Ann Moira Forbes-Sempill, 20th Lady Sempill (19 March 1920 – 6 July 1995) was a Scottish politician, aristocrat, and pilot. As the holder of a hereditary peerage, she was a member of the House of Lords.

Biography

Ann Moira Sempill was born on 19 March 1920. Her father, William Forbes-Sempill, 19th Lord Sempill, was an air pioneer and spy for the Empire of Japan. She and her mother, Eileen (née Lavery), Lady Sempill, are depicted in a 1923 painting by her maternal grandfather John Lavery. She became interested in flying and decided to apply for a pilot's A licence to become the United Kingdom's youngest woman to be a qualified pilot, eventually succeeding and becoming proficient by 1941. She offered the

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at the 1938 Gorsedh Kernow bard initiation ceremony. During World War II, she was a Women's Royal Naval Service petty officer. She joined the Anglo Austrian Society's committee in 1966. She was married to Eric Holt, a member of the Manchester Regiment from Oxford, from 25 October 1941 until their divorce in 1945; they had one daughter. On 28 October 1948, she later married Lieutenant-Colonel Stuart Whitemore Chant-Sempill , who served in the Gordon Highlanders and the

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. They had two children: James Sempill, 21st Lord Sempill, and Lieutenant-Colonel Ian Chant-Sempill (1951-2017). On her father's death on 30 December 1965, she succeeded to the title of Lord Sempill and, by extension, his seat in the House of Lords, remaining until her death. She became a Conservative peer on 19 July 1966. Her maiden speech at the House was on 7 February 1967, in which she asked the government to address the issue of

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. Forbes-Sempill died on 6 July 1995.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Sempill, Ann Forbes-Sempill, 20th Lady 1920 births 1995 deaths Nobility from Aberdeenshire 20th-century Scottish politicians 20th-century Scottish women politicians 20 Conservative Party (UK) hereditary peers Scottish aviators British women aviators Crossbench life peers Hereditary women peers Women's Royal Naval Service personnel of World War II