Commodore Commodore may refer to: Ranks * Commodore (rank), a naval rank ** Commodore (Royal Navy), in the United Kingdom ** Commodore (India), in India ** Commodore (United States) ** Commodore (Canada) ** Commodore (Finland) ** Commodore (Germany) or ' ...

James Graham, 6th Duke of Montrose, (1 May 1878 – 20 January 1954), styled Marquess of Graham until 1925, was a Scottish nobleman, naval officer, politician and engineer. He took the first film of a

solar eclipse A solar eclipse occurs when the Moon passes between Earth and the Sun, thereby obscuring the view of the Sun from a small part of Earth, totally or partially. Such an alignment occurs approximately every six months, during the eclipse season i ...

and is credited as the inventor of the

aircraft carrier An aircraft carrier is a warship that serves as a seagoing airbase, equipped with a full-length flight deck and hangar facilities for supporting, arming, deploying and recovering carrier-based aircraft, shipborne aircraft. Typically it is the ...

Personal life

The eldest son of

Douglas Graham, 5th Duke of Montrose Douglas Beresford Malise Ronald Graham, 5th Duke of Montrose, (7 November 1852 – 10 December 1925), styled Lord Douglas Graham until 1872 and Marquess of Graham until 1874, was a Scottish nobleman, soldier and landowner. Early life Born a ...

, James Graham was educated at

Eton College Eton College ( ) is a Public school (United Kingdom), public school providing boarding school, boarding education for boys aged 13–18, in the small town of Eton, Berkshire, Eton, in Berkshire, in the United Kingdom. It has educated Prime Mini ...

. In 1906 he married Lady Mary Douglas-Hamilton, the only child of the

12th Duke of Hamilton 1 (one, unit, unity) is a number, numeral, and glyph. It is the first and smallest positive integer of the infinite sequence of natural numbers. This fundamental property has led to its unique uses in other fields, ranging from science to sp ...

. They had four children: James (later the 7th Duke), Lady Mary Graham, Lord Ronald Graham and

Lady ''Lady'' is a term for a woman who behaves in a polite way. Once used to describe only women of a high social class or status, the female counterpart of lord, now it may refer to any adult woman, as gentleman can be used for men. "Lady" is al ...

Jean Graham.

Career

As a mariner, he served in the Mercantile Marine and ASC in South Africa, during which time he obtained the first film ever taken of a total eclipse of the Sun during a

Royal Astronomical Society The Royal Astronomical Society (RAS) is a learned society and charitable organisation, charity that encourages and promotes the study of astronomy, planetary science, solar-system science, geophysics and closely related branches of science. Its ...

expedition to India in 1899, and took part in a mission in 1900 for

Lloyd's of London Lloyd's of London, generally known simply as Lloyd's, is a insurance and reinsurance market located in London, England. Unlike most of its competitors in the industry, it is not an insurance company; rather, Lloyd's is a corporate body gover ...

to the South African Government to establish wireless telegraphic stations on the coast. Having been instrumental in founding the

Royal Navy Volunteer Reserve The Royal Naval Reserve (RNR) is one of the two volunteer reserve forces of the Royal Navy in the United Kingdom. Together with the Royal Marines Reserve, they form the Maritime Reserve. The present RNR was formed by merging the original ...

(RNVR) in 1903, he served during

World War I World War I or the First World War (28 July 1914 – 11 November 1918), also known as the Great War, was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War I, Allies (or Entente) and the Central Powers. Fighting to ...

and was later Commodore of the RNVR Clyde Division, then the East Coast of Scotland RNVR. On 12 October 1921, he was promoted Commodore 2nd Class and appointed Commodore of the entire RNVR, serving in this role until his retirement in 1927. As a result, from 1946 to 1968, whichever ship was attached to the Tay Division of the

Royal Naval Reserve The Royal Naval Reserve (RNR) is one of the two volunteer reserve forces of the Royal Navy in the United Kingdom. Together with the Royal Marines Reserve, they form the Maritime Reserve. The present RNR was formed by merging the original ...

(in

Dundee Dundee (; ; or , ) is the List of towns and cities in Scotland by population, fourth-largest city in Scotland. The mid-year population estimate for the locality was . It lies within the eastern central Lowlands on the north bank of the Firt ...

) was always temporarily renamed after the 6th Duke. In 1992, the seventh Duke-class frigate was so-named for the same reason. In his political life, he was unpaid assistant private secretary to the

Chancellor of the Exchequer The chancellor of the exchequer, often abbreviated to chancellor, is a senior minister of the Crown within the Government of the United Kingdom, and the head of HM Treasury, His Majesty's Treasury. As one of the four Great Offices of State, t ...

in 1905, and Naval Aide-de-Camp to His Majesty. However, he was unsuccessful as the Scottish Unionist Party (effectively the Conservative Party in Scotland) parliamentary candidate for

Stirlingshire Stirlingshire or the County of Stirling ( ) is a Shires of Scotland, historic county and registration county of Scotland. Its county town is Stirling.Registers of Scotland. Publications, leaflets, Land Register Counties. It borders Perthshir ...

1906 Events January–February * January 12 – Persian Constitutional Revolution: A nationalistic coalition of merchants, religious leaders and intellectuals in Persia forces the shah Mozaffar ad-Din Shah Qajar to grant a constitution, ...

, and as the Conservative Party candidate at the 1906 by-election at

Eye An eye is a sensory organ that allows an organism to perceive visual information. It detects light and converts it into electro-chemical impulses in neurons (neurones). It is part of an organism's visual system. In higher organisms, the ey ...

, Suffolk, and at the subsequent general election in

1910 Events January * January 6 – Abé people in the French West Africa colony of Côte d'Ivoire rise against the colonial administration; the rebellion is brutally suppressed by the military. * January 8 – By the Treaty of Punakha, t ...

; although holding the courtesy title of the Marquess of Graham from 1907 (when his father was the 5th Duke), he contested these elections as James Graham. He entered 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 ...

as the 6th Duke when he succeeded to the title in 1925. When the

Home Rule Home rule is the government of a colony, dependent country, or region by its own citizens. It is thus the power of a part (administrative division) of a state or an external dependent country to exercise such of the state's powers of governan ...

movement decided to split from the avowedly anti-Home Rule Scottish Unionist Party in 1932, he became chairman of the new centre-right

Scottish Party The Scottish (Self-Government) Party was a Scottish nationalist political party formed in 1932 by a group of members of the Unionist Party who favoured the establishment of a Dominion Scottish Parliament within the British Empire. The Scottish ...

, and successfully steered it towards a merger with the centre-left

National Party of Scotland The National Party of Scotland (NPS) was a centre-left political party in Scotland which was one of the predecessors of the current Scottish National Party (SNP). The NPS was the first Scottish nationalist political party, and the first which ...

in April 1934, therefore founding the modern

Scottish National Party The Scottish National Party (SNP; ) is a Scottish nationalist and social democratic party. The party holds 61 of the 129 seats in the Scottish Parliament, and holds 9 out of the 57 Scottish seats in the House of Commons of the United Kingdom, ...

. He was elected the first President of the SNP, but joined the

Liberal Party The Liberal Party is any of many political parties around the world. The meaning of ''liberal'' varies around the world, ranging from liberal conservatism on the right to social liberalism on the left. For example, while the political systems ...

in 1936. During the 1933 Kilmarnock by-election campaign he made a prominent speech in support of the candidature of Alexander MacEwen, who would go on to be the first leader of the SNP, in the Grand Hall,

Kilmarnock Kilmarnock ( ; ; , ), meaning "the church of Mernóc", is a town and former burgh in East Ayrshire situated in southwest Scotland. The town has served as the administrative centre of East Ayrshire Council since 1996 and is the region's main ...

. In this speech he addressed the issue of the position of the relationship between Scottish home rule supporters and the Scotland's Irish community While he stated that he had "nothing but friendly feelings for the Irish", he added that when Ireland achieved Home Rule, "Scottish men and women were disenfranchised" and stated "as they did to us we should do to them and others." As an engineer, he was the inventor of the world's first naval

, when in 1912, as a director of

William Beardmore and Company William Beardmore and Company was a British engineering and shipbuilding Conglomerate (company), conglomerate based in Glasgow and the surrounding Clydeside area. It was active from 1886 to the mid-1930s and at its peak employed about 40,000 peo ...

Dalmuir Dalmuir (; ) is an area northwest of Glasgow, Scotland, on the western side of Clydebank, and part of West Dunbartonshire Council Area. The name is a lowland Scots language, Scots derivation of the Scottish Gaelic, Gaelic meaning Big Field. ...

, he designed a merchant vessel intended for delivery to the Lloyd Sabaudo Line of Italy as the SS ''Conte Rosso''. When war broke out in 1914, work on the vessel ceased, but was resumed in 1916 as an aircraft carrier. The conversion work was completed in September 1918, and the vessel was commissioned as – recognised as the first ever "flat top". The Duke was also designer and owner of the first seagoing heavy oil motorship. He was president of the British Institution of Marine Engineers in 1911, and president of the Junior Institution of Engineers in 1916 and 1917. Afterwards, he was vice-president of the Institution of Naval Architects, a Younger Brother of

Trinity House The Corporation of Trinity House of Deptford Strond, also known as Trinity House (and formally as The Master, Wardens and Assistants of the Guild Fraternity or Brotherhood of the most glorious and undivided Trinity and of St Clement in the ...

, a trustee for the

Honourable Company of Master Mariners The Honourable Company of Master Mariners is one of the Livery company, livery companies of the City of London. While the other livery companies are entitled to the style ''Your worship, Worshipful'', the Master Mariners are styled ''Honourable' ...

, 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 pers ...

, and commodore of the

Sea Cadets Sea cadets are members of a cadets youth program sponsored by a national naval service, aimed for young people with an interest in waterborne activities and or the national navy. The organisation may be sponsored in whole or in part by the navy or ...

in Scotland. In 1935 he became the second president on the National Institute for the Deaf, a post he held until his death.

Honours

He was Lord Lieutenant of Buteshire from 1920 until 1953 and was

Lord High Commissioner to the General Assembly of the Church of Scotland The Lord High Commissioner to the General Assembly of the Church of Scotland is the monarch's personal representative to the General Assembly of the Church of Scotland (the Kirk), reflecting the Church's role as the national church of Scotla ...

in 1942 and 1943. He was appointed a

Commander 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 ...

in 1905, a

Companion of the Bath The Most Honourable Order of the Bath is a British order of chivalry founded by King George I on 18 May 1725. Recipients of the Order are usually senior military officers or senior civil servants, and the monarch awards it on the advice of His ...

in 1911 and a

Knight of the Thistle The Most Ancient and Most Noble Order of the Thistle is an order of chivalry associated with Scotland. The current version of the order was founded in 1687 by King James VII of Scotland, who asserted that he was reviving an earlier order. The ...

in 1947. He was awarded an honorary degree by the

University of Glasgow The University of Glasgow (abbreviated as ''Glas.'' in Post-nominal letters, post-nominals; ) is a Public university, public research university in Glasgow, Scotland. Founded by papal bull in , it is the List of oldest universities in continuous ...

in 1931, at which time he was described by the University as being a "great and distinguished Scotsman".

Death

The Duke was staying at

Turnberry Hotel Turnberry may refer to: Place Canada * Morris-Turnberry, Ontario, a municipality in Huron County, Ontario, Canada United States * Turnberry Associates, a real estate development company based in Florida * Turnberry Isle Resort and Club, a r ...

in January 1954 when he suffered what was described as a slight

stroke Stroke is a medical condition in which poor cerebral circulation, blood flow to a part of the brain causes cell death. There are two main types of stroke: brain ischemia, ischemic, due to lack of blood flow, and intracranial hemorrhage, hemor ...

. However, his condition quickly worsened and he died at

Drymen Drymen (; from ) is a village in the Stirling district of central Scotland. Once a popular stopping place for cattle drovers, it is now favored by visiting tourists given its location near Loch Lomond. The village is centred around a village gr ...

on 20 January, about a week after the onset of his illness.

Publications

* ''My Ditty Box'', The Duke of Montrose. Jonathan Cape, London, 1952

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Montrose, James Graham, 6th Duke of 1878 births 1954 deaths Military personnel from the City of Westminster Royal Navy commodores

206 Year 206 ( CCVI) was a common year starting on Wednesday of the Julian calendar. At the time, it was known as the Year of the Consulship of Umbrius and Gavius (or, less frequently, year 959 ''Ab urbe condita''). The denomination 206 for this y ...

People educated at Eton College Knights of the Thistle Companions of the Order of the Bath Commanders of the Royal Victorian Order Lord-lieutenants of Buteshire Royal Navy personnel of World War I Lords High Commissioner to the General Assembly of the Church of Scotland British naval architects Scottish engineers Scottish members of the Right Club Members of the Royal Company of Archers Conservative Party (UK) parliamentary candidates Conservative Party (UK) hereditary peers British Merchant Navy officers Royal Naval Volunteer Reserve personnel of World War I Members of Trinity House People from Belgravia