Sir Jacques de Lambinus, a Norman Knight, is said to have received a land grant in 1127 from David the 1st, King of Scots, in return for his military services (unconfirmed source).
His son, LAMBINUS, identified as the proprietor of the lands and barony of Loudoun, was father of James son of Lambinus.
James, son of Lambinus was granted a charter of the lands and barony of Loudoun, and others, from Richard de Morville, and also a later charter from William de Morville during the reign of king William the Lion, between 1186 and 1190. James, son of Lambinus later changed his name to James de Loudoun.
James de Loudoun’s daughter Margaret married Sir Reginald de Crawford. Reginald de Crawford was the Sheriff of Ayr and through his marriage with Margret, acquired the lands of Loudoun. They had several sons, of whom Hugh succeeded.
Hugh Crawford was Sheriff of Ayr and was in the diplomatic service of King Alexander II. He was succeeded by his son (also named Hugh) who was the father of Reginald Crawford (his successor), and Margaret Crawford.
Margaret Crawford married Sir Malcolm Wallace, and is believed by many historians to have been the mother of the famous Scottish national hero Sir William Wallace.
Reginald Crawford of Loudoun was Sheriff of Ayr during the time of the early Wars of Independence. Although amongst the Scottish landowners who signed the “Ragman Roll” attesting his loyalty to King Edward I of England (and thereby ensuring his lands); he later opposed the English occupation of Scotland, which resulted in his execution in 1307. His only heir, a daughter named Susanna, married Sir Duncan Campbell.
Sir Duncan and his wife Susanna we granted the lands of Loudoun and Stevenstoun in Ayrshire by King Robert the Bruce on January 4th, 1318 [RGS.1.38]. Their son, Sir Andrew Campbell, succeeded to the barony of Loudoun and Stevenstoun.
Sir Andrew was Sherriff of Ayr and accompanied Kind David II on his invasion of England in 1346. He was captured and imprisoned in the Tower of London. In 1357 he and King David were released, and returned to Scotland.
During the early 15th century Sir Hugh Campbell was Baron of Loudoun. His son, Sir George Campbell of Loudoun, then succeeded to the barony of Loudoun. Sir George was held hostage in England awaiting the ransom of King James I in 1424. He held the position of Sherriff of Ayr in around the year of 1450.
Sir George was succeeded by his son, also named Sir George, in 1465. In a document dated 1475, there is reference to George Campbell of Loudoun, knight Sherriff of Ayr [NRS.GD25.1.118]. He married Elizabeth Stewart and the couple had four children (George, John, Thomas, and Robert). Sir George died in 1490 and was succeeded by his eldest son George.
George Campbell of Loudoun inherited the office of Sheriff of Ayr from his father in 1489. He is believed to have first married a daughter of Lord Kennedy, and married again with Marion, daughter of Auchinleck of that Ilk. On January 9th 1491, King James created the town of Newmills in the barony of Loudoun, a free Burgh of Barony, under George Campbell of Loudoun [RGS.II.2001/XII.251]. George was succeeded by Hugh, his eldest son to the Barony of Loudoun and to the office of Sheriff of Ayr.
Hugh Campbell served in Parliament in 1504, and died in 1508. He married Isobel, daughter of Sir Thomas Wallace of Craigie, and had six children. His successor and only son was also named Hugh.
Sir Hugh Cambell of Loudoun was born in 1502. In 1527 he assassinated Gilbert, Earl of Cassillis, for which he was outlawed. In 1530 his land and barony of Wester Loudoun, and Newmylnes in the Barony of Easter Loudoun were seized. [Exchequer Rolls.xvi.528 & .xvi.529, RGS.III.1312/XXV.61]. In 1533 he was granted a crown charter of Wester Loudoun [RGS.III.1301/XXX.40]. He died in 1561 and was succeeded by the elder son of his first marriage, Sir Matthew.
Sir Matthew Campbell of Loudoun, Sheriff of Ayr, had sasines of both Easter and Wester Loudoun in 1561. He fought for Mary, Queen of Scots, at the Battle of Langside where he was captured. He married Isobel, daughter of Sir John Drummond of Innerpeffrey, and had seven children, of whom Sir Hugh succeeded to the land and titles.
Sir Hugh Campbell of Loudoun, Sherriff of Ayr, was Provost and Member of Parliament for Irvine. In 1601 he was created Lord Campbell of Loudoun. In 1613, King James confirmed Hugh, Lord Loudoun, with various properties including the lands and Barony of Wester Loudoun (the land and Baronies of Easter and Wester Loudoun and others). Sir Hugh had been married three times: Firstly, to Margaret, daughter of Sir John Gordon of Lochinvar. Secondly, to Elizabeth Ruthven, daughter of the Earl of Gowrie. Thirdly, to Margaret, daughter of Sir David Home of Wedderburn. Sir Hugh’s only son died before him, so his lands and titles went to his daughter, Margaret upon his death in 1622.
Margaret Campbell, Baroness of Loudoun, married Sir John Campbell of Lawers by 1620. Sir John, succeeded his father-in-law as Lord Loudoun in 1622. In 1633 he was created Earl of Loudoun, Lord Terrinyean and Mauchline and later, Lord High Chancellor of Scotland as well as Commissioner of the Treasury [NRS.GD119.334]. He fought during the Bishop’s War from 1638 – 1640, and on January 8th, 1644 King Charles I granted John, Earl of Loudoun, Lady Margaret Campbell, and their son James, Lord Mauchline, various properties in Ayrshire [RGS.IX.1500/lvii.406]. On October 9th, 1647, King Charles I confirmed John, Earl of Loudoun and his James, Lord Mauchline, in various lands including the land and baronies of Easter and Wester Loudoun [RGS.IX.1855/lvii.265]. Though initially opposed to the policies of the king, he later supported the Coronation of King Charles II of Scotland at Scone in 1650. He fought against Cromwell at Dunbar in 1650 and at Worcester in 1651, later taking refuge in the Highlands. He eventually submitted and died in Edinburgh in 1663. His elder son James became 2nd Earl of Loudoun.
James Campbell, 2nd Earl of Loudoun, was opposed to the religious policies of the Stuart kings and took refuge in the Netherlands where he died in 1684. He married Margaret Montgomery, daughter of the 7th Earl of Eglinton.
James Campbell’s eldest son, Hugh, succeeded to the Earldom of Loudoun in 1684. He was a Parliamentarian, became a Privy Councilor in 1697, a Knight of the Thistle, Secretary of State, Lord Lieutenant of Ayrshire, Keeper of the Great Seal of Scotland and High Commissioner to the Church of Scotland. On March 8th, 1700, he was granted the lands of Martinhame and Loudoun [RGS.76.139], and on February 7th, 1707 he was granted a further Crown Charter to the Earldom of Loudoun [NRS.SIG1.99.61]. He opposed the Jacobites and fought at Sheriffmuir in 1715. He married Margaret Dalrymple, daughter of the Earl of Stair. His son, John, succeeded as 4th Earl of Loudoun on his death in 1731.
John Campbell, 4th Earl of Loudoun, was born in 1705. He followed a career in the British Army, was appointed Governor of Stirling Castle in 1741. He fought at the Battle of Prestonpans against the Jacobites in 1745. In 1746, he attempted to capture Bonnie Prince Charlie at Moy Hall [NRS.GD176.3072]. In 1755 he was appointed Colonel of the 60th Royal American Regiment, and in 1756 he became Commander in Chief of HM Forces in America. He later fought in Portugal against the Spanish, and in 1770 was the Colonel of the Scots Guards and Governor of Edinburgh Castle, and was granted the lands of Loudoun on December 10th, 1773, [NRS.SIG1.102.60] [RGS.114.320]. John Campbell, 4th Earl of Loudoun, died at Loudoun Castle in 1782. Unmarried, he was succeeded by his cousin, James Mure Campbell.
James Mure Campbell, 5th Earl of Loudoun was born in 1726. He too followed a military career and rose to the rank of Major General in 1781. He married Flora, daughter of John McLeod of Raasay in 1777. Their only child, a daughter named Flora Mure Campbell, was born in 1780.
Flora Mure Campbell, Countess of Loudoun, married Francis Rawdon Hastings, Earl of Moira, an army officer and a member of the Irish Parliament. In 1816, he became Marquess of Hastings, Earl of Rawdon, and Viscount Loudoun. He died at sea off the coast of Naples in 1826 and was succeeded by his second surviving son, George Augustus Francis.
George Augustus Francis Rawdon was born in 1808. He succeeded as Earl of Loudoun upon his mother’s death in 1840, and was Lord of the Bedchamber. He married Barbara, Baroness Grey de Ruthyn, with whom he had six children. George Augustus Francis died in 1844. His eldest son, Paulyn Reginald Serlo Rawdon, succeeded.
Paulyn Reginald Serlo Rawdon, the 8th Earl of Loudoun, was born in 1832. He was a career soldier and died, unmarried, in 1851. The land and title of Earl of Loudoun thus went to his younger brother, Henry Weysford Charles Plantagenet Rawdon.
Henry, 9th Earl of Loudoun, born 1842 was also an army officer. He married Florence, daughter of the Earl of Anglesey in 1864, but died childless in 1868.
Edith Maud Rawdon-Hastings, born 1833, succeeded her brother, becoming the 10th Countess of Loudoun. She married Charles Abney-Hastings, 1st Baron Donington and their eldest child, Charles Edward Rawdon-Hastings succeeded as the 11th Earl of Loudoun. Edith Maud Rawdon-Hastings died in 1874.
Charles Edward Rawdon-Hastings,11th Earl of Loudoun, was born on January 5th, 1855, married Alice, daughter of Edward, Lord Howard of Glossop in 1880, and died childless on May 17th, 1920.
Edith Maud Abney-Hastings, the 12th Countess of Loudoun, was born on May 13th, 1883 and married Captain Reginald Huddleston, who adopted her surname as his own, in 1916. In 1920, she inherited the earldom of Loudoun from her childless uncle, Charles Edward Rawdon-Hastings,11th Earl of Loudoun. The Countess and her husband divorced in 1947. They had six children: The eldest, Captain Ian Huddleston Abney-Hastings, Lord Mauchline, born 1918, was an army officer killed in Italy in 1944. Next was Barbara Huddleston Abney-Hastings, born 1919, who succeeded to the title of 13th Countess of Loudoun upon the death of her mother in 1960. The next eldest was Jean Huddleston Abney-Hastings.
Upon having the Loudoun estates pass to her in 1959 from her mother, the 12th Countess of Loudoun; Jean Huddleston Abney-Hastings became Baroness of Loudoun and had her name legally changed to Jean Huddleston Campbell of Loudoun.
After being held for a period of time in trust following the death of Jean Huddleston Campbell of Loudoun, the Barony of Loudoun has since passed to Ronald Glen Schneller, current Baron of Loudoun, and will then pass further to his son and heir apparent, Thomas William Schneller, current Younger of Loudoun.
