Clan Forbes
also Clan Forbes
Lord Forbes — Scotland's senior baron, of Aberdeenshire.
The seat of Clan Forbes
Seat vacantChief
No chief yet. The seat awaits its first claimant — be the first to stake your name to Clan Forbes.
Current mission
No mission proclaimed. The chief, once seated, sets the clan’s public focus — a campaign, a contest, a piece of restoration, a year of remembrance.
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What does the Forbes name mean?
From the Gaelic Forba — a field — and the lands of Forbes in the parish of Tullynessle, Aberdeenshire, granted to a 13th-century Forbes ancestor by the Earl of Mar. The chiefly line descends from John of Forbes, who fought at Harlaw (1411), and through him from earlier Forbes lairds documented in the late 12th century. The clan's heartland was Aberdeenshire — the parishes of Strathdon, Donside and Mar — and the chief was created Lord Forbes in the 1440s, making the holder of Forbes the senior baron of Scotland by date of creation.
The history of Clan Forbes
The Forbes were a major Aberdeenshire clan from the 14th century onwards, alternating in regional supremacy with their cousin-rivals the Gordons of Huntly. The Forbes-Gordon feud reached its bloodiest point at the Battle of Tillyangus (1571), where Adam Gordon of Auchindoun killed Black Arthur Forbes; in retaliation the Forbes burned Towie Castle, killing Adam Gordon's wife and family — the 'Burning of Towie' commemorated in the Border ballad 'Edom o' Gordon'. The chiefly seat at Castle Forbes near Alford continues today; the senior line is held by the 23rd Lord Forbes.
Bertie Charles Forbes (1880–1954), the New Pitsligo, Aberdeenshire-born journalist, founded Forbes magazine in New York in 1917 — a finance-and-society magazine that became, under his son Malcolm Forbes (1919–1990) and grandson Steve Forbes (b. 1947), one of the central institutions of American business journalism. The Forbes 400 list of American billionaires and the Forbes Global 2000 of the world's largest companies carry the family name across the world business press today. Sir Johnston Forbes-Robertson (1853–1937), the Salford-born actor and producer, kept the surname in the front rank of the Edwardian London stage.
Notable bearers of the Forbes name
- Bertie Charles Forbes (1880–1954) — founder of Forbes magazine
- Malcolm Forbes (1919–1990) — magazine publisher
- Steve Forbes (b. 1947) — magazine publisher, two-time US presidential candidate
- Sir Johnston Forbes-Robertson (1853–1937) — Edwardian actor