Duke of Sutherland is a title in the Peerage of the United Kingdom which was created by William IV in 1833 for George Leveson-Gower, 2nd Marquess of Stafford.

Their grandson William, the fourth Baronet (who succeeded his unmarried elder brother), assumed the additional surname of Leveson.

Their son John, the fifth Baronet, was raised to the Peerage of England as Baron Gower, of Sittenham in the County of York, in 1706.

The 1st Duke and Duchess of Sutherland remain controversial for their role in the Highland Clearances, when thousands of tenants were evicted and resettled in coastal villages.

[2]: 157  Historical opinion differs on the relevance and severity of famine years, but most do not dispute that the Highland region remained the only part of mainland Britain that was affected in this way at this time.

Despite the conventions of the day, Lady Sutherland[a] retained control of the management of the estate, rather than passing this responsibility to her husband.

The remaining delay was that many leases did not expire until 1807 or later, but plans were put together for the interior of the estate to be devoted to large sheep farms, with new settlements to be built for the displaced inhabitants.

[2]: 162  A tentative start was made to this with the letting of the first big sheep farm at Lairg in 1807, involving the removal of about 300 people.

[b][3]: xvi–xxi  Young had a proven track record of agricultural improvement in Moray and Sellar was a lawyer educated at the University of Edinburgh; both were fully versed in the modern ideas of Adam Smith.

A coal mine was sunk at Brora, and fishing villages were built to exploit the herring shoals off the coast.

However, in 1813, planned clearances in the Strath of Kildonan were accompanied by riots: an angry mob drove prospective sheep farmers out of the valley when they came to view the land, and a situation of confrontation existed for more than six weeks, with Sellar failing to successfully negotiate with the protesters.

The whole process was a severe shock to Lady Sutherland and her advisers, who were, in the words of historian Eric Richards, "genuinely astonished at this response to plans which they regarded as wise and benevolent".

[2]: 180 ) Sellar had also made an enemy of the local law officer, Robert Mackid, by catching him poaching on the Sutherland's land.

[2]: 181 As was normal practice, the roof timbers of cleared houses were destroyed to prevent re-occupation after the eviction party had left.

(Robert Mackid became a ruined man and had to leave the county to rebuild his career elsewhere, providing Sellar with a grovelling letter of apology and confession.

James Loch, the Stafford estate commissioner was now taking a greater interest in the Northern part of his employer's holdings; he thought Young's financial management was incompetent, and Sellar's actions among the people deeply concerning.

[4]: 215–217 [2]: 189 Lady Sutherland's displeasure with events was added to by critical reports in a minor London newspaper, the Military Register, from April 1815.

Alexander, after serving as a captain in the army had been thwarted in his hopes to take up leases on the Sutherland estate and now worked as a journalist in London.

[5]: 183–187, 203 The (effective) dismissal of Sellar placed him in the role of scapegoat, thereby preventing a proper critical analysis of the estate's policies.

The Reverend David Mackenzie of Kildonan wrote to Loch on behalf of the 220 families due to be cleared from his parish.

He challenged the basic premise of the clearance: that the people from an inland region could make a living on their new coastal crofts.

Some tenants were considering moving off the estate, either to Caithness or emigrating to America or the Cape of Good Hope, which Suther encouraged by writing off their rent arrears.

Loch was anxious to move quickly, whilst cattle prices were high and there was a good demand for leases of sheep farms.

He also died childless and was succeeded by his first cousin once removed, Francis Ronald Egerton, the seventh and present duke, a grandson of the Hon.

William Leveson-Gower, second son of John, first Baron Gower and grandson of the fourth Baronet, was Member of Parliament for Stafford.

When members of the Leveson-Gower family held the dukedom of Sutherland, the arms were: Quarterly, Gules a Cross Flory Sable (Gower), Azure three Laurel Leaves Or (Leveson); Gules three Mullets Or on a Bordure of the second a Double Tressure flory counterflory of the first (Sutherland); Crest: A Wolf passant Argent collared and lined Or; Supporters: a Wolf Argent plain collared and Line reflexed over the back Or.