Angus Graham, 7th Duke of Montrose

His Grace The Duke of Montrose ID
The Duke of Montrose ca. 1967
Minister of Foreign Affairs of Rhodesia
In office 31 December 1966 – 11 September 1968
Prime Minister	Ian Smith
Preceded by	Ian Smith
Succeeded by	Jack Howman
Minister of Agriculture
In office 17 December 1962 – 31 December 1966
Prime Minister	Winston Field Ian Smith
Preceded by	Herbert Jack Quinton
Succeeded by	George Rudland
Minister of Lands and Natural Resources
In office 17 December 1962 – 14 April 1964
Prime Minister	Winston Field Ian Smith
Preceded by	Herbert Jack Quinton
Succeeded by	Philip van Heerden (Mines and Lands)
Member of the House of Lords Lord Temporal
In office 25 June 1957 – 10 February 1992 Hereditary Peerage
Preceded by	The 6th Duke of Montrose
Succeeded by	The 8th Duke of Montrose
Personal details
Born	James Angus Graham (1907-05-02)2 May 1907 Stirlingshire, Scotland
Died	10 February 1992(1992-02-10) (aged 84) Stirlingshire, Scotland
Spouses	Isabel Veronia Sellar ​ ​ (m. 1930; div. 1950)​ Susan Semple ​ (m. 1952)​
Children	6, including James Graham, 8th Duke of Montrose
Parent(s)	James Graham, 6th Duke of Montrose Lady Mary Douglas-Hamilton
Military service
Allegiance	United Kingdom
Branch/service	Royal Navy
Years of service	1939–1945
Battles/wars	World War II

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 Scottish-born Rhodesian politician, farmer and aristocrat. 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.

Biography

Born in 1907, the son of James Graham, 6th Duke and Lady Mary Louise, only daughter of William Douglas Hamilton, 12th Duke of Hamilton. His cousin was Colonel Sir Donald Cameron of Lochiel, a prominent Highland soldier and Chief of Clan Cameron.^[1]

As Marquess of Graham, the Duke was educated at Eton and Christ Church, Oxford. 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, where he owned a cattle ranch,^[2] and took up a position with A.E. & I., the South African subsidiary of ICI. While he was on holiday in England in 1939, the Second World War with Germany was declared. He signed up with the Admiral Commanding Reserves and was appointed Lieutenant in the Royal Naval Reserve. He joined HMS Kandahar as part of Lord Louis Mountbatten's flotilla in the North Sea and later served in the Mediterranean and at Aden in Aden Colony.^{[citation needed]}

On 20 January 1954 he inherited his father's titles and became the 7th Duke of Montrose, taking his seat in the House of Lords on 25 June 1957.^[3] He took hunting trips in Kenya, where he met his second wife, Susan Semple. The family lived 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.

Montrose was a hard-line supporter of racial separation in Rhodesia.^[4] He was a member of the Dominion Party of Rhodesia. He was a founder of the Rhodesian Front, which he helped fund.^[2] Following Rhodesia's Unilateral Declaration of Independence, Montrose served in the cabinet as Minister of Agriculture,^[5] and later as Minister of Defence and of Foreign Affairs.^[6] During his term as Minister of Agriculture, the Land Tenure Act of 1969 was enacted, reserving the amount of land for white ownership as 45 million acres (reduced from 49 million acres) and reserved another 45 million acres for black ownership, introducing parity in theory; however, the most fertile farmland continued to be included in the white portion.^[7]

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.^{[citation needed]}

He was a speaker of Gaelic and was fond of the Highlands and Islands of Scotland. He was 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:

• Lady Fiona Mary Graham (1932–2017);^[8] married, in 1966, Peter Alexander O'Brien Hannon and has issue:
  • Catherine Mary Hannon (born 1968)
  • Veronica Maeve Hannon (born 1971)
• James Graham, 8th Duke of Montrose (born 1935 in Southern Rhodesia); married, in 1970, Catherine Elizabeth MacDonell Young and has issue:
  • Lady Hermione Elizabeth Graham (born 1971)
  • James Alexander Norman Graham, Marquess of Graham (born 1973)
  • Lord Ronald John Christopher Graham (born 1975)

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

• Lady Cairistiona Anne Graham, born 1955; went to Girls High School Salisbury, Rhodesia, married, in 1982, Philip Patrick Saggers of Australia and has issue:
  • Susanna Mary Saggers (born 1984)
  • Marina Lilias Saggers (born 1986)
  • Georgina Frances Saggers (born 1989)
• Lord Donald Alasdair Graham (born 1956); married, in 1981, Bridie Donalda Elspeth Cameron of the Black Isle and has issue:
  • Caitriana Mary Alice Cameron (born 1984)
  • Alasdair John Cameron (1986–1988)
  • Violet Elizabeth Helen Cameron (born 1992)
  • Jennie Alexandra Cameron (born 1993)
  • Finlay Donald Cameron (born 1998)
• Lord Calum Ian Graham; married in 1991 Catherine Beatrice Fraser-Mackenzie (died 2008). Lord Calum Graham married secondly Estelle Baynes née Parry de Winton on 3 August 2013.^[9] He had three children with his first wife:
  • Iain Angus Graham (born 1995)
  • Euan Douglas Graham (born 1996)
  • Christabel Emily Graham (born 2001)
• Lady Lilias Catriona Maighearad Graham, married Jonathan Dillon Bell of Wellington, New Zealand, and has issue:
  • Charles Michael Dillon Bell (born 1993)
  • Eleanor Caroline Bell (born 1994)

Ancestry

References

Wikimedia Commons has media related to James Graham, 7th Duke of Montrose.

External links

• Hansard 1803–2005: contributions in Parliament by the Duke of Montrose
• "Battle of Crete" narrative by the Duke of Montrose

This page was last edited on 28 February 2024, at 06:22