Ian Campbell, 12th Duke of Argyll

The 10th Earl was advanced to the rank of Duke in the peerage of Scotland in 1701.

Ian Campbell, 12th and 5th Duke of Argyll, (28 August 1937 – 21 April 2001), styled Marquess of Lorne between 1949 and 1973, was a Scottish peer and Chief of Clan Campbell.

In 1953, he was made a Fellow of the Royal Society for the Encouragement of Arts, Manufactures and Commerce.

He served with the Argyll and Sutherland Highlanders, earning the rank of captain.

Following his military service he worked in banking, then spent four years as a sales executive with Rank Xerox Export, regularly travelling behind the Iron Curtain.

Argyll married Iona Mary Colquhoun, daughter of Sir Ivar Colquhoun, 8th Baronet, in 1964.

They lived at Inveraray Castle in Argyll.

The couple had two children:

Iona, Duchess of Argyll, and her daughter Lady Louise are both patronesses of the Royal Caledonian Ball.

In 1968 he took over running the dukedom's Inveraray Castle estate for his father.

On the death of his father in 1973, Argyll became a member of the board of directors of three distilleries and in 1977 became Chairman of Beinn Bhuidhe Holdings Ltd. in 1977.

He was invested as a Knight of the Order of St. John in 1975.

The duke died of heart failure during surgery in 2001 at the age of 63.

Argyll was the son of Ian Campbell, 11th Duke of Argyll, and his second wife, Louise Hollingsworth Morris Clews.

He was brought up in Portugal and France, educated at Institut Le Rosey in Switzerland and Glenalmond College in Scotland before going on to McGill University in Canada where he studied engineering.

He was the 12th Duke of Argyll in the Peerage of Scotland, 5th Duke of Argyll in the Peerage of the United Kingdom and Lord Lieutenant of Argyll and Bute.

The Campbell family descends from Gillespic Cambel, who some nine centuries ago acquired lands in the barony of Lochow, County Argyll, by marriage to his cousin Aife, daughter and heir of Paul an Sporran, Royal Treasurer and last of the Clan O'Duin, descended of Diarmid.

While most Dukes and Duchesses of Argyll are buried at Kilmun Parish Church, the 12th Duke and his father, the 11th Duke, both chose to be buried on the island of Inishail in Loch Awe.

In the 2021 mini-series A Very British Scandal, Campbell was played by Daniel Burt.

From the 13th century the Lochow Campbells held the title of Mac Cailein Mhor, Chief of Clan Campbell.

In 1291, Sir Colin Campbell, of Lochow, was one of the nominees, on the part of Robert the Bruce, in the contest for the Crown of Scotland.

Sir Duncan Campbell, of Lochow, became a Lord of Parliament as Lord Campbell under James II in 1445.

His son Colin, the 2nd Lord Campbell, was created Earl of Argyll in 1457.