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Nigel Ivan, 22nd Lord Forbes

1918 - 2013

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Nigel Ivan was born on February 19, 1918, as the eldest son of Atholl Laurence, 21st Lord Forbes, and Lady Mabel, daughter of Thomas Francis Anson, 3rd Earl of Lichfield. He was educated at Harrow School boarding school and the Royal Military Academy Sandhurst, the British Army's initial officer training centre. In January 1938 he was commissioned in the Grenadier Guards, as was his father.

In 1939, his parents Lord and Lady Forbes gave a dinner for 250 guests at Castle Forbes, Aberdeenshire, to celebrate the coming of age for Nigel, the Master of Forbes. The guests included Lady Sempill, the Hon. Margaret Forbes-Sempill, Sir Ian and Lady Forbes-Leith of Fyvie Colonel and Mrs. Forbes of Corse, Sir Allan and Lady MacLean, Captain and Mrs. Lumsden of Clova. (“The Master of Forbes Comes of Age,” The Bystander, May 10, 1939.)

He returned to military service in the 3rd Battalion in Europe until a German mortar shell shattered his leg during the retreat to Dunkirk on May 21, 1940. On his discharge from hospital in 1941, he became Adjutant of the Grenadier Guards Training Battalion. In April 1942, he was appointed Adjutant of the 6th Battalion Grenadier Guards, which was sent to the Middle East to join the 8th Army. He served with that Battalion till the end of the North African Campaign, after which he served on the staff of Headquarters XXX Corps for the invasion and capture of Sicily. In April 1944 he joined the staff of Headquarters 5th Guards Armoured Brigade, taking part in the invasion of Northern France. As captain, he served in the 1st Battalion Grenadier Guards till the end of the war in Europe.

On May 23, 1942, Captain Nigel Ivan Forbes, the Master of Forbes, wed the Hon. Rosemary Hamilton-Russell, in the Royal Military Chapel at Wellington Barracks in London. She was the daughter of Gustavus William Hamilton-Russell, 9th Viscount Boyne (1864–1942), and Margaret Selina Lascelles (1883-1978.) The Viscountess Lascelle was the sister of Henry Lascelles, 6th Earl of Harewood, whose wife was Mary, the Princess Royal, daughter of King George V and Queen Mary, and sister to King George VI. The newlyweds were thus cousins through marriage to Queen Elizabeth II. Both the Princess Royal and the Earl of Harewood attended the wedding ceremony.

After the war ended in 1945, Forbes attended the Staff College and was posted to Palestine as Military Assistant to the High Commissioner for Palestine. In 1947, his father Lord Forbes transferred ownership of the Forbes Estate to his son. The next year, the Master of Forbes resigned his commission and devoted his time to the management of the estate. In 1950, he founded Harthill Farms Partnership. The company eventually managed 2,000 acres by incorporating the farms of tenants as they became vacant. Since his parents Lord and Lady Forbes lived in Castle Forbes, Nigel Ivan and his wife Rosemary renovated the farmhouse at Harthill and named their residence Balforbes.

During the coronation of his cousin Queen Elizabeth II on June 2, 1953, the Master of Forbes “carried the Princess Royal’s coronet.” (“A city cheers the new Queen,” Aberdeen Evening Express, May 30, 1973)
On November 26th, 1953, Atholl Laurence, 21st Lord Forbes passed away and Nigel succeeded as the 22nd Lord Forbes. In 1955, he was named one of eighteen Aberdeenshire Justices of the Peace, along with his cousin Sir John Stewart Forbes of Newe and Corgarff, Bart.

In 1955 he was elected a Representative Peer (RP) for Scotland, one of sixteen chosen by the members of the Peerage of Scotland to sit in the British House of Lords. Lord Forbes was not idle in his first year: “His maiden speech in the Lords in 1955 took a courageous theme of the necessity for a road bridge over the Firth of Forth. In those days, this was a touchy subject, perceived as a somewhat romantic issue championed by the likes of historical novelist Nigel Tranter and the tiny Scottish National Party. Nevertheless, a completed bridge was opened eight years later.” (Casely, Gordon; “Lord Forbes,” The Herald, March 5, 2013.)
An avid skier, Lord Forbes was a member of the British Parliamentary ski team that competed against the Swiss Members of Parliament in January 1958.

Lord Forbes remained a RP until the abolition of the Representative Peerage in 1963. He continued to sit in Parliament as a United Kingdom Peer and was a member of Parliamentary delegations to Denmark, Hungary, Canada, Ethiopia and Pakistan.

In October 1958, Prime Minister Harold MacMillan appointed Lord Forbes Minister of State under Secretary of State for Scotland Jack Maclay (later Viscount Muirshiel.) He served in the post until October 1959. During that time, he was very active in promoting Scottish agriculture and industry. In 1959, he met with the Aberdeen Camber of Council and emphasized bolstering the tourism industry. He recommended improving hotels by developing hotel management training; encouraging both labor and management to adopt more automation and mechanization of their industries; and providing greater attention to sales techniques and “after-sales” service, i.e., customer service. (“Boost Indigenous Industry – Lord Forbes,” Aberdeen Evening Express, January 8, 1959.)

Lord Forbes also promoted technology education: “In Scotland, our system of technical education is strongest in turning out technologists and we have reason to be gratified that our central institutions contribute, with the departments of technology of Scottish universities, about one-fifth of the total output of technologists in Great Britain.” (“Technicians break through ‘tartan curtain,’ Aberdeen Evening Express, June 19, 1959)

Due to his national duties, Lord Forbes was often unavailable for many local responsibilities. However, he was still able to support the Royal Highland and Agricultural Society in other ways through his family connections. “Presiding at the half-yearly meeting in Edinburgh, the current president, Lord Forbes, apologized for not having been able to attend meetings so well since he had been appointed Minister of State – but he had managed, he said, to get some guests to come to the show at Aberdeen.” (“Agricultural Topics,” Kirriemuir Free Press and Angus Advertiser, June 11, 1959) Those guests were included the Queen Mother and the Princess Royal. Regarding his invitation to Queen Elizbeth II, he reported “I am delighted to be able to tell you that Her Majesty has accepted. This is a great honour for this society.” (Ibid.)
For his public and political service, the Queen bestowed upon him the honor of Knight of the British Empire (KBE) in 1960.

In 1960, Lord Forbes became one of the first directors of the new television program contractor Grampian Television, under the Independent Television Authority. The transmission area stretched from Inverness to Perth and Dundee, serving a population of over 850,000. Even though Lord Forbes was a director of Grampian Television, he had firm ideas about the place of television in Scottish society. Most of his colleagues in the House of Lords approved a motion for a trial period for televising their own proceedings in a vote of 56 to 31. “Lord Forbes (Con.) – opposing the motion, said that on the face of it, it was an attractive idea, but he thought that the disadvantages heavily outweighed the advantages.” (“Lords call for TV trial in House,” Birmingham Daily Post, June 16, 1966) He cited the major disadvantages were that television “could be a powerful and often dangerous weapon” and that “Television is regarded by most people as a form of entertainment. This chamber is not a place of entertainment and must never become such a place.” (Ibid.)

He was also a director of several other companies and organizations: Blenheim travel Ltd.; Tennent Caledonian Breweries Ltd.; Scottish Committee, Nature Conservancy; and Aberdeen & District Milk Marketing Board. He was also Chairman of Rolawn Ltd. (then the largest turf production company in Europe); Chairman of the Scottish Branch, National Playing Fields Association; President of the Scottish Scout Association; and President of the Royal Highland Agricultural Society. An active member of the Sports Council for Scotland, he helped to make a success of Edinburgh’s first Commonwealth Games in 1970.
Like his father before him, Lord Forbes maintained contact with members of Clan Forbes in the United States. In 1956, he and Lady Forbes spent a four-week holiday in the Boston area: “We will be based on a small island off Boston and everyone there will be a Forbes or a relative.” (“Holiday with Clan in U.S.,” Aberdeen Evening Express, June 19, 1956.)

In 1964 he transferred the majority of the Forbes Estate, except for the castle and policies, into a Trust for his children and grandchildren. On March 21, 1972, his mother, Mabel, Dowager Lady Forbes, died at Castle Forbes. Since he was comfortably ensconced in Balforbes, Lord Forbes chose not to move into the castle. The Aberdeen Press Journal reported that Texan-born Mrs. Carol Costello had leased Castle Forbes and planned to turn the home into “the headquarters of an all-American tourist venture.” She planned to install a helicopter landing site “bringing oilmen and top business executives to exclusive luncheon parties.” (“U.S.-Style Plan for Stately N.E. Home,” Aberdeen Press Journal, October 20, 1972.) However, these plans were short-lived. The next year, Lord Forbes transferred the Castle Forbes estate to Malcolm, the Master of Forbes.
As a wildlife enthusiast, Lord Forbes led many wildlife safaris to Kenya and other East African countries. In December 1991, Lord Forbes gave an illustrated talk about his latest East African safari to the Donside Scottish Wildlife group. (“Safari talk for wildlife group,” Aberdeen Press and Journal, December 12, 1991.) In 1996, the Bailies of Bennachie appointed Lord Forbes a Guardian of Bennachie, the 1800-foot hill overlooking Castle Forbes.

Nigel Ivan, the 22nd Lord Forbes, died on March 5, 2013, and his eldest son Malcolm succeeded as the 23rd Lord Forbes. Nigel Ivan was eulogized as “both a pillar of Aberdeenshire life and a disciplined parliamentarian.” (Casely, Gordon; Lord Forbes, The Herald, March 11, 2013.) No fan of Conservative politicians, James Hoy, Labor Minister for Agriculture and Fisheries, reportedly said of Lord Forbes, “Blow me, that aristocrat talked more sense about farming and fishing rights than any minister of either party since 1945!” (Dalyell, Tam; “Lord Forbes: One of the last surviving ministers to have served under Harold Macmillan,” Independent, April 28, 2013.)

Lord Forbes and his wife, Lady Rosemary, had three children: Malcolm Nigel, born May 6, 1946; Jonathan Andrew, born August 20th, 1947; and Gillian Rosemary, born April 3rd, 1949. Lady Rosemary died on October 26, 2019.

Images:
Top: Nigel Ivan, 22nd Lord Forbes, National Portrait Gallery of Scotland
Middle: “The Master of Forbes Comes of Age,” The Bystander, May 10, 1939; Coronation of Queen Elizabeth II
Bottom: Parliamentary Ski Team at St. Moritz, Illustrated London News, January 18, 1958; Lord Forbes, Minister of State, at Rubislaw Quarry, Aberdeen Evening Express, August 18, 1959

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