(364) Bannerman and Campbell-Bannerman of Wyastone Leys, Hunton Court and Belmont Castle

Campbell-Bannerman
of Belmont Castle

Bannerman of Hunton Court

The Bannermans were a farming family from Perthshire who had an eye to commercial opportunities. William Bannerman (1732-1812) diversified from farming into distilling, and his son Henry Bannerman (1753-1823) did not fail to observe the rapid growth of the cotton industry in and around Manchester.  In about 1806 he sent his son David Bannerman (1785-1829) to set up a small warehouse operation in the city on an experimental basis, and finding after a couple of years that this was profitable, he determined to move south for a radical change of career. Most of his family went with him, although his eldest son remained in Scotland to farm and his two eldest daughters, who were already married, also stayed behind. Within a month he had rented a warehouse, and established a company with the name of Henry Bannerman & Sons, although initially his only partner seems to have been David, with the younger sons, Alexander, John, Henry and Andrew joining the firm as they became old enough. The new enterprise began trading in cotton, calicoes, muslins and plain fabrics, and soon diversified into manufacturing cotton goods.

When Henry died in 1823, he was succeeded as head of the firm by David, who managed the business until he died six years later. By the late 1820s the family were sufficiently well-established in commercial circles for David to be chosen as boroughreeve (the leading municipal officer) for 1828-29. After David's death, the business was continued by his younger brothers. Bannermans was by this time prospering and in the late 1830s the company moved to a huge warehouse in York Street which was right in the centre of the Manchester cotton trade. They also had four cotton mills in the Manchester area : Brunswick Mill in Ancoats, Old Hall Mill in Dukinfield and the North End Mill and River Meadow Mill, both in Stalybridge.

Of the four remaining sons of the founder, Andrew died in 1839 and Alexander in 1846, and in 1844 David's two sons were brought into the business. Henry Bannerman junior (1798-1871) retired in 1850 and moved to Kent, where he had invested his profits in the Hunton Court estate in the hop-growing district around Maidstone and extensively remodelled the house. A few years later, the last of the brothers, John Bannerman (1795-1870) made a similar move, buying Wyastone Leys in Herefordshire and largely rebuilding it to designs of William Burn and his assistant John MacVicar Anderson.

In the middle years of the 19th century the firm was run by David's son, James Alexander Bannerman (1821-1906), with his cousin William Young (whose mother had been a Bannerman). Young's daughter Marion married one of the managers in the business, Sir Charles Wright Macara (1845-1929), 1st bt., and he became the Chairman of the firm in 1880, and redirected its production into goods such as curtains, quilts, sheets, blankets and calicoes. Macara - whose baronetcy was a reward for his remarkable charitable work with the Royal National Lifeboat Institution - remained the chairman until his death, by which time the Lancashire cotton industry was dying. The First World War had made it difficult to import the vast quantities of raw cotton that had sustained the industry, and the Government had encouraged colonial administrations to build their own mills, which subsequently competed very effectively with the Lancashire industry. In 1929 the Bank of England was sufficiently concerned about the state of the industry to set up the Lancashire Cotton Corporation to co-ordinate the rescue of the industry, and Bannermans' mills were all taken over a few years later (and subsequently acquired by Courtaulds in 1964, who closed them in 1967), although the firm continued trading, latterly as Banner Textiles, until comparatively recently.

John Bannerman (1795-1870) left Wyastone Leys to his son, James Murray Bannerman (1846-1915), who also became a director of the family firm. Although he initially seems to have lived at Wyastone, he seems not to have been fond of the house, as he rented other houses (notably Bishopswood in Gloucestershire and Llwyn Onn Hall in Denbighshire) which he occupied instead. He died during the First World War when the Lancashire cotton industry had been plunged into crisis, and his executors sold Wyastone Leys in about 1918. His eldest son, Lt-Col. John Arthur Murray Bannerman (1881-1953) became a career soldier and had no involvement with the family firm, although his elder son, Alistair John Murray Bannerman (1914-2009) worked there in the 1950s and 1960s in a more prosaic interlude between his early career as an actor and his later work as the first National Events Officer for the National Trust. Colonel Bannerman's younger brother, Ronald Bannerman (1882-1958), was however chairman of the company in succession to Sir Charles Macara.

Henry Bannerman (1798-1871), who lived at Hunton Court in Kent from 1850 onwards, left that property to his wife for life, and then to his nephew, Henry Campbell, on condition that the latter took the additional name of Bannerman, a condition with which he reluctantly complied in 1872. Henry Campbell was the son of Sir James Campbell, kt., a Glasgow merchant and Lord Provost, and his wife Janet, who was one of the daughters of the first Henry Bannerman. By the time he received his legacy he had embarked on a political career which culminated in his leadership of the Liberal Party, 1899-1908, and his appointment as Prime Minister, 1905-08.

Gennings Park: the house as painted by M.A. Rooker, 1776.

He did not gain possession of Hunton Court until his aunt died in 1894, and in the meantime he seems to have bought another house close by, Gennings Park. which he used as an occasional residence between 1872 and 1888. He had always wanted a Scottish country seat, however, and in 1885 he invested much of his capital in buying 800 acres in Perthshire and the burned-out shell of a house called Belmont Castle, which he laid out a further £20,000 in restoring. Belmont became his favoured residence, and coupled with his busy life in London and regular annual forays to Europe (he and his wife liked to spend a month or six weeks at Marienbad and then to visit Paris), this may explain why he first rented and then sold Gennings Park before he gained possession of Hunton Court.

When Sir Henry Campbell-Bannerman died in April 1908, a few days after leaving office as Prime Minister and while he was still living at 10 Downing St., he left his Scottish estate to a Campbell relative who was still a minor, and his Kentish estate to his first cousin once removed, James Campbell Bannerman (1857-1934). The Scottish property was quickly sold to Sir James Caird (1837-1916), 1st bt., the Dundee jute magnate, and in 1918 was presented by the latter's widowed sister to Dundee City Council. The house became a care home in 1931 and is currently empty and rather tragically unloved. Hunton Court, by contrast, continued to be occupied by the descendants of James Campbell Bannerman until 2008, when it was sold after the death of Capt. Michael Campbell Devas (1924-2007).

Wyastone Leys, Ganarew, Herefordshire

The first house on this site on the borders of Herefordshire and Monmouthshire (and thus of England and Wales) seems to have been built c.1795 for S.O. Attley, who had a fairly small property here. It was bought before 1817 by Richard Blakemore MP, ironmaster and partner of John Partridge, who built a country house nearby (Bishopswood in Gloucestershire) to the designs of Sir Jeffrey Wyatville at the same time as Blakemore remodelled and enlarged this house in the 1820s. It is therefore tempting to suggest that Wyatville might have been Blakemore's designer too, although there is no evidence to that effect and I have not found a record of the building at this time to form the basis for a stylistic judgement.

Perhaps more important than his work on the house was Blakemore's development of the estate and the grounds. He began by diverting a highway across his land in 1817 and took advantage of the turnpiking of the Ross-Monmouth road (now A40) in 1821 which allowed him to use the old line of the public road as a new drive to the house. According to Bradney's History of Monmouthshire, the creation of the park and gardens also required the clearing away of many cottages and smallholdings. The 1st edition OS map of 1831 shows pleasure grounds with drives, and he planted a bank of woodland to screen the house from the new road; a walled garden had been constructed by 1835. In 1833 the common called Little Doward east of the house was enclosed and Blakemore was able to develop a 320-acre deer park on this land, which was enclosed by a wall after 1842, and stocked with deer from Llantrithyd in Glamorganshire, where the deer park ceased to be maintained when the house was abandoned. In 1872 it was reported that 'the wooded park of The Leys [is] a scene of varied beauty which cannot easily be surpassed' and this is broadly still true.

Wyastone Leys: entrance front. Image: Martinevans123. Some rights reserved.

 In 1861 the executors of Blakemore's son sold the house to John Bannerman (d. 1870), a Manchester cotton manufacturer. He extensively rebuilt it in 1861-62, as a rather dull rendered three-storey block. Although the house was designed under the name of William Burn, Paul Bradley has discovered that it was actually a collaboration between the ageing Burn and his nephew and successor in practice, John Macvicar Anderson, who may actually have played the leading role. Although the strapwork motifs above the first-floor windows, the pinnacled parapets, Jacobean shaped gables and ogee-topped turrets are all elements drawn from Burn's stylistic repertoire, they do not combine into an integrated design, and appear rather as restless and superficial decorations applied to an obstinately lumpen block. Previous commentators have suggested that the quoins, sash windows and Doric porch might be survivals from the earlier house, but Dr. Bradley's researches show that the porch is certainly, and the other details are probably all part of the Burn-Anderson rebuilding. The west-facing entrance front has a four-storey clock tower in the angle with a short projecting wing that separates the main block from the service range. The south side, facing the river, is livelier, and has a canted two-storey bay window. At the same time as the house was being altered two rather good lodges, a new stable block (converted into a business park in 1976), kennels, park-keeper's lodge and a 'belvedere' close to the River Wye were also built.

Wyastone Leys: the south-facing garden front, as altered by William Burn. Image: Dawnswraig. Some rights reserved.

Wyastone Leys descended to James Murray Bannerman (1846-1913), who seems to have let the house at times after 1894. His family sold it after his death and it subsequently passed through a number of hands. During the ownership of Brig. Robert Peel Walker (1895-1978) after the Second World War, the house fell into disrepair, and it was in a fairly poor condition when he put it up for sale. The purchaser, in 1975, was Nimbus Records Ltd, who were one of the first firms manufacturing CDs in the UK and needed a base for their operations. They and associated companies still own the house, which is now largely used for offices. A 550-seat music concert venue was built in the grounds in 1992.

Descent: built c.1795 for S.O. Attley; sold to James? Meek; sold by 1817 to Richard Blakemore MP (1774-1855); to nephew, Thomas William Booker Blakemore (d. 1858); sold 1861 to John Bannerman (1795-1870); to son, James Murray Bannerman (1846-1915); sold after his death to Walter Levett (d. 1935); to widow (d. 1938); sold to Sir Alfred Edward Hickman (1885-1947), 2nd bt.; sold 1946 to Brig. Robert Peel Walker (1895-1978); sold 1975 to Nimbus Records. The house was let in the 1890s and 1900s.

Hunton Court, Kent

Hunton Court: engraving of 1838 showing the house before its enlargement for Henry Bannerman.

The house is now an irregular classical building, apparently 18th and 19th century in date, but this conceals a far earlier core, with a medieval (perhaps 13th century) cellar and the three bay crown-post roof of an unusually large 14th or 15th century hall. An engraving of 1838 shows that the exterior had by then been clad in classical form, but preserved what was essentially the medieval plan, with a hall range and cross-wing at the left-hand end; the corresponding wing at the right-hand side, if it ever existed, had been demolished by that date. 

Hunton Court: the house in 1960. Image: Peter Reid/Historic England.

After the house was bought by Henry Bannerman in c.1847, it was enlarged and remodelled, with the area in the angle between the hall and cross-wing being filled in to give the house a rectangular plan. The features of the entrance front - the central pediment, the canted bay windows, and the balustraded parapet -  are therefore of about 1848. At the same time, Bannerman refitted the interior with delicate plasterwork and painted decorative panels depicting classical scenes, foliage and flowers. The porch is probably an even later addition, as it looks late 19th century.

Descent: Thomas Turner Alkin (d. 1846); sold after his death to Henry Bannerman (1798-1871); to widow, Mary Bannerman (d. 1894) for life and then to nephew, Sir Henry Campbell-Bannerman (1836-1908); to nephew, James Campbell Bannerman (1857-1934); to widow, Frances Louisa Campbell-Bannerman (c.1863-1938); to daughter Joan (1888-1975), wife of Geoffrey Charles Devas (1887-1971); to son, Michael Campbell Devas (1924-2007); sold 2008...

Belmont Castle (formerly Kirkhill), Meigle, Perthshire

The house incorporates some remains of a tower house called Kirkhill of Meigle built in the 15th or 16th century for the Bishops of Dunkeld, which was a plain three or four storey square tower with shotholes. This forms the north-east corner of the harled and hipped-roofed south range, but no significant early features are now visible.

Design by Robert Adam for a house for James Stuart-Mackenzie, 1766. This design was not executed, but Belmont Castle as built appears to be a reduced version of the design, perhaps adapted by a local mason. Image: Soane Museum Adam Volume 37/62.

In the mid 18th century, James Stuart-Mackenzie inherited the estate, and embarked upon an ambitious building project, erecting a “fine mansion” which he named Belmont Castle. In the process the old tower house was absorbed and probably partly demolished. The new house echoed the military origins of its predecessor by adopting the castle style developed by Robert Adam, and Adam was apparently consulted, for drawings by him dated 1766 survive in the Soane Museum for a house designed for Stuart-Mackenzie. These proposed a much larger quadrangular building than was actually built at Belmont, but there is a marked resemblance between the centre of the Adam scheme and the south front of the house as executed. It is perhaps most likely that Adam's design was given to another, more local, architect as an indication of what was wanted, rather than that Adam was personally involved any further with the project.

Belmont Castle: the new house erected by James Stewart Mackenzie, from an engraving on James Stobie's Map of Perthshire & Clackmannan, 1783. Image: National Library of Scotland.

The house as built consisted of a two storey main range with a central three-storey section flanked by circular turrets, and with less regular wings running away behind. The date of the new house is not clear: John Gifford in his account of the house refers to 'a large addition' having been made by 1752, but the date of 1766 on the Adam drawings seems more realistic for the castle-style facade. Sadly, nothing seems to be recorded of the interior or of any subsequent alterations, except that a ballroom was added by the 2nd Lord Wharncliffe in about 1850.

Belmont Castle: the house from the south-west after rebuilding in 1885.

In 1884 a fire destroyed the south and east ranges of the house, although a large part of the west range was saved from the flames. Although the house was insured, Lord Wharncliffe decided not to rebuild it, and sold the ruined shell to Henry Campbell-Bannerman in 1885. He employed James Thomson (of Baird & Thomson, Glasgow) to repair and remodel the house, and to add a sizeable embattled extension on the north, in 1885-87. These alterations removed the subtlety of the Georgian medievalising in favour of a more vigorous Baronial treatment. The centrepiece of the south front was rebuilt with a new gabled attic and candle-snuffer roofs on the circular towers; bay windows were added; the crenellated parapet was replaced with a much chunkier Victorian one, and a new Jacobean-style porch was built on the east side. The interiors are now wholly of 1885. The groin-vaulted entrance hall leads into a very large top-lit living hall, with a French-influenced fireplace. The hall in turn provides access to the principal rooms: three drawing rooms to the south, decorated in 18th century French style; a dining room to the west, with decoration in a mixture of the Jacobean and neo-classical styles; a library to the east; and a richly decorated staircase hall to the north, containing an Imperial staircase with partly-gilded cast iron balusters under a coved ceiling.

The house and estate were gifted to the city of Dundee in 1918 and were leased by the civic authorities to the Church of Scotland for use as an 'eventide home' in 1931. Significant alterations were undertaken for the church by Allan & Friskin in 1931 to adapt it for its new use. The care home closed in 2013, and since then the house has stood empty, with the City Council rumoured to be considering selling the property. 

Descent: Sir George Mackenzie of Rosehaugh, Lord Advocate to Charles II; to daughter, Agnes, wife of James Stuart (d. 1710), later 1st earl of Bute; to son, James Stuart (d. 1722/3), 2nd Earl of Bute; to younger son, Hon. James Stuart-Mackenzie (1719-1800); to nephew, James Archibald Stuart-Wortley (later Stuart-Wortley-Mackenzie) (1747–1818); to son, James Archibald Stuart-Wortley-Mackenzie (later Stuart-Wortley) (1776-1845), 1st Baron Wharncliffe; to son, John Stuart-Wortley (1801-55), 2nd Baron Wharncliffe; to Edward Montagu Stuart Granville Stuart-Wortley (1827-99), 3rd Baron and later 1st Earl of Wharncliffe; sold 1885 to Sir Henry Campbell-Bannerman (1836-1908); to niece-in-law, Alice Eliza Campbell until his great-nephew, James Hugh Campbell should attain the age of 25; sold 1913 to Sir James Caird (1837-1916), 1st bt.; to sister, Mrs Marryat, who gifted 1918 to city of Dundee. 

Bannerman family of Wyastone Leys

Bannerman, Henry (1753-1823). Only recorded son of William Bannerman (1732-1812), farmer and distiller, and his first wife, Janet Lawson, born at Tullibardine, 5 August 1753. Farmer at Tullibardine until 1808, when he followed his son David to Manchester and became a cotton goods retailer and manufacturer (Henry Bannerman & Sons) in partnership with his younger sons. He married, 21 July 1777 at St Ninian, Stirling (Stirlings), Janet Motherwell (c.1755-1830), and had issue:
(1) William Bannerman (b. 1778), born 4 May and baptised at Auchterarder (Perths.), 10 May 1778; apparently remained in Scotland as a farmer at Auchterarder;
(2) Amelia Bannerman (b. 1779), born at Auchterarder, 17 December 1779; married, 11 December 1808 at Trinity Gask (Perths), James Young, and had issue;
(3) Louisa Bannerman (1781-1844), born at Auchterarder, 28 September 1781; married, 19 August 1804 in Glasgow, Peter McLaren (1776-1817) of Glasgow, merchant, and had issue three sons and five daughters; said to have been buried at Dunblane (Perths), 19 June 1844;
(4) Marianne Bannerman (b. 1783), born at Tullibardine, 15 July 1783; married, 2 March 1811 at St Paul, Perth (Perths.), William Tindal of Perth, merchant;
(5) David Bannerman (1785-1829), born at Tullibardine, 5 June 1785; retailer and manufacturer of cotton goods at Manchester; chairman of Henry Bannerman & Sons, 1823-29; boroughreeve of Manchester, 1828-29; married, 9 June 1817 in Glasgow Mary Harrower (c.1796-1845), daughter of James Alexander, merchant, of Glasgow, and had issue three sons and three daughters (including James Alexander Bannerman, for whom see Bannerman & Campbell-Bannerman of Hunton Court below); buried at Rusholme Road Cemetery, 7 December 1829; will proved 22 January 1830;
(6) Isabella Bannerman (1787-1859), born at Tullibardine, 18 August 1787; married, 29 March 1812 at Kinnoull (Perths.), James McLaren (1775-1852), merchant in Glasgow, and had issue; died 10 December, and was buried at Pendlebury (Lancs), 16 December 1859;
(7) Elizabeth Bannerman (1789-1816), born at Tullibardine, 26 July 1789; married, 23 February 1814 at St John Deansgate, Manchester, John Fyffe (fl. 1835) (who m2, Sarah Sproule (c.1790-1818)), land agent to the Marquess of Abercorn, and had issue one son; died at Baronscourt (Tyrone), 6 April 1816 and was buried at Newtownstewart;
(8) Janet Bannerman (1791-1873), born at Tullibardine, 7 July 1791; married, 17 January 1822, Sir James Campbell (1790-1876) of Stracathro, Lord Provost of Glasgow, 1840-43, and had issue two sons and four daughters (including Sir Henry Campbell-Bannerman (1836-1908), the future Prime Minister, for whom see Bannerman and Campbell-Bannerman of Hunton Court below); died 3 October 1873;
(9) Alexander Bannerman (1793-1846), born at Tullibardine, 18 June 1793; partner in Henry Bannerman & Sons and the Manchester Bank; lived at Didsbury (Lancs); died 15 June and was buried at Rusholme Road Cemetery, Manchester, 20 June 1846; will proved in PCY, October 1846 (effects under £50,000);
(10) John Bannerman (1795-1870) (q.v.);
(11) Henry Bannerman (1798-1871) [for whom see below, Bannerman & Campbell-Bannerman of Hunton Court and Belmont Castle]
(12) Andrew Bannerman (1800-39), born at Tullibardine, 21 July 1800; partner in Henry Bannerman & Sons; lived at Ramsdell House, Didsbury (Lancs); died 22 April 1839 and was buried with his parents at Rusholme Road Cemetery, Manchester; will proved 9 November 1839.
He lived in Tullibardine to c.1808, when he moved to Manchester.
He died of dropsy, 6 June 1823 and was buried at Rusholme Road Cemetery, Manchester. His widow died 24 March 1830 and was also buried at Rusholme Road Cemetery.

Bannerman, John (1795-1870). Only son of Henry Bannerman (c.1753-1825) and his wife Janet Motherwell, born at Tullibardine (Perths), 3 July 1795, and baptised at Blackford (Perths). Cotton manufacturer (Henry Bannerman & Sons) in Manchester; he expanded the business to the point where his obituarist described him as 'a merchant prince'. He married, 8 October 1829 at Manchester Collegiate Church (Lancs), Margaret (d. 1875), eldest daughter of James Burt of Chorlton House, Manchester, and had issue:
(1) Margaret Bannerman (1831-1901), born 15 October and baptised at Scotch Presbyterian Church, St Peter's Square, Manchester, 8 November 1831; married, 12 September 1850 at Salford Presbyteriam Church, Robert Smith of Kilcott, Godalming (Surrey) and had issue; died 28 February 1901; will proved 9 May 1901 (estate £7,236);
(2) Henry William Bannerman (1832-38), born 12 March and baptised at at Scotch Presbyterian Church, St Peter's Square, Manchester, 13 May 1832; died young, 24 January 1838;
(3) Jane Bannerman (1834-1915), born 23 December 1834 and baptised at Scotch Presbyterian Church, St Peter's Square, Manchester, 11 February 1835; died unmarried at 'Cloudlands', Torquay (Devon), 10 May 1915; will proved 21 August 1915 (estate £9,810);
(4) Marian Bannerman (1839-1931), born 3 June and baptised at Scotch Presbyterian Church, St. Peter's Square, Manchester, 3 July 1839; died unmarried aged 91 at Hove (Sussex), 16 January 1931; will proved 23 February 1931 (estate £2,280);
(5) Isabella Bannerman (c.1842-89); married, 9 June 1870 at Ganarew, Rev. Robert William Everett (1842-85), rector of Micheltroy (Monmouth); died in Florence (Italy), 22 November 1889; will proved 28 May 1890 (effects £16,614);
(6) Louisa Bannerman (1844-1925), born 28 February and baptised at Scotch Presbyterian Church, St Peter's Square, Manchester, 6 April 1844; lived at Plas Gwynant, Beddgelert (Caernarvons.); died unmarried, 20 September 1925; will proved 23 January 1926 (estate £21,589);
(7) James Murray Bannerman (1846-1915) (q.v.);
(87) Grace Marshall Bannerman (1849-1928), born Jul-Sep 1849; married, 7 September 1870 at Ganarew, John Hertslet Wainwright (1849-1927) of Belmont, Lee, Kent, barrister-at-law, and had issue three children; died 24 May 1928; will proved 28 June 1928 (estate £11,624).
He lived at Swinton Lodge (Lancs) and Wootton Lodge (Staffs) before purchasing Wyastone Leys (Herefs) in 1861 and remodelling the house in 1861-62.
He died 24 February 1870; his will was proved 22 August 1870 (effects under £120,000). His widow died 27 November 1875; her will was proved 16 February 1876 (effects under £7,000).

Bannerman, James Murray (1846-1915). Only son of John Bannerman (1795-1870) and his wife Margaret, eldest daughter of James Burt of Chorlton House, Manchester, born 30 September 1846. Educated at Christ Church, Oxford (matriculated 1865; BA 1869) and Inner Temple (admitted 1869; called 1874). A director of Henry Bannerman & Sons of Altrincham (Lancs). An officer in the Royal Monmouthshire Engineer Militia (Capt); JP and DL for Monmouthshire and Herefordshire; High Sheriff of Monmouthshire, 1879. He married, 4 November 1880 at St Paul, Knightsbridge (Middx), Louisa Mary (1846-1935), daughter of Robert Wheeley of The Pentre, Abergavenny (Monmouths.), and had issue:
(1) John Arthur Murray Bannerman (1881-1953) (q.v.);
(2) Ronald Henry Wheeley Bannerman (1882-1958), born 13 December 1882; educated at Charterhouse School; Chairman of Henry Bannerman & Sons Ltd.; lived at Newton House, Alderley Edge and later at Archery House, Knutsford (both Cheshire); died unmarried, 14 December 1958; will proved 9 April 1959 (estate £100,692);
(3) Marion Grace (k/a May) Bannerman (1884-1972), born 3 April 1884; died unmarried at Hove (Sussex), 21 May 1972; will proved 10 August 1972 (estate £114,335);
(4) Robert Walter Malcolm Bannerman (1887-1941); fruit grower at Toddington (Glos); married, 15 July 1924 (sep. by 1935) at Ross-on-Wye (Herefs), Honor Delicia (1897-1997), youngest daughter of F. J. Constable Curtis of the Manor House, Ganarew; died at Upton-on-Severn (Worcs), 11 November 1941; will proved 27 February 1942 (estate £342);
(5) Dorothy Lilian Bannerman (1889-1978), born 5 January 1889; died unmarried at Hove, 28 October 1977; will proved 20 January 1978 (estate £119,113).
He inherited Wyastone Leys (Herefs) from his father in 1870, but seems to have preferred to live elsewhere: in 1895 he was renting Bishopswood, Ruardean (Glos) and towards the end of his life he leased Llwyn Onn Hall, Wrexham (Flints.). His executors relinquished the lease of Llwyn Onn and sold Wyastone Leys after his death.
He died 13 February 1915; administration of his goods (with will annexed) was granted 19 May 1915 (estate £61,677). His widow died at Hove (Sussex), 9 July 1935; her will was proved 21 October 1935 (estate 3,228).

Bannerman, John Arthur Murray (1881-1953). Eldest son of James Murray Bannerman (1846-1915) and his wife Louisa Mary, daughter of Robert Wheeley of The Pentre (Monmouths.), born 14 September 1881. An officer in Royal Warwickshire Regiment (2nd Lt., 1900; Lt., 1902; Capt., 1912; Maj., 1916; Lt-Col., 1926), he served in the First World War (wounded, 1916; awarded DSO, 1917); Assistant Quartermaster General, 1917. He married, 12 November 1913 at St Paul, Knightsbridge (Middx), Aline Mabel de Laune (1884-1950), daughter of David Ryrie of New South Wales (Australia), and had issue:
(1) Alastair John Murray Bannerman (1914-2009), born at Cranford Hall (Northants), 15 September 1914; educated at Wellington College and London Theatre Studio, 1935; actor in films, TV and classical theatre, 1939, 1947-49; served in Second World War with Royal Warwickshire Regiment (Capt.; prisoner of war, 1944-45); joined the family clothing business, Henry Bannerman & Sons (later Banner Textiles) in Altrincham in the 1950s (retired 1969); and then worked for the National Trust as National Events Organizer, 1973-84; married, Apr-Jun 1940, Elisabeth Mary (1915-2003), actress and dancer, only daughter of Rev. Francis William Gresley Douglas, of Salwarpe, Worcestershire, and had issue three sons; died aged 94, 6 February 2009; will proved 11 June 2009;
(2) David de Laune Bannerman (1917-2002), born 16 October 1917; designer; served in Royal Engineers in Second World War (Capt.); married, 29 April 1946 at St Paul, Knightsbridge (Middx), his first cousin, Sonia Isobel H. De Laune (1920-2002), daughter of Col. Bruce Ryrie of Nanyuki (Kenya), but had no issue; died 15 June 2002; will proved 2 December 2002.
He lived near Newbury (Berks).
He died in Newbury (Berks), 10 December 1953; will proved 12 March 1954 (estate £21,117). His wife died 12 November 1950; administration of her goods was granted 28 December 1950 (estate £1,047).

Bannerman and Campbell-Bannerman of Hunton Court and Belmont Castle

Bannerman, Henry (1798-1871). son of Henry Bannerman (1753-1823) and his wife Janet Motherwell, born at Tullibardine, 13 June 1798. Partner in Henry Bannerman & Sons until 1850, when he retired and moved to Kent to grow hops. High Sheriff of Kent, 1862-63. He married, 9 January 1834 in Glasgow, Mary (c.1807-94), daughter of John Wyld of Glasgow, banker, but had no issue.
He purchased Hunton Court (Kent) in about 1847 and remodelled it. At his death, he bequeathed it to his widow for life, with remainder to his nephew, Sir Henry Campbell MP, on condition that he took the additional name Bannerman.
He died 13 September and was buried at Hunton, 19 September 1871; will proved 14 December 1871 (effects under £120,000). His widow died 6 October 1894; her will was proved 14 August 1894 (effects £7,284).

Sir Henry Campbell-Bannerman (1836-1908)

Campbell (later Campbell-Bannerman), Sir Henry (1836-1908). Younger son of Sir James Campbell (1796-1876), kt., and his wife Janet, daughter of Henry Bannerman (1753-1823) [for whom see above, under Bannerman of Wyastone Leys], born in Glasgow, 7 September 1836. Educated at Glasgow High School, and then after travelling in Europe for almost a year, at Glasgow University, 1851-53, and Trinity College, Cambridge (matriculated 1854; BA 1858; MA 1861; LLD). He joined his father's family drapery and warehousing business, becoming a director in 1860. He reluctantly took the additional name Bannerman in 1872 as a condition of receiving an inheritance from his uncle, Henry Bannerman, but hated his double-barrelled name and preferred to be called 'CB'. Although brought up in a Conservative family he was converted while at Cambridge to radical Liberal views, and he became Liberal MP for Stirling Boroughs, 1868-1908. His performance as a parliamentarian did not initially impress the House, but in Government he possessed a quiet authority and an efficiency in the dispatch of business which commended him to both his political masters and his civil servants. He was Financial Secretary to the War Office, 1871-79, 1880-82 and Secretary to the Admiralty, 1882-84, before being promoted to what was arguably the most challenging job in Government, as Chief Secretary for Ireland, 1884-85. Although he only held the appointment for seven months before the Liberal government fell, his handling of this sensitive and difficult role was the making of his career and transformed his reputation at Westminster. He supported Gladstone on Home Rule for Ireland, putting 'an end to agitation' above other political considerations. He was rewarded by being made a Cabinet minister as Secretary of State for War, 1886, 1892-95. In this role he oversaw a series of important military reforms, to achieve which he had to persuade the Queen's elderly cousin, the Duke of Cambridge, to resign as commander-in-chief. This he succeeded in doing in 1895, but at this precise moment the opposition censured him for providing insufficient small-arms ammunition and cordite for the Army, and he was forced to resign. Lord Rosebery chose to resign as Prime Minister rather than carry on in office without Campbell-Bannerman as a colleague. In the 1890s he tried twice to become Speaker of the House of Commons, believing this role would give him more time at home with his ailing wife than a ministerial post, but he could not be spared, and in 1899 he was elected Leader of the party. His first years as leader, against the background of the Conservative government's inept management of the Boer War and of tariff reform, were dominated by battles for Liberal party unity, and he eventually achieved a fragile consensus in 1904-05. He became Prime Minister in December 1905 when Balfour resigned, and immediately held a general election in which he secured a sweeping victory. A large Parliamentary majority gave Campbell-Bannerman the platform for a radical agenda, but although a number of important reform measures were successfully passed, some of his key initiatives - e.g. on Home Rule for Ireland, education, and temperance - were blocked by the House of Lords, laying the ground for his successor's emasculation of the upper house through the Parliament Act of 1911. Under the stresses of office and of his wife's illness and eventual death, his own health was failing. He suffered a series of minor heart attacks and then in November 1907 a more serious one. He struggled on for some months before being succeeded by Asquith on 4 April 1908. He was still resident in 10 Downing St. when he died two and a half weeks' later. He was knighted (GCB) in 1895 as part of Lord Rosebery's resignation honours list, but did not survive long enough to receive the peerage which was the traditional reward of retiring senior ministers. His death was marked not only by the respect of his opponent and the affection of his supporters, but by the intense reverence and sympathy of the general public; it is said that as his coffin was transported north for burial at Meigle, groups of railwaymen stood bare-headed at the railway side, paying silent tribute to a good man. He was a JP and DL for Kent and JP for Lanarkshire. He had an exceptionally close relationship with his wife, whom he married, 13 September 1860 at All Souls, Langham Place, London, (Sarah) Charlotte (1832-1906), daughter of General Sir Charles Bruce KCB, but they had no issue.
He lived chiefly in London, and travelled every year on the continent, staying at Marienbad for four to six weeks and visiting Paris. He inherited Hunton Court from his maternal uncle in 1871, subject to the life interest of the latter's widow. He seems to have bought Gennings Park nearby in about 1872 and in 1885 bought Belmont Castle, Meigle (Perthshire) with about 800 acres for £52,000 and restored it. He leased Gennings Park from 1888 and sold it to his tenant in 1890. He gained possession of Hunton Court on the death of his aunt in 1894.
He died in 10 Downing St., 22 April 1908 and was buried with his wife at Meigle, 28 April 1908; his will was proved 2 November 1908 (estate £54,908, excluding Scottish real estate). His wife died at Marienbad (Germany), 30 August 1906 and was buried at Meigle; administration of her goods was granted to her husband, 28 November 1906 (effects £1,365).

Bannerman, James Alexander (1821-1906). Eldest son of David Bannerman (1785-1829) of Manchester and his wife Mary Harrower, daughter of James Alexander of Glasgow, merchant, born 21 July and baptised at Lloyd St. Scotch Presbyterian Church, Manchester, 20 September 1821. Cotton spinner and wholesaler; partner in Henry Bannerman & Sons from 1844; director of the Consolidated Bank Ltd. from 1864 (Chairman); he retired from business after 1894. He was one of the founders of Manchester Golf Club and also took a keen interest in cricket and football. He married, 9 October 1855, at Blythswood (Lanarks.), his cousin Louisa (1833-73), daughter of Sir James Campbell, kt., and had issue:
(1) James Campbell Bannerman (1857-1934) (q.v.);
(2) Mary Isabella Bannerman (1859-1927), born Oct-Dec 1859; married 30 January 1884 at Prestwich (Lancs), Samuel Armitage Bennett (1856-1940) of Moat Lodge, Beckenham (Kent), son of John Marsland Bennett of Manchester, and had issue two sons and three daughters; died 17 March 1927; will proved 4 June 1927 (estate £6,695).
He lived at Bent Hill, Prestwich, Manchester until his retirement in 1898, and then moved to Alderley Edge (Cheshire).
He died at Alderley Edge, 28 December 1906; no will has been found for him. His wife died at Newton Abbot (Devon), 12 April 1873.

Bannerman, James Campbell (1857-1934). Only son of James Alexander Bannerman (1821-1906) and his wife Louisa, daughter of Sir James Campbell, kt., of Manchester, born 16 October 1857. Educated at Harrow, Trinity College, Cambridge (matriculated 1876) and Inner Temple (admitted 1877). JP for Kent. He married, 6 November 1883 at Christ Church, Albany St., London, Frances Louisa (c.1863-1938), only daughter of Henry Joy of Dublin, esq., and had issue:
(1) Joan Bannerman (1888-1975) (q.v.).
He inherited Hunton Court from his great-uncle, Sir Henry Campbell-Bannerman, in 1908. At his death it passed to his daughter and her husband.
He died 14 November 1934; his will was proved 22 February 1935 (estate £79,233). His widow died 24 February 1938; her will was proved 16 May 1938 (estate £16,402).

Bannerman, Joan Campbell (1888-1975). Only child of James Campbell Bannerman (1857-1934) and his wife Frances Louisa, only daughter of Henry Joy of Dublin, esq., born 17 July amd baptised at St Mary, Bryanston Sq., London, 23 August 1888. She married, Jul-Sep 1916, Capt. Geoffrey Charles Devas MC (1887-1971) of Hartfield, Hayes (Kent), and had issue:
(1) Anne Rachel Devas (1920-2012), born Jan-Mar 1920; married, 18 May 1946 at Hunton, William Herbrand Sackville (1921-88), 10th Earl de la Warre, and had issue two sons and one daughter; died 9 May 2012;
(2) Capt. Michael Campbell Devas (1924-2007), born 6 June 1924; served in Second World War with Welsh Guards (Capt.); awarded MC, 1945; merchant banker and company director; a director of the Chatham Historic Dockyard Trust, 1992-97; married 1st, 1952 (div., 1967), Patience Merryday, daughter of Sir Albert Gerald Stern, and had issue one son and one daughter; married 2nd, 1967, Gillian Barbara Hewitt, formerly wife of Charles Arthur Smith-Bingham (1931-2003); died 4 May 2007; will proved 7 December 2007.
She inherited Hunton Court from her father in 1934, subject to her mother's life interest, and came into possession in 1938. At her death it passed to her son, and was sold after his death.
She died 26 July 1975; her will was proved 2 October 1975 (estate £25,418). Her husband died 29 July 1971; his will was proved 2 November 1971 (estate £42,660).

Sources

Burke's Landed Gentry, 1925, p. 75; D. Whitehead, A survey of historic parks and garden in Herefordshire, 2001, pp. 418-20; J. Gifford, The buildings of Scotland: Perth and Kinross, 2007, pp. 193-95; A. Brooks & Sir N. Pevsner, The buildings of England: Herefordshire, 2nd edn., 2012, pp. 242-43; J. Newman, The buildings of England: Kent - West and the Weald, 4th edn, 2012, p. 314; ODNB entry for Sir Henry Campbell-Bannerman; personal communication from Dr. Paul Bradley.

Location of archives

Campbell-Bannerman, Sir Henry (1836-1908), kt.: correspondence and papers, 1855-1908 [British Library, Add MSS 41206-52, 52512-21]

Coat of arms

Campbell-Bannerman: Quarterly, 1st and 4th, per pale Gules and Sable a Banner displayed bendways Argent thereon a Canton Azure charged with a Saltire of the Third (for Bannerman); 2nd and 3rd, Gyronny of eight Or and Sable on a Chief engrailed Argent a Galley her oars in action between two Hunting Horns stringed all of the Second (for Campbell of Belmont).

Can you help?

• I should also be most grateful if anyone can provide photographs or portraits of people whose names appear in bold above, and who are not already illustrated. 
• As always, any additions or corrections to the account given above will be gratefully received and incorporated.

Revision and acknowledgements

This post was first published 13 February 2019.