On 30 November 1682 he was raised to the Peerage of Scotland as Lord Haddo, Methlick, Tarves and Kellie, Viscount of Formartine and Earl of Aberdeen.

Lord Aberdeen was a distinguished diplomat and statesman and served as Foreign Secretary from 1828 to 1830 and from 1841 to 1846 and as Prime Minister of the United Kingdom from 1852 to 1855.

[4] When Lord Aberdeen died, the titles passed to his eldest son from his second marriage to Harriet Douglas, the fifth Earl.

John Hamilton-Gordon, was a Liberal politician and served as Lord-Lieutenant of Ireland in 1886[6] and from 1905 to 1915[7] and as Governor General of Canada from 1893 to 1898.

[7][8] He was succeeded by his eldest son, the second Marquess, who was a member of the London County Council and served as Lord-Lieutenant of Aberdeenshire.

He never married and on his death in 1984 the titles passed to his fourth and youngest brother, the sixth Marquess.

[9][page needed] Upon his death in 2002, the seventh Marquess, who was a Deputy Lieutenant of Aberdeenshire, inherited the titles.

In 1815 he succeeded his uncle as second Baron of Halkin according to a special remainder and assumed the additional surname of Duff (see Duff-Gordon baronets for further history of this branch of the family).

William Gordon, younger brother of the fourth Earl, was a vice-admiral in the Royal Navy and sat as member of parliament for Aberdeenshire.

Alexander Gordon (1786–1815), younger brother of the fourth Earl, was a soldier and was killed at the Battle of Waterloo.

Sir Robert Gordon, younger brother of the fourth Earl, was a diplomat and served as British Ambassador to Austria.

Sir Alexander Hamilton-Gordon (1817–1890), eldest son of the second marriage of the fourth Earl, was a general in the Army and sat as member of parliament for Aberdeenshire East.

Douglas Hamilton-Gordon (1824–1901), third son of the second marriage of the fourth Earl, was Chaplain-in-Ordinary to Queen Victoria and Canon of Salisbury.

[10] As Lord Haddo he married Isabelle Coaten, daughter of David Coaten, and they have four children There are further heirs to the subsidiary Earldom of Aberdeen, including the Duff-Gordon baronets, who are descended from Lord Rockville, a younger son of the second earl.