Bowes-Lyon family, Earls of Strathmore

John Lyon (d. 1382), Chancellor of Scotland in 1377, married Johanna, daughter of King Robert II, and acquired estates in Aberdeenshire, Fife, Forfarshire and Perthshire. In the 17th century some of the older estates were sold, but the Forfarshire and Perthshire estates were consolidated, with Glamis Castle (Forfarshire) and Castle Lyon (Perthshire) rebuilt as the principal seats. Patrick Lyon, 9th Baron Glamis, was created Earl of Kinghorne in 1606, and his grandson obtained a new patent as Earl of Strathmore and Kinghorne in 1677.

In 1767 John Lyon, 9th Earl of Strathmore and Kinghorne, married Mary Eleanor, daughter and heir of George Bowes, of Streatlam and Gibside (Co. Durham) and Wemmergill (Yorkshire, North Riding) by Mary, daughter and heir of Edward Gilbert of St Paul's Walden (Hertfordshire). On the death of the 10th Earl in 1820 the Bowes estates in the north of England passed to a natural son, John Bowes, but on the latter's death in 1885 they reverted to his cousin, the 13th Earl. Smaller English estates were acquired through the marriage of the 8th Earl to Jean Nicholson of Hetton and West Rainton (Co. Durham) in 1753, and of the 11th Earl to Mary Carpenter of Redbourn (Hertfordshire) in 1800. The Shadwell (London) estate appears to have been acquired through the marriage of Lord Glamis, son of the 11th Earl, to Charlotte Grinstead in 1820.

In 1923 some 57 bound volumes of Bowes papers were accidentally sold with the library from Streatlam Castle. Many were recovered by the family but some are now in other custody.

Estates in 1883: Strathmore: 22,600 acres in Forfarshire; 270 acres in Perthshire; 1,800 acres in Hertfordshire; 16 acres in Sussex; worth a total of £28,502 a year. Bowes: 34,887 acres in the North Riding of Yorkshire and 8,313 acres in Co. Durham, worth a total of £21,071 a year.