Lieutenant-Colonel Archibald Campbell, 1st Baron Blythswood, (22 February 1835 – 8 July 1908) was a Scottish soldier,

Tory A Tory () is a person who holds a political philosophy known as Toryism, based on a British version of traditionalism and conservatism, which upholds the supremacy of social order as it has evolved in the English culture throughout history. Th ...

politician, scientist and

Grand Master of the Grand Lodge of Scotland This is a list of Grand Master Masons of the Grand Lodge of Scotland: # 1736–1737: William St Clair of Roslin # 1737–1738: George Mackenzie, 3rd Earl of Cromartie # 1738–1739: John Keith, 3rd Earl of Kintore (G.M. of England; 1740) # 1739 ...

Life

St Nicholas, Old Shepperton- memorial (C) (geograph 6239987)

Born Archibald Campbell Douglas (he dropped Douglas from his name in 1838) in

Florence Florence ( ; it, Firenze ) is a city in Central Italy and the capital city of the Tuscany region. It is the most populated city in Tuscany, with 383,083 inhabitants in 2016, and over 1,520,000 in its metropolitan area.Bilancio demografico an ...

Tuscany Tuscany ( ; it, Toscana ) is a Regions of Italy, region in central Italy with an area of about and a population of about 3.8 million inhabitants. The regional capital is Florence (''Firenze''). Tuscany is known for its landscapes, history, art ...

, he was the son of Archibald Campbell, 17th Laird of Mains, until 1838 known as Archibald Douglas. Campbell joined the

79th Highlanders The Queen's Own Cameron Highlanders or 79th (The Queen's Own Cameron Highlanders) Regiment of Foot was a Line infantry, line infantry regiment of the British Army, raised in 1793. It amalgamated with the Seaforth Highlanders, Seaforth Highland ...

at the age of 16 and fought in the

Crimean War The Crimean War, , was fought from October 1853 to February 1856 between Russia and an ultimately victorious alliance of the Ottoman Empire, France, the United Kingdom and Piedmont-Sardinia. Geopolitical causes of the war included the de ...

in 1855, where he was severely wounded. He transferred to the

Scots Fusilier Guards The Scots Guards (SG) is one of the five Foot Guards regiments of the British Army. Its origins are as the personal bodyguard of King Charles I of England and Scotland. Its lineage can be traced back to 1642, although it was only placed on the ...

and rose to the rank of

Lieutenant-Colonel Lieutenant colonel ( , ) is a rank of commissioned officers in the armies, most marine forces and some air forces of the world, above a major and below a colonel. Several police forces in the United States use the rank of lieutenant colonel. ...

. On 7 July 1864, he married Augusta Clementina Carrington, a daughter of

Robert Carrington, 2nd Baron Carrington Robert John Carrington, 2nd Baron Carrington, (16 January 1796 – 17 March 1868), was a politician and a baron in the Peerage of Great Britain. He was the son of Robert Smith, 1st Baron Carrington, and Anne Boldero-Barnard.Edward J. Davies, ...

, at Whitehall Chapel, London. He retired from the army in 1868 on the death of his father. He was

Member of Parliament A member of parliament (MP) is the representative in parliament of the people who live in their electoral district. In many countries with bicameral parliaments, this term refers only to members of the lower house since upper house members of ...

(MP) for

Renfrewshire Renfrewshire () ( sco, Renfrewshire; gd, Siorrachd Rinn Friù) is one of the 32 council areas of Scotland. Located in the west central Lowlands, it is one of three council areas contained within the boundaries of the historic county of Renfr ...

from 1873 to 1874, and for West Renfrewshire from 1885 to 1892. He was also

Lord Lieutenant of Renfrewshire The Lord Lieutenant of Renfrewshire is the representative of the British Crown covering a lieutenancy area of the county of Renfrewshire in the west central Lowlands of Scotland. The Lord Lieutenant deals with many of the ceremonial functions a ...

from 1904 to 1908. On 4 May 1880, he was created a baronet, of Blythswood and was an Aide-de-camp to

Queen Victoria Victoria (Alexandrina Victoria; 24 May 1819 – 22 January 1901) was Queen of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland from 20 June 1837 until Death and state funeral of Queen Victoria, her death in 1901. Her reign of 63 years and 21 ...

. In 1888 he was awarded an honorary

doctorate of Law A Doctor of Law is a degree in law. The application of the term varies from country to country and includes degrees such as the Doctor of Juridical Science (J.S.D. or S.J.D), Juris Doctor (J.D.), Doctor of Philosophy (Ph.D.), and Legum Doctor (LL ...

from the

University of Glasgow , image = UofG Coat of Arms.png , image_size = 150px , caption = Coat of arms Flag , latin_name = Universitas Glasguensis , motto = la, Via, Veritas, Vita , ...

and made a

Freeman Freeman, free men, or variant, may refer to: * a member of the Third Estate in medieval society (commoners), see estates of the realm * Freeman, an apprentice who has been granted freedom of the company, was a rank within Livery companies * Free ...

of the

City of Glasgow Glasgow City Council is the local government authority for the City of Glasgow, Scotland. It was created in 1996 under the Local Government etc. (Scotland) Act 1994, largely with the boundaries of the post-1975 City of Glasgow district of th ...

. He was conferred with Honorary Membership of the

Institution of Engineers and Shipbuilders in Scotland The Institution of Engineers and Shipbuilders in Scotland (IESIS) is a multi-disciplinary professional body and learned society, founded in Scotland, for professional engineers in all disciplines and for those associated with or taking an interes ...

in 1891. On 24 August 1892, he was created

Baron Blythswood Baron Blythswood, of Blythswood in the County of Renfrew, was a title in the Peerage of the United Kingdom. It was created on 24 August 1892 for Sir Archibald Campbell, 1st Baronet, the former Member of Parliament for Renfrew, with remainder f ...

, with a special remainder to his five younger brothers. He was a notable scientist and took his wife to Thebes to observe the

Transit of Venus frameless, upright=0.5 A transit of Venus across the Sun takes place when the planet Venus passes directly between the Sun and a superior planet, becoming visible against (and hence obscuring a small portion of) the solar disk. During a trans ...

in 1874, taking with him a small transit instrument, a 6-inch telescope and a 12-inch telescope, recording the time of first contact, and also observed a white halo, proving an

atmosphere An atmosphere () is a layer of gas or layers of gases that envelop a planet, and is held in place by the gravity of the planetary body. A planet retains an atmosphere when the gravity is great and the temperature of the atmosphere is low. A s ...

around Venus. From 1892 to 1905 the Blythswood Laboratory at his family seat was used to experiment into many areas at the borders of physics, including the use of

cathode rays Cathode rays or electron beam (e-beam) are streams of electrons observed in discharge tubes. If an evacuated glass tube is equipped with two electrodes and a voltage is applied, glass behind the positive electrode is observed to glow, due to el ...

X-rays An X-ray, or, much less commonly, X-radiation, is a penetrating form of high-energy electromagnetic radiation. Most X-rays have a wavelength ranging from 10 Picometre, picometers to 10 Nanometre, nanometers, corresponding to frequency, ...

spectroscopy Spectroscopy is the field of study that measures and interprets the electromagnetic spectra that result from the interaction between electromagnetic radiation and matter as a function of the wavelength or frequency of the radiation. Matter wa ...

and radioactivity. He designed a speed indicator, which was fitted to ships of the

Royal Navy The Royal Navy (RN) is the United Kingdom's naval warfare force. Although warships were used by English and Scottish kings from the early medieval period, the first major maritime engagements were fought in the Hundred Years' War against F ...

, and carried out studies into the efficiency of aerial propellers some years before the Wright Brothers' first powered flight in 1903. He was elected a

Fellow of the Royal Society Fellowship of the Royal Society (FRS, ForMemRS and HonFRS) is an award granted by the judges of the Royal Society of London to individuals who have made a "substantial contribution to the improvement of natural science, natural knowledge, incl ...

in May, 1907 and died possessed of the family seat in Renfrewshire and Halliford Manor in

Shepperton Shepperton is an urban village in the Borough of Spelthorne, Surrey, approximately south west of central London. Shepperton is equidistant between the towns of Chertsey and Sunbury-on-Thames. The village is mentioned in a document of 959 AD ...

. He was for many years linked to the 3rd (The Blythswood) Volunteer Battalion of the

Highland Light Infantry The Highland Light Infantry (HLI) was a light infantry regiment of the British Army formed in 1881. It took part in the First and Second World Wars, until it was amalgamated with the Royal Scots Fusiliers in 1959 to form the Royal Highland Fusi ...

, where he was commanding Colonel, and from 28 May 1902 appointed Honorary Colonel. He died at age 73 at his home

Blythswood House Blythswood House was a 100-room neoclassical mansion at Renfrew, Scotland, built for the Douglas-Campbell family from the considerable incomes arising from their ownership of the Lands of Blythswood in Glasgow, including Blythswood Hill, develo ...

, without issue and was buried on 11 July 1908 at

Inchinnan Inchinnan (Scottish Gaelic: ''Innis Fhionghain'') is a small village in Renfrewshire, Scotland. The village is located on the main A8 road between Renfrew and Greenock, just south east of the town of Erskine. History The name of Inchinnan vil ...

. His baronetcy became extinct but his barony passed to his brother, Rev. Sholto Campbell, succeeded by younger brothers still, Barrington and

Archibald Archibald is a masculine given name, composed of the Germanic elements '' erchan'' (with an original meaning of "genuine" or "precious") and ''bald'' meaning "bold". Medieval forms include Old High German and Anglo-Saxon . Erkanbald, bishop of ...

.''Glasgow's Blythswood'' by Graeme Smith, published in 2021 www.blythswoodsmith.co.uk

References

External links

*
Who's Who in Glasgow 1909
Glasgow Digital Library, hosted by University of Strathclyde {{DEFAULTSORT:Blythswood, Archibald Campbell, 1st Baron 1835 births 1908 deaths 1 19th-century Scottish people Military personnel from Glasgow British Army personnel of the Crimean War Members of the Parliament of the United Kingdom for Scottish constituencies Lord-Lieutenants of Renfrewshire Fellows of the Royal Society Scottish soldiers Politics of Renfrewshire Scots Guards officers Scottish expatriates in Italy Scottish physicists Scottish inventors Scottish Tory MPs (pre-1912) UK MPs 1868–1874 UK MPs 1885–1886 UK MPs 1886–1892 UK MPs who were granted peerages Queen's Own Cameron Highlanders officers Peers of the United Kingdom created by Queen Victoria

Life

See also

References

External links