Social Victorians/People/Crawford and Balcarres

Overview

Alexander Lindsay, 6th Earl of Balcarres was a violet racist and unsuccessful governor of Jamaica; he fought in the American Revolution and dueled with Benedict Arnold. The family benefited financially from this Lindsay's conduct.

David Lindsay, 27th Earl of Crawford, refused the Viceroyalty of India and enlisted as a private in World War I in the Army Medical Corps, an experience that apparently undermined his identification and alignment with the aristocracy.

Also Known As

• Family name: Lindsay
• Earl of Crawford (Peerage of Scotland, created 1398)
• Earl of Balcarres (Peerage of Scotland, created 1651)
• Earl of Crawford and Balcarres (united 1848)
  • James Ludovic Lindsay, 26th Earl of Crawford and 9th Earl of Balcarres (13 December 1880 – 31 January 1913)
• Heredity Clan Chief of Clan Lindsay
• Lord Lindsay
  • James Ludovic Lindsay (before 1869 – 13 December 1880)
• Lord Balcarres or Lord Balniel
  • David Alexander Edward Lindsay (27th Earl of Crawford) (13 December 1880 – 31 January 1913)

Organizations

James Lindsay, 26th Earl of Crawford and 9th Earl of Balcarres

• Clan Lindsay
• Member of Parliament, House of Commons, Conservative, for Wigan (1874– 13 December 1880)
• Member of Parliament, House of Lords, Conservative, for Wigan (13 December 1880 – 31 January 1913)
• Royal Philatelic Society London
• Freemason, Isaac Newton University Lodge, University of Cambridge
• Royal Society
• President, Royal Astronomical Society (1878)
• Haigh Colliery, cannel and coal mines ( – 1865)
• Wigan Coal and Iron Company (1865, purchased by Lord Lindsay, the Earl of Crawford and Balcarres and merged with the Haigh Colliery, which he already owned)
• Trustee, British Museum

David Alexander Edward Lindsay, 27th Earl of Crawford

• Eton
• Magdalen College, Oxford
• Chairman, Wigan Coal and Iron Company and Wigan Coal Corporation
• Member of Parliament, Conservative, for Chorley (1895 – )
• Fellow, Society of Antiquaries (1900)

Acquaintances, Friends and Enemies

"Bal" (David Lindsay, Lord Balcarres) Vanity Fair, 22 June 1899

Timeline

1897 July 2, Lord Balcarres attended the Duchess of Devonshire's fancy-dress ball (#545 on the list of people who were present).

1900 January 25, Thursday, David Lindsay, Lord Balcarres and Constance Lilian Pelly married.

Costume at the Duchess of Devonshire's 2 July 1897 Fancy-dress Ball

David Lindsay, Lord Balcarres attended the Duchess of Devonshire's fancy-dress ball. No newspaper reported on what he was wearing.

A caricature portrait (right) of "Bal" (David Lindsay, Lord Balcarres) by Leslie Ward ("Spy") appeared in the 22 June 1899 issue of Vanity Fair, as Number 708 in its "Statesmen" series, giving a sense of what he looked like in the late 1890s.

Demographics

• Nationality: British

Residences

• Balcarres House, Fife
• Haigh Hall, Greater Manchester, Lancashire (until the 1940s)

Family

• James Ludovic Lindsay, 26th Earl of Crawford and 9th Earl of Balcarres (28 July 1847 – 31 January 1913)
• Emily Florence Bootle-Wilbraham (3 April 1848 – 15 January 1934)

1. Lady Evelyn Margaret Lindsay (8 May 1870 – 3 April 1944)
2. David Alexander Edward Lindsay, 27th Earl of Crawford (10 October 1871 – 8 March 1940)
3. Hon. Walter Patrick Lindsay (13 February 1873 – 2 July 1936)
4. Major Hon. Robert Hamilton Lindsay (30 March 1874 – 8 December 1911)
5. Reverend Hon. Edward Reginald Lindsay (15 March 1876 – 17 June 1951)
6. Rt. Hon. Sir Ronald Charles Lindsay (3 May 1877 – 21 August 1945)
7. Hon. Lionel Lindsay (20 July 1879 – 18 August 1965)

• David Alexander Edward Lindsay, 27th Earl of Crawford (10 October 1871 – 8 March 1940)
• Constance Lilian Pelly ( – 8 January 1947)
  1. David Alexander Robert Lindsay, 28th Earl of Crawford (20 November 1900 – 13 December 1975)
  2. Lady Margaret Cynthia Lindsay (27 June 1902 – )
  3. Lady Cynthia Anne Lindsay (21 June 1904 – 5 January 1997)
  4. Hon. James Louis Lindsay (16 December 1906 – 27 August 1997)
  5. Lady Elizabeth Patricia Lindsay (15 September 1908 – 4 February 1937)
  6. Lady Mary Lilian Lindsay (27 September 1910 – 25 March 2004)
  7. Lady Katharine Constance Lindsay (26 August 1912 – c. November 1972)
  8. Lady Barbara Lindsay (31 December 1915 – 20 July 2001)

Notes and Questions

1. In 1900, the Dundee Courier says that Lord Balcarres is the eldest son of the Earl of Crawford of Balcarres House, Fife, and Haigh Hall, Wigan.