The Earl of Ilay
Arms: Quarterly, 1st & 4th: Gyronny of eight Or and Sable (Campbell); 2nd & 3rd: Argent a lymphad sails furled flags and oars in action Sable and pennants flying Gules (Lorne) and at the centre point a crescent Gules. This last minor mark of difference is conjecture on our part as no official record has yet surfaced after searching nor portrait viewed indicating the Earl of Ilay had arms of his own as Ilay.
Archibald Campbell, 2nd son of Archibald Campbell, 10th Earl and 1st Duke of Argyll, was born in June 1682. In 1705 he was appointed Lord High Treasurer of Scotland, nominated as one of the Commissioners for the Treaty of Union 1706 and on 19 October 1706 he was created Earl and Viscount of Ilay, Lord of Oransay, Dunoon and Arrase in the Peerage of Scotland. This was the last Earldom created in the Scottish Peerage. The Earldom was created with the limitation to the heirs-male of his body. Ilay was then chosen as one of the sixteen representative peers of Scotland in 1707.
The 1st Duke of Argyll died on 28 Sep 1703 and John Campbell his eldest son succeeded as the 2nd Duke of Argyll and Lord Archibald became the heir to the dukedom and then was created Earl of Ilay in 1706 in his own right. The Earldom of Ilay was a substantive title and served Archibald well for almost 37 years until he succeeded as 3rd Duke of Argyll on 4 October 1743. The Earldom of Ilay then became a subsidiary title to the dukedom. Archibald Campbell, 1st Earl of Ilay and 3rd Duke of Argyll died whilst sitting at dinner in London on 15 April 1761 at age 79. As he had no issue, the Earldom of Ilay and its subsidiary titles became extinct and the Dukedom and other titles passed to a cousin.
The Earldom of Ilay being extinct is not listed in Appendix B, The Union Role of 1960. (pp 159-160, “The Sixteen Peers of Scotland”, Sir James Fergusson of Kilkerran, Bt., 1960 )
Sources: BLG, 19th Ed.; “The Sixteen Peers of Scotland” by Fergusson; Various Wikipedia articles; “The Scots Peerage” 1904-1914 by Paul; “Debrett’s Peerage” of 1904; “An Ordinary of Arms”, 2nd Ed. By Paul; and “Roll of Scottish Arms” 1964-1969 by Gayre.
The artwork is a rendering by John Hamilton Gaylor.
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