Family of David Cameron

Main article: David Cameron
Left to right: the Hon. Mrs R. F. Watson (née Enid Levita), Ian Cameron, Mary Cameron (née Mount), c. 1969 (the parents and paternal grandmother of David Cameron)

Relatives of the UK Prime Minister David Cameron, include members of the royal family and various others who pursued careers in the law, politics and finance.

Immediate family

David Cameron is the younger son of stockbroker Ian Donald Cameron (12 October 1932 – 8 September 2010)[1] and his wife Mary Fleur (née Mount)[2] (born 1934),[3] a retired justice of the peace, second daughter of Sir William Mount.[4][5]

Cameron's late father, Ian, was born with both legs deformed and underwent repeated operations to correct them. Cameron's parents were married in 1962.[2] He was born in London, and brought up in Peasemore, Berkshire.[6] His father was born at Blairmore House near Huntly, Aberdeenshire, and died near Toulon in France on 8 September 2010.[7]

He has an elder brother, Alexander Cameron QC, and two sisters, Tania Rachel (born 1965) and Clare Louise (born 1971).[3][8]

Ancestry

Enid Levita (right), paternal grandmother of David Cameron, in uniform of Sussex County Guides, c. 1930

Alexander Geddes

Blairmore House, the birthplace of Ian Cameron,[7] was built by his great-great-grandfather, Alexander Geddes,[9] who had made a fortune in Chicago trading in grain and returned to Scotland in the 1880s.[10]

See also: Baron Geddes

Aristocracy and politics

Cameron descends from King William IV and his mistress Dorothea Jordan through their illegitimate daughter Lady Elizabeth FitzClarence[11] to the fifth female generation Enid Agnes Maud Levita. His father's maternal grandmother, Stephanie Levita (née Cooper) was the daughter of Sir Alfred Cooper and Lady Agnes Duff (sister of Alexander Duff, 1st Duke of Fife) and a sister of Duff Cooper, 1st Viscount Norwich GCMG DSO PC, the Conservative statesman and author.[12] His paternal grandmother, Enid Levita, who married secondly in 1961 a younger son of the 1st Baron Manton,[13] was the daughter of Arthur Levita and niece of Sir Cecil Levita KCVO CBE, Chairman of London County Council in 1928. Through the Mantons, Cameron also has kinship with the 3rd Baron Hesketh KBE PC,[14] Conservative Chief Whip in the House of Lords 1991–93.[nb 1] Cameron's maternal grandfather was Sir William Mount, 2nd Baronet, an army officer and the High Sheriff of Berkshire, and Cameron's maternal great-grandfather was Sir William Mount Bt CBE, Conservative MP for Newbury 1910–1922. Lady Ida Feilding, Cameron's great-great grandmother, was third daughter of William Feilding, Earl of Denbigh and Desmond GCH PC, a courtier and Gentleman of the Bedchamber.[16]

David Cameron is 9th great-grandson of Sir Edmund Sawyer (died 1676), Auditor of the Exchequer and father of Sir Robert Sawyer MP, of Highclere,[17] who served as Attorney-General during the reign of King James I and a noted barrister of his era, whose courtroom skills were commended by Samuel Pepys.

Finance

Cameron's forebears have a long history in finance. His father Ian was senior partner of the stockbrokers Panmure Gordon & Co., in which firm partnerships had long been held by Cameron's ancestors, including David's grandfather and great-grandfather,[8] and was a director of estate agent John D. Wood. His great-great grandfather Emile Levita, a German Jewish financier who obtained British citizenship in 1871, was the director of the Chartered Bank of India, Australia and China which became Standard Chartered Bank in 1969.[18] One of Emile's sons, Arthur Levita, was also a stockbroker; he married a cousin of the royal family, Steffie Cooper.[19][nb 2] Sir Ewen Cameron, another great-great-grandfather, was London head of the Hongkong and Shanghai Bank; he played a key role in arranging loans from the Rothschild family to Japan during the Russo-Japanese War.[19][20] Great-grandfather, Ewen Allan Cameron, was partner of Panmure Gordon stockbrokers[19] and served on the Corporation of Foreign Bondholders,[21][22] and the Committee for Chinese Bondholders (set up by the then-Governor of the Bank of England, Montagu Norman in November 1935).[23]

Ancestry

Notable living relations

Cameron is a nephew of Sir William Dugdale, brother-in-law of Katherine, Lady Dugdale (died 2004, former Lady-in-Waiting to The Queen),[24][25][26] who was chairman of Aston Villa Football Club. Birmingham-born documentary filmmaker Joshua Dugdale is his cousin.[27] Cameron's other notable relations include Adam Hart-Davis, Duff Hart-Davis,[28] Boris Johnson who is the Conservative Mayor of London, Jo Johnson who is the Conservative MP for Orpington and Rachel Johnson (8th cousins),[29][30] Ferdinand Mount (alias Sir Ferdinand Mount, 3rd Baronet),[31] John Julius Norwich (The Viscount Norwich CVO),[32] and George Osborne (22nd cousin 3x removed).

Notes

  1. ↑ Through his father's maternal grandmother Stephanie Levita, daughter of the society surgeon Sir Alfred Cooper, who was also father of the statesman and author Duff Cooper, 1st Viscount Norwich, grandfather of the publisher and man of letters Rupert Hart-Davis and historian John Julius Norwich, and great-grandfather of the TV presenter Adam Hart-Davis and journalist/writer Duff Hart-Davis (David Cameron's second cousins once removed) Cameron's mother is first cousin of the writer and political commentator Ferdinand Mount.[15]
  2. ↑ It was through this union that Cameron was related to the royal family, he is fifth cousin once removed of Queen Elizabeth.[19]

External notes

References

  1. ↑ Boden, Nicola (9 September 2010). "David Cameron's father dies in France after suffering a stroke while on holiday". London: Daily Mail.
  2. ↑ 2.0 2.1 "Obituary - Ian Cameron". Telegraph (London). 8 September 2010. Retrieved 13 July 2013.
  3. ↑ 3.0 3.1 Debrett's Peerage Ltd (1 June 1990). Debrett's Peerage and Baronetage: With Her Majesty's Royal Warrant Holders. Debrett's Peerage. p. 619. ISBN 978-0-312-04640-8.
  4. ↑ P. W. Montague-Smith, ed. (1968). Debrett's Peerage, Baronetage, Knightage and Companionage 1968: With Her Majesty's Royal Warrent Holders : Comprises Information Concerning Thepeerage, Privy Councillors, Baronets, Knights, and Companions of Orders. Kelly's Directories. p. 577.
  5. ↑ Burke's Peerage & Baronetage, MOUNT, Bt
  6. ↑ Elliott, Francis; Hanning, James (2007), Cameron: the Rise of the New Conservative, HarperPress, ISBN 0007243669
  7. ↑ 7.0 7.1 "Ian Cameron". The Herald (accessed via HighBeam Research) (Herald & Times Group). 9 September 2010. Retrieved 14 July 2013.
  8. ↑ 8.0 8.1 Wheeler, Brian (6 December 2005), The David Cameron Story, BBC News, retrieved 27 March 2007
  9. ↑ "Marriages" (REGISTRATION REQUIRED), The Times hosted at Times Online (London), 24 July 1905, retrieved 1 May 2010
  10. ↑ "Highlands for the high life", Telegraph, 26 March 2002; Retrieved 4 September 2007
  11. ↑ Zoe Brennan (15 June 2007). "'Dave' Cameron says he's in touch with reality...but with so much wealth and blue blood you have to wonder". Daily Mail (online) (London: Associated Newspapers Ltd). Retrieved 13 July 2013.
  12. ↑ Cooper, Duff Old Men Forget The Autobiography of Duff Cooper (Viscount Norwich) London, 1953
  13. ↑ P. W. Montague-Smith, ed. (1968). Debrett's Peerage, Baronetage, Knightage and Companionage 1968: With Her Majesty's Royal Warrent Holders : Comprises Information Concerning Thepeerage, Privy Councillors, Baronets, Knights, and Companions of Orders. Kelly's Directories. p. 739.
  14. ↑ Debrett's Peerage, 2011: 3rd Baron Hesketh married The Hon. Claire Watson, daughter of the 3rd Baron Manton.
  15. ↑ Francis Elliott and James Hanning, Cameron: The Rise of the New Conservative (4th Estate, 2007) discuss Cameron's family on pp. 1–9
  16. ↑ "Feilding, William Basil Percy, Earl of Denbigh (FLDN814WB)". A Cambridge Alumni Database. University of Cambridge.
  17. ↑ www.berkshirehistory.com
  18. ↑ Firth, Niall (20 July 2009). "David Cameron 'may be directly descended from Moses'". London: Mail Online. Retrieved 18 December 2013.
  19. ↑ 19.0 19.1 19.2 19.3 Geoffrey Levy, Christian Gysin (5 June 2009). "Claims that David Cameron has a £30m fortune sit uneasily with taxpayers. So what is the truth about his money?". Daily Mail (online) (London). Retrieved 14 July 2013.
  20. ↑ Smethurst, Richard, Takahasi Korekiyo, the Rothschilds and the Russo-Japanese War, 1904–1907 (PDF), retrieved 4 September 2007
  21. ↑ "Council of Foreign Bondholders", The Times, 24 July 1936
  22. ↑ Financial News. The Spectator 159 (F.C. Westley). July 1937. p. 934.
  23. ↑ "Committee for Bondholders", The Times, 2 November 1935
  24. ↑ Jane Fryer (20 May 2011). "Dave Cameron's wicked uncle: He dreamed of being PM - then got waylaid by claret, horses and a flirty petrol pump attendant". Daily Mail (London). p. 20 May 2011. Retrieved 13 July 2013.
  25. ↑ P. W. Montague-Smith, ed. (1968). Debrett's Peerage, Baronetage, Knightage and Companionage 1968: With Her Majesty's Royal Warrent Holders : Comprises Information Concerning Thepeerage, Privy Councillors, Baronets, Knights, and Companions of Orders. Kelly's Directories. p. 256.
  26. ↑ "Obituary - Lady Dugdale". Telegraph (London). 26 April 2004. Retrieved 13 July 2013.
  27. ↑ Eden, Richard (1 August 2009), "Ed Vaizey the Tatler Tory works for better Society", Daily Telegraph (London), retrieved 3 April 2010
  28. ↑ Barratt, Nick (5 January 2008). "Family detective: Adam Hart-Davis". London: Telegraph. Retrieved 4 June 2010.
  29. ↑ Andrew Pierce (28 April 2010). "Cameron and Boris, scions of royal blood". Daily Mail (London). Retrieved 13 July 2013.
  30. ↑ "Family of influence behind Boris Johnson". The Daily Telegraph. 3 May 2008. Retrieved 6 May 2010.
  31. ↑ Nigel Farndale (17 June 2008). "Ferdinand Mount: a little gentle self-flagellation". The Telegraph (London: Telegraph Media Group). Retrieved 14 July 2013.
  32. ↑ Francis Elliott; James Hanning (24 May 2012). Cameron: Practically a Conservative. HarperCollins Publishers. p. 369. ISBN 978-0-00-728317-0. Retrieved 14 July 2013.