His son, the eleventh Lord, became a British citizen in 1877 and four years later he was created Baron Reay, of Durness in the County of Sutherland, in the Peerage of the United Kingdom.

His only son, the fourteenth Lord, was a Member of the European Parliament and also served in junior positions in the Conservative administrations of Margaret Thatcher and John Major.

He was one of the ninety-two elected hereditary peers allowed to remain after the passing of the House of Lords Act of 1999.

As of 2019[update] the titles are held by his son, the fifteenth Lord, who in that year was also elected to serve in the House.

2010) In the folklore of Caithness, in the Highland area of Scotland, Lord Reay is a magician who believed he had come off best in an encounter with a witch in Smoo Cave.