David Lumsden of Cushnie

Born: 25 May, 1933, in Quetta, Baluchistan.

Died: 30 August, 2008, in Fort William, aged 75.

DAVID Lumsden of Cushnie, an outstanding heraldist, castle restorer, businessman, monarchist and staunch Jacobite, could easily have lived a life out of his time. Instead, he leapt into the 21st century with a youthfulness and vigour that belied his three-quarters-of-a-century.

Tall, with an upright, athletic figure reflecting a youth spent passionately rowing or on the polo field, Lumsden of Cushnie wove his own thread in the tapestry of Scotland. Interested in castellated architecture from boyhood, he proved an expert on the L-plan and Z-plan towers that make up so many of Scotland's fortified houses and, after 1970, personally restored two family properties – Cushnie House (built in 1688 by Alexander Lumsden) and Tillycairn Castle (built in 1540 by Mathew Lumsden). Their success was such that he went on to restore Leithen Lodge at Innerleithen, an arts-and-crafts shooting lodge of 1887, and Liberton Tower, in Edinburgh.

Unsurprisingly, he was a co-founder with Harry Borthwick (23rd Lord Borthwick), Nigel Tranter and Hugh Ross of the Castles of Scotland Preservation Trust. In this, they were greatly aided by Jessie Pettigrew, whose pioneering work turned the A-listed but condemned Dalzell House in Motherwell from a ruin into an attractive series of homes.

The constant struggle to rescue outstanding castles caused Cushnie to opine that "shortage of government funding for historic building projects (in Scotland) is chronic when compared with other European countries".

Given his upbringing and interests, Cushnie could have been excused for flaunting idiosyncrasies. He confined these simply to listing his birthplace in Baluchistan as "in the Empire of India" – which it was when he was born there the son of Major Harry Lumsden – and campaigning against the wearing of white socks with the kilt.

"Any colour but white," he would lecture, and carried a supply of printed cards bearing the message to hand out to offenders. A patron of the Aboyne Gathering and faithful attender in his green Lumsden of Cushnie kilt for nearly half-a-century, he wrote an enthusiastic article on tartan for the games programme last month that included a broadside on white hose.

David Gordon Allen d'Aldecamb Lumsden of Cushnie, a true supporter of good manners, was educated at Allhallows, Devon, Bedford School and Jesus College, Cambridge. He held a commission in the London Scottish TA before developing an executive career with British American Tobacco for 23 years from 1959, and was a member of Lloyd's from 1985 until his retirement in 2001. He worked in Africa, India and the Far East, as well as eastern Europe in the heyday of the Iron Curtain. His first mission on leaving BAT was to move into castle restoration.

A profound monarchist and Jacobite, he served as convener of the Monarchist League of Scotland, was president for the past 23 years of the 1745 Association, was a contributor to the publication The Muster Rolls of the 45 (listing all those who served with Prince Charles Edward), and served as a council member of the Royal Stuart Society. Last year, he played a prominent role in commemorating the bicentenary of the death of Prince Henry, Cardinal Stuart, last member of the Royal House of Stuart, at the Royal Hospital Chelsea, along with Viscount Maitland (hereditary bearer of the National Flag of Scotland) and General Lord Walker (governor of the Royal Hospital).

Keenly interested in music, he was co-founder of the Scottish Historic Organs Trust in 1991.

His Cushnie lineage – Robert Lumsden, 1st of Cushnie, was granted a charter of the lands by King James IV in 1509 – gave him distant cousinship to Sir Winston Churchill. Robert of Cushnie was Churchill's 11-greats-grandfather.

A keen heraldist and enthusiastic member of the Heraldry Society of Scotland, he was one of only four private heralds in Scotland, serving Margaret, 30th Countess of Mar, as garioch pursuivant. Greatly involved in chivalry, he was also a knight of Malta; knight of justice of the sacred military Constantinian order of St George; knight of the order of Saint Maurice and St Lazarus; and bailie of the bailiwick of Scotland of the order of St Lazarus; as well as being a freeman of the City of London. His motto, Dei Donum Sum Quod Sum (by the grace of God, I am what I am) reflected his strong Christian commitment.

Cushnie was active in the Convention of the Baronage of Scotland, and wearing his scarlet robes represented the convention at two services in St Giles' Cathedral each year – St Andrews Day and the opening of the General Assembly. He hosted one of the meetings at his home near Prestonpans.

One delegate, a clan chief, observed afterwards: "David has a distinctive aquiline nose, and on the walls were portraits of all his ancestors, mainly eminent soldiers dating back to the Napoleonic war. That nasal feature had endured for more than 150 years in the male line."

Cushnie, Jacobite to the end, died while on business for the 1745 Association in Fort William. He was predeceased earlier this year by his younger brother, Kenneth, and is survived by his sister, Jean (Mrs de Laurier) and her two sons.

GORDON CASELY