Sir William Forbes-Sempill formerly Forbes 1836 - 1905
Sir William Forbes-Sempill formerly Forbes, heir presumptive (1881) to to the barony of Sempill. A descendent? The obituary of Sir Ewan Forbes of Craigievar, Bt, says: He was born on Sept 6 1912 and baptised Elizabeth as the third and youngest daughter of the 18th Lord Sempill, head of the Forbes-Sempill family, a long-established Scottish dynasty holding a 15th century Barony and a Baronetcy of Novia Scotia, created in 1630. On the death of her father, the 18th Lord Sempill, in 1934, both the barony and the baronetcy passed to her elder brother, who entrusted the management of his Fintray and Craigievar estates to his sister. In 1945 she took up practice in the Alford district and it was from this point onward that Elizabeth Forbes-Sempill looked and behaved like the man she knew she really was. Dr Forbes-Sempill went about her change of gender in the quietest possible manner. She applied to the Sheriff of Aberdeen, and acquired a warrant for birth re-registration. Then, on Sept 12 1952, there appeared a notice in the advertisement columns of The Press and Journal, Aberdeen, which stated that henceforth Dr Forbes-Sempill wished to be known as Dr Ewan Forbes-Sempill. . . Some three weeks later the doctor announced that he was to wed Isabella ("Pat") Mitchell, his housekeeper. It was a fairly quiet ceremony. On the death of his brother, the 19th Lord Sempill, in 1965, the barony passed in the female line to the 19th Lord's eldest daughter. It was assumed that the barony would pass to Ewan Forbes-Sempill but his cousin, John Forbes-Sempill (only son of the 18th Lord Sempill's youngest brother, Rear-Admiral Arthur Forbes-Sempill), challenged the succession to the baronetcy. The case was taken to the Scottish Court of Session. The court ruled in favour of Ewan Forbes-Sempill, but when his cousin continued with his challenge the dispute was taken to the Home Secretary, in whose office the Roll of Baronets is kept by Royal Warrant. The Lord Advocate was consulted by the Home Secretary, James Callaghan, and eventually, in December 1968, Mr Callaghan directed that the name of Sir Ewan Forbes of Craigievar (he had dropped the name of Sempill) should be entered in the Roll of Baronets. There were no children of Sir Ewan's marriage. His cousin, John Alexander Cumnock Forbes-Sempill, born 1927, now succeeds to the baronetcy. 1
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| Born: Fintray House, 20th May 1836 | Baptised: Fintray, Aberdeenshire, , Scotland 4th Aug 1836
| | Died: Craigievar castle, 21st Jul 1905 | Buried:
| | Family: Forbes-Sempill |
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