David Charteris, 12th Earl of Wemyss

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Francis David Charteris, 12th Earl of Wemyss, 8th Earl of March KT (born January 12, 1912 in Stanway , Gloucestershire , † December 12, 2008 in Edinburgh ) was a British peer .

life and career

He is the son of Hugo Francis Charteris, Lord Elcho (1884-1916) and his wife Lady Violet Catherine Manners. He first visited the Eton College and then studied at Balliol College of Oxford University .

Since his father had fallen in the First World War , he inherited the nobility titles of his grandfather Hugo Richard Charteris, 11th Earl of Wemyss, 8th Earl of March on his death in 1937. With his subordinate title Baron Wemyss (bestowed in 1821 in the Peerage of the United Kingdom ) was linked to a hereditary seat in the House of Lords . With his Scottish earl titles this right was only connected with the Peerage Act 1963 . He held the seat of Parliament until the House of Lords Act 1999 came into force .

From 1937 to 1944 he was District Commissioner in Basutoland, today's Lesotho , and held the rank of major in the British Army . During the Second World War he was used in North Africa .

After his return to the United Kingdom, he was particularly committed to the preservation of Scottish cultural assets and landscapes. For 23 years (1946-1969) he was Chairman of the National Trust for Scotland and then until 1991 President of the organization. For three decades (1949-1984) he chaired the Royal Commission on Ancient and Historical Monuments in Scotland. In 1966 he became a Knight of the Order of the Thistle , the Scottish equivalent of the English Order of the Garter appointed. In the Royal Company of Archers he held the rank of lieutenant.

In 1959, 1960 and 1977 he became Lord High Commissioner at the General Assembly of the Church of Scotland on the proposal of the respective Prime Minister . Furthermore, Charteris was from 1967 to 1987 as Lord Lieutenant of East Lothian regional representative of the crown and 1974 to 2007 as Lord Clerk Register , one of the Great Officers of State for Scotland. He was also a member of the Board of Directors of Standard Life and Scottish Television . He was succeeded as Lord Clerk Register by the former Lord Chancellor James Mackay, Baron Mackay of Clashfern .

Family and private

In his first marriage he was married to Mavis Lynette Gordon Murray since 1940. He had four children with her:

Mavis died in 1988. In 1995 he married his second wife, Shelagh Kathleen Thrift.

He lived at the Earl's ancestral home, Gosford House . He died in the Royal Victoria Hospital in Edinburgh. His titles of nobility passed to his son James.

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predecessor Office successor
Hugo Richard Charteris Earl of Wemyss
Earl of March
1937-2008 		James Donald Charteris
personal data
SURNAME Charteris, David, 12th Earl of Wemyss
ALTERNATIVE NAMES Wemyss, Francis David Charteris, 12th Earl of; March, Francis David Charteris, 8th Earl of; Wemyss and March, Francis David Charteris Earl of
BRIEF DESCRIPTION British peer
DATE OF BIRTH January 12, 1912
PLACE OF BIRTH Stanway , Gloucestershire
DATE OF DEATH December 12, 2008
Place of death Edinburgh