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Donald Cameron of Lochiel, Scottish clan chief and long-serving Highland public figure – obituary
He modernised his estate and castle but his energies were mainly devoted to community life and being head of a worldwide network of Camerons
Donald Cameron of Lochiel, who has died aged 77, was a much-loved clan chieftain and community leader in the West Highlands of Scotland, after a first career as a City banker.
Chiefs of Clan Cameron, traditionally addressed as “Lochiel”, trace their line to Donald Dubh, a late-14th-century warrior who is regarded as the first authentic leader of a confederation of tribes that dominated the lands known as Lochaber, astride the south-western end of the Great Glen.
As 27th chief, Donald Cameron inherited an estate of more than 90,000 acres – much of it, in his words, “wild hilltops” – and Achnacarry Castle, a 19th-century mansion close to the site of an earlier stronghold that had been burnt to the ground after the Battle of Culloden in 1746, his ancestor, the 19th chief (“Gentle Lochiel”), having been a commander of the defeated Jacobite forces.
He modernised the estate, adding hydro power and holiday lettings to a traditional mix of forestry, farming and stalking, and completed a 10-year restoration of the castle, which had to be stripped to bare stonework when wet rot was uncovered.
But his primary energies were devoted to community life and his role as head of a worldwide network of Camerons – welcoming visitors who shared the surname or connection and continuing the work of his father in encouraging clan associations in North America and New Zealand. With his wife Cecil he also created a successful clan museum.
“We’re not a big clan; we’re not a rich clan at all – unlike the Macdonalds, for example,” he told an interviewer at Achnacarry after succeeding as chief in 2004. “I think we’re a very romantic clan in that we have supported the losing side consistently, but still have the nucleus of something special here.” Their name, he pointed out, is an anagram of “romance”.
The 21st-century Lochiel was certainly as gentle in manner as his 18th-century forebear. His gift was his empathy with all manner of people. A trusted friend of the Royal family who once welcomed the crown prince of Japan (intent on climbing nearby Ben Nevis) as a house guest, he was equally at ease with estate joiners and ghillies, and genuinely interested in their lives.
Like his father and grandfather, he was Lord-Lieutenant of Inverness, representing the monarch from 2002 to 2021 across a territory far wider than Lochaber, finding time for everyone and lending his support to innumerable causes and projects. “Extraordinarily good at remembering people’s names,” noted one community activist. “He was great fun, too.”
Donald Angus Cameron was born in London on August 2 1946 to Col Sir Donald Hamish Cameron and his wife Margaret, née Gathorne-Hardy. Sir Donald, the 26th chief and a grandson of the 5th Duke of Montrose, was a wartime soldier who made a business career as vice-chairman of Royal Bank of Scotland and chairman of Scottish Widows. Known as “younger of Lochiel” during his father’s lifetime, Donald Angus was educated at Harrow, where he was a keen footballer, and read history at Christ Church, Oxford.
He travelled to Australia, worked in the estate office and served as a 2nd Lt in the Queen’s Own Cameron Highlanders (TA), before qualifying as a chartered accountant and joining the City merchant banking house of J Henry Schroder Wagg, where he rose to be a director.
Initially a lending banker, Cameron found his niche as Schroders’ head of personnel in London, responsible for graduate recruitment and mentoring; he also oversaw the bank’s external communications. In office life as in the Highlands, he was a friend to everyone, from boardroom aristocrats to messengers and coffee ladies.
His decision to retire from the City in 1999 was in part driven by the advance of multiple sclerosis, which had been diagnosed in the mid-1980s after he “felt very tired after a set of tennis”. “Other than that,” he declared, “I’m pretty chirpy.” Refusing to be defined or constrained by his disability, he made good use of quad bikes on the hills (he was an excellent rifle shot) and mobility scooters for official duties.
When in London, where he was a past president of the Highland Society, he regularly drove his scooter to a table at Il Portico, a neighbourhood trattoria in Kensington, where the owners greeted him as part of the family.
Donald Cameron was appointed CVO in 2018. He married, in 1974, Lady Cecil Kerr, daughter of the 12th Marquess of Lothian and a long-serving volunteer and deputy chairman for Save the Children. She survives him with their three daughters and a son, Donald Andrew John Cameron, Conservative MSP for Highlands and Islands, who succeeds as 28th chief.
Donald Cameron of Lochiel, born August 2 1946, died October 20 2023