In 1157 Pope Adrian IV conferred to Edward, Bishop of Aberdeen, all the lands granted to the Cathedral Church by the Kings of Scotland, including the "villam of Fetherneir". Bishop Peter de Ramsay built a residence there in 1226, and this was rebuilt and extended by Bishop Kininmonth in 1329.
In 1550 the estates were leased to John Leslie, 8th Baron of Balquhain, and gifted to his son in 1566. Rebuilding was carried out by him and major extensions were added by Count Patrick Leslie in the 1690s, by John Leslie in 1818 and by John Leslie in the 1840s.
Fetternear has had close links with many of the makers of early Scottish history. Sir William Wallace stayed there in 1297 whilst on a visit to Bishop Cheyne. Bishop Kininmonth was Bruce's diplomat and carried the Declaration of Arbroath to the Pope in Avignon in 1320, and, according to some experts, was instrumental in its drafting. Mary, Queen of Scots, is said to have visited Fetternear whilst staying with William Leslie at Balquhain in 1562.
The Leslies were very successful "soldiers of fortune" in central Europe during the 17th and 18th centuries, amassing great wealth and becoming Counts of the Holy Roman Empire. In the 17th, 18th and l9th centuries Fetternear was a stronghold of Catholicism in the N.E. of Scotland .
