Sir David Younger: A lover of Peeblesshire and its people

He was Lord Lieutenant of Tweeddale for 20 years, from 1994 to 2014, a founder of the Broughton Brewery in Broughton, and a lover of Peeblesshire, its people and its countryside.

He gave unstinting service to a community he loved and supported for more than 40 years.

John David Bingham Younger was born on May 20, 1939.

His father, Major Oswald Younger MC, went to war that year with the Argyll and Sutherland Highlanders and David followed him into the same regiment.

After Eton and the Royal Military Academy Sandhurst, he was commissioned in 1957, served in Malaya at the tail end of the Communist insurgency and retired from the army in 1969.

He remained a proud Argyll all his life, and one of the high points of the celebratory lunch at Neidpath Castle given to mark his retirement as Lord Lieutenant in 2014 was the presence of Cruachan, the Highland pony which is the regimental mascot.

David, although not physically the obvious shape for a jockey, was an enthusiastic follower of equestrian pursuits.

Cruachan, as was his wont, nipped the outgoing Lord Lieutenant on his arrival.

David had married Anne Logan in 1962 while he was still serving.

It was an immensely happy and close relationship which lasted until 2012, just shy of their golden wedding anniversary.

They had three children, Sarah (now Landale), Camilla and Mark. Anne’s death, although met with David’s customary stoicism, hit him hard.

They had shared not just their family life but also their external activities.

Anne was a much-loved independent Tweeddale councillor, a source of sage advice and herself at the heart of many community activities, not least the establishment of the Eastgate Theatre.

Her knowledge of the county and its people undoubtedly complemented his and strengthened his Lord Lieutenancy.

Between them, there seemed to be nobody they did not know or local activity of which they were unaware. David was a Younger of the brewing dynasty and he joined Scottish and Newcastle Breweries when he resigned from the army.

He left after 10 years to set up the Broughton Brewery in 1979. Run from what had been the site of the old slaughterhouse, it proved a success which put the village on the map.

Its trademark Greenmantle Ale reached the pubs of Edinburgh, Glasgow and further afield, an extraordinary achievement given its small office, occupied by David, Anne and a small staff, and their need to go elsewhere for both bottling and distribution.

The issue of how far it should expand was fraught and difficult, and in 1995 David stood down as managing director.

By then he had been Lord Lieutenant for a year, having succeeded Lieutenant-Colonel Aidan Sprot MC of Hayston, whom he had served as Vice Lord Lieutenant.

Freed of his business commitments, David could give himself whole-heartedly to the Lieutenancy and the community it served.

He took on the additional roles which go with the office and went beyond them, serving as President of the Lowland Reserve Forces and Cadets Association 2006-14, chairing the Scottish branch of the Lord Lieutenants’ Association, and becoming a very hands-on President of the Borders branch of SSAFA. He was immensely proud to be the Queen’s representative in the county and in 2013 she rewarded him by visiting Peebles to open the new John Buchan Museum, located in the Chambers Institution.

She had already appointed him a Knight Commander of the Victorian Order in the New Year’s Honours for 2013 in recognition of his outstanding service.

That commitment to the crown also came in another form.

David was a member of the Royal Company of Archers (the Queen’s – now the King’s – Body Guard in Scotland), and served as its secretary for 14 years from 1993.

Although part-time and then unremunerated, it was a demanding task, overseeing the membership, liaising with the Royal household on engagements in Scotland, supporting the President and Council of the Royal Company, and maintaining good relationships with the Scottish Government.

During David’s tenure, the Archers’ Council delivered a complex scheme which transformed its site at Archers’ Hall, revitalising the Royal Company’s finances and creating a vision for its future.

David was the hub around which all this was achieved. David Younger was a determined man, committed, loyal, traditional in his outlook on life, and possessed of the highest standards of probity and decency.

He had a capacity for getting people to do things that they did not know that they wanted to do, or perhaps thought they could not do, but which they were then grateful that they had done.

He did it all with an openness to others, whatever their background, and with an open door for all.