Mackenzie, Francis Humberstone, sixth Lord Seaforth

Born deaf; educated at Thomas Braidwood's school for the deaf in Edinburgh. His family and friends used fingerspelling with him. After the deaths of his father and his older (hearing) brother, he became chief of the Mackenzie clan in 1781, teaching fingerspelling to hearing people around him to help them communicate with him. Successfully ran for election to Parliament in 1784, probably the first deaf person to win an elective office in government; he served in Parliament until 1790. When war broke out with France, he raised an army of soldiers from Scotland to join the British army against the French, serving as its commander though he never saw actual combat; he rose to the rank of Lieutenant General in 1808. After the war, he ran for Parliament again and was re-elected. Also in 1808, he, now Lord Seaforth, became governor of Barbados and served there for several years.