David Lindesay-Bethune, 15th Earl of Lindsay (9 February 1926 – 1 October 1989), styled Viscount Garnock between 1943 and 1985, was a British soldier.

Early life

Lindsay was the son of William Lindesay-Bethune, 14th Earl of Lindsay and Marjory Cross. Among his younger siblings were Hon. John Martin Lindesay-Bethune (who married Enriqueta Mary Jeanne Koch de Gooreynd and Jean Maxwell Brickman), Lady Elizabeth Marjory Beatrice Lindesay-Bethune (who married Maj. David Laurence Greenacre), and Lady Mary Bethune Lindesay-Bethune (who married Capt. Owen Buckingham Varney). His paternal grandparents were

Archibald Bethune, 13th Earl of Lindsay Archibald Lionel Bethune, 13th Earl of Lindsay (14 August 1872 – 15 October 1943) was a Scottish aristocrat. Early life Archibald Lionel Bethune was born on 14 August 1872 at Garnock Valley, Garnock, North Ayrshire, Scotland. He was the second ...

and Ethel Tucker (the daughter of William Austin Tucker). His maternal grandparents were Arthur John Graham Cross and Marjory Nelson Ritchie Edwards.Mosley, Charles, editor. ''Burke's Peerage, Baronetage & Knightage, 107th edition, 3 volumes.''

Wilmington, Delaware Wilmington is the List of municipalities in Delaware, most populous city in the U.S. state of Delaware. The city was built on the site of Fort Christina, the first Swedish colonization of the Americas, Swedish settlement in North America. It lie ...

Burke's Peerage (Genealogical Books) Ltd Burke's Peerage Limited is a British genealogical publisher, considered an authority on the order of precedence of noble families and information on the lesser nobility of the United Kingdom. It was founded in 1826, when the Anglo-Irish geneal ...

, 2003, volume 2, page 2344. He was educated at

Eton Eton most commonly refers to Eton College, a public school in Eton, Berkshire, England. Eton may also refer to: Places *Eton, Berkshire, a town in Berkshire, England *Eton, Georgia, a town in the United States *Éton, a commune in the Meuse depa ...

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 ...

.David Lindesay-Bethune, 15th Earl of Lindsay profile
thepeerage.com; Retrieved 28 March 2016.

Career

He served in the

Scots Guards The Scots Guards (SG) is one of the five Foot guards#United Kingdom, 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 in the Ki ...

as a junior officer and left with the rank of Major in 1951. He was appointed Honorary Colonel on 29 May 1957 of the

Fife and Forfar Yeomanry/Scottish Horse The Fife and Forfar Yeomanry/Scottish Horse is adopted as the C squadron of the Scottish and North Irish Yeomanry as a Light Cavalry Squadron. It is a Yeomanry Squadron of the British Territorial Army (Army Reserve). It was formed following the ...

. He held this post until 1962, when his tenure expired. He was however allowed to retain the honorary rank of Colonel. His interest in steam railways led to his acquiring the locomotive The Great Marquess from

British Railways British Railways (BR), which from 1965 traded as British Rail, was a state-owned company that operated most rail transport in Great Britain from 1948 to 1997. Originally a trading brand of the Railway Executive of the British Transport Commis ...

following its withdrawal in 1962. He succeeded Sir Gerald Nabarro as chairman of the

Severn Valley Railway The Severn Valley Railway is a standard gauge, standard-gauge heritage railway in Shropshire and Worcestershire, England. The single-track line runs from Bridgnorth to Kidderminster, calling at four intermediate stations and three request stop ...

in 1973.

Views on curtsying

He was known as a vocal proponent of traditional British protocol. He gained publicity in 1971 when he sent

Martha Mitchell Martha Elizabeth Beall Mitchell (September 2, 1918 – May 31, 1976) was the wife of John N. Mitchell, United States Attorney General under President Richard Nixon. Her public comments and interviews during the Watergate scandal were frank and ...

, wife of US Attorney General John Mitchell, some critical correspondence after Mrs. Mitchell omitted to

curtsy A curtsy (also spelled curtsey or incorrectly as courtsey) is a traditional gendered gesture of greeting, in which a girl or woman bends her knees while bowing her head. In Western culture it is the feminine equivalent of bowing by males, altho ...

Queen Elizabeth II Elizabeth II (Elizabeth Alexandra Mary; 21 April 19268 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. ...

Personal life

On 31 October 1953, Lord Lindsay married the Honourable Mary-Clare Douglas-Scott-Montagu, daughter of

John Douglas-Scott-Montagu, 2nd Baron Montagu of Beaulieu John Walter Edward Douglas-Scott-Montagu, 2nd Baron Montagu of Beaulieu (10 June 1866 – 30 March 1929), was a British Conservative Party (UK), Conservative politician, soldier and promoter of motoring. He was the father of Edward Douglas-Sco ...

and Alice Pearl Crake. Before their divorce in 1968, they had one son and one daughter: * James Randolph Lindesay-Bethune, 16th Earl of Lindsay (b. 1955), who married Diana Mary Chamberlayne-Macdonald, daughter of Maj. Nigel Donald Peter Chamberlayne-Macdonald and Penelope Mary Alexandra Chamberlayne, in 1982. * Lady Caroline Janet Lindesay-Bethune (b. 1957), who married Sir George Wrey, 15th Baronet, son of Sir Castel Wrey, 14th Baronet and Sybil Mabel Alice Lubke, in 1981. He married as his second wife Penelope Crossley, daughter of

Anthony Crossley Anthony Crommelin Crossley (13 August 1903 – 15 August 1939) was a British writer, publisher and Conservative Party (UK), Conservative politician. Early life Crossley was born on 13 August 1903, the only son of Crossley baronets, Sir Kennet ...

and Clare Frances Fortescue Thomson, in 1969. Lord Lindsay died in 1989 and was succeeded by his only son,

James James may refer to: People * James (given name) * James (surname) * James (musician), aka Faruq Mahfuz Anam James, (born 1964), Bollywood musician * James, brother of Jesus * King James (disambiguation), various kings named James * Prince Ja ...

Arms

References

Sources

* ''Burke's Peerage, Baronetage & Knightage'', 107th Edition, edited by Charles Mosley, Wilmington, Delaware, 2003, vol II, pp. 2342–45;

External links

* 1926 births 1989 deaths Nobility from Fife People educated at Eton College Alumni of Magdalene College, Cambridge Earls of Lindsay Fife and Forfar Yeomanry/Scottish Horse officers Scots Guards officers

David David (; , "beloved one") was a king of ancient Israel and Judah and the third king of the United Monarchy, according to the Hebrew Bible and Old Testament. The Tel Dan stele, an Aramaic-inscribed stone erected by a king of Aram-Dam ...

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