David John MacRae Carnegie, 14th Earl of Northesk (3 November 1954 – 28 March 2010) was a British

British people

The British are citizens of the United Kingdom, of the Isle of Man, any of the Channel Islands, or of any of the British overseas territories, and their descendants...

 hereditary peer

Hereditary peer

Hereditary peers form part of the Peerage in the United Kingdom. There are over seven hundred peers who hold titles that may be inherited. Formerly, most of them were entitled to sit in the House of Lords, but since the House of Lords Act 1999 only ninety-two are permitted to do so...

, landowner and member of the House of Lords

House of Lords

The House of Lords is the upper house of the Parliament of the United Kingdom. Like the House of Commons, it meets in the Palace of Westminster....

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David Carnegie was the son of Robert, the 13th Earl

Robert Carnegie, 13th Earl of Northesk

Robert Andrew Carnegie, 13th Earl of Northesk was a British hereditary peer. He was the son of John Carnegie, 12th Earl of Northesk and Dorothy May Campion....

 (1926–94), and Jean Margaret MacRae. In 1979, he married Jacqueline Dundas Reid and had four children:

• Alexander Robert Macrae Carnegie, Lord Rosehill (16 November 1980 – 31 August 2001)
• The Lady Sarah Louise Mary Carnegie (born 29 October 1982)
• The Lady Fiona Jean Elizabeth Carnegie (born 24 March 1987)
• The Lady Sophie Margaret Jean Carnegie (born 9 January 1990)

Lord Northesk inherited the earldom on his father's death, his elder brother having been accidentally drowned in infancy. He thereby became a member of the House of Lords, where he sat on the Conservative

Conservative Party (UK)

The Conservative Party, formally the Conservative and Unionist Party, is a centre-right political party in the United Kingdom that adheres to the philosophies of conservatism and British unionism. It is the largest political party in the UK, and is currently the largest single party in the House...

 benches. He was later one of the 92 peers elected to remain in the House following the passing of the House of Lords Act 1999

House of Lords Act 1999

The House of Lords Act 1999 was an Act of the Parliament of the United Kingdom that was given Royal Assent on 11 November 1999. The Act reformed the House of Lords, one of the chambers of Parliament. For centuries, the House of Lords had included several hundred members who inherited their seats;...

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In 2001, his eldest child, and only son, Lord Rosehill, a psychiatric patient, shot himself in the head with his father's gun while on leave from hospital at the family's farm in West Sussex

West Sussex

West Sussex is a county in the south of England, bordering onto East Sussex , Hampshire and Surrey. The county of Sussex has been divided into East and West since the 12th century, and obtained separate county councils in 1888, but it remained a single ceremonial county until 1974 and the coming...

. He was 20 years old.

In the House of Lords, Lord Northesk spoke on topics relating to civil liberties and privacy, and spoke out against the Identity Cards Act 2006 and new online copyright laws such as those contained in the Digital Economy Act 2010

Digital Economy Act 2010

The Digital Economy Act 2010 is an Act of the Parliament of the United Kingdom regulating digital media. Introduced by Peter Mandelson, Lord Mandelson, it received Royal Assent on 8 April 2010, and came into force on 8 June 2010 The Digital Economy Act 2010 (c. 24) is an Act of the Parliament of...

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On his death at age 55 from undisclosed causes, Lord Northesk was succeeded in the earldom by a distant relative. His vacant seat in the House of Lords triggered a by-election

By-election

A by-election is an election held to fill a political office that has become vacant between regularly scheduled elections....

for a Conservative hereditary peer to replace him.