]

The second earl died childless in 1739, and his younger brother,John Hamilton, 1st Earl of Ruglen (who had been so created on 14 April 1697), succeeded as the third earl. He outlived his son and heir, and when he died in 1744 the Earldom of Ruglen and its subsidiary titles passed to his daughterAnne Douglas, Countess of March, and on her death in 1748 toWilliam Douglas, 3rd Earl of March (later 4thDuke of Queensberry).

The earldom of Selkirk and its subsidiary title, being limited to male heirs, passed toDunbar Hamilton, grandson ofLord Basil Hamilton, sixth son of the first earl. Upon succeeding as fourth earl, he, like the second earl, changed his surname to "Douglas".

On the fourth earl's death in 1799, he was succeeded by his only surviving son,Thomas, as fifth earl, who was then succeeded on his own death in 1820 by his only son,Dunbar, as sixth earl.

On his death in 1885, the heirs male of the younger sons of the first earl expired. The heir male of the first earl's eldest son wasWilliam Douglas-Hamilton, 12th Duke of Hamilton, but under the special remainder (provision 2 above) the titles passed instead to his younger brother, Lord Charles Hamilton, who succeeded as seventh earl.

When the seventh earl died unmarried in 1886, the titles reverted to his elder brother, who had no further brothers to whom they could pass, and who accordingly succeeded as eighth earl.

When the eighth earl died without a son in 1895, the dukedom passed to his fourth cousin,Alfred Douglas-Hamilton, who succeeded as 13th duke of Hamilton. As he also had no brothers, he also succeeded as ninth earl of Selkirk.

When the ninth earl died in 1940, his eldest son,Douglas Douglas-Hamilton, inherited the dukedom, but the earldom of Selkirk and its subsidiary title passed under the special remainder (provision 3 above) to his second son,Lord George Douglas-Hamilton, who succeeded as 10th earl.

Upon the death of the 10th earl in 1994, married but childless, the titles passed (under provision 5 above) to his nephew,Lord James Douglas-Hamilton, second son of the 14th Duke of Hamilton and next brother ofAngus Douglas-Hamilton, 15th Duke of Hamilton, who succeeded as 11th earl. This succession was unsuccessfully challenged in theCourt of the Lord Lyon by Alasdair Douglas-Hamilton, son of Lord Malcolm Douglas-Hamilton, next brother of the 10th Earl. Lord Malcolm had died in 1969 as heir presumptive to the 10th earl and his son was listed thereafter in that position by reference works such asWhitaker's Almanack^[a] andDebrett's^[b] but it was the ruling of the court that the death of the 14th duke in 1973 had placed the younger sons of the 14th duke ahead of the younger sons of the 13th duke and their issue in line to the earldom.

The 11th earl was, at the time of his succession, theMember of Parliament forEdinburgh West, and hedisclaimed the titles in order to remain in theHouse of Commons, thus preventing a by-election at a very politically sensitive time. He was later elevated to theHouse of Lords with alife peerage asBaron Selkirk of Douglas, and served as a Member of theScottish Parliament.

• William Douglas-Hamilton, 1st Earl of Selkirk,jure uxoris 3rd Duke of Hamilton (1634–1694)
• Charles Douglas, 2nd Earl of Selkirk (1663–1739) (son of the 1st Earl, younger brother of 4th Duke of Hamilton)
• John Hamilton, 3rd Earl of Selkirk (1664–1744) (brother of 2nd Earl, younger brother of 4th Duke of Hamilton)
• Dunbar Douglas, 4th Earl of Selkirk (1722–1799) (great-nephew of the 3rd Earl)
• Thomas Douglas, 5th Earl of Selkirk (1771–1820) (son of the 4th Earl)
• Dunbar James Douglas, 6th Earl of Selkirk (1809–1885) (son of the 5th Earl)
• Charles George Hamilton, 7th Earl of Selkirk (1847–1886) (fourth cousin once removed of the 6th Earl, younger brother of the 12th Duke of Hamilton)
• William Alexander Louis Stephen Douglas-Hamilton, 12th Duke of Hamilton, 8th Earl of Selkirk (1845–1895) (older brother of 7th Earl)
• Alfred Douglas Douglas-Hamilton, 13th Duke of Hamilton, 9th Earl of Selkirk (1862–1940) (fourth cousin of the 8th Earl)
• George Nigel Douglas-Hamilton, 10th Earl of Selkirk (1906–1994) (son of the 9th Earl, brother of the 14th Duke of Hamilton)
• James Alexander Douglas-Hamilton, 11th Earl of Selkirk (1942–2023) (nephew of the 10th Earl, brother of the 15th Duke of Hamilton) (disclaimed 1994)
• John Andrew Douglas-Hamilton, 12th Earl of Selkirk (b. 1978) (son of the 11th Earl)

Theheir presumptive is the present earl's younger brother Charles Douglas Douglas-Hamilton (b. 1979).

Everyone in the line of succession to theDuke of Hamilton is eligible to succeed to the Earldom, but in the order dictated by its special remainder:the sons of Lord Selkirk of Douglas, starting with the present earl, come first (with potential male issue of any of them preceding younger brothers of that son), but should any future Earl of Selkirk die without a direct heir, the death of the 15th Duke of Hamilton in 2010 means that the younger son of the 15th Duke would rank ahead of lines from younger sons of the 14th Duke and the death of the 16th Duke would likewise move his younger sons to the head of the line.^[5][6][7]

• "The Lyon, the switch and the lord's hope".The Herald (Glasgow). 20 May 1995. Retrieved21 January 2018.
• "Scots toffs do gentlemanly battle over title claim".The Independent. 5 January 1996. Retrieved21 January 2018.
• Pierce, Andrew (15 March 1996)."Minister who gave up earldom to save Major wins it back".The Times. London. Retrieved21 January 2018.
• Douglas-Hamilton, Alasdair (2015)."Chapter 23 - The Selkirk Succession".Lord of the Skies - Biography of Lord Malcolm Douglas-Hamilton. Lulu Press, Inc.ISBN 9781447506249.
• National Library of Scotland - Papers relating to the 10th and 11th Earls of Selkirk and the Selkirk peerage, 1945-2004

• Earldoms in the Peerage of Scotland
• Lists of Scottish people
• House of Douglas and Angus
• 1646 establishments in Scotland
• Noble titles created in 1646
• Earls of Selkirk
• Peerages created with special remainders

• Articles with short description
• Short description is different from Wikidata
• Use dmy dates from November 2019