This story was published: Thursday, 7th February, 2008
Clan Chief dies aged 92
THE community of Luss will come together tomorrow (Friday) for the funeral of Sir Ivar Colquhoun, who died last Thursday at the age of 92. The following is an account of his remarkable life:
It is with sadness that we note the death of Clan Chief Sir Ivar Colquhoun of Luss on January 31. He died peacefully at home at Camstraddan on his beloved Loch Lomondside just outside the village of Luss.
Sir Ivar – the 30th Chief of Luss and 32nd of Colquhoun — was the longest serving Clan Chief of Colquhoun, having succeeded to the title almost 60 years ago in November 1948. With his death, the last of the great postwar generation of landowning Scottish clan chiefs – familiar names such as Cameron of Lochiel, Fraser of Lovat, the Dukes of Atholl and Montrose – has come to an end.
Sir Ivar was born on January 4 1916, the eldest of five children of Sir Iain Colquhoun. He was educated at Eton, and served during the war as an officer in the Kings Company, Grenadier Guards, mainly in the North African desert. He married Kathleen Duncan in 1943 and settled the family at Camstradden, by Luss. His eldest son, Torquhil, was born in 1944, followed by Iona (subsequently the Duchess of Argyll) in 1945 and Malcolm, who succeeds as Clan Chief, in 1947.
After succeeding to the title, Sir Ivar Colquhoun took over the hereditary duties associated with his position, becoming a JP in 1951 and Deputy Lieutenant of the County of Dunbartonshire in 1952. The legacy he had been left by his father, which in those days extended to some 70,000 acres on the west side of Loch Lomond, was not in good shape (business matters had never been Sir Iain’s forte) and so he devoted his energies to restoring the fortunes of the Luss Estate, which he had initially been advised to sell.
He lived at the family mansion of Rossdhu until 1972, when economic reality meant that large houses such as this were no longer viable, and moved back to Camstradden where he had embarked on married life almost 30 years before.
Rossdhu eventually became the world famous Loch Lomond Golf Club; however, it is still in the ownership of the Luss Estate, and its future as a focal point for Clan Colquhoun members is assured.
Sir Ivar had a great interest in – and considerable knowledge of – Clan and genealogical matters, although in his old age he had delegated many of his duties, including those as Chieftain of Luss Games, to his son Malcolm (his elder son Torquhil having tragically died in 1963).
He served for many years between the 1950s and 1970s as chairman of the British Sailors’ Society, a charity dear to his heart; he was a keen sailor himself and knew and loved the inlets and passages around the western isles as well as any man alive. He was a countryman through and through, never happier than when out with his gun, or in his garden, or inspecting one of the forestry schemes that he assiduously cultivated on the Luss Estate.
Lady Colquhoun died in April 2007 on their 64th wedding anniversary, and Sir Ivar lived out the rest of his days at Camstradden, becoming ill last August with a recurrence of a cancer problem from many years before. Although he kept himself largely to himself, he was a familiar figure around Helensburgh with his dogs and brightly coloured cars; he was a generous host, a knowledgeable and witty companion to his many friends, and deserves to be remembered for having rescued and replenished his threadbare inheritance and, in so doing, preserving the ancestral lands of Clan Colquhoun for posterity – a considerable achievement, and one of which he was enormously proud.
He is succeeded in the baronetcy by his surviving son Malcolm (60) who is married to Katharine. They have three children, Patrick (27), Fergus (16) and Georgina (15).
Tribute in The Herald
Sir Ivar Colquhoun
Soldier, businessman and land developer;
Born January 4, 1916;
Died January 31, 2008.
SIR IVAR Colquhoun of Luss, who has died aged 92, was the clan chief and baronet whose efforts led the way to Loch Lomond becoming an international golfing mecca.
The Colquhoun family formed a long line of land and property developers in Dunbartonshire. Helensburgh, a planned town, owes much to Colquhoun's predecessors, while he himself took careful stewardship of his own lands in and around his beloved Loch Lomond.
His interest in the development of the shores of the largest stretch of inland water in the UK was driven by both profit and conservation. For years he held out against indiscriminate development on the lochside, and the fact that today much of the west side remains relatively untouched is testament to his foresight.
Not all always went well in developments. Some three decades ago the showcase twin golf course of High Road and Low Road created by Tom Weiskopf and then-partner Jay Morrish were sited on property leased from Colquhoun, with his ancestral home of Rossdhu becoming one of the world's most imposing clubhouses. By the mid-1990s, the project was in difficulty, and Weiskopf persuaded the Arizona developer Lyle Anderson to come to the rescue. It was a package that meant the sale of the course to Anderson - though the result is a globally acclaimed golfing venue. Jack Nicklaus provided input on the Low Road, while on the High, Weiskopf almost lost his life on what is now the 14th hole in a peat bog during construction.
The courses are entered through the columned original entrance to Rossdhu, the pedimented gateway beyond Arden that bears the family arms, the basis of the heraldry of Colquhoun's beloved Dunbartonshire.
Rossdhu, completed in 1773, was constructed by Sir Ivar's ancestor, Sir James, 2nd baronet, replacing a fifteenth-century castle of Rossdhu, which was gutted by fire. Until the late seventies, Rossdhu was home to Sir Ivar and Lady Colquhoun, until they moved to nearby Camstradden.
The couple allowed original furniture and paintings to remain at Rossdhu on loan to the golf course.
Sir Ivar Iain Colquhoun, 8th baronet (created 1786, in the baronetcy of Great Britain) was 30th laird of Luss, and 32nd chief of Colquhoun. He succeeded his father, 7th baronet Sir Iain, in 1948. Educated at Eton, he was commissioned in the Grenadier Guards in the Second World War, seeing active service with the Coldstream Guards, and was demobbed as a captain. His service with the Coldstreams gave him a lifelong love of Border country, and he became one of a score of clan chiefs who in 2004 wrote to the Ministry of Defence protesting about cuts that ultimately led to the demise of the King's Own Scottish Borderers.
His lineage stretched back to the thirteenth century and the lands of Luss came into the family in the fourteenth century when Sir Robert of Colquhoun married The Fair Maid of Luss, descendant of Maldwin, dean to the earldom of Lennox.
Colquhoun's father, Sir Iain, was Grand Master Mason of Scotland and a Lord Rector of Glasgow University. In 1964, Colquhoun's daughter Iona married Ian, Marquis of Lorne, later 12th Duke of Argyll.
In his younger days Colquhoun sat as a justice of the peace in Dumbarton from 1951 and was made Deputy Lieutenant for Dunbartonshire in 1952. A long-term interest in yacht racing took him to chairmanship in Scotland of the Prince of Wales Sea Training School.
His land developments sometimes led to controversy, as with a proposal eight years ago through his company Luss Estates to build a £20m supermarket on Helensburgh Pier. Another proposal to build a new house at Arden drew local-authority ire, but the scheme went through.
However, he was fiercely protective of Luss itself, backdrop to the STV soap Take The High Road and long hailed as "the prettiest village in Scotland". In 1999, when his company published plans to build a retail and restaurant complex, planning permission was given after it was shown that the development would enhance the village and businesses.
He helped many local causes, and six years ago he made available a site for Arrochar Mountain Rescue Team.
He played his role as clan chief and took pride in the wider family of those of Colquhoun, and presided from 1949 until 1982 as chieftain of Luss Highland Games each July.
For years, an annual gathering of clan Colquhoun took place as part of the games, but from 1983 Colquhoun's place was taken by his heir, Malcolm Colquhoun, Younger of Luss.
Colquhoun Sr, meanwhile, maintained his hereditary office as Bearer of the Pastoral Staff of St Kessog, a local saint, and took pleasure in his entitlement to depict the staff as one of his heraldic badges. For many years he also held a seat on the Standing Council of Scottish Chiefs.
In 1943 Colquhoun, married Kathleen Nimmo Duncan, who died last year. Sir Ivar died peacefully at home at Camstradden.
Through his daughter, Iona, now Dowager Duchess of Argyll, he was maternal grandfather to Torquil Ian Campbell, 13th Duke of Argyll.
In 1963, his and Lady Colquhoun's elder son, Torquil, died aged 19. The baronetcy now falls on the second and surviving son, Malcolm Rory Colquhoun, Younger of Luss.
Sir Ivar at his coming of age party in January, 1937
Tribute in The Scotsman
Captain Sir Ivar Colquhoun of Luss
Clan chieftain and soldierBorn: 4 January, 1916, in Dunbartonshire. Died: 31 January, 2008, in Luss, aged 92.
SIR Ivar Colquhoun Bt was the 8th baronet, 30th Laird of Luss and held some colourful ancient titles of Scotland. He was Bearer of the Pastoral Staff of St Kessog and, for many years, a member of the Standing Council of Scottish Chiefs. Sir Ivar took an especial pride in the history and traditions of the Colquhoun clan and as clan chief presided over the Clan Gathering and the Clan Games from 1949-82. He was a supporter of the Clan Society which dates from 1998. However, by then, because of Sir Ivar's advancing years, he was not really in a position to play an active role in the society, but he happily endorsed its events such as the Clan Museum. Sir Ivar, a tall and handsome man, is fondly remembered on Loch Lomondside as an inveterate supporter of the area, who fought to preserve its beauty and heritage. Sir Ivar inherited the baronetcy on the death of his father in 1948 – his devotion to the area was reflected in his death notice in The Scotsman: "at home on his beloved Loch Lomondside". The Colquhouns have been associated with the area for centuries and their beautiful ancestral seat, Rossdhu, is now part of the Loch Lomond Golf Course.Clare Deutsch was a friend of Sir Ivar's for many years. She talked of how "charming and lively" he had always been. "Ivar was a great lover of the countryside, a very keen and knowledgeable ornithologist and an enthusiastic sailor. He had a wonderfully dry and beguiling sense of humour: there was invariably a twinkle in Ivar's eye. But he was happiest on Loch Lomond: he just loved that part of Scotland."Ivar Iain Colquhoun was brought up in Dunbartonshire and attended Eton. On the outbreak of war, Sir Ivar was in Finland working on a lumber camp. He joined the 58th Battalion of the Argyll and Sutherland Highlanders as a private soldier and was seconded to the Army Skiing Battalion. He returned to Finland to disrupt the German invasion but on Finland's capitulation, the battalion was disbanded and Sir Ivar joined the Armed Artillery in Libya and defended Tobruk during the unremitting siege. He ended the war as a liaison officer with the Grenadier Guards and was then a captain in the Coldstream Guards. This latter connection gave him a direct interest in the Border regiments and Sir Ivar joined 25 other leading Scots in a letter to The Scotsman in 2004 concerning the proposed merger of the Kings Own Scottish Borders with the Royal Scots. In what they described as a "flawed proposal" the writers concluded "the Ministry of Defence must rethink its proposals". On the death of his father, in 1948, Sir Ivar set about regenerating the Luss estate which owned considerable land in Dunbartonshire. Sir Ivar was adamant that the beauty of Loch Lomond should be preserved and was careful to maintain the elegance of the countryside without ruining the commercial opportunities that tourism could bring. He fought hard to protect the village of Luss (often voted "the prettiest village in Scotland" and the centre of much filming of Take The High Road) and he carefully monitored the retail complex that was built in Luss in 1999. That and a £20 million development on Helensburgh pier were nonetheless controversial.He won a five-year campaign in 1983 against BP who had built an oil terminal on his land. Eventually, the Court of Session gave permission for Sir Ivar to claim that the company had made use of 300 yards on the foreshore on Loch Long. Then, in 1986, Sir Ivar was involved with a dispute with the Ministry of Defence who wanted to build a £10 million road through Glen Fruin. Sir Ivar called it "the rape of the glen" and talk of compensation as "presumably it will be the usual inadequate compensation for damage done."The glories of Loch Lomond are now annually seen on the television worldwide when the Scottish Open is played on the golf course. Sir Ivar, with percipient foresight, decided to lease Rossdhu in 1972 and sufficient land on the loch side to create one of the most beautifully situated courses in the world. Tom Weiskopf, winner of the Open in 1973, created a taxing course on the splendid promontory using Rossdhu as the clubhouse. One night Weiskopf wandered out to inspe
ct a green and sank up to his chin in quick-sand. Happily, he survived to complete a course that has become acclaimed and a valuable addition to the economy of the area.Sir Ivar was a JP, deputy lieutenant for Dunbartonshire and for 20 years chairman of the British Sailors' Society. He was also a keen sailor and spent summers exploring the sea lochs up the west coast. He was a keen shot, gardener and developed the forestry plantations on the estate with a particular interest. A well-known figure in the area – his choice of brightly painted cars ensured he could seldom be missed – Sir Ivar was rightly credited with enhancing the Luss estates and protecting Loch Lomond from over development.Sir Ivar married Kathleen Duncan in 1943. She died last year and he is survived by his daughter, the Dowager Duchess of Argyll, and his second surviving son, Malcolm, who inherits the title.
Account of the funeral in Dumbarton Reporter
and the Helensburgh Advertiser.
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