David Cameron's Scottish connections from clan to Jura
Gabriel McKay
“If you don’t like me, I won’t be here forever. If you don’t like this government, it won’t last forever,” David Cameron told the people…
/resources/images/17853003/
The Herald
Mr Cameron has Scottish blood on both sides of his family, though admittedly pretty far removed in the case of his mother whose father's mother's father's father was from Fife.

However, his father was born in Huntly, Aberdeenshire in a Victorian country house built for the former Prime Minister’s great-great grandfather Alexander Geddes.

Read More: Rishi Sunak cabinet reshuffle LIVE : David Cameron appointed Foreign Secretary

“My surname goes back to the West Highlands,” Mr Cameron said in a speech urging Scots to vote no. “The name Cameron might mean 'crooked nose' but the clan motto is 'Let us unite', and that is exactly what we in these islands have done."

Some may suggest ‘let us unite’ is right behind ‘strong and stable’ in terms of Cameron quotes that haven’t aged well.

The Cameron clan was part of the Jacobite uprising of 1715, something the PM shrugged off with “we let our hearts rule our heads”.

It’s not just in the dim and distant past though that the new Foreign Secretary can claim ties to fair Caledonia – indeed, it’s often claimed he owns half of Jura.

Mr Cameron frequently holidays on the 20,000 acre Tarbert estate, with Times columnist Alex Massie suggesting in 2019 that the former Conservative leader had christened a deer he shot there ‘Boris’.

Asked about his love for the island he said: “When you’re up a hill on a stiff walk and the rain’s coming down and then glorious sunshine with these fantastic views – there’s nowhere better to be.

“I love swimming in the sea there. The beaches are beautiful and I love to fish.”

Does he own half of the Inner Hebridean island though? Well, not quite.

Read More: Cameron in shock return to UK Government as Sunak reshuffles cabinet

Mr Cameron’s wife, Samantha, is the daughter of Annabel Astor, Viscountess Astor, and Sir Reginald Sheffield, 8th Baronet.

The Tarbert Estate on Jura has been owned by the Astor Family for more than 100 years, so while the former Prime Minister does not own the land he does have a family connection.

Included in the estate is the Corryvreckan whirlpool which separates the island from Scarba.

Author George Orwell famously nearly drowned while making the crossing in a boat, with he and his young son, Richard, rescued by a passing lobster fisherman after managing to make it to a small rocky outcrop.