Robert Lindsay, 29th Earl of Crawford

Following the death of Lord Eden of Winton in 2020, Lindsay became the surviving former MP with the earliest date of first election, having first entered Parliament at the 1955 general election.

Robert Lindsay, 29th Earl of Crawford studied at Eton College and Trinity College. The recorded working language is English. Places of work recorded in the authority are London. Positions recorded include Member of the Privy Council of the United Kingdom and member of the 46th Parliament of the United Kingdom. Distinctions recorded are Knight Grand Cross of the Royal Victorian Order, Order of the Thistle and Knight Companion of the Order of the Thistle.

• Honorific Prefix — The Right Honourable • Name — The Earl of Crawford and Balcarres • Honorific Suffix — GCVO • Office1 — Minister of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs • Term Start1 — 5 November 1972 • Term End1 — 4 March 1974 • Prime Minister1 — Edward Heath • Predecessor1 — Joseph Godber • Successor1 — David Ennals • Office2 — Minister of State for Defence • Term Start2 — 23 June 1970 • Term End2 — 5 November 1972 • Prime Minister2 — Edward Heath • Predecessor2 — Office established • Successor2 — Ian Gilmour • Office3 — Shadow Secretary of State for Health and Social Services • Term Start3 — 10 October 1967 • Term End3 — 19 June 1970 • Leader3 — Edward Heath • Predecessor3 — Mervyn Pike • Successor3 — Richard Crossman Parliamentary offices • Birth Name — Robert Alexander Lindsay • Born — 5 March 1927 • Birthplace — London, England • Died — 18 March 2023 • Place of death — Fife, Scotland • Education — Eton College • Alma Mater — Trinity College, Cambridge • Party — Conservative • Children — 4, including Anthony • Father — David Lindsay

The elder son of the 28th Earl of Crawford and 11th Earl of Balcarres, he was born on 5 March 1927, and educated at Eton College and Trinity College, Cambridge. From 1945 to 1948, he served in the Grenadier Guards. He was honorary attaché at the British Embassy in Paris from 1950 to 1951 and then worked for the Conservative Research Department.

Balniel was elected for the Conservative Party in Hertford at the 1955 general election, aged 28, and served as parliamentary private secretary to Henry Brooke until 1959. From 1959 to 1965, Balniel was president of the Rural District Councils Association, and from 1963 to 1970, he was chair of the National Association for Mental Health. While the Conservative Party was in opposition, Balniel served as spokesman on Foreign Affairs from 1965 until 1967, and then joined the Shadow Cabinet as spokesman on Social Services. Following the party's victory in the 1970 general election, he served as minister of state for Defence, and then from 1972 was minister of state for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs. Balniel switched to represent Welwyn and Hatfield at the February 1974 general election, narrowly winning the seat, but he was defeated in the general election in October. He was given a peerage under the Life Peerages Act 1958 as Baron Balniel, of Pitcorthie in the County of Fife, in January 1975 before succeeding as Earl of Crawford in December the same year. After the passage of House of Lords Act 1999, he sat in the Lords by virtue of his life peerage. He retired from the House of Lords on 28 November 2019. He was chairman of Historic Buildings Council for Scotland, the Royal Commission on the Ancient and Historical Monuments of Scotland and the National Library of Scotland.

Crawford was appointed first Crown Estate commissioner from 1980 to 1985. Crawford was Lord Chamberlain to Queen Elizabeth the Queen Mother between 1992 and her death in 2002. He was appointed a Knight Grand Cross of the Royal Victorian Order (GCVO) in the 2002 Demise Honours, the special honours list published after the Queen Mother's death.

Crawford married Ruth Beatrice Meyer-Bechtler (1924–2021) on 27 December 1949. They had four children: • Lady Bettina Mary Lindsay (born 26 June 1950) • Lady Iona Sina Lindsay (born 10 August 1957) married Charles Gerard Mackworth-Young, son of Robin Mackworth-Young. • Anthony Robert Lindsay, 30th Earl of Crawford (born 24 November 1958) • The Hon Alexander Walter Lindsay (born 18 March 1961) Lord Crawford died at Balcarres House on 18 March 2023, at age 96. His hereditary titles passed to his eldest son, Anthony.

• Crest — A Swan's Head neck and wings Proper issuing from an antique Ducal-coronet Or • Escutcheon — Quarterly, 1st and 4th, Gules a Fess chequy Argent and Azure (Lindsay), 2nd and 3rd, Or a Lion rampant Gules debruised of a ribbon in bend Sable (Abernethy) • Supporters — Two Lions rampant guardant Gules armed and langued Azure • Motto — Endure fort (en: Suffer bravely) • Orders — Thistle Circlet

The following is established of the heading itself.

The following is established of origins and background. Crawford died in 2023 at Balcarres House. Born in 1927 at Marylebone.