Angus Graham, 7th Duke of Montrose

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]

AsMarquess 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 the evacuations of Crete and Greece following the German invasion of Greece.^[3][4][5]

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.^[6] 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.^[5]

Montrose was a hard-line supporter of racial separation in Rhodesia.^[7] 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,^[8] and later as Minister of Defence and of Foreign Affairs.^[9] 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.^[10]

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 Natal, South Africa in 1979 and then to Kinross, Scotland, where he spent his final days.^[5]

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]

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

• Lady Fiona Mary Graham (1932–2017);^[11] 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.^[12] 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)

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