Today, Tuesday 11th May 2021, our member Captain Alwyne Farquharson of Invercauld reaches a milestone anniversary, one that may well set a new record. 10 days after celebrating his 102nd birthday, he has reached, it is believed, the unprecedented jubilee of 80 years as chief of his name. It was on 11 May 1941 that he succeeded his aunt, Miss Myrtle Farquharson of Invercauld, as Chief of the Name and Arms of Farquharson, when she was tragically killed in the London Blitz.
Although he has been chief of his clan for four fifths of his life, he did not begin life as a Farquharson. He was born Alwyne Arthur Compton, on 1 May 1919, the elder son of Major Edward Compton of Newby Hall, the magnificent Robert Adam mansion in Yorkshire. His paternal grandparents were Lord Alwynne (sic) Compton, a younger son of the fourth Marquess of Northampton, and Catherine Vyner, whose marriage brought Newby Hall into the family. Via the marriage of an earlier Marquess of Northampton to the Maclean heiress, the family also possessed Torloisk on the Isle of Mull, a family now represented by the younger of Captain Farquharson’s nephews, Richard Compton Maclean of Torloisk.
Captain Farquharson’s mother was Sylvia Farquharson, the younger of the laird of Invercauld’s two daughters. His accession to the chiefship resulted from the settlement made by his maternal grandfather, Lt Col Alexander Haldane Farquharson, 14th of Invercauld, shortly before his death in 1936. That laird had no sons and the arrangement provided for his grandsons via his younger daughter Sylvia to be next in line after the elder Myrtle, whose only child was a daughter.
The clan he has led since 1941 is one rich in history and romance, one of the mighty Clan Chattan confederation, led by the Chief of Clan Macintosh, although there are doubtless many Macphersons who would dispute that. Clan Chattan includes clans Macintosh,Macpherson, Davidson, MacGillivray and Shaw as well as the Farquharsons, who take their name from Farquhar, the third son of Alexander Ciar, Chief of Clan Shaw, who was Chamberlain of Mar in 1371. His descendant, Finlay Mor Farquharson, was the first of Invercauld, which he acquired by marriage with the Stewart heiress. Finlay Mor was killed at the Battle of Pinkie in 1547, where he bore the Royal Standard. In the centuries that followed, Clan Farquharson would be at the heart of all the romantic ‘lost causes’ of Scotland’s later history: in the Royalst army of the Marquis of Montrose, in the Jacobite army of the Viscount of Dundee, and in the ‘Fifteen and ‘Forty Five rebellions. In 1715, they were part of the Clan Chattan regiment defeated at Preston, and at Culloden 300 Farquharsons under Francis Farquharson of Monaltrie, known as the ‘Baron Ban,’ were placed in the centre of the front line.
At the time of his succession, Captain Farquharson was a serving officer in the Second World War. He assumed the title on his aunt’s death, but did not formally matricualte arms in Lyon Court until 1949, although in the meantime he had a Certificate of Recognition of Change of Name, issued by Lord Lyon Sir Francis Grant. He had a distinguished war record which culminated in the Normandy Landings in 1944, where he was severely wounded and was awareded the Military Cross for his conduct in the field.
Ever since, he has been the popular and respected steward of the vast Invercauld estate in Aberdeenshire, taking in much of the Cairngorm Mountain range and the River Dee, nearest neighbour of Her Majesty the Queen at Balmoral Castle. His property includes both Invercauld House and Braemar Castle, the latter of which he gifted on a semi-permanent lease to the Braemar community in 2007. He continues to be an active clan chief, although he has this month handed over the Chieftainship of the Ballater Highland Games to his great nephew, Philip Farquharson of Monaltrie, who it seems likely will be his eventual successor. Captain Farquharson has been Chieftain of the Ballater Games for 73 years and has never missed a single event.
He has been a member of the Royal Celtic Society for over 70 years and during that time has been a regular and generous supporter and donor towards our activities. We have much to thank him for, over a period of many decades, and offer warmest congratulations on this unique anniversary.