David Lumsden of Cushnie
Feudal baron, conservationist, Jacobite and herald who restored several Scottish houses and castles.
(Obituary) - David Lumsden of Cushnie, who has died aged 75, held the heraldic title of Garioch Pursuivant to the Chief and Name and Arms of Mar, and was a leading figure in Scottish heritage circles.
An affable, generous man with a youthful vigour that belied his years, Lumsden was co-founder and chairman of the Castles of Scotland Preservation Trust, established to promote and encourage the protection and preservation of Scotland’s architectural heritage, and served as president of the Scottish Military History Society. In addition he co-founded the Scottish Organs Trust and was also well known as a vigorous opponent of the wearing of white socks with kilts.
A staunch Jacobite, Lumsden was a member of the Royal Stuart Society, convener of the Monarchist League of Scotland, and served for 23 years as president of the 1745 Association, in which capacity he contributed to the Muster Rolls of the 45, listing all those who served with Prince Charles Edward Stuart in the abortive uprising.
In a letter to The Daily Telegraph in 1995 he observed that a royal baby that had recently been born in London to the Crown Prince and Princess of Liechtenstein “should [as the great-grandson of the 90-year old Duke Albert of Bavaria] not only eventually rule the principality himself but also eventually be head of the Royal House of Stuart”. The baby, Lumsden went on, was the first such to be born in Britain “since the birth of the de jure King James III and VIII in 1688″.
In 2007 Lumsden played a prominent role in the commemorations at the Royal Hospital, Chelsea, of the bicentenary of the death of Prince Henry, Cardinal Stuart, head of the Royal House of Stuart.
Lumsden was proud of the fact that his family was one of the oldest recorded families in Aberdeenshire, having possessed the Cushnie and other estates as far back as any records of the county extend. Robert Lumsden, 1st of Cushnie, was granted a charter of lands by King James IV in 1509.
In more recent centuries Lumsdens had fought with distinction in the service of Empire. His loyalty to family and passion for architecture led him to undertake the restoration of two family properties: Cushnie House, Aberdeenshire, built in 1688 by Alexander Lumsden; and Tillycairn Castle, built in 1540 by Matthew Lumsden.
The restoration of the castle, which had been left derelict after being destroyed by fire in 1722, was a daunting task which involved the sorting or removal of 300 years worth of rubble; moreover there were no extant plans for the original building. But Lumsden was familiar with L-shaped castles of its age, type and style; and the restoration, which took four years, was so successful that he went on to restore Leithen Lodge at Innerleithen, a grandiose 1880s shooting lodge in the Borders, built for the railway magnate John Miller in an eccentric Scottish version of the Arts and Crafts style. In 1994 he oversaw the restoration of Liberton Tower in Edinburgh under the auspices of the Castles of Scotland Preservation Trust.
David Gorden Allen d’Aldecamb Lumsden of Cushnie was born on May 25 1933 at Quetta, Baluchistan, where his father, Henry Gordon Strange Lumsden, a major in the Royal Scots, of Nocton Hall, Lincolnshire, was serving in the Indian Army. David was educated at Allhallows School, Devon, at Bedford School and at Jesus College, Cambridge, where he was a keen oarsman.
He held a commission in the London Scottish TA before joining British American Tobacco, for which he worked as an executive for 23 years in Africa, India, the Far East and eastern Europe, before retiring to concentrate on his architectural and heritage interests. In the mid-1980s he set up the Castles of Scotland Preservation Trust in conjunction with Lord Borthwick, Nigel Tranter and Hugh Ross.
Lumsden was one of only four private heralds in Scotland, serving Margaret, 30th Countess of Mar. He was also active in the Convention of the Baronage of Scotland and was the last of his family to hold the title of Baron of Cushnie Lumsden, Aberdeen, a title he sold in 2004 to Alan Robertson just before the Abolition of Feudal Tenure (2000) Act came into effect which, among other things, ended the legal “trade” in Scottish feudal baronies.
A keen shot who also enjoyed sailing and riding, Lumsden was a Knight of the Order of Malta, as well as of the Constantinian Order, and Patron of the Aboyne Highland Games. He was unmarried.
He died at Glenfinnan on the night of 28-29 August while attending the annual gathering of the 1745 Association.
Tags: Constantinian Order, Jacobites, Knights of Malta, Monarchist League
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September 25th, 2008 at 1:12 pm
Believe it or not, my present boss is involved in this and has likely met this man. I just found out Monday that my clan, “Maxwell,” has a castle (that’s quite run down). No joke. Here it is:
http://lh6.ggpht.com/_V3u3kCFUSbk/Rt4oy_GMoxI/AAAAAAAAB6c/y8rXpaLjbrY/Jill’s+pics+from+UK+678.JPG
Jay
September 25th, 2008 at 1:13 pm
http://lh6.ggpht.com/_V3u3kCFUSbk/Rt4oy_GMoxI/AAAAAAAAB6c/y8rXpaLjbrY/Jill’s+pics+from+UK+678.JPG
September 25th, 2008 at 1:13 pm
For some reason it wont work, but if you google maxwell clan castle it comes up.
September 25th, 2008 at 1:14 pm
I immediately wondered, “where’s my damn castle?” but apparenty the state/queen owns them all!
jay
September 25th, 2008 at 1:22 pm
I’ll ask him when he gets in…I bet this is the dude he said he had dinner with…
September 25th, 2008 at 1:23 pm
http://tinyurl.com/46v7dc
Hmm. Interesting. Caerlaverock castle. I find it amazing that people who still live on the other side of “the pond” have retained such deep knowledge of their ancestry. I can trace my family tree back to the early 1600s in Acadia, but as for before that, in France and England, as far as I know, no one has been able to uncover anything there.
September 25th, 2008 at 1:41 pm
Yes, it is odd. I don’t know how these dudes keep up with all of it. I had no idea about Clan Maxwell until I asked my boss, and he knew all about it…which threw me for a loop. I’m also Clan Scott.
Jay
September 25th, 2008 at 1:43 pm
Of course, the “Dyer” side (my father) is much less glamorous. Last I heard, the “Dyer’s” in England have the honor of tending the Royal Swans. No joke!
Jay
September 25th, 2008 at 1:45 pm
http://www.thamesweb.co.uk/swans/upping2.html
Sorry, I’ll stop rambling on about myself.
September 25th, 2008 at 2:34 pm
whoah, sorry, delete that.
November 19th, 2008 at 2:59 pm
I finally talked to my boss about this. This guy was one of a court of three men who sits to determine legitmacy of nobility claims. To my surprise, the guy above this dude is my boss’ bud, the Lord Lyon.
November 19th, 2008 at 4:26 pm
This fellow: http://www.lyon-court.com/lordlyon/CCC_FirstPage.jsp
November 20th, 2008 at 8:05 pm
Interesting. Are these people trying to restore the Stuart line? There isn’t any of them left, is there?
Off subject a bit…what do you know of Yorkshire? Apparently, there’s a family there called Mallinson, that in the early 1600s had a daughter named Priscilla Mallinson (1601-1691). Priscilla’s husband, Pierre La Verdure (1608-1676), was a Huguenot exile from La Rochelle, France. He escaped to Yorkshire, married her, and eventually took her last name. Both of them, including their sons, crossed the Atlantic and settled in Nova Scotia in a place now called the Melanson Settlement. We here in North America (all the Melansons) descend directly from her two sons.
I can’t find much on “La Verdure” in and around La Rochelle, France, and I doubt there is much to find. But I guess this Mallinson family in England still exists, and they seem to be into genealogy.
May 17th, 2009 at 7:51 am
Well Whattadya know, yet another great site to add to my reader! Google blog search has you pretty well indexed it seems! you have some brilliant family tree stuff here!I’m still tracing my family back if anyone has info of any Winn family members from High Wycombe get in touch!
August 4th, 2009 at 2:33 pm
Terry - sorry I forgot about this and never did notice your comments. I don’t know about Yorkshire and it’s interesting that the Mallinson/Melansons have a connection there. My boss would know about it, I’m sure. I’ll see what he says. Ironically, I was looking at your latest post on the Rockefellers’ descent and, to my surprise, there are apparently scores of Jewish “Dyers,” “Scotts,” and “Maxwells.” Not sure what to make of that (not that it would matter - God’s providence rules all things anyway - and people should be proud of their heritage), but is Melanson also? And - how exactly does this work with the Kazar/Ashkenazi thing? Jewish descent is through the mother, but certainly any Ashkenazi descendant could have inter-married with a semitic Jew, I presume. Btw - I work under him as an editor not related to genaeology (so I’m very ignorant of this topic). He just happens to be a higher up for American Scottish Clan stuff. Honestly - it’s all new to me.
August 4th, 2009 at 4:13 pm
As far as Mallinson in Yorkshire, I do not know. But if there were some Jewish blood, the site to which I linked above would (probably) have mentioned it since they trace the family back quite a ways.
Not sure about “Ashkenazim” in Acadia as most of the settlers came from southern France. But there is some speculation that there are Acadian family names that originate from Sephardic Jews from the Spanish expulsion. Many settled in southwest France, became conversos, and might be the origin of some of the Acadian family names. All Acadians over here are related in one manner or another - even the Cajuns. If there’s some Jewish blood, then we all have it.
As far as all the Melansons on the North American continent, genealogists have traced it back to Pierre La Verdure and Priscilla Mallinson. That’s as far as they go. The Mallinson clan in Yorkshire has a further pedigree as shown by the link above. However, it is the “La Verdue” line that has not been investigated. No one, as far as I know, has gone to La Rochelle to find answers; or, if they did, they’ve come up empty.