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'Lord Darnley' is a title associated with a Scottish Lordship of Parliament first created in 1356 and tracing a descent to the Dukedom of Richmond in England. Outside the Peerage of Scotland, another Earldom of Darnley was created in the Peerage of Ireland in 1729.
The first baron was Sir John Stewart of Darnley. His descendant John Stewart, was created 1st Earl of Lennox in 1488. The 4th Earl Matthew Stewart (1516-1571) was the father of Henry Stuart, 1st Duke of Albany (1545-1567), the Lord Darnley who became the husband of Mary Stuart and thus father of James VI of Scotland (1566-1625).
With the elevation of the Earldom of Lennox to a dukedom in 1581 the barony of Darnley retained its link with Lennox and in 1612 the Dukedom of Richmond was added to the title and remained so after its extinction and revival in 1675. The subsidiary Earldom of Darnley was revived at the same time.