David Carnegie, 14th Earl of Northesk

David John MacRae Carnegie, 14th Earl of Northesk (3 November 1954 – 28 March 2010), styled Lord Rosehill between 1975 and 1994, was a British hereditary peer, landowner and member of the House of Lords.

Background

David Carnegie was the second son of Robert Carnegie, 13th Earl of Northesk, and Jean Margaret MacRae.

Political career

Lord Northesk inherited the earldom on his father's death in 1994, his elder brother having been accidentally drowned in infancy. He thereby became a member of the House of Lords, where he sat on the Conservative benches. He was later one of the 92 peers elected to remain in the House following the passing of the House of Lords Act 1999. In the House of Lords, he spoke on topics relating to civil liberties and privacy, and spoke out against the Identity Cards Act 2006 and new online copyright laws such as those contained in the Digital Economy Act 2010.

Family

Lord Northesk married Jacqueline Dundas Reid in 1979. They had four children:

• Alexander Robert Macrae Carnegie, Lord Rosehill (born 16 November 1980, committed suicide 31 August 2001)
• Lady Sarah Louise Mary Carnegie (born 29 October 1982)
• Lady Fiona Jean Elizabeth Carnegie (born 24 March 1987)
• Lady Sophie Margaret Jean Carnegie (born 9 January 1990)

In 2001, his eldest child and only son Lord Rosehill, a psychiatric patient, shot himself in the head with his father's gun whilst on leave from hospital at the family's farm in West Sussex. He was 20 years old.

Northesk died at the age of 55 from cancer^[1] and was succeeded in the earldom by his eighth cousin once removed, Patrick Carnegy. His vacated seat in the House of Lords triggered a by-election for a Conservative hereditary peer to replace him.

Coat of arms of David Carnegie, 14th Earl of Northesk

Crest 1st, The stern of a French Man-of-War with three Lanthorns, all proper, inflamed Gules, on a Scroll the word TRAFALGAR; 2nd, Issuant from a Naval Crown Or, a Demi-Leopard proper, holding a Rose Argent, barbed and seeded proper, on a Scroll the words BRITANNIA VICTRIX. Escutcheon Quarterly: 1st & 4th, Or, an Eagle displayed Azure, armed, beaked and membered Sable, and charged on the breast with a Naval Crown Or (Carnegie); 2nd & 3rd, Argent, a Pale Gules (Earldom of Northesk). Supporters On either side a Leopard reguardant proper, gorged with Roses Argent, barbed and seeded Vert, each supporting a Banner of St George proper.

References

• Northesk, Who's Who 2010, A & C Black, 2010; online edn, Oxford University Press, December 2009; online edn, Nov 2009, accessed 30 March 2010.
• David John MacRae Carnegie, 14th Earl of Northesk, biodata at The Peerage.com
• Smith, Mark (30 March 2010). "Peer blighted by tragedy, the Earl of Northesk, dies aged 55".
  Johnston Press Digital Publishing
  . Retrieved 29 March 2010.
• Earl of Northesk on the Open Rights Group wiki