Clan Forbes

also Clan Forbes

Lord Forbes, Scotland's senior baron, of Aberdeenshire.

Origin: Grampian & the North-East, Scotland
Motto: Grace me guide
Famous bearer: Duncan Forbes of Culloden (1685–1747), Lord President of the Court of Session
Register: Scottish clan

Territory of Forbes

The seat of Clan Forbes

Seat vacant

Chief

No one leads the Clan Forbes community yet. When the movement opens, you can stand for its leadership, or help elect whoever does.

Current mission

No shared goal set yet. Once Clan Forbes has leadership, it sets the public focus: a restoration, a gathering, a real-world project that helps its own.

The Forbes clan is being rebuilt. Join the waiting list for the movement today, and you help decide who leads it and what it does.

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Motto

Grace me guide

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 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 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.

Champions of the Forbes name

The bearers whose lives are inseparable from this surname. Each has their own page, biography, achievements, geography, connection to the family.

John Forbes
The ailing Fife brigadier who cut a road across the Pennsylvania wilderness, took the forks of the Ohio from the French by patience rather than slaughter, and gave Pittsburgh its name.

Castles the Forbes held

Strongholds this name held for a decade or more, look one up, or rebuild it to explore.

Lickleyhead Castle
Sold to William Forbes of Leslie in 1625, who restored the tower.
Craigievar Castle
Home of the Forbes family for 350 years, from the 1610 purchase until the sale to the National Trust for Scotland in 1963.
Corgarff Castle
Leased to the Forbes of Towie from about 1530; the family resettled Corgarff in 1745 but forfeited it for Jacobite leanings.
Castle Forbes
Seat of the Lords Forbes since the lands were granted to Sir Alexander Forbes in 1411 after the Battle of Harlaw.
Tolquhon Castle
Built 1584–89 by William Forbes, 7th Laird of Tolquhon, as an extension to Preston's Tower.
Pitsligo Castle
Held by the Forbes of Druminnor, who modified the castle in the 1570s.
Brux Castle
A branch of the Forbes family held Brux from 1409, through marriage to the heiress; raised to a barony in 1504–05.
Corse Castle
Corse was a Forbes property; the tower house was erected for the family in 1581.

Castles that share the Forbes name

The same name on the map, look one up, see what it looked like in its prime, and recreate it to explore.

Castle ForbesStill standing · prime 1815

All castles in Scotland → · Strongest castles in Scotland → · Castles of Europe

Play As Your Clan

Explore history as a ForbesStart your story →

Pick any year from 500 to 1945 and any place on earth, the Forbes country, or a shore no Forbes ever reached. The chronicler sets the scene; the deeds are yours.

Notable bearers of the Forbes name

Duncan Forbes of Culloden (1685–1747), Lord President of the Court of Session
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

Stories of Clan Forbes

Duncan Forbes holds the north
1745
From the August of 1745, when Charles Edward Stuart raised the standard at Glenfinnan, until the disaster of Culloden in April 1746, Duncan Forbes of Culloden, Lord President of the Court of Session and the senior judicial officer in Scotland, sat at his country house at Culloden, four miles east of Inverness, on the strip of ground that the Jacobite army would eventually march across, and wrote letters. He wrote to Lovat, who he knew was for the prince. He wrote to MacLeod of MacLeod, who he kept on the government side. He wrote to Sleat, to Sutherland, to Cromartie, to MacDonald of Slate, to MacKenzie of Coul, to MacDonell of Glengarry. He wrote to thirty-one separate Highland chiefs in fourteen weeks. About half of them came out for the prince anyway. The other half, in part because of his letters, did not. By the careful judgment of the histories, the smaller half of the Highlands held by Forbes is the half that turned the rising into a one-army campaign rather than a two. The cost of the work was forty thousand pounds of his own private money advanced to the government, never repaid in his lifetime. He died bankrupt at Culloden House in December 1747, twenty months after the battle that took his name.
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Frequently asked

What does the surname Forbes mean?

Where does the Forbes family come from?

The Forbes family is rooted in Grampian & the North-East, in Scotland. Within that, the name was particularly concentrated in Aberdeen and Buchan & Mar. The atlas page for the name records the historical territory it has held over the centuries.

Is Forbes Scottish or Irish?

Forbes is a Scottish surname; its home on this atlas is Scotland, where the historical territory and family record of the name are concentrated. The same or similar spellings can surface in Irish records, but the lineage documented on this page is the Scottish one.

How old is the Forbes surname?

The Forbes were a major Aberdeenshire clan from the 14th century onwards, alternating in regional supremacy with their cousin-rivals the Gordons of Huntly. European hereditary surnames crystallised broadly between the 12th and 14th centuries, and the Forbes name took its modern form within that long settlement.

What is the Forbes family known for?

Lord Forbes, Scotland's senior baron, of Aberdeenshire. The Forbes were a major Aberdeenshire clan from the 14th century onwards, alternating in regional supremacy with their cousin-rivals the Gordons of Huntly.

What is the Forbes motto?

The motto of the Forbes family is "Grace me guide". Family mottoes were registered with the chief of the name and carried on the heraldic arms and battle-banners.

Is there a Forbes family crest or coat of arms?

There is no single coat of arms that belongs to everyone named Forbes. Heraldic arms were granted to individuals and descend through specific documented lines, so a "family crest" matched to a surname alone is decorative rather than genealogical. In Scots heraldry the convention is different again: clansfolk wear the chief's crest inside a strap-and-buckle badge, the crest stays the chief's property, worn in allegiance rather than owned. The motto associated with the principal line is "Grace me guide".

Who is the most famous Forbes?

The best-known bearer of the Forbes name is Duncan Forbes of Culloden (1685–1747), Lord President of the Court of Session. Other prominent figures of the family include Bertie Charles Forbes (1880–1954), founder of Forbes magazine, Malcolm Forbes (1919–1990), magazine publisher and Steve Forbes (b. 1947), magazine publisher, two-time US presidential candidate.

Who are some famous Forbeses?

Notable bearers of the Forbes name include Duncan Forbes of Culloden (1685–1747), Lord President of the Court of Session, 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 and Sir Johnston Forbes-Robertson (1853–1937), Edwardian actor. Each is profiled on the family page, with cross-links to the geography, stories, and historical events tied to their life.

What stories are told about the Forbes family?

The Forbes family is associated with Duncan Forbes holds the north. Each story has its own page on this site with the full account, the date, the location, and the other families involved.

What is the story of Duncan Forbes holds the north?

From the August of 1745, when Charles Edward Stuart raised the standard at Glenfinnan, until the disaster of Culloden in April 1746, Duncan Forbes of Culloden, Lord President of the Court of Session and the senior judicial officer in Scotland, sat at his country house at Culloden, four miles east of Inverness, on the strip of ground that the Jacobite army would eventually march across, and wrote letters. He wrote to Lovat, who he knew was for the prince. The event is dated to 1745.

Is Clan Forbes the same family as Forbes?

Yes. Clan Forbes is a historical spelling variant of the Forbes name. The two share the same lineage and family affiliation; different parishes, clerks and migration registrars recorded the same name in slightly different forms, and the variant spellings sit on the same family tree.

Where is the Forbes surname found today?

Scotland is the primary historical home of the Forbes surname. In the modern era, the name is also borne across the wider diaspora, particularly in the United States, Canada, Australia and New Zealand, where families carry the line of descent from the same Scotland origin recorded on this page.

What does the Clan Rising page for the Forbes family cover?

The Clan Rising page for the Forbes family covers the meaning of the surname, the historical geography of the name, the family motto, famous bearers of the name, traditional stories and the seat of the head of the family. Each section is linked to the underlying atlas of Scotland so the name can be read in the geography that shaped it.

Who is the head of the Forbes family today?

The seat for the head of the Forbes family is currently vacant on this register. Clan Rising is rebuilding the chief and family structure for the modern era, and the family page allows readers to claim the seat or pledge to the name.