Mackenzie, William, 5th Earl and 2nd Marquess of Seaforth (1681 -1740)

William Mackenzie, 5th Marquess of Seaforth, was the eldest son of Kenneth 4th Earl, and Lady Frances Herbert. His father had been faithful to James II at the time of the Revolution of 1688, and was made a Marquess by him, but the patent did not pass the Great Seal before the King fled to France. The 5th Earl succeeded his father in 1701, and married Mary, only daughter of Nicholas Kennet of Coxhow in Northumberland. The Earl took part in the 1715 rebellion, and escaped to France in 1716, when he was made a Knight of the Thistle by the Pretender. He was attainted and his estates forfeited in 1716. In 1719 he accompanied the Earl Marischal in his expedition to the Western Isles, and was wounded and returned to France. In June 1726, through the influence of Monck, he was discharged from the effects of his attainder, although his forfeiture was not reversed, and George II granted him the arrears of feu duties from his former estates. The Pretender saw this as a betrayal, though Seaforth claimed that he had done it to protect his clan. He died on the Island of Lewis 8 January 1740.