Major Major most commonly refers to: * Major (rank), a military rank * Academic major, an academic discipline to which an undergraduate student formally commits * People named Major, including given names, surnames, nicknames * Major and minor in musi ...

Charles Murray Kennedy St Clair, 17th Lord Sinclair, CVO, DL (21 June 1914 – 1 April 2004) was a Scottish peer who spent his entire life in the service of the Crown; as a soldier, an

officer of arms An officer of arms is a person appointed by a sovereign or state with authority to perform one or more of the following functions: * to control and initiate armorial matters; * to arrange and participate in ceremonies of state; * to conserve ...

, an

equerry An equerry (; from French language, French 'stable', and related to 'squire') is an officer of honour. Historically, it was a senior attendant with responsibilities for the horses of a person of rank. In contemporary use, it is a personal attend ...

in the Queen Mother's Household, a

Scottish representative peer This is a list of representative peers elected from the Peerage of Scotland to sit in the House of Lords after the Acts of Union 1707 abolished the unicameral Parliament of Scotland, where all Scottish Peers had been entit ...

and as a

Lord Lieutenant A lord-lieutenant ( ) is the British monarch's personal representative in each lieutenancy area of the United Kingdom. Historically, each lieutenant was responsible for organising the county's militia. In 1871, the lieutenant's responsibility ov ...

Early and personal life

Charles St Clair was born in 1914, the son of the Archibald St Clair (later the 16th Lord Sinclair), and his wife Violet Kennedy, daughter of Col. John Kennedy.Obituary, ''The Times'', 27 November 1957, p14 He was educated at Eton and

Magdalene College, Cambridge Magdalene College ( ) is a constituent college of the University of Cambridge. The college was founded in 1428 as a Benedictine hostel, in time coming to be known as Buckingham College, before being refounded in 1542 as the College of St Mary ...

.''The College of Arms, Queen Victoria Street : being the sixteenth and final monograph of the London Survey Committee'', Walter H. Godfrey, assisted by Sir Anthony Wagner, with a complete list of the officers of arms, prepared by H. Stanford London, (London, 1963) When his father succeeded to the Lordship in 1922, Charles St Clair became known as The

Master Master, master's or masters may refer to: Ranks or titles In education: *Master (college), head of a college *Master's degree, a postgraduate or sometimes undergraduate degree in the specified discipline *Schoolmaster or master, presiding office ...

of Sinclair, in accordance with the usual practice for Scottish peerages. In 1968 he married Anne Cotterell (daughter of Sir Richard Cotterell, 5th Baronet and Lady Lettice Lygon
Burke's Peerage, 1999 Edition
''), with whom he had two daughters and a son Matthew Murray Kennedy St Clair, 18th Lord Sinclair, who succeeded him as Lord Sinclair.Obituary in The Scotsman
8 April 2004

Military career

St Clair was commissioned as a Second Lieutenant on the General List of the Territorial Army in 1936 and transferred to the

Coldstream Guards The Coldstream Guards is the oldest continuously serving regular regiment in the British Army. As part of the Household Division, one of its principal roles is the protection of the Monarchy of the United Kingdom, monarchy; due to this, it often ...

in 1937. He was promoted to

Lieutenant A lieutenant ( , ; abbreviated Lt., Lt, LT, Lieut and similar) is a Junior officer, junior commissioned officer rank in the armed forces of many nations, as well as fire services, emergency medical services, Security agency, security services ...

in 1938. St Clair served in Palestine until 1939, during which time he was wounded and

mentioned in despatches To be mentioned in dispatches (or despatches) describes a member of the armed forces whose name appears in an official report written by a superior officer and sent to the high command, in which their gallant or meritorious action in the face of t ...

. During

World War II World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...

he served with the Guards Armoured Division. As a result of his wounds, St Clair retired from the army on 29 May 1947 whilst a captain and was granted the honorary rank of

. St Clair was also a member of the Royal Company of Archers (The Queen's Bodyguard for Scotland) for many years. This entailed only ceremonial duties.

Royal Service

Charles St Clair was appointed Portcullis Pursuivant of Arms in Ordinary in 1949, thus becoming a member of the Royal Household. Like the other officers of arms, he took part in state ceremonies, including the

coronation A coronation ceremony marks the formal investiture of a monarch with regal power using a crown. In addition to the crowning, this ceremony may include the presentation of other items of regalia, and other rituals such as the taking of special v ...

of Queen Elizabeth. In 1952 it was St Clair, as Portcullis Pursuivant, who made the ceremonial demand for entry into the

City of London The City of London, also known as ''the City'', is a Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county and Districts of England, local government district with City status in the United Kingdom, city status in England. It is the Old town, his ...

for the third traditional reading of the accession proclamation. St Clair was promoted to York Herald of Arms in Ordinary in 1957, and held this office until his resignation in 1968. He was made a Member (4th Class) of the

Royal Victorian Order The Royal Victorian Order () is a dynastic order of knighthood established in 1896 by Queen Victoria. It recognises distinguished personal service to the monarch, members of the royal family, or to any viceroy or senior representative of the m ...

in the

Coronation A coronation ceremony marks the formal investiture of a monarch with regal power using a crown. In addition to the crowning, this ceremony may include the presentation of other items of regalia, and other rituals such as the taking of special v ...

Honours List, and promoted to Commander in the 1990

Queen's Birthday Honours The Birthday Honours, in some Commonwealth realms, mark the King's Official Birthday, reigning monarch's official birthday in each realm by granting various individuals appointment into Order (honour), national or Dynastic order of knighthood, dy ...

. He also held the position of Honorary Genealogist to the Order from 1960 to 1968. In October 1953 St Clair was appointed an Extra Equerry to the Queen Mother, although he had been a personal friend of hers for some years. During this appointment (which he held until her death) he attended the Queen Mother at various public occasions. He often stayed on the Balmoral estate when she visited

Scotland Scotland is a Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United Kingdom. It contains nearly one-third of the United Kingdom's land area, consisting of the northern part of the island of Great Britain and more than 790 adjac ...

, and went fishing with her, as both were keen anglers.

Public Offices

St Clair succeeded his father as Lord Sinclair in November 1957. In 1959 he was elected as one of the

s in the

House of Lords The House of Lords is the upper house of the Parliament of the United Kingdom. Like the lower house, the House of Commons of the United Kingdom, House of Commons, it meets in the Palace of Westminster in London, England. One of the oldest ext ...

, a position also held by the previous four Lords Sinclair. This appointment terminated in 1963 when the passing of the Peerage Act ended the election of representative peers and allowed all Scottish peers to sit in the House of Lords. Before he resigned the office of York Herald, Lord Sinclair was in the possibly unique position of being able to participate in the ceremonial of the

State Opening of Parliament The State Opening of Parliament is a ceremonial event which formally marks the beginning of each Legislative session, session of the Parliament of the United Kingdom. At its core is His or Her Majesty's "Speech from the throne, gracious speech ...

either in his capacity as a member of the House of Lords or as a herald. (It is perhaps for their participation in the State Opening that the officers of arms are best known to the general public.) In 1969 Lord Sinclair was appointed a Deputy Lieutenant of the Stewartry of Kirkcudbright. Due to the replacement of Scottish counties by regions and districts in the mid-1970s, this became a deputy lieutenancy in the Dumfries and Galloway Region (District of Stewartry). In 1977 Lord Sinclair was made Vice-Lord-Lieutenant for the same district, and became Lord Lieutenant in 1982, a position he held until 1989. Lord Sinclair died on 1 April 2004.

Arms

Notes

{{DEFAULTSORT:Sinclair, Charles Murray Kennedy Saint Clair, 17th Lord 1914 births 2004 deaths Nobility from Dumfries and Galloway People educated at Eton College Alumni of Magdalene College, Cambridge Coldstream Guards officers British Army personnel of World War II Commanders of the Royal Victorian Order English officers of arms Scottish representative peers Lord-lieutenants of Kirkcudbright Members of the Royal Company of Archers Lords Sinclair Sinclair 20th-century Scottish people