The Duke of Argyll also holds the hereditary titles of chief of Clan Campbell and Master of the Household of Scotland.

The 8th Earl of Argyll was created a marquess in 1641, when Charles I visited Scotland and attempted to quell the rising political crisis (and the fall-out from the event known as The Incident).

The 5th Duke sat as a member of parliament for Glasgow Burghs until his father's accession to the Dukedom in 1761 disqualified him from representing a Scottish seat.

During the 19th century, a distant Prussian descendant of the family, Jenny von Westphalen, became the wife of the philosopher Karl Marx.

In a famous story, when exiled to Paris and reduced to poverty, Marx was nearly arrested for attempting to pawn a part of Jenny's dowry: a silver dinner service bearing the coat of arms of the House of Argyll.

Of the incident Marx wrote to Engels, possibly in an attempt to solicit another loan from his wealthy friend: "My wife cried all night".

The estate, 75,000 acres, is a mixture of commercial forestry, residential property, sources of renewable energy, and a caravan park.

[6] In and before 1764 the family had a house near to London at Ham which was then in the county of Surrey, a parish historically associated with Richmond, and a nearby second holding, see map above left.

The heir apparent is the present holder's eldest son, Archibald Frederick Campbell, Marquess of Lorne (b.