26th Earl of Crawford and 9th Earl of Balcarres KT

James Ludovic Lindsay, 26th Earlof Crawford and 9th Earl of Balcarres (1847 – 31 January 1913) was a British astronomer, politician, bibliophile and philatelist.  A member of the Royal Society, Crawford was elected president of the Royal Astronomical Society in 1878.  He was a prominent Freemason.

His Great Great Grandson, Charles Fowle (Elected 1998), wrote:

James Lindsay (of whom there is a cartoon by Lord Albemarle in the ladies room) was my grandmother's grandfather, and by all accounts somewhat eccentric.  He had a 1100 ton, 239',  fully rigged steam ship - Valhalla - in which he spent some time in the south Pacific searching for the sea monster which he believed existed, and he was also a keen philatelist.  My grandmother's story is that when at sea in the South Pacific, after several weeks searching for the sea monster, a crew member informed the earl that they had sighted what they believed could be the monster.  Far from rushing up on deck excitedly with his telescope, he testily told the crew member to leave as he was busy with his stamp collection.  (I have absolutely no idea if this is true, but it is family lore!)

Was born at St. Germain-en-Laye, France, in 1847, and succeeded to the title in 1880. He was President of the Astronomical Society, and M.P. for Wigan from 1874 to 1880. He was also President of the Camden Society.

Earl Crawford has made a number of voyages in his own yachts. In 1905-1906 he sailed in the s.y. Valhalla on a long and interesting voyage, visiting South America, South Africa, Ceylon, and the islands of Madagascar, at the same time carrying the mails to Tristan da Cunha. The voyage commenced early in November, 1905, and the Valhalla arrived home in May, 1906, and a valuable collection of rare birds was secured on the voyage. Earl Crawford is fond of cruising.

As Lord Lindsay he owned the schooner yacht Venus, 390 tons. This was followed in 1899 by the Consuelo, 546-ton s.y., and in 1901 by the Consuelo, 708 tons. In 1901 also he purchased the magnificent full-rigged ship Valhalla from Captain Laycock. He was elected a member of the Royal Yacht Squadron in 1874. Lord Crawford raced Valhalla in the ocean match from New York to the Lizard in 1905, and won third prize against ten competitors: Ailsa, Hildegarde, Atlantic (1st), Endymion (4th), Hamburg (2nd), Thistle, Fleur-de-lys, Sunbeam, Apache, and Utowana.