Archibald Angus Charles Kennedy, 8th Marquess of Ailsa, 19th Earl of Cassilis, 21st Lord Kennedy, 8th

Baron Ailsa Baron is a rank of nobility or title of honour, often hereditary, in various European countries, either current or historical. The female equivalent is baroness. Typically, the title denotes an aristocrat who ranks higher than a lord or knigh ...

, (13 September 1956 – 15 January 2015), was a

Scottish peer The Peerage of Scotland ( gd, Moraireachd na h-Alba, sco, Peerage o Scotland) is one of the five divisions of peerages in the United Kingdom and for those peers created by the King of Scots before 1707. Following that year's Treaty of Union ...

Early life

Archibald Angus Charles Kennedy was born on 13 September 1956 in Culzean Castle,

Ayrshire Ayrshire ( gd, Siorrachd Inbhir Àir, ) is a historic county and registration county in south-west Scotland, located on the shores of the Firth of Clyde. Its principal towns include Ayr, Kilmarnock and Irvine and it borders the counties of Re ...

. He was the eldest of two sons born to Mary (

née A birth name is the name of a person given upon birth. The term may be applied to the surname, the given name, or the entire name. Where births are required to be officially registered, the entire name entered onto a birth certificate or birth re ...

Burn) and

Archibald Kennedy, 7th Marquess of Ailsa Archibald David Kennedy, 7th Marquess of Ailsa, OBE, DL (3 December 1925 – 7 April 1994) was a Scottish peer, the son of Angus Kennedy, 6th Marquess of Ailsa. In early life, as David Kennedy, he worked as a steam locomotive fireman and, as ...

. Kennedy was raised in Cassillis House, another family seat, and was educated at Strathallan School, he studied forestry and farming. His maternal grandfather was John Burn of Amble, Northumberland and his paternal grandparents were Angus Kennedy, 6th Marquess of Ailsa and Gertrude Millicent (née Cooper) Kennedy, daughter of Gervas Weir Cooper, of Wordwell Hall, Suffolk.

Peerage

The Marquess of Ailsa is the hereditary Clan Chief of

Clan Kennedy Clan Kennedy is a Scottish clan of the Scottish Lowlands.Way, George and Squire, Romily. ''Collins Scottish Clan & Family Encyclopedia''. (Foreword by The Rt Hon. The Earl of Elgin KT, Convenor, The Standing Council of Scottish Chiefs). Publishe ...

. All of the Marquesses are descendants of Anne Watts, mother of Archibald Kennedy, 1st Marquess of Ailsa and descendant of the

Schuyler family The Schuyler family ( /ˈskaɪlər/; Dutch pronunciation: xœylər was a prominent Dutch family in New York and New Jersey in the 18th and 19th centuries, whose descendants played a critical role in the formation of the United States (especiall ...

, the Van Cortlandt family (including Stephanus Van Cortlandt), and the Delancey family of British North America. The title is derived from the island of Ailsa Craig in the Firth of Clyde, which is owned by the family. In 2011, the Marquess put up the island for sale. As of March 2013, the asking price was offers over £1,500,000. Kennedy succeeded to the titles of 19th Earl of Cassilis, 21st Lord Kennedy, 8th

Marquess of Ailsa Marquess of Ailsa, of the Isle of Ailsa in the County of Ayr, is a title in the Peerage of the United Kingdom. It was created on 10 September 1831 for Archibald Kennedy, 12th Earl of Cassilis. The title Earl of Cassilis (pronounced "Cassels") ...

& 8th

on 7 April 1994 after the death of his father. Upon his death, he was succeeded by his brother, David Kennedy, 9th Marquess of Ailsa (b. 1958). The 9th Marquess' heir apparent is his son Archibald David Kennedy (born 1995).

Career

Kennedy gained a commission in the

Queen's Own Highlanders The Queen's Own Highlanders (Seaforth and Camerons), officially abbreviated "QO HLDRS," was an infantry regiment of the British Army, part of the Scottish Division. It was in existence from 1961 to 1994. History 1961–1970 The regiment was f ...

. He later taught skiing and mountain craft to teams of army youth in the Scottish Highlands and the

Brecon Beacons The Brecon Beacons ( cy, Bannau Brycheiniog, ) are a mountain range in South Wales. In a narrow sense, the name refers to the range of Old Red Sandstone peaks which lie to the south of Brecon. Sometimes referred to as "the central Beacons" t ...

in Wales before retiring from the military in the

Ayrshire Yeomanry The Ayrshire (Earl of Carrick's Own) Yeomanry was a Regiment of the British Yeomanry and is now an armoured Squadron of the Scottish and North Irish Yeomanry (SNIY), part of the British Army Reserve. It is the Lowlands of Scotland's only Royal A ...

. After working in sales, marketing and agriculture, he founded Lord Charles Tours which organised trips to Scotland, Ireland, Sweden and Lapland.

Personal life

In 1979, Lord Ailsa married Dawn Leslie Anne Keen, the only daughter of David A. Keen, of Rue Émeriau in Paris, France. Before their 1989 divorce, during which "his wife was accused of an affair with a teenage milk boy," they had two children: * Lady Rosemary Margaret Kennedy (b. 1980) * Lady Alicia-Jane Lesley Kennedy (b. 1981) The 8th Marquess died on 15 January 2015, while visiting a Kennedy clan function in

Altamonte Springs, Florida Altamonte Springs is a suburban city in central Florida in Seminole County, Florida, United States, which had a population of 46,231 at the 2020 United States Census. The city is in the northern suburbs of the Orlando–Kissimmee–Sanford Metro ...

Ancestry

References

External links

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Archibald Kennedy, 8th Marquess of Ailsa
{{DEFAULTSORT:Ailsa, Archibald Kennedy, 8th Marquess of 1956 births 2015 deaths Conservative Party (UK) hereditary peers Archibald People educated at Strathallan School Scottish clan chiefs Scottish landowners Scottish people of Dutch descent Schuyler family Van Cortlandt family 8 20th-century Scottish landowners 20th-century Scottish businesspeople