William Forbes-Sempill, 17th Lord Sempill (20 May 1836 – 21 July 1905), born William Forbes, was a

Scottish Scottish usually refers to something of, from, or related to Scotland, including: *Scottish Gaelic, a Celtic Goidelic language of the Indo-European language family native to Scotland *Scottish English *Scottish national identity, the Scottish ide ...

peer, the 17th Lord Sempill and 8th Baronet of Craigievar. He was the son of Sir John Forbes, 7th Baronet, and succeeded his father to the baronetcy on his death in February 1846, at the age of seven. He was educated at Eton and then joined 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 1854; he served in the

Crimean War The Crimean War was fought between the Russian Empire and an alliance of the Ottoman Empire, the Second French Empire, the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland, and the Kingdom of Sardinia (1720–1861), Kingdom of Sardinia-Piedmont fro ...

, rising to the rank of captain. In 1884, he inherited the title of Lord Sempill from his relation Maria Jane Sempill, 16th Lady Sempill, and adopted the surname of Sempill. He married three times, the first time in 1858 to Caroline, the only daughter of Sir Charles Forbes, 3rd Baronet; this ended in divorce in 1861, after the birth of one daughter, Katherine. Katherine married the naturalist George Muirhead

FRSE Fellowship of the Royal Society of Edinburgh (FRSE) is an award granted to individuals that the Royal Society of Edinburgh, Scotland's national academy of science and Literature, letters, judged to be "eminently distinguished in their subject". ...

in 1907. The second marriage was in 1862 to Frances Emily Abercromby, the youngest daughter of Sir Robert Abercromby, 5th Baronet, in 1862. They had seven children, five sons and two daughters. Their third son, William, died aged one. The remaining sons served in the military. The eldest,

John John is a common English name and surname: * John (given name) * John (surname) John may also refer to: New Testament Works * Gospel of John, a title often shortened to John * First Epistle of John, often shortened to 1 John * Second E ...

commanded a battalion of the

Black Watch The Black Watch, 3rd Battalion, Royal Regiment of Scotland (3 SCOTS) is an infantry battalion of the Royal Regiment of Scotland. The regiment was created as part of the Childers Reforms in 1881, when the 42nd (Royal Highland) Regiment ...

at the

Battle of Loos The Battle of Loos took place from 1915 in France on the Western Front (World War I), Western Front, during the First World War. It was the biggest British attack of 1915, the first time that the British used Chemical weapons in World War I, ...

. The second son, Douglas, a Major in the

Seaforth Highlanders The Seaforth Highlanders (Ross-shire Buffs, the Duke of Albany's) was a line infantry regiment of the British Army, mainly associated with large areas of the northern Highlands of Scotland. The regiment existed from 1881 to 1961, and saw service ...

, was killed on the North-West Frontier of India in 1908. The fourth son, Robert, a Lieutenant in the 5th Bn.

Gordon Highlanders The Gordon Highlanders was a line infantry regiment of the British Army that existed for 113 years, from 1881 until 1994, when it was amalgamated with The Queen's Own Highlanders (Seaforth and Camerons) to form The Highlanders (Seaforth, Go ...

, was killed by a sniper on 2 June 1915, aged 45, near Festubert whilst working with his men repairing a gap blown in the parapet of their trench. He is buried in Le Touret Military Cemetery. The youngest of the four,

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, was in the

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, and survived the

Battle of Jutland The Battle of Jutland () was a naval battle between Britain's Royal Navy Grand Fleet, under Admiral John Jellicoe, 1st Earl Jellicoe, Sir John Jellicoe, and the Imperial German Navy's High Seas Fleet, under Vice-Admiral Reinhard Scheer, durin ...

.p.6, The elder daughter, Evelyn, married Duncan Vernon Pirie MP, whilst the younger, Gertrude, never married. The third marriage was in 1890, to Mary Sherbrooke. On his death in 1905, his titles were inherited by his son

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Sempill, William Forbes-Sempill, 17th Lord 1836 births 1905 deaths Nobility from Aberdeenshire People educated at Eton College Coldstream Guards officers British Army personnel of the Crimean War 17

William William is a masculine given name of Germanic languages, Germanic origin. It became popular in England after the Norman Conquest, Norman conquest in 1066,All Things William"Meaning & Origin of the Name"/ref> and remained so throughout the Middle ...

308 19th-century Scottish landowners