Sir Ewan Forbes, 11th Baronet
Encyclopedia
Sir Ewan Forbes of Craigievar (6 September 1912 - 12 September 1991) was the 11th Baronet of Craigievar from 1968 to his death, as well as a general practitioner
and farmer
. At birth, he was christened "Elizabeth Forbes-Sempill", and officially registered as the youngest daughter of Lord Sempill
. After an uncomfortable upbringing, he began living as a man at the start of his medical career in 1945. He formally re-registered his birth as male in 1952, adopting the name of "Ewan Forbes-Sempill", and was married a month later.
In 1965, he stood to inherit his elder brother's
baronetcy, a title that passed through the male line, together with a large estate. This inheritance was challenged by his cousin, who argued that the re-registration was invalid; under this interpretation, Forbes would legally be considered a woman, and thus unable to inherit. The legal position was unclear, and it took three years before a ruling by the Court of Session
was finally upheld by the Home Secretary
, granting him the title. The case was held in great secrecy, with the effect that it was unable to be considered in other judgments on the legal recognition of gender variance
, but has become more widely known since his death in 1991.
The Forbes was a well-established Aberdeenshire
family, holders of both a baronetcy and a peerage
. The baronetcy had been bestowed in 1630, and passed down the male line of the family; in 1884. William Forbes
, the eighth baronet, inherited his cousin Maria's title as Lord Sempill, and took the surname of Forbes-Sempill. On William's death in 1905, the titles passed jointly to his eldest son John.
John Forbes-Sempill
, newly 18th Lord Sempill and 9th Baronet, was a landowner and soldier, who had served with the Lovat Scouts
and then the Black Watch
in the South African War. He would later command the 8th Battalion of the Black Watch during the First World War, where he was wounded at the Battle of Loos
. During the 1880s, he had met Gwendolyn Prodger at the fashionable German resort of Bad Homburg
; the couple were married on 22 June 1892. She had been brought up in Wales, from a Cornish background, and was an accomplished harpist.
The couple had four children. The eldest, William
, was born in 1893, shortly after their marriage. William later became a prominent engineer and aviator. There were then two daughters; Gwendolyn (also known as Gwyneth), who died of appendicitis before Ewan's birth and Margaret, who later became a decorated member of the Women's Auxiliary Air Force
in the Second World War and a Justice of the Peace
, before dying in a car accident in 1966.
Finally, in 1912, a fourth child was born, christened Elizabeth Forbes-Sempill, and known to the family as "Betty".
Lord Sempill insisted on a "strict Scottish" upbringing for his children, which meant that they were taught to speak and write fluently in Doric
as well as English and various European languages. Forbes refused to go away to a girls' school, which meant being educated at home; at fifteen, he pressed to be allowed to go overseas to attend a pre-university course, and eventually settled on a co-educational institution in Dresden
. After coming out as a debutante
in London in the late 1920s, Forbes studied in Dresden for a year, 1929-1930, before travelling through central Europe, visiting Prague and Vienna. In the following academic year, he continued his studies in Paris, where he attended lectures at the Sorbonne
and studied the harp under the principal harpist of the Paris Opéra.
As well as the harp, Forbes was an accomplished public reciter; in the summer of 1930, he won the Scots Verse recital contest at the Aberdeen Music Festival, and was paid by Beltona
to make a series of recordings of the poems of Charles Murray
. After returning from Paris, he led a troupe of Scottish country dancers - the "Dancers of Don", that he had formed together with Isabella Mitchell. By this time, Forbes's heart was set on studying medicine. However, his father refused to fund his studies, arguing that since there was more than enough work to be done managing the estate, there was no need for him to study further. Ewan resolved to fund his own studies, aiming to put aside £1,000 to cover the costs. In 1933, he studied under the psychologist Leonhard Seif in Munich, living with the British novelist Phyllis Bottome
. Whilst there, he witnessed the German elections
which brought the Nazi Party into power, and heard Adolf Hitler
speak.
On the death of Lord Sempill in 1934, both the barony and the baronetcy passed to William, the eldest child. Forbes inherited a farming estate at Brux, Aberdeenshire of about 1300 acres (5.3 km²), and took to the new lifestyle with gusto, adopting a broad Doric accent and taking to wearing a masculine kilt
.
, graduating in 1944 and taking up the post of Junior Casualty Officer at the Aberdeen Royal Infirmary
. After a swift progression to Senior Casualty Officer, he began to work as a general practitioner
in Alford, Aberdeenshire
in 1945. In addition to the normal work of a rural doctor, he was called upon to act as a medical officer for a large number of German prisoners of war who were held in the area in 1946, due to his command of the language.
The Alford area was one of the largest medical practices in the United Kingdom, and in the winter months Dr. Forbes often had to travel through ten-foot snowdrifts in a converted Universal Carrier
. These conditions were not entirely unfamiliar; a trip to see an uncle in St. Moritz
at the age of thirteen had led to him taking up skiing and figure-skating, and winning a number of bob sled races. He did not live in Alford, but remained at Brux, appointing a medical assistant to live in the town. The farm, left in the hands of a small resident staff, quickly ran into financial troubles. In order to raise a large amount of money quickly, Forbes sold the practice in Alford, and returned to the farm in 1952, running it directly as a going concern from then on.
On moving to Alford, Forbes had begun to publicly look and behave like the man he personally identified as being. In 1952, he formally became male by the simple process of requesting a warrant for birth re-registration from the Sherriff
of Aberdeen, registering himself as male, and changing his name to Ewan Forbes-Sempill. He announced this with a notice in the Aberdeen Press and Journal
of September 12, 1952: "Dr E Forbes-Sempill henceforth wishes to be known as Dr Ewan Forbes-Sempill". His plans had been known in advance to many of his patients, who were reported as universally supportive. Forbes was equally candid with the press, describing the situation to one reporter as "...a ghastly mistake. I was carelessly registered as a girl in the first place, but of course, that was forty years ago ... the doctors in those days were mistaken, too ... I have been sacrificed to prudery, and the horror which our parents had about sex".
A month later, on October 10, he married Isabella Mitchell, his housekeeper for the past five years, and formerly co-founder of his dance troupe. The marriage took place at the kirk in Kildrummy, which he had recently joined.
At the time, gender re-registration was permitted in a limited set of cases; the leading case, decided in 1965, had held that re-registration of this form was only permitted when "the sex of a child was indeterminate at birth and it was later discovered ... that an error had been made". The challenge was taken to the Court of Session
, where the case was heard in great secrecy - no papers were publicly filed, and the judge sat in a solicitor's office rather than in open court to hear the case. However, the records of the case have recently been made available via the National Archives of Scotland. They show that a total of twelve medical experts were called to give evidence, and their testimony was taken by the court to indicate that Forbes was a physical hermaphrodite
, which would accord with the legal requirement of "indeterminate at birth". However, the medical evidence was not conclusive; Professor Martin Roth
observed in evidence that he felt Forbes' condition was closer to that of a transsexual, and Professor John Strong described the medical tests involved as "not wholly conclusive". The judge ruled in favour of Forbes, though it has been suggested that the judge desired to ensure the estate and the title was inherited by the "right" candidate, and was flexible with his judgement in order to obtain this result. The ruling was appealed to the Lord Advocate
, who referred the matter to the Home Secretary
, James Callaghan
. Callaghan finally ruled in December 1968 that Forbes was the rightful holder of the title, confirming the court's decision.
The level of secrecy of the case, which was criticized by some contemporary observers, meant that it was not properly recorded or published, and the exact facts of the argument were not known for some time. As a result, whilst it sharply differs from later rulings such as Corbett v Corbett
[1970], it was not able to be considered as precedent
in later judgments on the legal recognition of gender variance
.
With the inheritance case settled, he left the public eye and returned to the life of a rural landowner; he placed Craigievar Castle
in the hands of the National Trust for Scotland
and continued to live in his house at Brux. Forbes was an elder of the local kirk at Kildrummy
, and was appointed a Justice of the Peace
for Aberdeenshire in 1969. He published a book of reminiscences of his early years in 1984, The aul' days.
Forbes died, leaving no children, in 1991 and was succeeded in the baronetcy by his cousin John, the man who had originally mounted the legal challenge in the 1960s. His widow Isabella survived him, dying in 2002.
General practitioner
A general practitioner is a medical practitioner who treats acute and chronic illnesses and provides preventive care and health education for all ages and both sexes. They have particular skills in treating people with multiple health issues and comorbidities...
and farmer
Farmer
A farmer is a person engaged in agriculture, who raises living organisms for food or raw materials, generally including livestock husbandry and growing crops, such as produce and grain...
. At birth, he was christened "Elizabeth Forbes-Sempill", and officially registered as the youngest daughter of Lord Sempill
John Forbes-Sempill, 18th Lord Sempill
John Forbes-Sempill, 18th Lord Sempill was a Scottish peer, the 18th Lord Sempill and 9th Baronet of Craigievar....
. After an uncomfortable upbringing, he began living as a man at the start of his medical career in 1945. He formally re-registered his birth as male in 1952, adopting the name of "Ewan Forbes-Sempill", and was married a month later.
In 1965, he stood to inherit his elder brother's
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....
baronetcy, a title that passed through the male line, together with a large estate. This inheritance was challenged by his cousin, who argued that the re-registration was invalid; under this interpretation, Forbes would legally be considered a woman, and thus unable to inherit. The legal position was unclear, and it took three years before a ruling by the Court of Session
Court of Session
The Court of Session is the supreme civil court of Scotland, and constitutes part of the College of Justice. It sits in Parliament House in Edinburgh and is both a court of first instance and a court of appeal....
was finally upheld by the Home Secretary
Home Secretary
The Secretary of State for the Home Department, commonly known as the Home Secretary, is the minister in charge of the Home Office of the United Kingdom, and one of the country's four Great Offices of State...
, granting him the title. The case was held in great secrecy, with the effect that it was unable to be considered in other judgments on the legal recognition of gender variance
Legal aspects of transsexualism
Transsexual people are those who establish a permanent identity with the gender opposite to the gender identified at birth. As most legal jurisdictions have at least some recognition of the two traditional genders at the exclusion of other categories, this raises many legal issues and aspects of...
, but has become more widely known since his death in 1991.
Family background
Aberdeenshire
Aberdeenshire is one of the 32 unitary council areas in Scotland and a lieutenancy area.The present day Aberdeenshire council area does not include the City of Aberdeen, now a separate council area, from which its name derives. Together, the modern council area and the city formed historic...
family, holders of both a baronetcy and a peerage
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"...
. The baronetcy had been bestowed in 1630, and passed down the male line of the family; in 1884. William Forbes
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....
, the eighth baronet, inherited his cousin Maria's title as Lord Sempill, and took the surname of Forbes-Sempill. On William's death in 1905, the titles passed jointly to his eldest son John.
John Forbes-Sempill
John Forbes-Sempill, 18th Lord Sempill
John Forbes-Sempill, 18th Lord Sempill was a Scottish peer, the 18th Lord Sempill and 9th Baronet of Craigievar....
, newly 18th Lord Sempill and 9th Baronet, was a landowner and soldier, who had 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 command the 8th Battalion of the Black Watch during the First World War, where he was 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...
. During the 1880s, he had met Gwendolyn Prodger at the fashionable German resort of Bad 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...
; the couple were married on 22 June 1892. She had been brought up in Wales, from a Cornish background, and was an accomplished harpist.
The couple had four 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....
, was born in 1893, shortly after their marriage. William later became a prominent engineer and aviator. There were then two daughters; Gwendolyn (also known as Gwyneth), who died of appendicitis before Ewan's birth and Margaret, who later became 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 and 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...
, before dying in a car accident in 1966.
Finally, in 1912, a fourth child was born, christened Elizabeth Forbes-Sempill, and known to the family as "Betty".
Early life
The issue of Elizabeth's gender would later prove contentious; the birth registration recorded a female child, but Forbes later commented that this was "a ghastly mistake". Elizabeth was raised as a girl alongside Margaret, but found childhood to be dominated by a growing gender insecurity. They spent a large amount of time playing with cousins Patrick and David, and in many contemporary photographs Forbes can be seen dressed in trousers and a male jacket, unconventional dress for a young woman of that era. In his book The aul' days, written many years later, Forbes recalled a hatred of being "made to dress up" for social engagements, and of going to great lengths to avoid them.Lord Sempill insisted on a "strict Scottish" upbringing for his children, which meant that they were taught to speak and write fluently in Doric
Doric dialect (Scotland)
Doric, the popular name for Mid Northern Scots or Northeast Scots, refers to the dialects of Scots spoken in the northeast of Scotland.-Nomenclature:...
as well as English and various European languages. Forbes refused to go away to a girls' school, which meant being educated at home; at fifteen, he pressed to be allowed to go overseas to attend a pre-university course, and eventually settled on a co-educational institution in Dresden
Dresden
Dresden is the capital city of the Free State of Saxony in Germany. It is situated in a valley on the River Elbe, near the Czech border. The Dresden conurbation is part of the Saxon Triangle metropolitan area....
. After coming out as a debutante
Debutante
A débutante is a young lady from an aristocratic or upper class family who has reached the age of maturity, and as a new adult, is introduced to society at a formal "début" presentation. It should not be confused with a Debs...
in London in the late 1920s, Forbes studied in Dresden for a year, 1929-1930, before travelling through central Europe, visiting Prague and Vienna. In the following academic year, he continued his studies in Paris, where he attended lectures at the Sorbonne
Sorbonne
The Sorbonne is an edifice of the Latin Quarter, in Paris, France, which has been the historical house of the former University of Paris...
and studied the harp under the principal harpist of the Paris Opéra.
As well as the harp, Forbes was an accomplished public reciter; in the summer of 1930, he won the Scots Verse recital contest at the Aberdeen Music Festival, and was paid by Beltona
Beltona Records
Beltona Records is a British record label founded in 1923, producing recordings 'of a mainly Scottish interest'. The company's early history began with 78rpm gramophone records of traditional Scottish music. They produced music common of the time, i.e. dance and barn music. Typical instrumentation...
to make a series of recordings of the poems of Charles Murray
Charles Murray (poet)
Charles Murray was a poet who wrote in the Doric dialect of Scots. He was born and raised in Alford in north east Scotland. However he wrote much of his poetry while living in South Africa where he spent most of his working life as a successful civil engineer...
. After returning from Paris, he led a troupe of Scottish country dancers - the "Dancers of Don", that he had formed together with Isabella Mitchell. By this time, Forbes's heart was set on studying medicine. However, his father refused to fund his studies, arguing that since there was more than enough work to be done managing the estate, there was no need for him to study further. Ewan resolved to fund his own studies, aiming to put aside £1,000 to cover the costs. In 1933, he studied under the psychologist Leonhard Seif in Munich, living with the British novelist Phyllis Bottome
Phyllis Bottome
Phyllis Forbes Dennis was a British novelist and short story writer who wrote under her birth name, Phyllis Bottome . She was born in Rochester, Kent to an American clergyman, Rev...
. Whilst there, he witnessed the German elections
German election, 1933
The German federal election, March 1933 to the Reichstag of the Weimar Republic was held on 5 March 1933. The Nazis registered a large increase in votes again emerging as the largest party by far, nevertheless they failed to obtain absolute majority...
which brought the Nazi Party into power, and heard Adolf Hitler
Adolf Hitler
Adolf Hitler was an Austrian-born German politician and the leader of the National Socialist German Workers Party , commonly referred to as the Nazi Party). He was Chancellor of Germany from 1933 to 1945, and head of state from 1934 to 1945...
speak.
On the death of Lord Sempill in 1934, both the barony and the baronetcy passed to William, the eldest child. Forbes inherited a farming estate at Brux, Aberdeenshire of about 1300 acres (5.3 km²), and took to the new lifestyle with gusto, adopting a broad Doric accent and taking to wearing a masculine kilt
Kilt
The kilt is a knee-length garment with pleats at the rear, originating in the traditional dress of men and boys in the Scottish Highlands of the 16th century. Since the 19th century it has become associated with the wider culture of Scotland in general, or with Celtic heritage even more broadly...
.
Medical career
In 1939, Forbes was accepted as a medical student at the University of AberdeenUniversity of Aberdeen
The University of Aberdeen, an ancient university founded in 1495, in Aberdeen, Scotland, is a British university. It is the third oldest university in Scotland, and the fifth oldest in the United Kingdom and wider English-speaking world...
, graduating in 1944 and taking up the post of Junior Casualty Officer at the Aberdeen Royal Infirmary
Aberdeen Royal Infirmary
Aberdeen Royal Infirmary or ARI is a teaching hospital on the Foresterhill site in Aberdeen, Scotland. It is run by NHS Grampian and has around 900 beds. ARI is a tertiary referral hospital serving a population of over 600,000 across the North of Scotland...
. After a swift progression to Senior Casualty Officer, he began to work as a general practitioner
General practitioner
A general practitioner is a medical practitioner who treats acute and chronic illnesses and provides preventive care and health education for all ages and both sexes. They have particular skills in treating people with multiple health issues and comorbidities...
in Alford, Aberdeenshire
Alford, Aberdeenshire
Alford is a large village in Aberdeenshire, north-east Scotland, lying just south of the River Don. It lies within the Howe of Alford which occupies the middle reaches of the River Don....
in 1945. In addition to the normal work of a rural doctor, he was called upon to act as a medical officer for a large number of German prisoners of war who were held in the area in 1946, due to his command of the language.
The Alford area was one of the largest medical practices in the United Kingdom, and in the winter months Dr. Forbes often had to travel through ten-foot snowdrifts in a converted Universal Carrier
Universal Carrier
The Universal Carrier, also known as the Bren Gun Carrier is a common name describing a family of light armoured tracked vehicles built by Vickers-Armstrong. Produced between 1934 and 1960, the vehicle was used widely by British Commonwealth forces during the Second World War...
. These conditions were not entirely unfamiliar; a trip to see an uncle in St. Moritz
St. Moritz
St. Moritz is a resort town in the Engadine valley in Switzerland. It is a municipality in the district of Maloja in the Swiss canton of Graubünden...
at the age of thirteen had led to him taking up skiing and figure-skating, and winning a number of bob sled races. He did not live in Alford, but remained at Brux, appointing a medical assistant to live in the town. The farm, left in the hands of a small resident staff, quickly ran into financial troubles. In order to raise a large amount of money quickly, Forbes sold the practice in Alford, and returned to the farm in 1952, running it directly as a going concern from then on.
On moving to Alford, Forbes had begun to publicly look and behave like the man he personally identified as being. In 1952, he formally became male by the simple process of requesting a warrant for birth re-registration from the Sherriff
Sheriff Court
Sheriff courts provide the local court service in Scotland, with each court serving a sheriff court district within a sheriffdom.Sheriff courts deal with a myriad of legal procedures which include:*Solemn and Summary Criminal cases...
of Aberdeen, registering himself as male, and changing his name to Ewan Forbes-Sempill. He announced this with a notice in the Aberdeen Press and Journal
Press and Journal (Scotland)
The Press and Journal, often called the P&J, is a daily regional newspaper serving the northern counties of Scotland including the cities of Aberdeen and Inverness...
of September 12, 1952: "Dr E Forbes-Sempill henceforth wishes to be known as Dr Ewan Forbes-Sempill". His plans had been known in advance to many of his patients, who were reported as universally supportive. Forbes was equally candid with the press, describing the situation to one reporter as "...a ghastly mistake. I was carelessly registered as a girl in the first place, but of course, that was forty years ago ... the doctors in those days were mistaken, too ... I have been sacrificed to prudery, and the horror which our parents had about sex".
A month later, on October 10, he married Isabella Mitchell, his housekeeper for the past five years, and formerly co-founder of his dance troupe. The marriage took place at the kirk in Kildrummy, which he had recently joined.
Inheritance and lawsuit
The re-registration passed without much public comment, and the issue of his gender would remain a private one until 1965. That December, his elder brother Lord Sempill died, leaving daughters but no sons, and thus posing a problem of inheritance. The barony was able to be passed through the female line, and so could pass directly to Sempill's eldest daughter Ann, whilst the baronetcy - along with the bulk of the land - would have to pass to the first male heir. The family had assumed that Ewan would inherit, as the younger brother. However, this was challenged by his cousin John Forbes-Sempill, who argued that the 1952 re-registration was invalid. This would mean that Forbes was still legally considered a woman, unable to inherit the title, and so it would pass to John Forbes-Sempill.At the time, gender re-registration was permitted in a limited set of cases; the leading case, decided in 1965, had held that re-registration of this form was only permitted when "the sex of a child was indeterminate at birth and it was later discovered ... that an error had been made". The challenge was taken to the Court of Session
Court of Session
The Court of Session is the supreme civil court of Scotland, and constitutes part of the College of Justice. It sits in Parliament House in Edinburgh and is both a court of first instance and a court of appeal....
, where the case was heard in great secrecy - no papers were publicly filed, and the judge sat in a solicitor's office rather than in open court to hear the case. However, the records of the case have recently been made available via the National Archives of Scotland. They show that a total of twelve medical experts were called to give evidence, and their testimony was taken by the court to indicate that Forbes was a physical hermaphrodite
Hermaphrodite
In biology, a hermaphrodite is an organism that has reproductive organs normally associated with both male and female sexes.Many taxonomic groups of animals do not have separate sexes. In these groups, hermaphroditism is a normal condition, enabling a form of sexual reproduction in which both...
, which would accord with the legal requirement of "indeterminate at birth". However, the medical evidence was not conclusive; Professor Martin Roth
Martin Roth
Professor Sir Martin Roth FRS was a British psychiatrist.He was Professor of Psychiatry, University of Cambridge, 1977–85, then Professor Emeritus, and was a Fellow of Trinity College, Cambridge from 1977. He was one of the pioneers in developing Psychogeriatrics as a subspecialty.-References:...
observed in evidence that he felt Forbes' condition was closer to that of a transsexual, and Professor John Strong described the medical tests involved as "not wholly conclusive". The judge ruled in favour of Forbes, though it has been suggested that the judge desired to ensure the estate and the title was inherited by the "right" candidate, and was flexible with his judgement in order to obtain this result. The ruling was appealed to the Lord Advocate
Lord Advocate
Her Majesty's Advocate , known as the Lord Advocate , is the chief legal officer of the Scottish Government and the Crown in Scotland for both civil and criminal matters that fall within the devolved powers of the Scottish Parliament...
, who referred the matter to the Home Secretary
Home Secretary
The Secretary of State for the Home Department, commonly known as the Home Secretary, is the minister in charge of the Home Office of the United Kingdom, and one of the country's four Great Offices of State...
, James Callaghan
James Callaghan
Leonard James Callaghan, Baron Callaghan of Cardiff, KG, PC , was a British Labour politician, who was Prime Minister of the United Kingdom from 1976 to 1979 and Leader of the Labour Party from 1976 to 1980...
. Callaghan finally ruled in December 1968 that Forbes was the rightful holder of the title, confirming the court's decision.
The level of secrecy of the case, which was criticized by some contemporary observers, meant that it was not properly recorded or published, and the exact facts of the argument were not known for some time. As a result, whilst it sharply differs from later rulings such as Corbett v Corbett
Corbett v Corbett
The case of Corbett v Corbett, heard in February 1970 with a 1971 decision, is a divorce case which set a legal precedent regarding the status of transsexuals in the United Kingdom...
[1970], it was not able to be considered as precedent
Precedent
In common law legal systems, a precedent or authority is a principle or rule established in a legal case that a court or other judicial body may apply when deciding subsequent cases with similar issues or facts...
in later judgments on the legal recognition of gender variance
Legal aspects of transsexualism
Transsexual people are those who establish a permanent identity with the gender opposite to the gender identified at birth. As most legal jurisdictions have at least some recognition of the two traditional genders at the exclusion of other categories, this raises many legal issues and aspects of...
.
Later life
On taking up the baronetcy, Forbes dropped the "Sempill" from his surname; this had been adopted by the family in the 1880s when they inherited the barony, and there was no reason to persist once the titles were separated.With the inheritance case settled, he left the public eye and returned to the life of a rural landowner; he placed Craigievar Castle
Craigievar Castle
Craigievar Castle is a pinkish harled castle six miles south of Alford, Aberdeenshire, Scotland. It was the seat of Clan Sempill. The setting is among scenic rolling foothills of the Grampian Mountains...
in the hands of the National Trust for Scotland
National Trust for Scotland
The National Trust for Scotland for Places of Historic Interest or Natural Beauty, commonly known as the National Trust for Scotland describes itself as the conservation charity that protects and promotes Scotland's natural and cultural heritage for present and future generations to...
and continued to live in his house at Brux. Forbes was an elder of the local kirk at Kildrummy
Kildrummy
Kildrummy is a hamlet in Aberdeenshire, Scotland near the River Don, 7 miles west of Alford. Its church was built in 1805. Nearby Kildrummy Castle has a long history dating back to at least the 14th century. The hamlet's primary school closed in 2003....
, and was appointed 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...
for Aberdeenshire in 1969. He published a book of reminiscences of his early years in 1984, The aul' days.
Forbes died, leaving no children, in 1991 and was succeeded in the baronetcy by his cousin John, the man who had originally mounted the legal challenge in the 1960s. His widow Isabella survived him, dying in 2002.