Lord Forbes

Lord Forbes is the senior Lordship of Parliament in the Peerage of Scotland.

The title was created sometime after 1436 for Alexander de Forbes, feudal baron of Forbes. The precise date of the creation is not known, but in a Precept dated July 12, 1442, he is already styled Lord Forbes. Brown's 1834 Peerage of Scotland gives a creation year of 1440. Alexander's descendant, the twelfth Lord, served as Lord Lieutenant of Aberdeenshire and Kincardineshire. His great-grandson, the seventeenth Lord, was a general in the Army and sat in the House of Lords as a Scottish representative peer from 1806 to 1843. His son, the eighteenth Lord, fought at the Battle of Waterloo in 1815.

He was succeeded by his son, the nineteenth Lord. He was a Scottish Representative Peer from 1874 to 1906. His nephew, the twenty-first Lord, served as a Scottish Representative Peer between 1917 and 1924. The latter's son, the twenty-second Lord, sat in the House of Lords as a Scottish Representative Peer from 1955 to 1963, when all Scottish peers were given an automatic seat in the House of Lords, and served in the Conservative administration of Harold Macmillan as Minister of State for Scotland from 1958 to 1959. The title is currently held by his son, Malcolm Nigel, the twenty-third Lord Forbes, who succeeded in 2013. Lord Forbes is Chief of Clan Forbes.

Hon. Patrick Forbes, third son of the second Lord Forbes, was the ancestor of both the Earls of Granard and the Forbes baronets of Craigievar. Also, the Lords Forbes of Pitsligo were descended from Sir William Forbes, brother of Alexander Forbes, 1st Lord Forbes.

The family seat is Castle Forbes near Alford, Aberdeenshire.

Numbering matter
John Forbes (1570–1606), the elder surviving son of John Forbes, 8th Lord Forbes, became a friar and seemingly abandoned his claim to the Lordship. He died later in the same year (1606) as his father and there would be dispute over whether to count his brief succession in the numbering of Lordships. The question was most recently settled in 1955, stating that he was not to be considered a Lord Forbes and his younger brother would be their father's immediate successor as Arthur Forbes, 9th Lord Forbes.

Lords Forbes (c. 1444)

 * 1st 1445–1448: Alexander Forbes (c. 1380–1448)
 * 2nd 1448–c. 1461: James Forbes (, son of 1st Lord)
 * 3rd c. 1461–by 1488: William Forbes
 * 4th by 1488–c. 1491: Alexander Forbes (, son of 3rd Lord)
 * 5th c. 1491–c. 1496: Arthur Forbes (, son of 3rd Lord)
 * 6th c. 1496–1547: John Forbes (, son of 3rd Lord)
 * 7th 1547–1593: William Forbes (1513–1593, son of 6th Lord)
 * 8th 1593–1606: John Forbes (1542–1606, son of 7th Lord)
 * 9th 1606–after 1634 : Arthur Forbes (1581–1641, son of 8th Lord)
 * 10th after 1634–1672: Alexander Forbes (1600–1672, son of 9th Lord) (m. Anne, daughter of John Lord Forbes of Pitsligo)
 * 11th 1672–1697: William Forbes (, son of 10th Lord & Anne)
 * 12th 1697–1716: William Forbes (1656–1716, son of William, 11th Lord)
 * 13th 1716–1730: William Forbes (, son of 12th Lord)
 * 14th 1730–1734: Francis Forbes (1721–1734, son of 13th Lord)
 * 15th 1734–1761: James Forbes (1689–1761, 2nd son of William, 11th Lord) (m. Mary, daughter of Alexander, third Lord Forbes of Pitsligo)
 * 16th 1761–1804: James Forbes (1725–1804, son of James, 15th Lord) (m. Catherine)
 * 17th 1804–1843: James Ochoncar Forbes (1765–1843, son of 16th Lord and Catherine)
 * 18th 1843–1868: Walter Forbes (1798–1868, son of 17th Lord)
 * 19th 1868–1914: Horace Courtenay Gammell Forbes (1829–1914, elder son of Walter, 18th Lord)
 * 20th 1914–1916: Atholl Monson Forbes (1841–1916, younger son of Walter, 18th Lord)
 * 21st 1916–1953: Atholl Laurence Cunyngham (1882–1953, son of 20th Lord)
 * 22nd 1953–2013: Nigel Ivan Forbes (1918–2013, son of 21st Lord)
 * 23rd 2013–present: Malcolm Nigel Forbes (b. 1946, son of 22nd Lord)

The heir apparent is the present holder's grandson, Geordie Malcolm Andrew Forbes (b. 2010), styled Master of Forbes