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Dec. 1st, 2003
That's Britain
Dec. 1st, 2003 08:53 pmFrom Daily Telegraph:
Sex-change baronet's estate is sold
for £1m
By Tom Peterkin, Scotland Correspondent
(Filed: 01/12/2003)
A sporting estate once owned by an aristocrat who
changed sex to marry her housekeeper has been bought
by the son of a shipping magnate for £1 million.
Ivan Mackay, 27, the son of the late 3rd Earl of Inchape,
has taken over the 1,100 acre Brux estate in
Aberdeenshire, which used to be the property of a
hermaphrodite baronet.
Elizabeth Forbes-Sempill, a doctor who practised locally,
caused a sensation in 1952 when at the age of 40 she
re-registered her birth and renamed herself Ewan.
Medical evidence was produced so that her sex could be
officially changed, enabling her to marry Isabella
Mitchell, the daughter of a local farming family.
It is believed that the aristocrat had always displayed
both male and female characteristics.
Elizabeth Forbes-Sempill was born the daughter of the
18th Lord Sempill of Craigievar Castle. As a teenager
she was presented to the King and Queen when she did
the annual season in London.
Despite her tomboy behaviour and liking for plus fours
and the kilt, she was still regarded as a woman when she
graduated from Aberdeen University medical school to
become a family doctor.
In 1952 a small notice appeared in the columns of the
local newspaper stating that Dr Elizabeth Forbes-Sempill
wished to be known henceforth as Dr Ewan. A few weeks
later he married his housekeeper.
A relation recalled: "We were children then but a bit
surprised when Auntie Elizabeth became Uncle Ewan."
Sir Ewan refused to talk about the matter except when
he said: "I was carelessly registered as a girl. I have been
sacrificed to prudery and the horror which our parents
had about sex."
In 1967 the question of his sex was raised again when a
cousin challenged Sir Ewan's right to the baronetcy of
Craigievar after the death of his brother, the 19th Lord
Sempill.
Sir Ewan, who claimed not to have any interest in the
title, was confirmed as heir to the baronetcy.
He died in 1993 and his executors sold his estate to a
farmer. Lady Forbes-Sempill moved to the nearby town
of Huntly and died last year in an old people's home.
The present Lord Sempill said: "It was pretty obvious to
me that she did an amazing job of nursing Uncle Ewan
through a very demanding psychological turmoil. She
was very protective of him.
"As far as his predicament was concerned, we always
understood it was simply mistaken identification at birth.
No surgery was involved."
Mr Mackay, whose father was the chairman of P & O, has
moved into the Swiss-style chalet that Sir Ewan built on
the estate. He said: "The history certainly did not play
any part in my buying Brux. But I have never heard
anything unpleasant.
"It is a marvellous place which I want to revive as a
semi-commercial sporting estate, with grouse, partridges
and pheasants."
He also wants to have salmon fishing on the River Don,
which runs through the estate.
Mr Mackay, who left Stowe aged 16 to take a wildlife
management course at Sparsholt College in Hampshire,
has worked as a gamekeeper on nearby shoots and as a
terrier man for foxhounds.
He bought the estate from Ian Smith, a farmer, with his
share of a family trust fund.
"There is a lot of work to be done and that will raise the
estate's value," he said. "It has huge potential."
›
Sex-change baronet's estate is sold
for £1m
By Tom Peterkin, Scotland Correspondent
(Filed: 01/12/2003)
A sporting estate once owned by an aristocrat who
changed sex to marry her housekeeper has been bought
by the son of a shipping magnate for £1 million.
Ivan Mackay, 27, the son of the late 3rd Earl of Inchape,
has taken over the 1,100 acre Brux estate in
Aberdeenshire, which used to be the property of a
hermaphrodite baronet.
Elizabeth Forbes-Sempill, a doctor who practised locally,
caused a sensation in 1952 when at the age of 40 she
re-registered her birth and renamed herself Ewan.
Medical evidence was produced so that her sex could be
officially changed, enabling her to marry Isabella
Mitchell, the daughter of a local farming family.
It is believed that the aristocrat had always displayed
both male and female characteristics.
Elizabeth Forbes-Sempill was born the daughter of the
18th Lord Sempill of Craigievar Castle. As a teenager
she was presented to the King and Queen when she did
the annual season in London.
Despite her tomboy behaviour and liking for plus fours
and the kilt, she was still regarded as a woman when she
graduated from Aberdeen University medical school to
become a family doctor.
In 1952 a small notice appeared in the columns of the
local newspaper stating that Dr Elizabeth Forbes-Sempill
wished to be known henceforth as Dr Ewan. A few weeks
later he married his housekeeper.
A relation recalled: "We were children then but a bit
surprised when Auntie Elizabeth became Uncle Ewan."
Sir Ewan refused to talk about the matter except when
he said: "I was carelessly registered as a girl. I have been
sacrificed to prudery and the horror which our parents
had about sex."
In 1967 the question of his sex was raised again when a
cousin challenged Sir Ewan's right to the baronetcy of
Craigievar after the death of his brother, the 19th Lord
Sempill.
Sir Ewan, who claimed not to have any interest in the
title, was confirmed as heir to the baronetcy.
He died in 1993 and his executors sold his estate to a
farmer. Lady Forbes-Sempill moved to the nearby town
of Huntly and died last year in an old people's home.
The present Lord Sempill said: "It was pretty obvious to
me that she did an amazing job of nursing Uncle Ewan
through a very demanding psychological turmoil. She
was very protective of him.
"As far as his predicament was concerned, we always
understood it was simply mistaken identification at birth.
No surgery was involved."
Mr Mackay, whose father was the chairman of P & O, has
moved into the Swiss-style chalet that Sir Ewan built on
the estate. He said: "The history certainly did not play
any part in my buying Brux. But I have never heard
anything unpleasant.
"It is a marvellous place which I want to revive as a
semi-commercial sporting estate, with grouse, partridges
and pheasants."
He also wants to have salmon fishing on the River Don,
which runs through the estate.
Mr Mackay, who left Stowe aged 16 to take a wildlife
management course at Sparsholt College in Hampshire,
has worked as a gamekeeper on nearby shoots and as a
terrier man for foxhounds.
He bought the estate from Ian Smith, a farmer, with his
share of a family trust fund.
"There is a lot of work to be done and that will raise the
estate's value," he said. "It has huge potential."
›