Sir Arthur Forbes, 4th Baronet (1709–1773), of Craigievar, Aberdeen, was a Scottish Whig politician who sat in the

House of Commons The House of Commons is the name for the elected lower house of the Bicameralism, bicameral parliaments of the United Kingdom and Canada. In both of these countries, the Commons holds much more legislative power than the nominally upper house of ...

from 1732 to 1747. Forbes was the sixth, but eldest surviving son of Sir William Forbes, 3rd Baronet of Craigievar, and his wife Margaret Rose, daughter of Hugh Rose of Kilravock, Nairn. He succeeded his father in May 1722 at the age of 12 to an estate burdened with debts. He was educated at

Marischal College Marischal College ( ) is a large granite building on Broad Street in the centre of Aberdeen in north-east Scotland, and since 2011 has been the headquarters of Aberdeen City Council. The building was constructed for and is on long-term lease fr ...

, Aberdeen from about 1723 to 1727. He married Christian Ross, eldest daughter of John Ross of Arnage, Aberdeen, provost of Aberdeen in 1729. She died on 6 October 1733. Craigievar castle 1991

Forbes was returned unopposed as Member of Parliament for

Aberdeenshire Aberdeenshire (; ) is one of the 32 Subdivisions of Scotland#council areas of Scotland, council areas of Scotland. It takes its name from the Shires of Scotland, historic county of Aberdeenshire (historic), Aberdeenshire, which had substantial ...

at a by-election on 13 July 1732 after Sir Archibald Grant, Bt was expelled from the house. He became a government supporter. At the 1734 general election, he was re-elected for Aberdeenshire in a contest. He became a close friend of the

Duke of Argyll Duke of Argyll () is a title created in the peerage of Scotland in 1701 and in the peerage of the United Kingdom in 1892. The earls, marquesses, and dukes of Argyll were for several centuries among the most powerful noble families in Scotlan ...

. In January 1738, he was a supporter of the Administration when he obtained a commission for his brother through the secretary at war, but when the Duke of Argyll changed sides, he followed, voting against the Government on the Spanish convention in 1739 and the place bill of 1740. He was returned unopposed at the 1741 general election and voted against Walpole’s candidate for the chairman of the elections committee in December. He was known as a member of the Duke of Argyll’s gang and voted against the Hanoverians in 1742 and 1744. At the 1747 general election, he retired from Parliament in favour of

Andrew Mitchell Sir Andrew John Bower Mitchell Order of St Michael and St George, KCMG (born 23 March 1956) is a British politician who was Shadow Foreign Secretary from July to November 2024 and served as Foreign Secretary (United Kingdom), Deputy Foreign S ...

who was a relation of his. Forbes made a second marriage on 2 October 1749, to Margaret Burnett, widow of John Burnett of Elrick, Aberdeen, and daughter of Strachan, of Balgall. He was Rector of Marischal College, Aberdeen from 1761 to 1764. He died on 1 January 1773 with two daughters from his first wife, and four daughters and five sons by his second wife. He was succeeded by his eldest surviving son William.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Forbes, Sir Arthur, 3rd Baronet 1709 births 1773 deaths Nobility from Aberdeenshire British MPs 1727–1734 British MPs 1734–1741 British MPs 1741–1747 British MPs 1747–1754 Members of the Parliament of Great Britain for Scottish constituencies 304 Rectors of the University of Aberdeen 18th-century Scottish landowners