John Forbes-Sempill, 18th Lord Sempill
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Scotland
Scotland is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. Occupying the northern third of the island of Great Britain, it shares a border with England to the south and is bounded by the North Sea to the east, the Atlantic Ocean to the north and west, and the North Channel and Irish Sea to the...
peer, the 18th Lord Sempill
Lord Sempill
Lord Sempill is a title in the Peerage of Scotland. It was created in circa 1489 for Sir John Sempill, founder of the collegiate Church of Lochwinnoch. Sempill was killed at the Battle of Flodden in 1513. His grandson, the third Lord, was known as "The Great Lord Sempill"...
and 9th Baronet of Craigievar
Forbes Baronets
There have been five Baronetcies created for people with the surname Forbes, four in the Baronetage of Nova Scotia and one in the Baronetage of the United Kingdom...
.
He was the son of William Forbes-Sempill, 17th Lord Sempill
William Forbes-Sempill, 17th Lord Sempill
William Forbes-Sempill, 17th Lord Sempill , born William Forbes, was a Scottish peer, the 17th Lord Sempill and 8th Baronet of Craigievar....
, and Frances Emily Abercromby, the daughter of Sir Robert Abercromby, 5th Baronet
Sir Robert Abercromby, 5th Baronet
Sir Robert Abercromby, 5th Baronet was a Scottish politician, the 5th Baronet of Birkenbog.He was the son of Sir George Abercromby, 4th Baronet, and Jane Ogilvie, the daughter of Alexander Ogilvie, 7th Lord Banff...
, and succeeded to the titles on the death of his father in 1905, prior to which he was known by the courtesy title "Master of Sempill". In addition to three sisters, he was the eldest of four brothers, all of whom served in the military; Douglas, a Major in the Seaforth Highlanders
Seaforth Highlanders
The Seaforth Highlanders was a historic regiment of the British Army associated with large areas of the northern Highlands of Scotland. The Seaforth Highlanders have varied in size from two battalions to seventeen battalions during the Great War...
, was killed on the North-West Frontier
North-West Frontier (military history)
The North-West Frontier was the most difficult area, from a military point of view, of the former British India in the Indian sub-continent. It remains the frontier of present-day Pakistan, extending from the Pamir Knot in the north to the Koh-i-Malik Siah in the west, and separating the...
of India in 1908, whilst Robert was killed in the Battle of the Somme serving with the Gordon Highlanders. The youngest of the four, Arthur
Arthur Forbes-Sempill
Rear-Admiral Arthur Lionel Ochoncar Forbes-Sempill was an officer of the Royal Navy active in the First World War.He was the fourth son of William Forbes-Sempill, 17th Lord Sempill; his three elder brothers, John, Douglas and Robert, all served in the Army.In January 1898, he was assigned to HMS...
, was in the Royal Navy
Royal Navy
The Royal Navy is the naval warfare service branch of the British Armed Forces. Founded in the 16th century, it is the oldest service branch and is known as the Senior Service...
, and survived the Battle of Jutland
Battle of Jutland
The Battle of Jutland was a naval battle between the British Royal Navy's Grand Fleet and the Imperial German Navy's High Seas Fleet during the First World War. The battle was fought on 31 May and 1 June 1916 in the North Sea near Jutland, Denmark. It was the largest naval battle and the only...
. A fifth brother, William, died in infancy.
After studying at Eton
Eton College
Eton College, often referred to simply as Eton, is a British independent school for boys aged 13 to 18. It was founded in 1440 by King Henry VI as "The King's College of Our Lady of Eton besides Wyndsor"....
, he joined the 3rd (Militia) Battalion of the Gordon Highlanders in 1883, then transferred to the Queen's Own Cameron Highlanders
Queen's Own Cameron Highlanders
The Queen's Own Cameron Highlanders was an infantry regiment of the British Army formed in 1793. In 1961 it was merged with the Seaforth Highlanders to form the Queen's Own Highlanders...
in 1885. After service in the Sudan, he transferred to the Army Service Corps in 1894, then transferred into the Black Watch
Black Watch
The Black Watch, 3rd Battalion, Royal Regiment of Scotland is an infantry battalion of the Royal Regiment of Scotland. The unit's traditional colours were retired in 2011 in a ceremony led by Queen Elizabeth II....
in 1894. He served with the Lovat Scouts
Lovat Scouts
The Lovat Scouts were a British Army unit. The unit was first formed during the Second Boer War as a Scottish Highland yeomanry regiment of the British Army and is the first known military unit to wear a ghillie suit...
and then the Black Watch
Black Watch
The Black Watch, 3rd Battalion, Royal Regiment of Scotland is an infantry battalion of the Royal Regiment of Scotland. The unit's traditional colours were retired in 2011 in a ceremony led by Queen Elizabeth II....
in the South African War. He would later go on to command the 8th Battalion Black Watch in the First World War, where he was severely wounded at the Battle of Loos
Battle of Loos
The Battle of Loos was one of the major British offensives mounted on the Western Front in 1915 during World War I. It marked the first time the British used poison gas during the war, and is also famous for the fact that it witnessed the first large-scale use of 'new' or Kitchener's Army...
and mentioned in despatches. He later claimed to have been the first man from Kitchener's Army
Kitchener's Army
The New Army, often referred to as Kitchener's Army or, disparagingly, Kitchener's Mob, was an all-volunteer army formed in the United Kingdom following the outbreak of hostilities in the First World War...
to land in France; he had leapt ashore before the troopship had tied up at the dock. He later served in 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....
as a Scottish representative peer, and was later the chairman of the Aberdeenshire Territorial Army Association, the Honorary Colonel of the 5th Battalion Gordon Highlanders - his brother Robert's battalion - and an aide-de-camp
Aide-de-camp
An aide-de-camp is a personal assistant, secretary, or adjutant to a person of high rank, usually a senior military officer or a head of state...
to King George V
George V of the United Kingdom
George V was King of the United Kingdom and the British Dominions, and Emperor of India, from 6 May 1910 through the First World War until his death in 1936....
.
His wife, Gwendolyn Prodger, was born and raised in Wales, with a Cornish mother, and was an accomplished harpist. The two had met at the fashionable resort of Homburg
Bad Homburg
Bad Homburg vor der Höhe is the district town of the Hochtaunuskreis, Hesse, Germany, on the southern slope of the Taunus, bordering among others Frankfurt am Main and Oberursel...
in the 1880s, and were married on 22 June 1892.
They had three children; the eldest, William
William Forbes-Sempill, 19th Lord Sempill
William Francis Forbes-Sempill, 19th Lord Sempill was a British engineer. Before succeeding his father to the titles of Lord Sempill and Baronet of Craigevar in 1934, he was known by the title Master of Sempill....
, succeeded to his father's titles. The baronetcy would later pass to their younger son, Ewan, on William's death, whilst the barony passed to their granddaughter Ann. In addition to the sons, they had two daughters; Gwendolyn (also known as Gwyneth), who died of appendicitis aged twelve, and Margaret, who later became a Justice of the Peace
Justice of the Peace
A justice of the peace is a puisne judicial officer elected or appointed by means of a commission to keep the peace. Depending on the jurisdiction, they might dispense summary justice or merely deal with local administrative applications in common law jurisdictions...
and a decorated member of the Women's Auxiliary Air Force
Women's Auxiliary Air Force
The Women's Auxiliary Air Force , whose members were invariably referred to as Waafs , was the female auxiliary of the Royal Air Force during World War II, established in 1939. At its peak strength, in 1943, WAAF numbers exceeded 180,000, with over 2,000 women enlisting per week.A Women's Royal Air...
in the Second World War.