Framed Painting - Francis, Lord Seaforth, founder of the Seaforth Highlanders (1755-1815). A plaque on the bottom of the frame states: "Painting - Francis, Lord Seaforth / Born 1755 - Died 1815 / Presented to The Seaforth Highlanders of Canada / by Madeleine, Countess of Midleton / In Memory of her Son / Francis Alan Stewart-Mackenzie of Seaforth / Killed in Action in Italy, [10] September 1943. Francis Humberston Mackenzie, 1st Baron Seaforth FRS (9 June 1754 – 11 January 1815) was a British politician, (by right of his ancestry) Chief of the Highland Clan Mackenzie and raised the renowned 78th (Highlanders) Regiment of Foot. When he was about twelve he suffered from scarlet fever which resulted in his losing his hearing and almost all speech, from this he was known as MacCoinnich Bodhar (Deaf Mackenzie) in Gaelic. He nearly recovered the use of his tongue but during the last two years of his life, mourning the deaths of his four sons, he never made the attempt to articulate. In 1784 and again in 1790 he was elected Member of Parliament for the County of Ross. In 1787 he offered to raise a regiment on his own estates to be commanded by himself. The government declined his patriotic offer but accepted his services in procuring recruits for the 74th and 75th. On 19 May 1790 he renewed his offer but the government again declined his services. When war broke out in 1793 he offered for a third time and a letter of service was granted in his favour dated 7 March 1793 empowering him as Lieutenant-Colonel-Commandant to raise a Highland Battalion to be called 78th (Highlanders) Regiment of Foot, known as "Seaforth's Highlanders". The original Mackenzie regiment had had its number previously reduced to 72nd Regiment of Foot. On 10 February 1794 the government agreed to his proposal to raise a second battalion, the Ross-shire Buffs. The two battalions were amalgamated in 1796. Another battalion was raised in 1804 (letter of service dated 17 April) and these were again amalgamated July 1817. In 1798 he was appointed Colonel of the Ross-shire Regiment of Militia. In 1808 he was made a Lieutenant-General. Francis Alan Stewart-Mackenzie of Seaforth: From 1929 he held a Territorial commission in the Surrey Yeomanry. In 1939, as a Major in charge of 392 Battery in 98th Field Regiment RA, Stewart-Mackenzie went to France with the original British Expeditionary Force. With him, as second-in-command of the Regiment, was a fellow Wykehamist, Major Charles Ralph Egerton (F1920-1925), who was killed in action on May 25th 1940. After narrowly escaping capture during the retreat from Dunkirk, Stewart-Mackenzie was mentioned in despatches. His regiment went to North Africa in June 1942, and as second-in-command he saw much fighting, especially at Alamein. Posted to Italy, the unit fought through all the Sicilian actions and the invasion of Italy in late 1943. Stewart-Mackenzie was killed at Rossano, near Salerno, on 11 September 1943. He was killed by a mine while entering a booby-trapped house. Killed at the age of thirty-three, he lies in grave V.F.33 of the Salerno War Cemetery, next to his brother Michael (who was also killed at Salerno). Both brothers are commemorated on the war memorial in the Episcopal Church of St James the Great in Dingwall. See attached media