View source for William Forbes-Sempill, 17th Lord Sempill

{{Use British English|date=July 2019}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=February 2023}}
[[File:Craigievar castle 1991.jpg|thumb|right|[[Craigievar Castle]], home of the Forbes family]]
'''William Forbes-Sempill, 17th Lord Sempill''' (20 May 1836 – 21 July 1905), born '''William Forbes''', was a [[Scotland|Scottish]] peer, the 17th [[Lord Sempill]] and 8th [[Forbes baronets|Baronet of Craigievar]].
He was the son of Sir John Forbes, 7th Baronet, and succeeded his father to the baronetcy on his death in February 1846, at the age of seven. He was educated at [[Eton College|Eton]] and then joined the [[Coldstream Guards]] in 1854; he served in the [[Crimean War]], rising to the rank of captain.<ref name="Burkes">{{cite book|title=Burke's peerage and baronetage|editor=Charles Mosley|publisher=Burke's Peerage|year=1999|edition=106th|isbn=2-940085-02-1}}</ref> In 1884, he inherited the title of Lord Sempill from his relation [[Maria Jane Sempill, 16th Lady Sempill]], and adopted the surname of Sempill.<ref name="Times">{{cite news|title=Obituary|date=22 July 1905|work=The Times|location=London|pages=5}}</ref>
He married three times, the first time in 1858 to Caroline, the only daughter of Sir Charles Forbes, 3rd Baronet; this ended in divorce in 1861, after the birth of one daughter, Katherine. Katherine married the naturalist [[George Muirhead (naturalist)|George Muirhead]] [[FRSE]] in 1907.<ref>{{Cite journal|doi = 10.1017/S0370164600021556|title = George Muirhead, LL.D. (1845–1928)|year = 1929|last1 = j. a. t|journal = Proceedings of the Royal Society of Edinburgh|volume = 48|pages = 218–219|doi-access = free}}</ref>
The second marriage was in 1862 to Frances Emily Abercromby, the youngest daughter of [[Sir Robert Abercromby, 5th Baronet]], in 1862.<ref name="Burkes"/> They had seven children, five sons and two daughters. Their third son, William, died aged one. The remaining sons served in the military. The eldest, [[John Forbes-Sempill, 18th Lord Sempill|John]] commanded a battalion of the [[Black Watch]] at the [[Battle of Loos]]. The second son, Douglas, a Major in the [[Seaforth Highlanders]], was killed on the [[North-West Frontier (military history)|North-West Frontier]] of India in 1908. The fourth son, Robert, a Lieutenant in the 5th Bn. [[Gordon Highlanders]], was killed by a sniper on 2 June 1915, aged 45, near [[Festubert]] whilst working with his men repairing a gap blown in the parapet of their trench. He is buried in [[Le Touret Memorial|Le Touret Military Cemetery]].<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://www.iwm.org.uk/collections/item/object/205294904|title=Lieutenant Robert Abercromby Forbes-Sempill}}</ref> The youngest of the four, [[Arthur Forbes-Sempill|Arthur]], was in the [[Royal Navy]], and survived the [[Battle of Jutland]].<ref>p.6, {{cite book|last=Forbes|first=Ewan|title=The aul' days|url=https://archive.org/details/auldaysforb00forb|url-access=registration|publisher=Aberdeen University Press|location=Aberdeen|year=1984|isbn=0-08-032415-0}}</ref> The elder daughter, Evelyn, married [[Duncan Vernon Pirie]] MP, whilst the younger, Gertrude, never married.
The third marriage was in 1890, to Mary Sherbrooke.<ref name="Burkes"/>
On his death in 1905, his titles were inherited by his son [[John Forbes-Sempill, 18th Lord Sempill|John]].<ref name="Burkes"/>
{{Emblem table
|image = {{center|[[File:Coronet of a British Baron.svg|150px]] [[File:Arms of Forbes-Sempill, Lord Sempill.svg|180px]]}}
|image size =
|notes =
|coronet = A [[coronet]] of a [[Baron]]
|crest =1st, a stag’s head argent, attired with ten tynes azure, collared with a prince’s crown or; 2nd, A cock proper.
|escutcheon =  Quarterly: 1st and 4th argent, a chevron cheeky gules and of the field, between three hunting horns sable, garnished and stringed of the second, ''(Sempill)''; 2nd and 4rd azure, a cross patée fitchée or, between three bear’s heads couped argent, muzzled gules, ''(Forbes of Craigievar)''.
|supporters =Two greyhounds argent, collared gules.
|motto = 1st Keep Tryst; 2nd Watch.<ref>{{cite book |title=Debrett's peerage & baronetage 1903 |date=1903 |publisher=Macmillan |location=London |pages=738 |url=https://archive.org/details/b24883797/page/n783/mode/2up?q=Sempill}}</ref>
}}
==References==
{{Reflist}}
{{s-start}}
{{s-reg|sct}}
{{s-bef | before = [[Maria Sempill, 16th Lady Sempill|Maria Sempill]]}}
{{s-ttl | title  = [[Lord Sempill]]
| years  = 1884–1905}}
{{s-aft | after  = [[John Forbes-Sempill, 18th Lord Sempill|John Forbes-Sempill]]}}
{{s-reg|sct-bt}}
{{s-bef | before = [[Sir John Forbes, 7th Baronet|John Forbes]]}}
{{s-ttl | title  = [[Forbes baronets#Forbes, of Craigievar (1630)|Baronet]]<br />'''(of Craigievar)'''&nbsp;
| years  = 1846–1905}}
{{s-aft | after  = [[John Forbes-Sempill, 18th Lord Sempill|John Forbes-Sempill]]}}
{{s-end}}
{{DEFAULTSORT:Sempill, William Forbes-Sempill, 17th Lord}}
[[Category:1836 births]]
[[Category:1905 deaths]]
[[Category:Nobility from Aberdeenshire]]
[[Category:People educated at Eton College]]
[[Category:Coldstream Guards officers]]
[[Category:British Army personnel of the Crimean War]]
[[Category:Lords Sempill|17]]
[[Category:Forbes-Sempill family|William]]
[[Category:Forbes baronets|308]]
[[Category:19th-century Scottish landowners]]