Patrick Charles Carnegy, 15th Earl of Northesk (born 23 September 1940Dr Patrick Carnegy Authorised Biography
– Debrett’s People of Today.), is a British

hereditary peer The hereditary peers form part of the peerage in the United Kingdom. As of April 2025, there are 800 hereditary peers: 30 dukes (including six royal dukes), 34 marquesses, 189 earls, 108 viscounts, and 439 barons (not counting subsidiary ...

, journalist and scholar.

Early life and education

Northesk is the son of

The Reverend The Reverend (abbreviated as The Revd, The Rev'd or The Rev) is an honorific style (form of address), style given to certain (primarily Western Christian, Western) Christian clergy and Christian minister, ministers. There are sometimes differen ...

Canon Canon or Canons may refer to: Arts and entertainment * Canon (fiction), the material accepted as officially written by an author or an ascribed author * Literary canon, an accepted body of works considered as high culture ** Western canon, th ...

Patrick Charles Alexander Carnegy and Joyce Eleanor Townsley. He is an

agnatic Patrilineality, also known as the male line, the spear side or agnatic kinship, is a common kinship system in which an individual's family membership derives from and is recorded through their father's lineage. It generally involves the inheritanc ...

descendant of

David Carnegie, 2nd Earl of Northesk David Carnegie, 2nd Earl of Northesk was born the son of John Carnegie, 1st Earl of Northesk and Magdalen Haliburton before 1627. He died on 12 December 1679. He married Lady Jean Maule, daughter of Patrick Maule, 1st Earl of Panmure, on 19 Octo ...

, and inherited the earldom on the deaths of both his eighth cousin twice removed, Alexander Robert Macrae Carnegie, in 2001; and his eighth cousin once removed,

David Carnegie, 14th Earl of Northesk David John MacRae Carnegie, 14th Earl of Northesk (3 November 1954 – 28 March 2010), styled Lord Rosehill between 1975 and 1994, was a British hereditary peer, landowner and member of the House of Lords. Background David Carnegie was the second ...

, on 28 March 2010. Northesk was educated at

Rugby School Rugby School is a Public school (United Kingdom), private boarding school for pupils aged 13–18, located in the town of Rugby, Warwickshire in England. Founded in 1567 as a free grammar school for local boys, it is one of the oldest independ ...

and

Trinity Hall, Cambridge Trinity Hall (formally The College or Hall of the Holy Trinity in the University of Cambridge, colloquially "Tit Hall" ) is a Colleges of the University of Cambridge, constituent college of the University of Cambridge. Founded in 1350, it is th ...

matriculating Matriculation is the formal process of entering a university, or of becoming eligible to enter by fulfilling certain academic requirements such as a matriculation examination. Australia In Australia, the term ''matriculation'' is seldom used no ...

in 1960.

Career

Northesk was assistant editor of ''

The Times Literary Supplement ''The Times Literary Supplement'' (''TLS'') is a weekly literary review published in London by News UK, a subsidiary of News Corp. History The ''TLS'' first appeared in 1902 as a supplement to ''The Times'' but became a separate publication ...

'' (''TLS'') between 1969 and 1978. As a broadcaster, he was a regular contributor in the 1970s and 1980s to the

BBC Radio 4 BBC Radio 4 is a British national radio station owned and operated by the BBC. The station replaced the BBC Home Service on 30 September 1967 and broadcasts a wide variety of spoken-word programmes from the BBC's headquarters at Broadcasti ...

arts magazine ''

Kaleidoscope A kaleidoscope () is an optical instrument with two or more reflecting surfaces (or mirrors) tilted to each other at an angle, so that one or more (parts of) objects on one end of these mirrors are shown as a symmetrical pattern when viewed fro ...

''. Contributions to

BBC Radio 3 BBC Radio 3 is a British national radio station owned and operated by the BBC. It replaced the BBC Third Programme in 1967 and broadcasts classical music and opera, with jazz, world music, Radio drama, drama, High culture, culture and the arts ...

have included documentaries on

Thomas Mann Paul Thomas Mann ( , ; ; 6 June 1875 – 12 August 1955) was a German novelist, short story writer, social critic, philanthropist, essayist, and the 1929 Nobel Prize in Literature laureate. His highly symbolic and ironic epic novels and novell ...

Franz Kafka Franz Kafka (3 July 1883 – 3 June 1924) was a novelist and writer from Prague who was Jewish, Austrian, and Czech and wrote in German. He is widely regarded as a major figure of 20th-century literature. His work fuses elements of Litera ...

, the Barenboim/Kupfer Ring at Bayreuth (1988), and the first assessment of the Ring on DVD for CD Review (2008) Radio 3's ''CD Review''.Patrick Carnegy
, BBC Radio 3 CD Review - Building a Library. For television he contributed to BBC 2's documentary film Wagner in the Great Composers series (1998). In 1988 he was invited by

Jeremy Isaacs Sir Jeremy Israel Isaacs (born 28 September 1932) is a Scottish television producer and executive, and an opera manager. Following a career at Granada Television, the BBC and Thames Television, Isaacs was the founding chief executive of Channe ...

to create the post of Dramaturg (literary and repertory adviser) at the

Royal Opera House The Royal Opera House (ROH) is a theatre in Covent Garden, central London. The building is often referred to as simply Covent Garden, after a previous use of the site. The ROH is the main home of The Royal Opera, The Royal Ballet, and the Orch ...

. There he initiated a programme of lectures, study days and other events open to all. He was awarded a Leverhulme Research Fellowship (1994–1996). He was a founding member of the Bayreuth International Arts Centre and served on the BBC Central Music Advisory Committee (1986–1989) and on the BBC General Advisory Council (1990–1996). His books include ''Faust as Musician: A Study of Thomas Mann’s novel ‘Doctor Faustus’'' (1973) and ''Wagner and the Art of the Theatre'' (2006, Royal Philharmonic Soc Award, Special Jury Prize George Freedley Memorial Award), which took 40 years to write. Other publications include reviews and articles on German literature, music, opera (especially Wagner) and theatre for The Times Literary and Educational Supplements, the London Review of Books, The Spectator, Opera, The Musical Times, and other journals.

Marriage

Lord Northesk lives with his wife, soprano

Jill Gomez Jill Carnegy, Countess of Northesk (''née'' Gomez; born 21 September 1942) is a Trinidadian and British soprano who enjoyed an active career on the operatic stage and in the concert hall in a wide repertoire, and has made many recordings. Lif ...

, in

Cambridgeshire Cambridgeshire (abbreviated Cambs.) is a Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county in the East of England and East Anglia. It is bordered by Lincolnshire to the north, Norfolk to the north-east, Suffolk to the east, Essex and Hertfor ...

. They have no children. The

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 a person with a better claim to the position in question. This is in contrast to an heir app ...

to the earldom is Lord Northesk's younger brother, Colin David Carnegy (born 1942).

References

1940 births Living people People educated at Rugby School Alumni of Trinity Hall, Cambridge

Patrick Patrick may refer to: *Patrick (given name), list of people and fictional characters with this name * Patrick (surname), list of people with this name People *Saint Patrick (c. 385–c. 461), Christian saint * Gilla Pátraic (died 1084), Patrick ...

British music critics {{Scotland-earl-stub