Robert Lindsay, 29th Earl of Crawford

The Earl of Crawford
Born	Robert Alexander Lindsay 5 March 1927
Nationality	United Kingdom
Residence	Balcarres House, Fife
Spouse(s)	Ruth née Meyer-Bechtler (now The Lady Crawford & Balcarres)
Parents	David, Earl of Crawford and Balcarres, KT, GBE, DL; Mary, Countess of Crawford and Balcarres, 3rd dau of Lord Richard Cavendish, CB, CMG and Lady Moyra née Beauclerk
Occupation	Member of the House of Lords

The Star of the Thistle

Robert Alexander Lindsay, 29th Earl of Crawford and 12th Earl of Balcarres KT, GCVO, PC, DL (born 5 March 1927), styled Lord Balniel between 1940 and 1975, is a Scottish hereditary peer and Conservative politician.

The elder son of the 28th Earl of Crawford and 11th Earl of Balcarres, he succeeded to the family titles in 1975. Lord Crawford and Balcarres is Premier Earl of Scotland and Chief of Clan Lindsay.

Early years

Eton College Chapel

Lindsay was educated at Eton College and at Trinity College, Cambridge. He served with the Grenadier Guards from 1945 to 1949, including in the Middle East towards the end of the British Mandate. He was Honorary Attaché at the British Embassy in Paris, later joining the Conservative Research Department where he served as Secretary to several Parliamentary Committees.

Political career

Lord Balniel was Conservative Member of Parliament for Hertford from 1955 to 1974, and for Welwyn and Hatfield from February to September 1974. He was Parliamentary Private Secretary to the Financial Secretary to the Treasury from 1955 to 1957, and to the Minister of Housing and Local Government from 1957 to 1960. He was Opposition front-bench spokesman for Health and Social Security from 1967 to 1970. In the Heath Government, he served as Minister of State for Defence from 1970 to 1972 and for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs from 1972 to 1974.

In the October 1974 general election, Lord Balniel lost his seat to Labour's Helene Hayman. On 24 January 1975 he was created a Life Peer as Baron Balniel, of Pitcorthie in the County of Fife, being introduced as such in the House of Lords. He inherited the earldoms from his father on 13 December 1975. Following the House of Lords Act 1999, which expelled most hereditary peers from the Upper House, the Earl of Crawford and Balcarres has been able to continue sitting in the House of Lords in right of his Life Barony.

Appointments

Lord Crawford was appointed First Crown Estate Commissioner from 1980 to 1985, and served as Chairman of the National Association for Mental Health from 1963 to 1970, of the Historic Buildings Council for Scotland from 1976 to 1983, of the Royal Commission on the Ancient and Historical Monuments of Scotland from 1985 to 1995, and of the National Library of Scotland from 1990 until 2000.

He was appointed a Privy Counsellor in 1972 and a Knight of the Thistle in 1996. After the death of Simon Ramsay, 16th Earl of Dalhousie in 1992, he became Lord Chamberlain to Queen Elizabeth The Queen Mother, serving in the role until her death in 2002. He was appointed a Knight Grand Cross of the Royal Victorian Order in the Special Honours List published after The Queen Mother's death.^[1]

Personal life

Crawford married Ruth Meyer-Bechtler on 27 December 1949: they have four children including Anthony, Lord Balniel, heir apparent to the earldoms and other titles, Lady Bettina Drummond-Hay, The Hon. Alexander Lindsay Endure Pursuivant, and Lady Iona Mackworth-Young (daughter in law of Sqn Ldr Sir Robin Christopher "Robin" Mackworth-Young).

Crawford has held a number of business appointments, including as Director of the National Westminster Bank from 1975 to 1988.

Titles, styles, honours and arms

GCVO insignia

Titles and styles

• Master of Lindsay (1927–1940)
• Lord Balniel (1940–1972)
• Lord Balniel MP (1955–1972)
• Lord Balniel MP (1972–1974)
• Lord Balniel (1974–1975)
• The Rt Hon Lord Balniel (January 1975 – December 1975)
• The Rt Hon The Earl of Crawford and Balcarres (1975–1996)
• The Rt Hon The Earl of Crawford and Balcarres, KT (1996–2002)
• The Rt Hon The Earl of Crawford and Balcarres, KT, GCVO (2002– )
  • Chief of Clan Lindsay (1975– )

Honours

• Knight of the Thistle, 1996
• Knight Grand Cross of the Royal Victorian Order, 2002
• Privy Counsellor, 4 February 1972^[2]

Ancestry

The seize quartiers of Lord Crawford and Balcarres, KT.^[3]

Ancestors of Robert Lindsay, 29th Earl of Crawford

16. Alexander Lindsay, 25th Earl of Crawford, 8th Earl of Balcarres               8. James Lindsay, 26th Earl of Crawford, 9th Earl of Balcarres                       17. Margaret Lindsay               4. David Lindsay, 27th Earl of Crawford, 10th Earl of Balcarres                             18. Hon. Edward Bootle-Wilbraham               9. Emily Bootle-Wilbraham                       19. Emily Ramsbottom               2. David Lindsay, 28th Earl of Crawford, 11th Earl of Balcarres                                   20. Sir John Pelly, 2nd Baronet               10. Sir Henry Pelly, 3rd Baronet                       21. Johanna Carstairs               5. Constance Pelly                             22. Francis Charteris, 10th Earl of Wemyss, 6th Earl of March               11. Lady Lilian Charteris                       23. Lady Anne Anson               1. Robert Lindsay, 29th Earl of Crawford, 12th Earl of Balcarres                                         24. William Cavendish, 7th Duke of Devonshire               12. Lord Edward Cavendish                       25. Lady Blanche Howard               6. Lord Richard Cavendish                             26. Rt. Hon. William Lascelles               13. Emma Lascelles                       27. Lady Caroline Howard               3. Mary Cavendish                                   28. William Beauclerk, 9th Duke of St Albans               14. William Beauclerk, 10th Duke of St Albans                       29. Elizabeth Gubbins               7. Lady Moyra Beauclerk, PHD                             30. Ralph Bernal Osborne               15. Grace Bernal Osborne                       31. Catherine Osborne

Arms

Arms of Robert Lindsay, 29th Earl of Crawford

Coronet That of an Earl Crest A Swan's Head neck and wings Proper issuing from an antique Ducal-coronet Or Helm That of a Peer Escutcheon Quarterly, 1st and 4th, Gules a Fess chequy Argent and Azure (Lindsay), 2nd and 3rd, Or a Lion rampant Gules debruised of a ribbon in bend Sable (Abernethy) Supporters Two Lions rampant guardant Gules armed and langued Azure Motto Endure fort (en: Suffer bravely) Orders Thistle Circlet

See also

• Balcarres House, Fife
• Peerage of Scotland
• Savoy Chapel

References

1. London Gazette, 5 August 2002, Supplement No. 1
2. http://leighrayment.com/pcouncil/pcouncil4.htm
3. Mosley, Charles (ed.) (2003). Burke's Peerage & Baronetage, 107th edn. London: Burke's Peerage & Gentry Ltd. p. 950 (CRAWFORD and BALCARRES, E). ISBN 0-9711966-2-1.

External links

• Debrett's People of Today
• www.rias.org.uk
• Hansard 1803–2005: contributions in Parliament by the Earl of Crawford