The Chiefs of Clan Cameron

 

XXIII Chief:
Donald Cameron of Lochiel

 

 
 

     
Birth:   September 26, 1796
     
Death:   January 4, 1859
     
Parentage:   Father:  Donald Cameron of Lochiel, XXII Chief of Clan Cameron
Mother: 
Anne Abercromby/Abercrombie
     
Marriage:   Lady Vere Catherine Louisa Hobart; July 31, 1832
     
Children:   [1] Anne Louisa Cameron (1833-June 24, 1864)
[2] Donald Cameron (April 5, 1835-November 30, 1905)
[3] Julia Vere Cameron (1836-1921)
[4] Sybella/Sibella Matilda Cameron (1838-1890)
[5] Albinia Mary Cameron (1839/1840-1861)
[6] George Cameron (October 1840-1874)
     
Biography:   When Donald was just six years of age, his father ordered construction of a new Achnacarry be commenced.  At that time the family had no residence in Scotland, but did visit on occasion, residing in the estate's old post office (now the Clan Cameron Museum.)  Young Donald must have grown up with an appreciation of Lochaber, for he would proudly return in adulthood to reside where his forefathers had lived.

After attending Harrow (the first of long line of the Lochiel family to do so) Donald was gazetted into the Grenadier Guards in 1814.  He fought with distinction at the Battle of Waterloo, retiring from the army upon his father's death in 1832.  

Later that same year he married Lady Vere, daughter of the Honourable George Vere Hobart and sister of the 6th Earl of Buckinghamshire.  Lady Vere was descended from the Camerons of Glenderrary.  Donald and his young bride made a visit to Lochaber during the summer of 1834, and a large gathering of Cameron clansfolk was on hand to welcome them.  Less than a year later a young male heir was born; the Camerons of Lochaber rejoiced

In 1837 Donald arranged to have new Achnacarry, which had sat unfinished since his father lost interest in the project years earlier, completed as a residence.  He and the family would spend their summers in residence, wintering in England.  Although he and his wife had a great interest in the affairs of Lochaber, and the running of the estate, due to their lengthy absences the day-to-day affairs were left to factors.

During the years that followed, the Highlands went through periods of great hardship.  The factors cleared many residents from the lands on which they had resided for generations, and a great potato famine occurred in 1846.  Donald did what he could to alleviate the sufferings of the Cameron clansfolk, including wiping out their arrears of rents and partially financing the Highland and Island Emigration Society.