Leslie, Lesly, or LESLEY, THE FAMILY OF, is first found between 1171 and 1199, when Malcolm, son of Bartholf, obtained Lesslyn or Leslie, a wild pastoral parish in Aberdeenshire. His descendants took their surname from their lands.
Earls and Duke of Rothes.—The family was ennobled in 1457, when George Leslie of Rothes was made Earl of Rothes and Lord Leslie. The fourth earl was father of Norman Leslie, Master of Rothes, the chief actor in the murder of Cardinal Beaton. John, the sixth earl, who died in 1641, distinguished himself as one of the ablest of the Covenanting leaders. His son became Lord Chancellor of Scotland in 1667, and in 1680 was created Duke of Rothes, Marquis of Ballinbreich, Earl of Leslie, &c. These honours became extinct upon his death without male issue in 1681. The earldom of Rothes went to his elder daughter, in whose family the title has continued.
Earls of Leven.—Before the family left Aberdeenshire it had thrown off branches, some of which still flourish there. The chief, that of Balquhain, gave birth to several men of mark, such as the learned John Leslie, Bishop of Ross (1527-96), the devoted champion of Mary Queen of Scots; Sir Alexander Leslie of Auchintoul, a general in the Muscovite service, who died governor of Smolensko in 1663; and Charles Leslie (q.v.). A still more distinguished man was Alexander Leslie, who rose to be a field-marshal of Sweden under Gustavus Adolphus. Recalled to Scotland in 1639, he took command of the Covenanting army, and in 1641 was made Earl of Leven and Lord Balgony. He died in 1661, and his honours and lands eventually passed to his great-grandson, David Melville, third Earl of Leven and second Earl of Melville. His descendant succeeded as eleventh Earl of Leven and tenth Earl of Melville in 1889.
Lord Lindores.—The second son of the fifth Earl of Rothes was created Lord Lindores in 1600. The title has been dormant since the death of the seventh lord in 1775.
Lord Newark.—David Leslie, fifth son of the first Lord Lindores, served with distinction under Gustavus Adolphus, and, returning to Scotland in 1640, acted as lieutenant-general to the Earl of Leven. He was present at Marston Moor, and surprised and routed Montrose at Philiphaugh. Taken prisoner by Cromwell at Worcester in 1651, he suffered imprisonment in the Tower till the Restoration. He was made Lord Newark in 1661, and died in 1682. The title has been dormant since the death of his great-grandson, the fourth lord, in 1791.
Counts Leslie.—Walter Leslie, a younger son of the House of Balquhain, distinguished himself in the Austrian army, and in 1637 was created a count of the empire, as a reward for his services in the murder of Wallenstein. He died without issue in 1667, when he was succeeded by his nephew, James, a field-marshal in the Austrian service, who died in 1694. The title became extinct in 1844.