Chiefs and Commanders
The simplest formulation is that a Chief of a clan
or family is:
 | chosen or accepted by the clan or family |
| recognised by the Lord Lyon as bearing the
undifferenced Arms of the Name |
| acceptable to the Standing Council of Scottish Chiefs
and invited to join. |
There are four main ways to become a Chief :
- Straightforward inheritance from a recent ancestor
In the simplest case, Chiefship passes from parent to child.
Thus, Margaret Elliot became Chief of Elliot inherited the Chiefship
of the Name and Arms of Eliott from her father when he died in 1989, and was
so recognised by the Lord Lyon King with matriculation of the Arms in 1991
(Lyon Register 72/051.
Note that there is no bar to a female becoming Chief, provided she
has retained the surname, despite being marred, and making sure that the
heir apparent also bears the Elliot surname.
The heir need not be a child of the current Chief - the Chiefship of
Clan Gregor will pass to the brother of the current Chief, Sir Malcolm
MacGregor, who has no children.
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The Three Feathers
logo of the Standing Council of Scottish Chiefs (SCSC) |
- By genealogical proofs of descent from an ancestor who
was Chief
Proving this can be complex if the ancestor died some generations ago
and the Chiefship has lain unclaimed for a while.
This was most dramatically shown in the case of John Michael Baillie-Hamilton
Buchanan of that Ilk, who became Chief of the Name and Arms of Buchanan on
2018 after the Chiefship has lain dormant for 337 years.
(See https://courtofthelordlyon.scot/index_htm_files/Buchanan.pdf).
In 2019, Lyon Morrow had to decide between two claimants for the
Chiefship of Carruthers. The Finding and Reasons makes for interesting
reading:
. https://courtofthelordlyon.scot/index_htm_files/CarruthersDecision.pdf
- Nomination by the current Chief
This is a tricky subject - see this Guidance Note:
https://courtofthelordlyon.scot/index_htm_files/SuccessionofChiefsGuidanceNote.pdf
- Where there is no genealogical Chief - such as when all
original lines and their branches have died out, or there is no reasonable
proof - the Chief may be chosen by a Family Convention, overseen by the Lord
Lyon (see below).
Once chosen, the Chief serves for life, and the position
is hereditary, There is no five-year or ten-year term of office, or anything
similar.
To be clear on this last point - No-one can become Chief
by election within a Clan Society, or by simple declaration.
There has to be a process recognised and accepted by the Lord Lyon, usually a
Family Convention.
The Family Convention is also the mechanism whereby a Clan
or Family which has never had a Chief may choose one to be recognised as Chief
of Name and Arms by the Lord Lyon.
The Family Convention
Essentially, a group of people of the relevant surname
gets together to petition the Lord Lyon to hold a Convention.There used to be a
similar process called a derbhfine whereby a number (typically eight or
nine) of the "landed or armigerous gentlemen of the Name" chose a
Chief, usually from among their number.
Lord Lyon David Sellar (reigned as Lord Lyon King of Arms 2008
to 2014) decided that this was less than egalitarian, and that in these days of
easy mass communication there was no reason why the entire clan or family could
not be involved and consulted.
The petition may, of course, come from a Society concerned with the clan,
family or surname - they are likely to have the organisation and infrastructure
- but that Society cannot wholly determine the process. There must be a
transparent and robust attempt to notify as many people of the Name as possible,
solicit nominations and run an actual Convention.
It can take two or more years for this to come to fruition. When this
works - and it usually does - Lyon will likely accept the chosen candidate as
Commander ad interim. This is not any sort of guarantee that the
Commander will eventually become the Chief. In fact, it is the Commander's main
function to being the clan or family together and find a Chief acceptable to
all.
The Commander is usually appointed for 10 years, after which the
Commission may be renewed, or a new Commander chosen by another Family
Convention.
There is a useful Guidance Note at https://courtofthelordlyon.scot/index_htm_files/SuccessionofChiefsGuidanceNote.pdf
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Bruce Durie regularly consults and advises on
matters relation to Clans, Families, Chiefships and Family Conventions for
choosing Commanders and Chiefs.
Contact us HERE
and include your name, location and query
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