"The Napiers have a
long and ancient history and are descended, through the Earls of
Lennox, from the Celtic royal families of Scotland and Ireland.
The tenth Lord Napier (1834) was a gifted academic and received
degrees from the Universities of Glasgow, Edinburgh and Harvard.
He became a diplomat and was highly regarded in Washington prior
to the outbreak of the American Civil War. He was ambassador to
the Netherlands, Russia and Prussia. He served as acting Viceroy
of India in 1872. A Knight of the Thistle, he was created Baron
Ettrick of Ettrick in the peerage of the United Kingdom in July
1872. On his return to Scotland he became chairman of the newly
created Crofters Commission.
"