James Graham, 7th Duke of Montrose

His Grace
The Duke of Montrose
ID

The Duke of Montrose ca. 1967
Minister of External Affairs and Development
In office
1966–1968
Prime Minister Ian Douglas Smith
Minister of Agriculture and Lands
In office
16 December 1962 – 1963
Prime Minister Winston Joseph Field
Member of Parliament
for Hartley-Gatooma
Personal details
Born James Angus Graham
(1907-05-02)2 May 1907
Died 10 February 1992(1992-02-10) (aged 84)
Spouse(s) Isabel Veronia Sellar
(m. 1930; div. 1950)
Susan Semple
(m. 1952–92; his death)
Children Lady Fiona Hannon
James Graham, 8th Duke of Montrose
Lady Cairistiona Saggers
Lord Donald Graham
Lord Calum Graham
Lady Lilias Bell
Military service
Allegiance  United Kingdom
Service/branch  Royal Navy

James Angus Graham, 7th Duke of Montrose ID (2 May 1907 – 10 February 1992), styled Earl of Kincardine until 1925 and Marquess of Graham between 1925 and 1954, was a Rhodesian politician of British origin. Born in Scotland, he maintained a lifelong interest in politics and was a lover of all things Scottish. He lived in southern Africa for fifty-five years, farming several properties. He served as Minister of Agriculture in the Rhodesian government of Ian Smith, and in 1965 was a signatory to Rhodesia's Unilateral Declaration of Independence.

Early life

As Marquess of Graham, the Duke was educated at Eton and Christ Church, Oxford. He served in the Royal Navy during the Second World War. He was in HMS Kandahar as part of Lord Louis Mountbatten's flotilla in the North Sea and later served in the Mediterranean and at Aden.

Angus, Marquess of Graham, aged twenty-one (later The 7th Duke of Montrose)

Life

The Marquess of Graham completed three years at Oxford and graduated Bachelor of Arts. Lord Graham (as he then was) first went to Southern Rhodesia in 1930, taking up a position with A.E. & I., the South African subsidiary of ICI. While he was on holiday in England in 1939, war with Germany was declared and he signed up with the Admiral Commanding Reserves and was appointed Lieutenant in the RNVR, joining HMS Kandahar.

In 1954 he inherited his father's titles and became The 7th Duke of Montrose. He enjoyed hunting trips in Kenya, where he met his second wife, Susan Semple. The family grew up on Derry Farm at Nyabira outside Salisbury, where the crops included maize and tobacco. A pedigree Brahman cattle stud was established after importing bloodstock from Texas. Although, in an article published in Illustrated Life Rhodesia in the mid-1970s, Montrose indicated that he saw his family remaining in Rhodesia for future generations, he and his family moved to South Africa in 1979 and then to Scotland, where he spent his final days. Always a keen Gaelic speaker with a great fondness for the Highlands and Islands of Scotland, he lies buried in the family cemetery near Loch Lomond.[1]

Family

Graham was first married to Isabel Veronia Sellar and had issue, both born in Southern Rhodesia:

7th Duke and Duchess of Montrose in Scotland, 1981

He married secondly Susan Mary Joclyn Semple of Kenya and had issue:

His son and heir, the 8th Duke of Montrose, is currently a Conservative government minister.

Ancestry

Titles and styles

References

Wikimedia Commons has media related to James Graham, 7th Duke of Montrose.
  1. ↑ Graham, Angus And Master of None: The Life & Times of Angus Graham, 7th Duke of Montrose (Stuart Titles, 1996)
  2. ↑ "Lord Calum Graham and Mrs E. Baynes". Daily Telegraph. 10 August 2013. Retrieved 14 August 2013.

External links

Peerage of Scotland
Preceded by
James Graham		 Duke of Montrose
1954–1992 		Succeeded by
James Graham
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