The title Earl of Annandale and Hartfell was created in the Peerage of Scotland 1661 for James Johnstone. Previously, the title of Earl of Annandale had been created for John Murray, but it became extinct when his son James died without heirs.

The first Earl of Annandale and Hartfell's successor, William, was made Marquess of Annandale. At the death of the third Marquess, no-one could prove a claim to the titles, so they became dormant. The earldom stayed dormant until Patrick Hope-Johnstone's claim was approved by the House of Lords in 1985. The marquessate, however, remains dormant.

Earls of Annandale (1625)

• John Murray, 1st Earl of Annandale (d. 1640)
• James Murray, 2nd Earl of Annandale (d. 1658)

Earls of Annandale and Hartfell (1661)

• James Johnstone, 1st Earl of Annandale and Hartfell (d. 1672)
• William Johnstone, 1st Marquess of Annandale (d. 1721)
• James Johnstone, 2nd Marquess of Annandale (c. 1687-1730)
• George Vanden-Bempde, 3rd Marquess of Annandale (1720-1792) (dormant 1792)
• James Hope-Johnstone, 5th Earl of Annandale and Hartfell (1741-1816)
• Anne Hope-Johnstone, 6th Countess of Annandale and Hartfell (1768-1818)
• John James Hope-Johnstone, 7th Earl of Annandale and Hartfell (1796-1876)
• John James Hope-Johnstone, 8th Earl of Annandale and Hartfell (1842-1912)
• Evelyn Wentworth Hope-Johnstone, 9th Earl of Annandale and Hartfell (1979-1964)
• Percy Wentworth Hope-Johnstone, 10th Earl of Annandale and Hartfell (1909-1983)
• Patrick Andrew Wentworth Hope-Johnstone, 11th Earl of Annandale and Hartfell (b. 1941) (revived 1985)