SIR IAIN BRUCE SETON, 13TH BT, of Abercorn, Linlithgowshire, Head of the House and Name of Seton.  Born 27 Aug. 1942, Succeeded his father 1988.  He was educated at Colchester and Chadacre Ag. Inst.    Married 29 Aug. 1963 • Margaret Ann Faulkner,  Daughter of Walter Charles Faulkner, of Gt. Horkesley,  Colchester, Essex, and has issue.

One of the most common questions, when discussing the House of Seton is who is the Head of the Family?  This can seem like a complicated subject for the reader/researcher who is not familiar with either the history of the lineages of the various families involved, or of the laws and traditions of Scotland that pertain to the subject.  One fact must be stated before going any further, that in old Scots peerage laws and traditional customs, a related family member is NOT entitled to inherit the status of Head of Line, or of Name, from a marriage of one of his, or her, other marital-related family members. 

If, in the case of two brothers, the 1^st marries a woman who’s line carries on through her and to her children, the brother of her husband, cannot and does not, have any claim to her family’s line.  Now in the case of a Title, i.e., Baron, Earl, Marquess, etc… there have been incidents in history where relations by marriage have successfully claimed a Title, that is another matter.  In this particular case, the purpose of this outline is to answer the much-asked question of: who is the Head of the House and Family of the Scottish Seton’s?

To clarify this subject I will follow the general family lines involved to arrive at the conclusion.  However, there are three separate conclusions:  There is the Lineal Bloodline Representative of the Seton’s, The Male-line Representative, and the Senior Representative of the Name of Seton.  The Male line was conclusively settled by Queen Victoria, upon the Montgomerie-Seton Earl’s of Eglinton, of that there is no dispute, and I’ll not go any further regarding that subject.  However, the Lineal Bloodline and the Representative of the Name, are different matters.

In both cases, the Lineal, and Representative of Name, follow the line of the Seton Viscounts of Kingston.  To arrive at this, one starts with George Seton, 5^th and last Earl of Winton who died in 1749 in Rome, s.p..  There has been much discussion over whether he had married a daughter of a Scotch Physician, a Margaret McKlear and had an only son, Charles Seton, who’s supposed grandson was George Seton of Bellingham in Northumberland.  This George, however, died without issue and since it could not be proved legitimately that the 5^th Earl of Winton ever married, then this claim must be ruled out.

The 5^th Earl of Winton was the eldest son of the two sons of George, 4^th Earl of Winton and Christian Hepburn of Adiston, their second son, Christopher died unmarried in 1704.  The 4th Earl was married 1st to Lady Mary Montgomerie and had a daughter Lady Mary Seton who died aged three years.  The next line, then, rolls back to the 4th Earl's father, George Seton, Master of Seton/Winton.  The Master of Seton/Winton only had the 4^th Earl of Winton as a surviving child of his marriage to Lady Henrietta Gordon, daughter of the Marquess of Huntly, so we have to roll back another generation to the 3^rd Earl of Winton.  The 3^rd Earl of Winton was twice married, 1^st to Lady Ann Hay, daughter of Francis Hay, 9^th Earl of Erroll, and 2^nd to Elizabeth Maxwell, daughter of the 7^th Lord Herries.  From Lady Anne Hay, The 3^rd Earl of Winton had, in actuality, 6 children:  George (who died very young), George (who’s line ended with the 5^th Earl), Margaret (who died aged  22, s.p.), Christopher (who died very young), Alexander (who became Viscount of Kingston), and Francis (who died young).

Following the above, it then falls to the lineage of Alexander Seton, 1st Viscount of Kingston, for the Bloodline and Name Representatives of the Seton’s.  The following is an extract from the legal peerage case of the Earl of Eglinton as heir-male general to the Winton Honours, awarded in 1859, acknowledging the Hay's of Drummelzier (later of Duns Castle) as lineal heirs of the House and Family of Seton via descent from Alexander Seton, 1st Viscount of Kingston:

The facts and dates of these marriages, births, and deaths, are all proved by entries contained in the Family Bible of the first Viscount Kingston, already referred to, with the exception of the deaths of Archibald, in 1714, and James, in 1719.  The whole of these entries were made by this nobleman himself, except that of Arthur’s death, which took place two days subsequent to his own; and the entry of this death, as well as that of the first Viscount himself, was made by the fourth son Archibald, second Viscount. The Bible, as already stated, is now in the possession of Mr. Hay of Dunse Castle, who represents the Kingston family, as heir general, and also the Winton family in the same character, through his descent from Elizabeth, youngest daughter of Alexander first Viscount Kingston, by her marriage upon the 25d October 1695, with his ancestor, William Hay of Drummelzier.  The entries of these facts are all made naturally in the order in which the events themselves took place, and by one who knew them best.  There are, however, other documents produced, confirmatory of them.

Having extinguished, under the 12^th Head, Christopher Seaton, third son of the third Earl of Winton, the next in the order of succession was Alexander the fourth son, who was created Viscount Kingston and Lord Craigiehall.  He and his male descendants form a separate branch, and the four following Heads instruct the marriages and male descendants of the first Viscount, and the extinction of the whole by the death of James the third Viscount in 1719, without issue.

Sir Alexander 1st Viscount Kingston, Lord Craigiehall and Baron of Whittingehame, Knight. 

From his first marriage, the 1^st Viscount Kingston had 1 child:  Jean (who married James Douglas, 3^rd Lord Mordington and where there is no succession).   From his second marriage he had 7 sons and 3 daughters: Charles, George and Alexander, all of which died, s.p., Archibald (who succeeded as 2^nd Viscount but d.s.p.), Arthur (who died young), John (who died young), James (who succeeded as 3^rd Viscount and d.s.p.), Isabel (who died young), Barbara (who died young), and Elizabeth, who married the Hon. William Hay of Drummelzier, son of John Hay, 1^st Earl of Tweedale, in 1695.  She became the heiress of the Kingston line and brought Whittingehame to that family.  Alexander Seton, 1^st Viscount Kingston had no other children from his other two marriages, and died 21 Oct., 1691 at Whittingehame. 

In the Male-line issue for the Seton-Winton Honours, the descent of the Viscounts of Kingston obviously got passed over, not the least of which by somewhat less than honourable means: noting of course that the original continuation of the honours and line of the House of Seton also previously followed the heiress Margaret Seton when she married Alan de Winton, her Seton-cousin, and ensured the lineal and honourable continuation of the bloodline (despite the lesser bloodline Seton of Parbroath family's direct male-line claim), and where their son William retained his mother's name and became the 1st Lord Seton, and Head of the House and surname of Seton and continued the line.

The lineal bloodline representation of the House of Seton then, passes to the descent of Elizabeth Seton of the Kingston Family and from her marriage to William Hay of Drummelzier. William Hay of Drummelzier was himself  the son of Margaret Montgomerie, daughter of Alexander Seton, 6th Earl of Eglinton, and was already a daughters cadet of the House of Seton.  He was the son of John Hay, 1st Earl of Tweeddale from his second marriage to Margaret Montgomerie, daughter of Alexander Seton 6th Earl of Eglinton, where John Hay's first marriage was to Lady Jean Seton, daughter of Alexander Seton, 1st Earl of Dunfermline who's only child John Hay became 1st Marquess of Tweeddale (William's half-brother).

William Hay and Elizabeth Seton’s oldest surviving child was, Alexander Hay of Drummelzier and Duns Castle.  He was married twice, 1^st to Anne, daughter of Alexander, 5^th Lord Blantyre, and 2^nd to Jean Hay, daughter of David Hay of Belton where they had no children.  Of Alexander Hay’s line, only two of his children produced heirs:  his older daughter Margaret, and his younger son Robert (later successor to his father and ancestor of the Hay's of Duns Castle).  Margaret Hay was then was the oldest lineal surviving child to produce an heir, and the Seton-bloodline lineally follows her.  She married Sir Henry Seton, 4th Baronet of Abercorn in 1770, passing the lineal bloodline back into the House of Seton directly, and their son, Alexander Seton, 5th Baronet of Abercorn became then, the lineal heir of the House and Family of Seton.  It is from his line that the senior bloodline representative of the House and Family and name of Seton-Winton stems, who also bear the name is Seton legitimately in the male-line outright, and Scots tradition in so bearing the name of Seton and with their lineal status they became, and remain, the lineal bloodline representatives of Head of the House and Family of Seton-Winton.

The Seton Baronets of Abercorn are also the lineal heirs of the Seton's of Touch and representatives of that line, making them the rightful Hereditary Armour Bearers to the King (Queen).  And also as a result of their lineal representative status of the Seton's of Touch they are the heirs lineally of Alexander Seton, 1st Earl of Huntly, and thus the de jure Lords Gordon, which Honour the Seton's of Touch never ceased to claim.  It would also be important to note that while the Charter of the Earldom of Winton likely is to male-heirs only by it's original patent, the Lordship and Barony of Seton and that of Tranent was for heirs of the body, tradition dictating bearing the name of Seton, particularly due to the significance.  This makes the Seton's of Abercorn also the de jure Lords Seton as well.  This converges lineally the line of the Lords Seton and Gordon, and the Earldoms of Winton and Huntly into one bloodline, and, following their descent, the Seton's of Abercorn are also heirs to the Viscounty of Kingston.

  Baronets of Abercorn                    Viscounts of Kingston                  The Earldom of Winton