It was created in 1641, along with the subsidiary title Lord Inverbervie, for Sir Robert Arbuthnott.

[1] At the time of the 16th Viscount's death in 2012, the family held the genealogical record of being one of an unbroken male line living in the same spot for more than 800 years.

Around 1188, William the Lion granted ancestor Hugh de Swinton the lands of Arbuthnott, where the family estate and clan association headquarters remain to this day.

Rather, the heir apparent and his family live within the Arbuthnott House.

The heir apparent is the present holder's only son, the Hon.