Ross

Clan Ross, From the Gaelic ros (“promontory”), the Rosses became Earls of Ross. Fearchar helped Alexander II defeat a rebellion and was made earl (1234). In 1306, a Ross earl surrendered Bruce’s wife and daughter to the English. The earldom passed to the Crown in 1372; the chiefship went to Balnagowan. The 12th chief died in the Tower after Worcester (1651). Balnagowan was sold to a Lowland family. The chiefship was restored in 1903 and confirmed in 1999. Sir Ronald Ross (grandfather of the present chief) won the Nobel Prize for discovering malaria’s cause. A clan of promontories, earls, and medical pioneers.