James Charles Macnab of Macnab JP (14 April 1926 – 11 January 2013), otherwise known as The Macnab, was the 23rd Chief of Clan Macnab, and a member of the

Royal Company of Archers The Royal Company of Archers, The King's Bodyguard for Scotland is a ceremonial unit that serves as the Sovereign's bodyguard in Scotland—a role it has performed since 1822 during the reign of King George IV when the company provided a perso ...

Queen Elizabeth II Elizabeth II (Elizabeth Alexandra Mary; 21 April 1926 – 8 September 2022) was Queen of the United Kingdom and other Commonwealth realms from 6 February 1952 until Death and state funeral of Elizabeth II, her death in 2022. She was queen ...

's bodyguard in Scotland.

Early life

Born in London,Clan chief James Charles Macnab of Macnab
''The Courier'', 26 January 2013 the elder son 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. ...

James Alexander Macnabb OBE TD, ''de jure'' the 21st Macnab of Macnab, by his marriage to Ursula Walford (formerly Barnett), of

Wokingham Wokingham is a market town in Berkshire, England, west of London, southeast of Reading, north of Camberley and west of Bracknell. History Wokingham means 'Wocca's people's home'. Wocca was apparently a Saxon chieftain who may als ...

, the young Macnab was educated at

Cothill House Cothill House is a day and boarding boys' independent school for preparatory pupils in Cothill, Oxfordshire, which houses around 220 boys from the ages 8–13. General information The school offers day places, junior and full boarding, with aro ...

Radley College Radley College, formally St Peter's College, Radley, is a public school (independent boarding school for boys) near Radley, Oxfordshire, England, which was founded in 1847. The school covers including playing fields, a golf course, a lake, and ...

, and

Ashbury College Ashbury College is an independent day and boarding school located in the Rockcliffe Park area of Ottawa, Ontario, Canada. It was originally founded in 1891 by former faculty of Bishop's College School in Quebec to accommodate BCS students livin ...

, Ottawa.'Macnab of Macnab, James Charles' in '' Who's Who 2012'' (London: A. & C. Black, 2011)

Career

Between 1944 and 1945, during the closing stages of the

Second World War World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposin ...

, Macnab served in the

Royal Air Force The Royal Air Force (RAF) is the United Kingdom's air and space force. It was formed towards the end of the First World War on 1 April 1918, becoming the first independent air force in the world, by regrouping the Royal Flying Corps (RFC) and ...

and the

Scots 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 ...

. He was commissioned as a Lieutenant into the

Seaforth Highlanders The Seaforth Highlanders (Ross-shire Buffs, The Duke of Albany's) was a line infantry regiment of the British Army, mainly associated with large areas of the northern Highlands of Scotland. The regiment existed from 1881 to 1961, and saw servic ...

in 1945. In 1948 he transferred to the

Federation of Malaya The Federation of Malaya ( ms, Persekutuan Tanah Melayu; Jawi script, Jawi: ) was a federation of what previously had been British Malaya comprising eleven states (nine Malay states and two of the British Empire, British Straits Settlements, P ...

Police Force, serving successively as an Assistant Superintendent, then Acting Deputy Superintendent, and retired in 1957. He returned as a Captain into the Seaforth Highlanders (Territorial Army), from 1960 to 1964, and was a

Justice of the Peace A justice of the peace (JP) is a judicial officer of a lower or ''puisne'' court, elected or appointed by means of a commission ( letters patent) to keep the peace. In past centuries the term commissioner of the peace was often used with the sa ...

for

Perthshire Perthshire (locally: ; gd, Siorrachd Pheairt), officially the County of Perth, is a historic county and registration county in central Scotland. Geographically it extends from Strathmore in the east, to the Pass of Drumochter in the north, ...

from 1968 to 1975, then for Stirling from 1975 to 1986. In 1961 he was elected to the Western Perthshire District Council, and from 1964 to 1975 was a County Councillor for

Perth and Kinross Perth and Kinross ( sco, Pairth an Kinross; gd, Peairt agus Ceann Rois) is one of the 32 council areas of Scotland and a Lieutenancy Area. It borders onto the Aberdeenshire, Angus, Argyll and Bute, Clackmannanshire, Dundee, Fife, Highland and S ...

. He became a Member of the

Central Regional Council Central Region (''Roinn Meadhanach'' in Scottish Gaelic, Gaelic) was a Local government of Scotland, local government Local government areas of Scotland 1973 to 1996, region of Scotland from 1975 to 1996, one of twelve such bodies across the ...

in 1978, serving until 1982. He was an Executive Consultant with

Hill Samuel Hill Samuel is a wholly owned subsidiary of Lloyds Banking Group's Offshore Private Banking unit. It was formerly a leading British merchant bank and financial services firm before the takeover by TSB Group Plc. in 1987, which itself merged with ...

Investment Services from 1982 to 1992.

Marriage

In 1959 Macnab married Diana Mary, daughter of

William Anstruther-Gray, Baron Kilmany William John St Clair Anstruther-Gray, Baron Kilmany, MC PC (5 March 1905 – 6 August 1985) was a Scottish Unionist Party politician. Life The only son of Col William Anstruther-Gray of Kilmany and Clayre Jessie Tennant, he was educated a ...

. They have two sons and two daughters.

Clan chief

In 1860 Archibald McNab of McNab, the 17th Chief, and last in the direct male line of Chiefs, died in France at the age of eighty-three. Sarah Anne McNab, his daughter, is now considered the 18th Chief. After she died 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 ...

in 1894 the succession was disputed until the 1950s. After long years of research, begun in earnest in 1907, the Arthurstone Macnabbs, who were descended from a younger son of a Chief who died in 1645, were able to establish their claim. James William Macnabb of Arthurstone (1831–1915) is now deemed to have succeeded as 19th Chief, thus making his grandson James Alexander Macnabb (1901–1990) the 21st Chief ''de jure''. However, in 1949 his uncle Archibald Corrie Macnabb bought Kinnell House,

Killin Killin (; (Scottish Gaelic: ''Cill Fhinn'') is a village in Perthshire in the central highlands of Scotland. Situated at the western head of Loch Tay, it is administered by the Stirling Council area. Killin is a historic conservation village an ...

, and a large part of the former Macnab estate from the Breadalbane Trustees, and in 1956 James Alexander Macnabb gave up his rights in favour of his uncle, whom the

Lord Lyon King of Arms The Right Honourable the Lord Lyon King of Arms, the head of Lyon Court, is the most junior of the Great Officers of State in Scotland and is the Scottish official with responsibility for regulating heraldry in that country, issuing new grant ...

recognised as 22nd Chief ''de facto'', while confirming James Charles Macnab as his

heir presumptive An heir presumptive is the person entitled to inherit a throne, peerage, or other hereditary honour, but whose position can be displaced by the birth of an heir apparent or a new heir presumptive with a better claim to the position in question. ...

.Know Your Chief
at macnabclanuk.org. Retrieved 25 February 2012 In 1970 Macnab succeeded his great uncle, Archibald Corrie Macnab of Macnab, as Chief. However, he was faced with high

death duties An inheritance tax is a tax paid by a person who inherits money or property of a person who has died, whereas an estate tax is a levy on the estate (money and property) of a person who has died. International tax law distinguishes between an es ...

, with the result that in 1978 he had to sell Kinnell House and much of the estate. He went on living at Finlarig, Killin, until 1985, when he moved to Fife following the death of his wife's parents. The Macnab lived at Leuchars Castle Farmhouse,

Leuchars Leuchars (pronounced or ; gd, Luachar "rushes") is a small town and parish near the north-east coast of Fife in Scotland. The civil parish has a population of 5,754 (in 2011) Census of Scotland 2011, Table KS101SC – Usually Resident Populat ...

St Andrews St Andrews ( la, S. Andrea(s); sco, Saunt Aundraes; gd, Cill Rìmhinn) is a town on the east coast of Fife in Scotland, southeast of Dundee and northeast of Edinburgh. St Andrews had a recorded population of 16,800 , making it Fife's fou ...

, Fife, and was a member of the

New Club The New Club is a private social club in the New Town area of Edinburgh, Scotland. Founded in 1787, it is Scotland's oldest club. The club occupied premises on St Andrew Square from 1809 until 1837, when it moved to purpose-built rooms on ...

, Edinburgh. His elder son James William Archibald Macnab, (born 1963), became the 24th Chief of Clan MacNab on his death.

Notes

{{DEFAULTSORT:Macnab, James Charles 1926 births 2013 deaths British Army personnel of World War II Councillors in Scotland People educated at Cothill House People educated at Radley College Royal Air Force personnel of World War II Scottish clan chiefs Seaforth Highlanders officers Members of the Royal Company of Archers 20th-century Scottish businesspeople

Early life

Career

Marriage

Clan chief

See also

Notes