The title Earl of Balcarres was created in 1651 for Alexander Lindsay. The title has descended since in the Lindsay family. In January 1808, the ancient Earldom of Crawford, held by members of another branch of the Lindsay family, became dormant because no-one could prove a claim to the title. Then, in 1843, James Lindsay, 7th Earl of Balcarres put forward his claim; in 1848, the House of Lords allowed it. It was held that the seventh Earl's father, the sixth Earl, was the lawful successor to the earldom of Crawford (though he did not claim it); therefore, the sixth Earl of Balcarres was posthumously declared the twenty-third Earl of Crawford, and his son, the seventh Earl of Balcarres, became the twenty-fourth Earl of Crawford. Thereafter, the two earldoms have remained united.
Earls of Balcarres
Alexander Lindsay, 1st Earl of Balcarres (1618-1659)
Crawford Castle, along with the title of Earl of Crawford, was given by Robert II to David Lindsay, 1st Earl of Crawford.
By virtue of the title of Baron Wigan of Haigh Hall, the Earls of Crawford and Balcarres sat in the House of Lords until the passage of the Peerage Act 1963.
George Lindsay-Crawford, 22nd Earl of Crawford, 6th Earl of Lindsay, 5th Viscount of Garnock (1758-1808) (dormant 1808; last male line descendant of 1st Earl of Lindsay, Earldom of Lindsay passed(according to Lords decision in 1878) to a kinsman of 1st Earl of Lindsay and that of Crawford reverted to senior surviving line, as determined 1848)
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