Robert Gayre

[[File:Robert Gayre profile.jpg|thumb|right|165px|Robert Gayre]]
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'''Robert Gayre''' {{lived|1907|1996}} was a [[United Kingdom|British]] eccentric, soldier, spy, [[pseudohistory|pseudohistorian]], and [[scientific racism|scientific racist]], who fancied himself a clan chieftain, and established his own order of chivalry in the UK. Although he considered himself an anthropologist and lectured on the subject in [[India]], his academic status has been questioned.<ref name=herald/><ref name=dubow/> His other ventures included starting an organisation for ethnic Britons called WISE ([[Wales|Welsh]], [[Ireland|Irish]], [[Scotland|Scots]], [[England|English]]). Claims that he was involved in the [[New World Order]] conspiracy should be taken less seriously.

==Military career==
He was a spy in [[Germany]] before [[World War Two]]. At the start of the war, he served in the British Expeditionary Force in [[France]], and later was involved in the administration of [[Italy]] after its capture by the Allies.<ref name=herald/>

==Genealogical credentialism==
{{main|Credentialism#Making it up}}
===Clan Gayre===
He seemed to fancy himself a highland laird, and bought Lochore Castle (an uninhabitable pile of rubble) in Fife, Scotland, the ownership of which enabled him to style himself feudal baron of Lochoreshyre.<ref name=herald/> To add to his claim, he invented a spurious history of the Clan Gayre, an entirely fictitious Scottish clan that he claimed were his ancestors; in reality the clan history cannot be traced back before the mid 20<sup>th</sup> century.<ref>{{wpa|Clan Gayre}}</ref>

He enjoyed collecting exotic titles including Lieutenant Colonel in the [[Alabama]] State Militia.<ref name=herald/>

===Order of St Lazarus===
Gayre set up a modern-day British branch of the Order of St Lazarus, one of the medieval orders of [[Crusades|Crusader]] knights who served to protect pilgrims in the [[Jerusalem|Holy Land]] in the short period when they seized it from the [[Muslims]]. He also created and became President of the International Commission on Orders of Chivalry, an organisation which claimed authority to authenticate orders of chivalry.<ref>[http://www.heraldica.org/topics/orders/icoc.html International Commission on Orders of Chivalry (1996)], heraldica.org</ref><ref name=wp>{{wpa|Robert Gayre}}</ref>

In 1971 he bought a church from the ([[Anglican]]) Scottish Episcopalian Church in Stockbridge, Edinburgh's fashionable bohemian district, and decorated it with a ton of heraldic paraphernalia.<ref>[http://www.stvincentschapel.org.uk/coats-of-arms-and-shields/ The Armorial Embellishments], St Vincent's Chapel website</ref> This served as a headquarters for the Order of St Lazarus. The organisation did some charitable works, including fundraising for [[leprosy]] treatment.

After his death, the order closed down again and the church reverted to more orthodox Anglican worship, although the regalia remains.

==Academia==
He gained a degree in Geography from Edinburgh University.<ref name=herald>[http://www.heraldscotland.com/news/12041144.Robert_Gayre/ Robert Gayre], Glasgow Herald, 17 Feb 1996</ref> This seems to have been his only academic qualification. He became professor of anthropogeography at the University of Saugor in India in 1954, and became a Fellow of the country's National Academy of Science.<ref name=herald/>

In 1986 he attempted to give Glasgow University a large sum of money to endow a chair in [[Scotland|Scottish]] Literature, but after controversy over his views and protests from ''Searchlight'', 96,000 pounds were returned to him.<ref name=herald/><ref name=bowd/> The ''Glasgow Herald'' suggested there was some mystery over where the money came from.<ref name=herald/>

==Scientific racism==
He founded a journal, ''Mankind Quarterly'', in 1960 to advance his ideas, with backing from the International Association for the Advancement of Ethnology and Eugenics, and Wickliffe Draper's Pioneer Fund (Draper was a keen advocate of eugenics).<ref name=dubow>[http://wiser.wits.ac.za/system/files/documents/Dubow2015.pdf "Racial Irredentism, Ethnogenesis, and White Supremacy in High­Apartheid South Africa"], Saul Dubow, Queen Mary, University of London, September 2015</ref> Its honorary editor was Otto von Vershuer, director of the Nazi German Institute for Genetic Biology and Racial Hygiene from 1935 to 1942 and academic supervisor of Josef Mengele.<ref name=bowd>[https://books.google.co.uk/books?id=NLK8BQAAQBAJ&lpg=PT202&ots=F4o3DqJhMG&dq=robert%20gayre&pg=PT202#v=onepage&q=robert%20gayre&f=true Fascist Scotland], Gavin Bowd, Birlinn, 2013, </ref><ref>{{wpa|Otmar Freiherr von Verschuer}}</ref> Gayre also defended Hans F. K. Günther, another Nazi race theorist.<ref name=wp/>

Gayre believed that east Asians were more intelligent than whites who were in turn superior to blacks.<ref name=herald/> He claimed that scientific racism had been unfairly maligned because of its association with [[Nazism]].<ref>[http://jtl.org/links/gayre.html Race and Nazi Racism and the Latter’s Impact on Anthropology], Robert Gayre, The Mankind Quarterly, Vol. XVIII, No. 4, (April-June 1978), pp. 293-303</ref>

He also contributed to ''Race and Reason'', a pamphlet by American segregationist Carleton Putnam.<ref>''[https://books.google.co.uk/books?id=4T4hAQAAQBAJ&lpg=PA157&dq=robert%20gayre&pg=PA157#v=onepage&q=robert%20gayre&f=false For the Betterment of the Race: The Rise and Fall of the International Movement for Eugenics and Racial Hygiene]'', S. Kühl, Springer, 2013</ref>

He visited [[apartheid]] [[South Africa]] several times, speaking on racial topics, including controversial views on the history of [[Zimbabwe]], which were used to justify Ian Smith's racist policies, and statements that black people were genetically unsuitable for civilisation or [[democracy]].<ref name=dubow/>

He was a regular in court, including a 1965 victory over the Slovene anthropologist Božo Škerlj, who had died 4 years previously.<ref>104. Settlement of Action for Damages for Libel, ''Man'', Vol. 65 (Jul. - Aug., 1965), p. 118 (1 page)</ref> In 1968 he testified as a witness in a court case for the white nationalist group the Racial Preservation Society who had been accused of violating the Race Relations Act 1965.<ref name=wp/> In 1973 he lost a libel action against the ''Sunday Times'', which had accused him of racism.<ref name=herald/> In another of his court cases over allegations of racism, in 1968, he claimed "Nearly all our foresight and acquisitiveness is due to the high development of the temporal lobes. This is not anything like so developed in the Negro race, and as a result they are feckless, they are not worried about the future - and they do not suffer from ulcers as a consequence."<ref>"Racism and the barmy Laird of Nigg", Linklater, Magnus, ''The Times'' (London, England), Wednesday, November 23, 1994, Issue 65119, p.18, via [http://tinyurl.galegroup.com/tinyurl/8ychf4 Gale/Times Digital Archive]</ref>

==WISE==
He founded the organsiation WISE (Welsh, Irish, Scots, English)<ref name=herald/> in 1974; this anti-immigration organsiation had links to the [[National Front]] and [[Conservative Monday Club]]; it called for the defence of white culture and repatriation of black British people.<ref>''[https://books.google.co.uk/books?id=qps14mSlghcC&lpg=PA195&ots=2kaLT_GzT4&dq=WISE%20(Welsh%2C%20Irish%2C%20Scots%2C%20English)%20gayre&pg=PA195#v=onepage&q=WISE%20(Welsh,%20Irish,%20Scots,%20English)%20gayre&f=false Encyclopedia of British and Irish Political Organizations: Parties, Groups and Movements of the 20th Century]'', Peter Barberis, John McHugh, Mike Tyldesley, A&C Black, 2000, 681.</ref>

Its members included Rev Peter K. G. Manton, a vicar and Senator in the parliament of Jersey. Manton stated that blacks in [[South Africa]] were better off under [[apartheid]].<ref name=shaxson>[https://books.google.co.uk/books?id=4F9wx0gWXYcC&lpg=PA229&ots=EuNXgSHPLn&dq=peter%20manton%20jersey&pg=PA229#v=onepage&q=peter%20manton%20jersey&f=false Treasure Islands: Tax Havens and the Men who Stole the World], Nicholas Shaxson, Random House, 2012, p229</ref>

==In conspiracy theories==
Because the Order of St Lazarus is ancient and with vague connections to the [[Roman Catholic Church]], and because of Gayre's relationship with the British intelligence services and Peter Manton's possible link to the Jersey sex abuse scandal, Gayre has become the object of [[conspiracy theories]].

The [[LaRouche Movement]] informs us that Gayre was behind the World Anti-Communist League (an "alternative United Nations") as well as having links to the P2 [[Freemason]] lodge (through his work in post-war Italy).<ref>[http://www.larouchepub.com/eiw/public/1982/eirv09n15-19820420/eirv09n15-19820420_028-allen_dulles_william_buckley_and.pdf Allen Dulles, William Buckley, and the Nazi International], Scott Thompson, La Rouche Publications, April 20, 1982</ref> Various eccentric sources such as this link Gayre with Douglas Douglas-Hamilton, 14<sup>th</sup> Duke of Hamilton, who was associated with pro-Nazi elements in the British [[aristocracy]] before and during World War Two; Rudolf Hess was apparently trying to meet Douglas-Hamilton in his flight to Scotland. It's ironic that somebody whose life's work was to spread misinformation should himself be subject of some very eccentric theories; a meta-conspiracy theorist could suggest they are either attempts to discredit Gayre or to discredit his critics.

His associate Peter Manton was accused of [[Child sexual abuse|child sexual offences]] but never convicted and is now dead.<ref name=shaxson/> He has been mentioned in conspiracy theories about [[pedophile]] rings in Jersey and in British upper-class society involving {{wpl|Cyril Smith}} and {{wpl|Jimmy Savile||.}}<ref>[https://web.archive.org/web/20190716023945/http://freespeechoffshore.nl/stuartsyvretblog/of-tax-havens-and-child-rapists/ Of tax havens and child rapists], Stuart Syvret, Stuart Syvret blog</ref><ref>[http://voiceforchildren.blogspot.co.uk/2014/07/stuart-syvret-court-case-state-media.html Stuart Syvret Court Case State Media Interview (uncut)], Voice for Children, Blogspot</ref> There is no suggestion that Gayre was involved in any abuse.

==References==
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{{DEFAULTSORT:Gayre, Robert}}
[[Category:British people]]
[[Category:Eugenics supporters]]
[[Category:Government surveillance]]
[[Category:Pseudohistory promoters]]
[[Category:Racialism pseudoscientists]]
[[Category:Racists]]
[[Category:Scotland]]
[[Category:Shysters]]

Categories: British people, Eugenics supporters, Government surveillance, Pseudohistory promoters, Racialism pseudoscientists, Racists, Scotland, Shysters