- Ian Anstruther
Sir Ian Fife Campbell Anstruther, of that Ilk, 8th Baronet of Balcaskie and 13th Baronet of Anstruther (
11 May 1922 -29 July 2007 ) was abaronet twice over. He inherited substantial property interests inSouth Kensington , and wrote several books on specialised areas of 19th-century social and literary history.Early life
Anstruther was born in
Buckinghamshire , the younger son of Douglas Tollemache Anstruther and his first wife, Enid (née Campbell). His father was the son of MPHarry Anstruther , himself a younger son of MP Lieutenant ColonelSir Robert Anstruther, 5th Baronet . His maternal grandfather was Lord George Campbell, younger son of the8th Duke of Argyll .His father served in the Army and then worked for the
London and South Western Railway . His parents spent 14 years indivorce and then custody proceedings from 1924, and so he spent much of his youth with his mother's sister, Joan Campbell, atStrachur House inArgyllshire and her London house inBryanston Square inLondon . His father's sister, aunt Joyce, better known asJan Struther , created "Mrs. Miniver ".Education and military career
He was educated at Eton, and joined the
Argyll and Sutherland Highlanders in 1939 when theSecond World War broke out. An amateurradio ham , he was quickly transferred to theRoyal Corps of Signals , and was commissioned, ending up as a Captain. He readNatural Sciences atNew College, Oxford from 1940 to 1942, before returning toCatterick to train for the invasion of France. He landed with his brigade inNormandy three weeks afterD-Day , and took charge of a team of signallers.After the war, he chanced to meet Sir Archibald Clerk Kerr, a family friend, on a bus in London. Kerr (later 1st
Baron Inverchapel ) had been ambassador in Moscow during the war, and had just been appointed British ambassador to the United States; he asked Anstruther to become his private secretary. Anstruther readily agreed, and spent four years in America in theDiplomatic Service . He moved toParis in 1951, to advance his ambition to become a writer. He met Honor Blake, and they were married on7 March 1951 . They had one daughter. They were divorced in 1963, and he married architectSusan Walker (née Paten) on15 November 1963 . They had two sons and three daughters.He was surprised to inherit an estate in South Kensington (including
Thurloe Square andAlexander Square ) from his aunt Joan in 1960, making him wealthy. He had bought a country estate atBarlavington , on the north of theSouth Downs nearPetworth inWest Sussex , in 1956, including convert|3000|acre|km2 of woodland, farmland and downland. He also bought a house nearSt. Tropez in 1973.As a writer
He wrote 8 books, including "I Presume" (1956), a biography of journalist
H.M. Stanley ; an account of theEglinton tournament entitled "The Knight and the Umbrella" (1963); "The Scandal of the Andover Workhouse" (1973), exploring the iniquities of theworkhouse system; a biography ofOscar Browning (1983), "Coventry Patmore's Angel" (1992), onCoventry Patmore and his wife Emily, and his poem "The Angel in the House "; and a book about SirRichard Broun , "The Baronets' Champion" (2006). He also wrote aboutFrederic William Farrar and his novel "Eric, or, Little by Little ".He undertook much of his research in the
London Library inSt James's Square . He donated funding in 1992 to enable it to build a new wing, which was named the Anstruther Wing. He was a Fellow of theSociety of Antiquaries , and a member of theRoyal Company of Archers .Personal life
He enjoyed cars, owning an
Aston Martin DB6 , aMaserati , and severalPorsche s, but disliked excessive speed, and was occasionally stopped by the police for driving too slowly. He later traded down to a smart car.He succeeded his cousin
Sir Ralph Anstruther, 7th Baronet in 2002, inheriting two Anstruther Baronetcies - of Nova Scotia, of Balcaskie (1694) and of Anstruther (1700). His cousin had been hereditary Carver to the Sovereign in Scotland, but the office passed instead to his second son, Toby. He also believed (almost certainly incorrectly) that he held the British baronetcy of Anstruther (1798), but its remainder (to "heirs-male of the body legitimately begotten" of the grantee) would have made it extinct on the death ofSir Windham Carmichael-Anstruther, 11th Baronet , in 1980 as most reference books, such as Burke and Debrett, have noted.As an adult, he adhered to a fixed routine. He habitually wore a
bow tie in the day, and acravat in the evening. He walked each day in theSouth Downs , lunching at one of five villagepub s during the week, always drinkingginger beer . He tooktea at 5pm, and atesupper 8.30pm. He always dressed for dinner in a velvet suit and silk cravat, before his twoMartini s. His family knew that matters were serious when he failed to dress for dinner a few weeks before his death.He died at Barlavington. He was survived by his daughter from his first marriage, and two sons and three daughters from his second marriage. Due to differences between English law and Scottish law, one son, Sebastian (born prior to his parents' marriage), inherited the Scottish title, becoming 9th Baronet of Balcaskie and 11th Baronet of Anstruther (both being Nova Scotia or Scottish Baronetages). Obituaries to Sir Ian noted, erroneously that the Great Britain Baronetcy of Anstruther (1798) had passed to his other son Toby (born after Sir Ian's second marriage). He left an estate valued in excess of £35,000,000. ["The Daily Telegraph", 22nd March 2008]
References
* [http://news.independent.co.uk/people/obituaries/article2838620.ece Obituary, "The Independent" , 6 August 2007]
* [http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/comment/obituaries/article2217695.ece Obituary, "The Times" , 8 August 2007]
* [http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/main.jhtml?view=DETAILS&grid=&xml=/news/2007/08/11/db1102.xml Obituary, "The Daily Telegraph" , 8 August 2007]
*Persondata
NAME = Anstruther, Ian
ALTERNATIVE NAMES = Anstruther, Ian Fife Campbell
SHORT DESCRIPTION = English peer and history writer
DATE OF BIRTH =11 May 1922
PLACE OF BIRTH =Buckinghamshire ,England
DATE OF DEATH =29 July 2007
PLACE OF DEATH =Barlavington ,West Sussex , England
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