Clan Strachan

Sir Richard John Strachan, 6th Baronet GCB (1760 – 1828) 
British officer of the Royal Navy during the French Revolutionary and Napoleonic Wars, eventually rising to the rank of Admiral.

Strachan was born in Devon in 1760, the eldest son of Lieutenant Patrick Strachan RN and a daughter of Captain Pitman RN. Strachan entered the Royal Navy in 1772 at the age of twelve, serving first aboard HMS Intrepid. He went on to serve in a number of different ships on the North American Station, first aboard HMS Preston under Commodore William Hotham, followed by HMS Eagle, the flagship of Lord Howe.

On the death of his uncle on 26 December 1777, he succeeded to the baronetcy. Strachan was promoted in 1783 to the command of the cutter HMS Lizard, and then again to be captain of the frigate Naiad. Strachan returned to England in 1793, and was appointed to command the frigate HMS Concorde and in spring 1794 joined a squadron patrolling off Brest, under the command of Sir John Borlase Warren. The squadron engaged a rival squadron of four French frigates on 23 April 1794 and succeeded in capturing three of them. S

In 1802 he was appointed to command HMS Donegal. Whilst serving aboard her, he was made senior officer at Gibraltar and ordered to watch the combined French and Spanish fleet at Cadiz, under the orders of Nelson. Strachan was promoted to the rank of Rear-Admiral of the Blue on 9 November 1805. When on 28 January 1806, the thanks of both Houses of Parliament were voted to those who had fought at Trafalgar, Strachan and his command was specially included. On 29 January he was created a Knight Companion of the Order of the Bath (KB),and the City of London voted him the freedom of the city, and awarded him a sword of honour.

Sir Richard Strachan died at his house in Bryanston Square, London, on 3 February 1828. He had married Louisa Dillon in 1812, and together they had at least one daughter, but no son. The baronetcy became extinct upon his death.



Professor Hew Francis Anthony Strachan, (Born 1949)
Scottish military historian, well known for his work on the administration of the British Army and the history of the First World War. He was born Hew Francis Anthony Strachan on 1 September 1949 in Edinburgh, Scotland.

Strachan was a merchant seaman 1968-1971 working a passage around the world on The Ben Line Steamers. In 1973, he worked as a member of a Sudan antiquities survey. He was educated at Corpus Christi College, Cambridge.

Commissioned by Oxford University Press to write a history of the First World War, Strachan completed the first of three volumes, The First World War: Volume 1: To Arms in 2001 to wide acclaim and is acknowledged as one of the world's authorities on the subject. A controversial claim made by Strachan is that the First World War was caused more by blunder and indecision than German aggression.

Professor Strachan is Chichele Professor of the History of War at All Souls, Oxford University. He was Professor of Modern History at the University of Glasgow from 1992 to 2000. He is a Fellow of the Royal Society of Edinburgh and the Royal Historical Society. He was appointed a deputy lieutenant of Tweeddale in 2006.



Gordon David Strachan (born 1957) 
Former Scottish football player, and now a football manager. He was manager of Celtic, who has led to three successive Scottish Premier League titles (2006, 2007 and 2008). During a successful playing career, he played for Dundee (1974-1977), Aberdeen (1977-1984), Manchester United (1984-1989), Leeds United (1989-1995) and Coventry City (1995-1997). He also won 50 international caps for Scotland and is a member of the Scotland Football Hall of Fame. Strachan was an aggressive, skilful, right-sided midfield player and is the father of Gavin Strachan, also a footballer. Gordon Strachan is currently the manager of the Scottish national football team.




Zoe Strachan (born 1975)
Scottish novelist, who grew up in Ayrshire and currently lives in Glasgow. Her novels to date are Negative Space and Spin Cycle. Negative Space won a Betty Trask Award in 2003.