John Mackenzie, 5th Earl of Cromartie explained

Honorific Prefix:The Right Honourable
The Earl of Cromartie
Birth Name:John Ruaridh Blunt Grant Blunt-Mackenzie
Residence:Castle Leod
Known For:Chief of Clan Mackenzie
Spouse:
Children:3
Parents:Roderick Grant Francis Mackenzie, 4th Earl of Cromartie

John Ruaridh Grant Mackenzie, 5th Earl of Cromartie (born 12 June 1948) is a Scottish engineer and peer. He is the current chief of Clan Mackenzie.[1] [2]

Early life

He is the only child of Roderick Mackenzie, 4th Earl of Cromartie and his second wife, the former Olga (née Laurence) Mendoza (d. 1996).[1] His mother, who was previously married to Peter Mendoza, was a daughter of Stuart Laurance of Paris. From his father's first marriage to Dorothy Downing Porter, he has two elder half-sisters, Lady Julia Blunt-Mackenzie and Lady Gilean Blunt-Mackenzie.

His paternal grandmother was Lady Sibell Lilian Mackenzie, suo jure Countess of Cromartie, who married his grandfather, Lt.-Col. Edward Walter Blunt later Blunt-Mackenzie DL (the eldest son of Maj.-Gen. Charles Harris Blunt of Adderbury Manor).

He was educated at Rannoch School, Perthshire and at Strathclyde University, Glasgow, Lanarkshire, Scotland.[1]

Career

Lord Cromartie is registered as a Member of the Institution of Explosives Engineers (M.I.Exp.E.) as an explosives engineer.[1]

He has held the position of Chief of Clan Mackenzie since 1980, he wrote the SMC climbing guidebook Selected Climbs in Skye, which was published in 1982.[3] He succeeded to the titles of 5th Baron Castlehaven, of Castlehaven, 5th Viscount Tarbat, of Tarbat, 5th Baron MacLeod of Castle Leod, and 5th Earl of Cromartie on 13 December 1989.[1]

The seat of the Earl is at Castle Leod, Strathpeffer, Ross-shire.[1]

Personal life

Cromartie married firstly Helen Murray, daughter of John Murray, a steelworker at Lanarkshire, in 1973, and divorced in 1983, by whom he had an only son:[4]

He married secondly Janet Clare Harley, daughter of Christopher James Harley of Strathpeffer, Ross-shire, in 1985. They have two sons:[1]

Notes and References

  1. Book: Burke's Peerage, Baronetage & Knighthood. Burke's Peerage & Gentry . Mosley, Charles . Charles Mosley (genealogist) . 107 . 2003 . 977 . Burke . 0-9711966-2-1.
  2. Web site: Mackenzie chief and wife part company . Ross-shire Journal . 30 March 2007 . 5 January 2014.
  3. Book: Rock and Ice Climbs in Skye . 9780907521051 . MacKenzie . John R. . 1982. Scottish Mountaineering Club .
  4. Web site: Cromartie, Earl of (UK, 1861) . cracroftspeerage.co.uk . Heraldic Media Limited . 22 September 2020.