Archibald Angus Charles Kennedy, 8th Marquess of Ailsa, 19th

Earl of Cassilis Earl () is a rank of the nobility in the United Kingdom. The title originates in the Old English word ''eorl'', meaning "a man of noble birth or rank". The word is cognate with the Scandinavian form ''jarl'', and meant "chieftain", particular ...

, 21st

Lord Kennedy Lord is an appellation for a person or deity who has authority, control, or power over others, acting as a master, chief, or ruler. The appellation can also denote certain persons who hold a title of the peerage in the United Kingdom, or are ...

, 8th Baron Ailsa, (13 September 1956 – 15 January 2015), was a Scottish peer.

Early life

Archibald Angus Charles Kennedy was born on 13 September 1956 in

Culzean Castle Culzean Castle ( , see yogh; sco, Cullain) is a castle overlooking the Firth of Clyde, near Maybole, Carrick, in South Ayrshire, on the west coast of Scotland. It is the former home of the Marquess of Ailsa, the chief of Clan Kennedy, but is ...

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 Strathallan School is an independent boarding and day school in Scotland for boys and girls aged 7–18. The school has a campus at Forgandenny, a few miles south of Perth. School roll The school has 73 full-time staff, and 18 part-time staff ...

, 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 Angus Kennedy, 6th Marquess of Ailsa (28 October 1882 – 31 May 1957) was a Scottish peer, the son of Archibald Kennedy, 3rd Marquess of Ailsa. He was known as Lord Angus Kennedy until 1956. He was educated at Eton College. He gained the rank of ...

and Gertrude Millicent (née Cooper) Kennedy, daughter of Gervas Weir Cooper, of

Wordwell Wordwell is a small village and civil parish in Suffolk, England, about five miles North of Bury St Edmunds. The village was hit by the Black Death in 1348 and never recovered in terms of population; in 2005 it was estimated to have only 20 resi ...

Hall, Suffolk.

Peerage

The Marquess of Ailsa is the hereditary

Clan Chief The Scottish Gaelic word means children. In early times, and possibly even today, Scottish clan members believed themselves to descend from a common ancestor, the founder of the clan, after whom the clan is named. The clan chief (''ceannard c ...

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 Archibald Kennedy, 1st Marquess of Ailsa KT, FRS (February 1770 – 8 September 1846), styled Lord Kennedy between 1792 and 1794 and known as the Earl of Cassilis between 1794 and 1831, was a Scottish peer. Early life Kennedy was the eldest so ...

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 Stephanus van Cortlandt (May 7, 1643 – November 25, 1700) was the first native-born mayor of New York City, a position which he held from 1677 to 1678 and from 1686 to 1688. He was the patroon of Van Cortlandt Manor and was on the governor's ...

), and the Delancey family of

British North America British North America comprised the colonial territories of the British Empire in North America from 1783 onwards. English overseas possessions, English colonisation of North America began in the 16th century in Newfoundland (island), Newfound ...

. The title is derived from the island of

Ailsa Craig Ailsa Craig (; sco, Ailsae Craig; gd, Creag Ealasaid) is an island of in the outer Firth of Clyde, west of mainland Scotland, upon which microgranite has long been quarried to make curling stones. The now-uninhabited island comprises the r ...

in the

Firth of Clyde The Firth of Clyde is the mouth of the River Clyde. It is located on the west coast of Scotland and constitutes the deepest coastal waters in the British Isles (it is 164 metres deep at its deepest). The firth is sheltered from the Atlantic ...

, 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

, 21st

, 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 Baron Ailsa 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 The Highlands ( sco, the Hielands; gd, a’ Ghàidhealtachd , 'the place of the Gaels') is a historical region of Scotland. Culturally, the Highlands and the Lowlands diverged from the Late Middle Ages into the modern period, when Lowland Sco ...

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 ...

Wales Wales ( cy, Cymru ) is a Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United Kingdom. It is bordered by England to the Wales–England border, east, the Irish Sea to the north and west, the Celtic Sea to the south west and the ...

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 Paris () is the capital and most populous city of France, with an estimated population of 2,165,423 residents in 2019 in an area of more than 105 km² (41 sq mi), making it the 30th most densely populated city in the world in 2020. S ...

France France (), officially the French Republic ( ), is a country primarily located in Western Europe. It also comprises of Overseas France, overseas regions and territories in the Americas and the Atlantic Ocean, Atlantic, Pacific Ocean, Pac ...

. 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

*
Archibald Kennedy, 8th Marquess of Ailsa
{{DEFAULTSORT:Ailsa, Archibald Kennedy, 8th Marquess of 1956 births 2015 deaths Conservative Party (UK) hereditary peers

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 ...

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