Lords Sempill (1489)
1st Lord Sempill, John Sempill, b.?, a.1489, d.1513
The origin of the Sempill family is unknown,
but they are mentioned in Renfrewshire from the 11th century
onwards. The family obtained lands around Largs in
Ayrshire as a reward for supporting Robert the Bruce, and they obtained the
estate of Eliotstoun in 1344, which became the
principal territory of the main branch. Thomas Sempill
of Eliotstoun became Hereditary Sheriff of Renfrew
and was killed the the Battle of Sauchieburn
in 1488. He married Elizabeth Ross, daughter of John Ross, 1st Lord
Ross if Halkhead, and their son was raised to the peerage as 1st
Lord Sempill and served as Ambassador to England in
1492. He founded the Collegiate Church of Lochwinnoch
in 1505 and constructed Castle Semple on the loch
shore. He died at Flodden.
2nd Lord Sempill, William Sempill, b.?, a.1513, d.1552
Son of the 1st Lord and Margaret Colvill
(b.?, d.c.1504), daughter of Sir Robert Colville of Ochiltree. He was made a
Privy Counsellor in 1514. He was in the English faction that wanted Queen Mary
to marry Prince Edward of England.
3rd Lord Sempill, Robert Sempill, b.c.1505, a.1552, d.1576
Son of the 2nd Lord and Margaret Montgomerie,
daughter of Hugh Montgomerie, 1st Earl of Eglinton. He was made Governor of Douglas Castle in 1533 but later spent some
time in exile, accused of murder. He returned in 1543 to take up the family
hereditary position of Sheriff of Renfrew and was taken prisoner at the Battle
of Pinkie in 1547. He was responsible for the death of William Crichton, 5th
Lord Crichton of Sanquhar (for whom see the earls of Dumfries) in 1550. He was an opponent of the
Reformation and Castle Semple was attacked and taken
in 1560, and continued to support Queen Mary until the death of Darnley, after which he backed her son against her, and led
the vanguard at the Battle of Carberry Hill in 1567
and also at the Battle of Langside the following
year. He was rewarded by the Regent Moray with former Hamilton lands in
Renfrewshire, but after Moray’s death, he was held prisoner by the new regime
and lost his recently obtained estates. In 1571 he was made a Privy Counsellor
and made Lieutenant-General and Justiciar of Lanark
and Renfrew. However in 1573, refusing to renounce his Catholic faith, he was
ex-communicated and barred from holding any public office. He was married twice
and had a large number of children by them and also by various mistresses.
4th Lord Sempill, Robert Sempill, b.c.1567, a.1576, d.1611
Grandson of the 3rd Lord and Isabel Hamilton (b.c.1509, d.?),
daughter of Sir William Hamilton of Sanquhar, and son
of Robert Sempill, Master of Sempill
(b.c.1522, d.1569) and Barbara Preston, daughter of Archibald Preston of Valleyfield. He served as Ambassador to Spain in 1595 and
was made a Privy Counsellor in 1597. Like his father, he was ex-communicated in
1608 for retaining his Catholicism and was denied public office.
5th Lord Sempill, Hugh Sempill, b.c.1585, a.1611, d.1639
Son of the 4th Lord and Lady Agnes Montgomerie
(b.?, d.1601), daughter of Hugh Montgomerie,
3rd Earl of Eglinton.
6th Lord Sempill, Francis Sempill, b.c.1622, a.1639, d.1644
Son of the 5th Lord and his second wife Lady Elizabeth Hay,
daughter of Francis Hay, 9th Earl of Erroll. He married
Lady Isabel Seton, daughter of George Seton, 3rd Earl of Winton, but they did not have any children.
7th Lord Sempill, Robert Sempill, b.?, a.1644, d.1675
Younger brother of the 6th Lord. He was fined during Cromwell’s Act of Grace, having been a Royalist
during the Civil Wars.
8th Lord Sempill, Francis Sempill, b.c.1660, a.1675, d.1684
Son of the 7th Lord and Anne Douglas, daughter of James
Douglas, 1st Lord Mordington. He married Grizel Primrose (b.1661,d.1723), daughter of Sir Archibald Primrose, 1st
Baronet Primrose of Carrington (for whom see the earls of Rosebery), but they also had no children.
9th Lord (Lady) Sempill, Anne Abercromby, b.?, a.1684, d.1695
Younger sister of the 7th Lord. She married Francis Abercromby (b.1654,
d.1703), a Law Lord who was given the life peerage of Lord Glassford.
By the terms of the regrant of the title obtained by
the 7th Lord, she and her children were able to succeed to the
title. Three of her sons in turn held the title and changed their surname back
to Sempill.
10th Lord Sempill, Francis Sempill, b.c.1685, a.1695, d.1716
Son of Lady Sempill and Francis Abercromby. He was an
opponent of the Act of Union.
11th Lord Sempill, John Sempill, b.c.1685, a.1716, d.1727
Younger brother of the 10th Lord. He took an active stand against the Jacobites
in 1715.
12th Lord Sempill, Hugh Sempill, b.1688, a.1727, d.1746
Younger brother of the 10th & 11th Lords. He joined the British Army in1708 and fought at the Battle of Malplaquet in 1709, reaching the rank of Captain in 1712.
In 1731 he reached the rank of Lieutenant-Colonel in the 19th Foot
Regiment and in 1741 became Colonel of the 43rd Highland Regiment,
the Black Watch, before transferring to the 25th Foot Regiment in
1745, when he fought at the Battle of Fontenoy. Later
that year he was promoted to Brigadier-General and in 1746 he commanded the
left wing of the Royal Army against the Jacobites at
Culloden. He was then made Governor of Barbados but died before being able to
take up this appointment.
13th Lord Sempill, John Sempill, b.?, a.1746, d. 1782
Son of the 12th Lord and Sarah Gaskell (b.?,
d.1749). His daughter Sarah Sempill married Sir
William Forbes, 5th Baronet Forbes of Craigievar,
and their descendant later succeeded to the lordship.
14th Lord Sempill, Hugh Sempill, b.1758, a.1782, d.1830
Son of the 13th Lord and Janet Dunlop (b.?,
d.1809). He joined the 3rd Foot Guards in 1777 and reached the rank
of Captain in 1781.
15th Lord Sempill, Selkirk Sempill, b.1788, a.1830, d.1835
Son of the 14th Lord and Maria Mellish
(b.?, d.1806). He was a Captain in the Renfrewshire
Militia. He never married.
16th Lord Sempill, Maria Janet Sempill, b.1790, a.1835, d.1884
Younger sister of the 15th Lord. She married but had no children and the title devolved to her distant
cousin.
Baronets Forbes of Craigievar
(1630)
1st Baronet Forbes, William Forbes, b.?,
a.1630, d.1648
Sir William Forbes was the 5th generation descendant of Patrck Forbes of Corse, who was
armour-bearer to King James III and 3rd son of James Forbes, 2nd
Lord Forbes.
2nd Baronet Forbes, John Forbes, b.1636, a.1648, d.1703
Son of the 1st Baronet and Bethia
Murray, daughter of Sir Archibald Murray, 1st Baronet Murray of Blackbarony, Peebles.
3rd Baronet Forbes, William Forbes, b.1660, a.1703, d.c.1730
Son of the 2nd Baronet and Margaret Young.
4th Baronet Forbes, Arthur Forbes, b.1709, a.c.1730, d.1773
Son of the 3rd Baronet and Margaret Rose.
5th Baronet Forbes, William Forbes, b.1755, a.1773, d.1816
Son of the 4th Baronet and his second wife Margaret Strachan.
6th Baronet Forbes, Arthur Forbes, b.1784, a.1816, d.1823
Son of the 5th Baronet and Sarah Sempill
(b.?, d.1799), daughter of John Sempill,
13th Lord Sempill. He died unmarried.
7th Baronet Forbes, John Forbes, b.1785, a.1823, d.1846
Younger brother of the 6th Baronet.
8th Baronet Forbes, William Forbes, b.1836, a.1846, d.1905
Son of the 7th Baronet and Charlotte Elizabeth Forbes,
daughter of James Onchocar Forbes, 18th
Lord Forbes. He was educated at Eton and then joined the Coldstream
Guards, with whom he served in the Crimean War. After retiring from the army,
he served as Captain in the 9th Aberdeenshire Rifle Volunteers and
was later Honorary Colonel of that unit. In 1884 he succeeded his distant
cousin as 17th Lord Sempill.
Lords Sempill (1490,
continued)
17th Lord Sempill, William Forbes- Sempill, b.1836, a.1884, d.1905
18th Lord Sempill, John Forbes- Sempill, b.1863, a.1905, d.1934
Son of the 17th Lord and his second wife Frances Emily Abercromby (b.?, d.1887), daughter
of Sir Robert John Abercromby, 5th Baronet
Abercromby of Birkenbog,
Banff. He was educated at Eton and then joined the 3rd Battalion of
the Gordon Highlanders in 1883 before moving first to the Argyll &
Sutherland Highlanders and then to the Queen’s Own Cameron Highlanders, serving
in the Sudan. He transferred to the Army Service Corps in 1889 and served in
India, reaching the rank of Captain in 1891. He then transferred to the Black
Watch in 1894. During the South African War he served for a time with the Lovat Scouts. He retired from the Army in 1904 and was a
Representative Peer from 1910 to 1934. During the First World War, he returned
to the Army and commanded the 8th Battalion of the Black Watch,
being severely wounded at the Battle of Loos in 1915. In later life he served
as Additional Aide-de-Camp to King George V and was made Honorary
Lieutenant-Colonel of the 5th Battalion, Gordon Highlanders.
19th Lord Sempill, William Francis
Forbes- Sempill, b.1893, a.1934, d.1965
Son of the 18th Lord and Gwendolen
Emily Mary Prodgers (b.?,
d.1944). He joined the RFC during the First World War and reached the rank of
Colonel in the renamed RAF. At the end of the war he Royal
Navy Air Service as a Wing-Commander. In 1921 he led a British
diplomatic mission to Japan to assist in setting up a Japanese Naval Air
Service, and he later performed the same role in Greece. During the Second
World War he served in the Fleet Air Arm. He was Chairman of the Royal
Aeronautical Society from 1926 to 1928 and President from then until 1930. He
was President of the Institute of Production Engineers from 1935 to 1937 and
President of the Institute of Motor Industry from 1946 to 1948. He was also a
Representative Peer from 1935 to 1965 and was Vice-President of the London
Chamber of Commerce from 1945 to 1965. When he died, the lordship transferred
to his daughter while the baronetcy passed to his younger brother Ewan Forbes
(b.1912, d.1991).
20th Lord Sempill, Ann Moira
Forbes- Sempill, b.1920, a.1965, d.1995
Daughter of the 19th Lord and his first wife Eileen Marion
Dickinson, nee Lavery (b.?,
d.1935). She served in the Second World War as a Petty Officer in the Woman’s
Royal Naval Service.
21st Lord Sempill, James William
Stuart Whitmore Sempill, b.1949, a.1995
Son of the Lady Sempill and her second
husband, Lieutenant-Colonel Stuart Whitmore Chant (b.?,
d.1991) (who later changed his name to Chant-Sempill.
The courtesy title for the heir is Master of Sempill.
Baronets Forbes of Craigievar
(1630, continued)
11th Baronet Forbes, Ewan Forbes, b.1912, a.1965, d.1991
As mentioned above, when the 19th Lord Sempill
died, according to the rules of succession, the baronetcy could not pass to his
daughter and so passed to his next youngest brother. In fact, Ewan Forbes had
been christened Elizabeth Forbes-Sempill and
registered at birth as a female. Even so, from an early age he adopted many
typically male pursuits and was educated at home after refusing to attend a
girl’s school. From 1929 to 1930 he spent a year studying in Dresden and then
toured the Continent before continuing his education at the Sorbonne. He also
studied the harp with the principal harpist of the Paris Opera, was an accomplished
reciter of poetry, and was heavily involved in
Scottish Country Dancing. With his ultimate aim to study medicine, he
eventually obtained a place at the University of Aberdeen in 1939, then spent a
year as a Junior Casualty Officer at Aberdeen Royal Informary
in 1944, and in 1945 took up a post as a GP in Alford, where he finally began
to live openly as a man. In 1952 he obtained a re-registration of his birth as
male, explaining the original version on a dreadful mistake committed by
inexperienced doctors, supported by his narrow-minded parents, and married
Isabella Mitchell of Banff, with whom he had co-founded his Scottish Country
Dancing troupe, and with whom he had been living for several years. When the 19th
Lord Sempill died in 1965, it was at first assumed
that Ewan would succeed as male-heir. However, his inheritance was challenged
by the next heir on the grounds that the re-registration was invalid in terms
of the rules of succession, and it was three years before the Court of Session,
upheld by the James Callaghan, Home Secretary at the time, ruled in Ewan’s favour. With the case over, he retired to live on
his estates at Brux, selling Craigievar
Castle to the National Trust for Scotland. When he died, he was succeeded in
baronetcy by his cousin, the same person who had taken him to court in the
first place.
11th Baronet Forbes, John Alexander Cumnock Forbes, b.1927,
a.1991, d.2000
Grandson of William Forbes-Sempill, 17th
Lord Sempill and Frances Emily Abercromby
and son of Rear-Admiral Arthur Lionel Ochoncar Forbes-Sempill (b.1877, d.1962) and his third wife Mary Cutting Holland
Cummock (b.?, d.1940) of New York. He attended RMC Sandhurst and reached the rank of Captain in the 49th
Highland Regiment, the Seaforths. In 1965 he joined
Newton Stewart Town Council and spent most of his life dedicated to the local area.
12th Baronet Forbes, Andrew Iain Forbes, b.1945, a.2000
Son of the 11th Baronet and ???
(Last updated: 13/09/2010)