Clan Chief
The last direct male descendant of the senior branch of the family was Andrew Carmichael. He was the sixth Earl of Hyndford, 7th Lord Carmichael, 18th Baron and 23rd Chief of the Clan Carmichael who died unmarried in 1817.
The estate then passed to a direct descendant in the female line of the senior branch, while the chiefship passed to a direct male descendant of the Balmedie branch. In 1980, Richard Carmichael was a 32 year old aspiring accountant residing in New Zealand. Upon the death of his cousin Sir Windham Carmichael-Anstruther, the 25th Baron of Carmichael, he learned of his inheritance of the Barony of Carmichael.
The previous (29th) Chief, Evelyn George Carmichael of the Balmedie line, had died in 1959 so that the chiefship had become dormant. He had three daughters and Richard petitioned the Court of the Lord Lyon with the support of the eldest daughter, Hermione Colville, and was officially recognized in 1981 as both the 30th Chief of the Name and Arms, and the 26th Baron of Carmichael, by virtue of his being descended through the female line of James, second Earl of Hyndford and third Lord Carmichael. Thus, Richard reunited the Barony and the chiefship which had been separated since Andrew’s death in 1817.
Read more about this topic: Clan Carmichael
Famous quotes containing the words clan and/or chief:
“We cannot think of a legitimate argument why ... whites and blacks need be affected by the knowledge that an aggregate difference in measured intelligence is genetic instead of environmental.... Given a chance, each clan ... will encounter the world with confidence in its own worth and, most importantly, will be unconcerned about comparing its accomplishments line-by-line with those of any other clan. This is wise ethnocentricism.”
—Richard Herrnstein (1930–1994)
“The chief lesson of the Depression should never be forgotten. Even our liberty-loving American people will sacrifice their freedom and their democratic principles if their security and their very lives are threatened by another breakdown of our free enterprise system. We can no more afford another general depression than we can afford another total war, if democracy is to survive.”
—Agnes E. Meyer (1887–1970)