Viscount of Oxfuird is a title in the Peerage of Scotland

Peerage of Scotland

The Peerage of Scotland is the division of the British Peerage for those peers created in the Kingdom of Scotland before 1707. With that year's Act of Union, the Kingdom of Scotland and the Kingdom of England were combined into the Kingdom of Great Britain, and a new Peerage of Great Britain was...

. It was created in 1651 for Sir James Makgill, 1st Baronet, along with the subsidiary title of Lord Makgill of Cousland, also in the Peerage of Scotland, with remainder to his "heirs male of tailzie and provision whomsoever". He had already been created a Baronet, of Makgill, in the Baronetage of Nova Scotia on 19 July 1625, with remainder to heirs male whatsoever. The remainder to heirs male whatsoever was a Scottish concept that permitted inheritance by persons not descended from the original grantee, but descended in the male line from male-line ancestors of the grantee. However, on the death of the first Viscount's son, the second Viscount, the Lordship and Viscountcy were assumed (wrongfully according to a 1977 decision by the House of Lords

House of Lords

The House of Lords is the upper house of the Parliament of the United Kingdom. Like the House of Commons, it meets in the Palace of Westminster....

) by his daughter Christian, as heir of tailzie and provision. Her son Robert Maitland Makgill also voted as Viscount of Oxfuird at the election of Scottish Representative Peers

Representative peer

In the United Kingdom, representative peers were those peers elected by the members of the Peerage of Scotland and the Peerage of Ireland to sit in the British House of Lords...

 in 1733.

However, according to a decision by the Committee for Privileges of the House of Lords in 1977 the rightful heir to the Baronetcy, Lordship and Viscountcy was the second Viscount's kinsman David Makgill, the de jure third Viscount of Oxfuird (d. 1717). He was the eldest son of Sir James Makgill (d. 1661), grandson of Sir James Makgill (d. 1579), great-uncle of the first Viscount of Oxfuird. His son, the fourth Viscount, attempted to prove his claim, but was unsuccessful. Thereafter, the matter was generally left alone.

However, according to the decision by the Committee for privileges the rightful descent of the titles was to have been as follows. On the death of the fourth Viscount the claim passed to his kinsman John Makgill, the de jure fifth Viscount. He was the grandson of Reverend John Makgill, third son of the aforementioned Sir James Makgill (d. 1661). His younger son George Makgill, the de jure seventh Viscount, fought in the Jacobite army of Bonnie Prince Charles, was attainted but later pardoned. His great-grandson John Makgill, the de jure tenth Viscount, resumed the claim to the Baronetcy, Lordship and Viscountcy. Shortly after his death in 1906 the matter was resolved in his favour in regards to the Baronetcy, but the Lordship and Viscountcy still remained dormant. Consequently, his son George Makgill, the de jure eleventh Viscount, became the eleventh Baronet, of Makgill. He continued to petition for the revival of the lordship and viscountcy.

However, it was not until 1977 that his son Sir John Makgill, 12th Baronet, of Makgill, had the claim admitted by the Committee for Privileges of the House of Lords and was issued with a writ of summons to the House of Lords as the twelfth Viscount of Oxfuird. His nephew, the thirteenth Viscount, was a Deputy Speaker of the House of Lords and was until his death in 2003 one of the ninety elected hereditary peer

Hereditary peer

Hereditary peers form part of the Peerage in the United Kingdom. There are over seven hundred peers who hold titles that may be inherited. Formerly, most of them were entitled to sit in the House of Lords, but since the House of Lords Act 1999 only ninety-two are permitted to do so...

s that were allowed to remain in the House of Lords after the passing of the House of Lords Act 1999

House of Lords Act 1999

The House of Lords Act 1999 was an Act of the Parliament of the United Kingdom that was given Royal Assent on 11 November 1999. The Act reformed the House of Lords, one of the chambers of Parliament. For centuries, the House of Lords had included several hundred members who inherited their seats;...

. He was succeeded by his eldest twin son, the fourteenth and present holder of the titles.

Since all Viscounts in the Peerage of Scotland use "of" in their titles, all of them should use the word "of". Most Scottish Viscounts have however dropped the practice of using it, the only ones who continue to do so being the Viscount of Arbuthnott

Viscount of Arbuthnott

The title Viscount of Arbuthnott was created in the Peerage of Scotland in 1641, along with the title Lord Inverbervie, for Sir Robert Arbuthnot.The Viscount of Arbuthnott is the hereditary Clan Chief of Clan Arbuthnott....

, and, to a lesser extent, the Viscount of Oxfuird.

The title of the Viscountcy is pronounced "Oxfurd". The Viscounts' seat was the original Oxenfoord Castle

Oxenfoord Castle

Oxenfoord Castle is a country house in Midlothian, Scotland. It is located north of Pathhead, and south-east of Dalkeith, above the Tyne Water. Originally a 16th-century tower house, the present castle is largely the result of major rebuilding in 1782, to designs by the architect Robert Adam....

 in Midlothian, built by the MakGills in the 16th century.

The Viscount of Oxfuird is the hereditary Clan Chief

Scottish clan chief

The Scottish Gaelic word clann means children. In early times, and possibly even today, clan members believed themselves to descend from a common ancestor, the founder of the Scottish clan. From its perceived founder a clan takes its name. The clan chief is the representative of this founder, and...

 of Clan Makgill

Clan Makgill

Clan Makgill is a Lowland Scottish clan.-Origins:For some time people have quoted Dr. George F. Black's The Surnames of Scotland...

.

Viscounts of Oxfuird (1651)

• James Makgill, 1st Viscount of Oxfuird (d. 1663)
• Robert Makgill, 2nd Viscount of Oxfuird (1651–1706) (dormant 1706)
• David Makgill, de jure 3rd Viscount of Oxfuird (d. 1717)
• James Makgill, de jure 4th Viscount of Oxfuird (d. 1747)
• John Makgill, de jure 5th Viscount of Oxfuird (1676–1762)
• Arthur Makgill, de jure 6th Viscount of Oxfuird (1709–1777)
• George Makgill, de jure 7th Viscount of Oxfuird (1723–1797)
• John Makgill, de jure 8th Viscount of Oxfuird (c. 1790–1817)
• George Makgill, de jure 9th Viscount of Oxfuird (1812–1878)
• John Makgill, de jure 10th Viscount of Oxfuird (1836–1906)
• George Makgill, de jure 11th Viscount of Oxfuird, 11th Baronet
  George Makgill
  Sir George Makgill, 11th Baronet was a Scottish novelist and right-wing propagandist.George Makgill was the son of Captain John Makgill and Margaret Isabella Haldane, sister of Lord Haldane. Educated privately, Makgill lived for several years in New Zealand where his father had a station at Waiuku...
  
   (1868–1926) (confirmed as 11th Baronet, of Makgill, in 1906)
• John Donald Arthur Alexander Makgill, 12th Viscount of Oxfuird (1899–1986) (confirmed in titles 1977)
• George Hubbard Makgill, 13th Viscount of Oxfuird (1934–2003)
• Ian Alexander Arthur Makgill, 14th Viscount of Oxfuird (b. 1969)

The heir presumptive

Heir Presumptive

An heir presumptive or heiress presumptive is the person provisionally scheduled to inherit a throne, peerage, or other hereditary honour, but whose position can be displaced by the birth of an heir or heiress apparent or of a new heir presumptive with a better claim to the position in question...

is the present holder's twin brother the Hon. Robert Edward George Makgill (b. 1969). The second heir presumptive is their younger brother the Hon. Hamish Max Alistair (b. 1972).