(465) Bayley of Willaston Hall, Wistaston

The Bayley family were established as minor gentry in Staffordshire by the 16th century, and by the late 17th century James Bayley (1622-1704), with whom the genealogy below begins, was living at Madeley, on the northern edge of that county. James's eldest son, James Bayley (1668-1747), purchased various scattered estates in south Cheshire, including the manor of Hankelow near Audlem, the Stapeley Hall estate at Haslington, and - reputedly in 1713 - the Willaston estate at Wistaston near Nantwich. It was probably James who built the modest three-bay gabled house which forms the core of the present Willaston Hall. He was the only member of the family to be chosen as High Sheriff of Cheshire. When he died in 1747 he left a large family, and his estates were divided. His eldest son, James Bayley (1692-1764) received Stapeley Hall - a long-demolished moated manor house about which little is known - and most of the outlying properties, but Willaston Hall passed to his second son, John Bayley (1700-84), who was probably already living there, since the refronting of the house in 1737 is attributed to him. The younger brothers of James and John seem not to have been left property, but were established in the professions or in trade; William Bayley (1705-73) may have farmed on his brothers' estates.

John Bayley (1700-84) married late and had only two children: a son who predeceased him and a daughter, Ellen Bayley (1752-1832) who married Charles Salmon (1751-1824). Charles and Ellen inherited the Willaston estate, but left no surviving issue, so on Ellen's death in 1832 she bequeathed it to her first cousin, twice removed, James Bayley (1782-1842) of Stapeley Hall, reuniting the two properties.

James Bayley (1692-1764), who inherited Stapeley Hall from his father, evidently amassed considerable debts during his lifetime, and in his will he appointed trustees, including one of his younger sons, William Bayley (1724-80), to sell part of his estates to pay off his creditors. Disputes over the will meant that the sale was delayed until a Master in Chancery ordered it to proceed in 1770, and three years later William was still reassuring the creditors that there would be sufficient funds to meet his father's debts in full. The sale did not include Stapeley Hall itself, which descended to William's elder brother, James Bayley (1718-79), who in turn left it to his son James Bayley (1759-1840). The estate he inherited must have been severely depleted, and there is still evidence of financial pressure on the family for much of his life, but James had better luck than his forbears. In 1780 he married Penelope, the daughter and co-heiress of Edward Salmon of Hassall Hall (Ches.), and the couple lived at Hassall until 1797. By then he had successfully overturned the will of a distant kinsman, James Bayley of Stourport (Worcs), who committed suicide in 1785, and as a result had inherited 'a very considerable estate'. In the early 19th century he demolished Stapeley Hall and replaced it with a smaller house nearby, which he let to a farmer. 

James' eldest son, James Bayley (1782-1842) followed his father's example by marrying an heiress, in this case Elizabeth, the daughter of John Franklin of Rumleigh House near Plymouth (Devon). The couple lived at Rumleigh until James inherited Willaston Hall from his distant cousin, Ellen Salmon, in 1832. Over the next five years, he made additions to Willaston Hall, which became his principal seat. At his death, Willaston passed to his younger son, John Salmon Bayley (1827-59), in accordance with the will of Ellen Salmon, while much of his other property passed to his eldest son, James Franklin Bayley (1814-59); although since the latter died unmarried and childless, the family property came back together again later. 

John Salmon Bayley's relations with his wife in the 1850s suggest strongly that he was mentally unstable, and he committed suicide in 1859, leaving an infant son and two daughters. His tragic death was not the first, and not the last in this family, which seems to have been more dogged by misfortune - or perhaps by mental illness - than most. John Salmon Bayley's son, James Bayley (1857-1922) came of age in 1878 and inherited property in Essex and perhaps in Buckinghamshire, from an unidentified source. He was killed in 1922 in a bizarre accident during the demonstration of a milling machine on a farm in Buckinghamshire, when a long dust coat he was wearing was caught in the machinery and strangled him. His eldest son and heir, Commander James Bayley RN (1880-1933) inherited Willaston Hall on his father's death, but he too came to a tragic end, apparently shooting himself accidentally while test-firing a pistol he had bought for his wife to defend herself from motor bandits. Although nothing in his personal or financial circumstances suggested a motive for suicide, the coroner tried to steer the jury to an open verdict, but the jury - perhaps for reasons of compassion - gave a verdict of accidental death. Commander Bayley, who had been very active in taking measures to relieve unemployment in his locality and other charitable works, died without issue, and when his widow remarried in 1937 his trustees sold Willaston Hall, bringing to an end the family's time as Cheshire landed gentry.

Willaston Hall, Wistaston, Cheshire

Willaston Hall: entrance front, 2011. Image: Robin Bayley.

A two-and-a-half storey red brick house, built after 1713 and refronted (in 1737 according to the date on the rainwater heads) in brick with prominent white quoins. The gabled rear elevation indicates the original appearance of the house, and when the new front was added the height of the roof was not increased, so that gabled dormers are concealed behind the tall urn-topped parapet. The symmetrical lower wings to either side, and the tripartite windows on the ground floor, were added in 1833-38 for James Bayley (1782-1842), who had inherited the house in 1832. The dated rainwater heads were originally on the side elevations and were moved to the front at the same time. 

Willaston Hall: the former library, with decoration of 1737.

Inside, the panelled former library to the right of the entrance is substantially of 1737, and has a deep modillion cornice and a large carved chimneypiece in a provincial Kentian style, the mantelshelf of which is supported by buxom maidens, each clutching one breast, and evidently representing Night and Day, since one has her eyes closed. In the centre of the mantlepiece is the head of Apollo within a sunburst. Also apparently of the 1730s is the staircase, which rises in a narrow straight flight out of the entrance hall. In the early 21st century the house was acquired and extensively redecorated by kitchen-designer-to-the-stars, Clive Christian, rendering much of the interior glitzy but rather characterless.

Descent: built for James Bayley (1668-1747); to son, John Bayley (1699-1784); to daughter, Ellen (1752-1832), wife of Charles Salmon (1751-1824); to first cousin twice removed, James Bayley (1782-1842); to son, John Salmon Bayley (1827-59); to son, James Bayley (1857-1922); to son, Cdr. James Bayley (1880-1933); sold by his executors c.1937 to E.B. Lomax; sold 1958... sold c.2004 to Clive Christian OBE (b. 1951); sold 2016...

Bayley family of Willaston Hall

Bayley, James (1622-1704). Eldest son of Matthew Bayley (1581-1666) of Weston Wood (Staffs) and his wife, Joyce Green of Offley Park (Staffs), baptised at Norbury, 8 December 1622. He married 1st, 15 August 1654 at Madeley (Staffs), Jane (1626-59), daughter of Hugh Weston of Madeley, and 2nd, c.1662, Elizabeth [surname unknown], and had issue:

(1.1) Elizabeth Bayley (1655-1710), baptised at Madeley, 5 July 1655; married, 25 May 1677 at Trentham (Staffs), William Swinnerton (d. 1724), and had issue; buried at Swynnerton (Staffs), 8 August 1710;

(1.2) Weston Bayley (1657-1724), born 1 May 1657; educated at St Alban Hall, Oxford (matriculated 1675); married, 1684 (licence 25 July), Elizabeth Jervis (d. 1732) and had issue three sons and three daughters; buried at Madeley, 27 September 1724;

(1.3) Ann Bayley (1659-1727), born 23 May 1659; married, 11 August 1680 at Madeley, Edward Wade (1657-1735) of Wades Green Hall, Church Minshull (Ches.); buried at Church Minshull, 7 September 1727;

(2.1) Theophila Bayley (1662-1743), baptised at Madeley, 15 January 1663; married, 11 August 1683 at Madeley, John Craddock (1656-1721) of Audley (Staffs), son of John Craddock, and had issue three sons and six daughters; buried at Aston (Staffs), 9 September 1743;

(2.2) James Bayley (1668-1747) (q.v.);

(2.3) Mary Bayley (1670-97), born 20 October and baptised at Madeley, 14 November 1670; died unmarried and was buried at Madeley, 3 September 1697;

(2.4) Thomas Bayley (1672-1714), born 15 April and baptised at Madeley, 6 May 1672; married, 2 December 1702 at Kingsley (Staffs), Jane (c.1671-1745), daughter of John Stubbs of Kingsley, and had issue one son and one daughter; buried at Madeley, 26 August 1714.

He lived at Madeley (Staffs).

He was buried at Madeley, 30 June 1704. His first wife was buried at Madeley, 6 October 1659. His second wife was buried at Madeley, 23 April 1695.

Bayley, James (1668-1747). Elder son of James Bayley (1622-1704) of Madeley (Staffs) and his second wife Elizabeth [surname unknown], born 30 November and baptised at Madeley, 4 December 1668. High Sheriff of Cheshire, 1716-17. He married, 25 October 1691 at Ashley (Staffs), Eleanor (c.1670-1770), daughter of John Jervis of Chatcull in Eccleshall (Staffs), and had issue:

(1) James Bayley (1692-1764) (q.v.);

(2) Eleanor Bayley (1694-1768), baptised at Wistaston, 31 July 1694; married, 31 October 1714 at Baddiley (Ches.), John Puleston (1673-1748) of Pickhill Hall (Flints.), and had issue thirteen children; buried at Worthenbury (Flints), 24 September 1768;

(3) Elizabeth Bayley (1695-1702), baptised at Wistaston, 5 January 1696; died young and was buried 9 December 1702;

(4) Frances Bayley (1698-1727), baptised at Wistaston, 13 June 1698; died unmarried and was buried at Wistaston, 23 June 1727;

(5) John Bayley (1700-84) (q.v.);

(6) Rev. Thomas Bayley (1701-32), baptised at Wistaston, 4 April 1701; educated at Exeter College, Oxford (matriculated 1720; BA 1724; MA 1727); curate of Barthomley (Ches.); died unmarried and was buried at Barthomley, 22 February 1732;

(7) Elizabeth Bayley (1703-43), baptised at Wistaston, 28 December 1703; married, 12 February 1726/7 at Barthomley, William Peters (1702-89), son of Ralph Peters, Town Clerk of Liverpool, and had issue; buried at Wistaston, 8 June 1743;

(8) William Bayley (1705-73), baptised at Wistaston, 8 March 1705; married 1st, 1735 (licence 6 October), Elizabeth White (d. by 1743) of Risley (Derbys); married 2nd, 30 June 1743 at Astley (Ches.), Elizabeth Merrill (b. c.1721) of Congleton, and had issue four sons; died intestate and was buried at Wistaston, 2 August 1773;

(9) Matthew Bayley (1708-75), baptised at Wistaston, 9 September 1708; wine merchant in Chester, who in 1740 was picked to serve as a common councilman for the city but declined to serve and paid a fine of £20 to be excused; married, 8 December 1740 at Pulford (Ches.), Margaret Read (d. 1767), and had issue one daughter; buried at Wrenbury (Ches.), 4 May 1775;

(10) Mary Bayley (1711-69?), baptised at Wistaston, 23 January 1710/11; married, 16 December 1728 at Barthomley, as his second wife, John Swinnerton (b. 1693), son of William Swinnerton of Butterton (Staffs), and had issue; probably the Mary Swinnerton of Burston (Staffs), widow, whose will was proved in 1769;

(11) George Bayley (b. 1714), baptised at Wistaston, 27 August 1714; married by 1733 and had issue two sons and two daughters; death not traced.

He purchased various estates in Cheshire and was lord of the manor of Hankelow. He acquired land at Willaston in Wistaston in 1713, and probably built Willaston Hall soon afterwards.

He was buried at Wistaston, 29 April 1747. His widow is said to have died aged 100 and was buried at Wistaston, 28 June 1770.

Bayley, John (1700-1784). Second son of James Bayley (1668-1747) and his wife Eleanor, daughter of John Jervis of Chatcull, baptised at Wistaston (Ches.), 15 February 1699/1700. He married, 8 February 1749/50 at St Michael, Chester, Mary Massey (d. 1798), and had issue:

(1) John Bayley (1750-79), baptised at Wybunbury, 31 December 1750; died unmarried in the lifetime of his father, 8 May, and was buried at Wybunbury, 13 May 1779;

(2) Ellen Bayley (1752-1832) (q.v.).

He inherited the Willaston Hall estate from his father in 1747. At his death it passed to his daughter and her husband.

He died 19 June and was buried at Wybunbury, 26 June 1784 in a vault which he had constructed in the church there; his will was proved in the PCC, 15 October 1785. His widow was buried at Wybunbury, 11 April 1798.

Bayley, Ellen (1752-1832). Only daughter of John Bayley (1700-84) and his wife Mary Massey, baptised at Wybunbury, 23 July 1752. She married, 9 June 1772 at Wybunbury, Charles Salmon (1751-1824), and had issue:

(1) Eliza Salmon (b. & d. 1781), baptised at Wybunbury, 27 July 1781; died in infancy and was buried at Wybunbury, 8 August 1781;

(2) Charles Bayley Salmon (d. 1788); buried at Wybunbury, 20 August 1788.

She and her husband inherited Willaston Hall from her father in 1784. At her death she left it to her first cousin twice removed, James Bayley (1782-1842) (q.v.).

She died 9 November, and was buried in the family vault at Wybunbury, 17 November 1832; her will was proved in 1832. Her husband died 22 August and was buried in the Bayley vault at Wybunbury, 28 August 1824.

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Bayley, James (1692-1764). Eldest son of James Bayley (1668-1747) and his wife Eleanor, daughter of John Jervis of Chatcull, baptised at Madeley, 12 August 1692. Churchwarden of Wybunbury, 1740-42. He married 1st, 13 December 1716 at Lichfield Cathedral, his cousin, Mary (1694-1734), daughter of John Jervis of Darlaston (Staffs), and 2nd, 26 December 1734 at Wybunbury, Elizabeth (c.1692-1775), daughter of John Hough of Betley (Staffs) and Gresty (Ches.), and had issue:

(1.1) Mary Bayley (1717-88), baptised at Wrenbury (Ches), 24 October 1717; married, 8 June 1742 at Swynnerton (Staffs), Richard Hinckley (1721-72), and had issue; died 25 March 1788 and was buried at Lichfield Cathedral, 2 April 1788, where she and her husband are commemorated by a monument;

(1.2) James Bayley (1718-79) (q.v.);

(1.3) Elizabeth Bayley (1720-21), baptised at Wistaston, 3 August 1720; died in infancy and was buried at Wistaston, 30 January 1720/1;

(1.4) Rev. John Bayley (1722-83), baptised at Wistaston, 16 February 1721/2; educated at Brasenose College, Oxford (matriculated 1742; BA 1746); vicar of Brailes (Warks), 1760-83; died unmarried and was buried at Brailes, 28 June 1783; will proved 1783;

(1.5) William Bayley (1724-80), baptised at Wybunbury, 20 April 1724; was one of his father's trustees in 1770; died, probably unmarried, and was buried at Wistaston, 28 April 1780;

(1.6) Thomas Bayley (1725-98?), baptised at Wybunbury, 26 January 1725/6; living in 1764 and possibly the man of this name buried at Nantwich, 24 December 1798;

(1.7) Frances Bayley (1727-43), baptised at Wybunbury, 8 August 1727; died young and was buried at Wistaston, 19 August 1743;

(1.8) Ellen Bayley (1729-57), baptised at Wybunbury, 9 March 1728/9; died unmarried and was buried in Nantwich church, 23 October 1757;

(1.9) Helena Bayley (b. 1731), baptised at Wybunbury, 6 November 1731;

(2.1) Edward Bayley (b. 1735), baptised at Wybunbury, 28 October 1735; lived at Nechells, Wolverhampton (Staffs); declared a lunatic in 1760;

(2.2) Elizabeth Bayley (1736-91), baptised at Wybunbury, 5 October 1736; died 14 May and was buried at Wybunbury, 18 May 1791;

(2.3) Matthew Bayley (1739-86), baptised at Wybunbury, 26 March 1739; died at Betley (Staffs), 5 June, and was buried at Wybunbury, 20 June 1786;

(2.4) Peter Bayley (1742-1803), baptised at Wybunbury, 30 June 1742; solicitor in Nantwich and a shareholder in the Nantwich workhouse built in 1779; married, 22 June 1775 at Eccleshall (Staffs), Sarah Tomkinson (b. 1751?), and had issue three sons and two daughters; buried at Nantwich, 5 September 1803.

He lived at Stapeley Hall (Ches.).

He died 27 November  and was buried at Wybunbury, 30 November 1764. His will was proved in the PCC, 4 January 1765, and left part of his estates to trustees for sale to pay his debts. His first wife was buried at Wistaston, 26 February 1733/4. His widow died at Betley (Staffs), 18 November and was buried 22 November 1775.

Bayley, James (1718-79). Eldest son of James Bayley (1692-1764) and his first wife, Mary, daughter of John Jervis of Darlaston (Staffs), baptised at Nantwich (Ches.), 11 December 1718. He married, 1st, 1741 (licence 11 September), his first cousin, Anne Puleston (1715-43) of Pickhill Hall, Sesswick (Flints), daughter of John Puleston, and 2nd, 1747 (licence 20 July), Ann (1728-90), daughter of John Hamnett of Nantwich, and had issue:

(1.1) Anne Bayley (1742-43), baptised at Wistaston, 27 August 1742; died in infancy and was buried at Barthomley (Ches.), 8 April 1743;

(2.1) Elizabeth Bayley (b. 1749), baptised at Nantwich, 2 November 1749; married, 22 December 1770 at Wybunbury, John Edwards; 

(2.2) Ann Bayley (c.1755-88), born about 1755; married, 17 March 1776 at Wybunbury, William Cobbe (1751-1827); buried at Wybunbury, 2 April 1788;

(2.3) Mary Bayley (b. c.1757), born about 1757; married, 24 May 1778 at Wybunbury, Dr. John 'Cockfighting' Bellyse* (1738-1829), of Woodhouse, Audlem, surgeon, and had issue at least one son; died before 1784 when her husband married again;

(2.4) James Bayley (1759-1840) (q.v.);

(2.5) Weston Bayley (1766-1836), baptised at Wybunbury, 11 July 1766; married 1st, 31 August  1795 at Barthomley, Beatrice Savage (b. c.1775), and had issue four sons; married 2nd, 16 November 1810, at Nantwich, Jane Fowls (1784-1851), and had issue three sons and three daughters; died at Nantwich, 25 June, and was buried in the family vault at Wybunbury, 28 June 1836.

He lived at Stapeley Hall (Ches.)

He was buried at Wistaston, 5 March 1779. His first wife was buried at Wistaston, 23 April 1743. His widow was buried at Wistaston, 19 July 1790.

* For whom see also my post on the Baker family of Highfields, Audlem.

James Bayley (1759-1840) 

Bayley, James (1759-1840). Elder son of James Bayley (1718-79) and his wife Ann Hamnett, baptised at Nantwich (Ches), 24 June 1759. In 1792 he successfully upset the will of James Bayley of Stourport (Worcs) by demonstrating that the testator (who left all his property to his wife and her relatives) had been of unsound mind* at the time of drawing up the will; as a result he gained possession of 'a very considerable estate'. An officer in the Cheshire Supplementary Militia (Lt., 1797). He was a Vice-President of the Nantwich Auxiliary Bible Society. He was described by his obituarist as 'a good old English gentleman, long respected by his friends, [who] will be seriously missed by the cottagers and poor in his neighbourhood'. He married, 29 June 1780 at Sandbach (Ches.), Penelope (1759-1825), daughter of Edward Salmon of Hassall Hall (Ches.), and had issue:

(1) Ann Bayley (b. & d. 1781), died in infancy and was buried at Wybunbury, 13 October 1781;

(2) James Bayley (1782-1842) (q.v.);

(3) Edward Bayley (1783-1846), baptised at Wybunbury, 17 June 1783; officer in the Royal Marines (Lt.; on half-pay by 1815); lived latterly at Welch Row, Nantwich with his sister Penelope; died unmarried, 4 July, and was buried in the family vault at Wybunbury, 10 July 1846; will proved 1847;

(4) Elizabeth Bayley (b. & d. 1784), baptised at Wybunbury, 1 December 1784; died in infancy and was buried at Wybunbury, 16 December 1784;

(5) Richard Bayley (b. 1786), baptised at Wyburnbury, 11 June 1786; died unmarried before 1838;

(6) Frances Bayley (1787-1852), born 16 September 1787 and baptised at Sandbach, 8 May 1800; married, 21 December 1837 at Wybunbury, William Salmon (1779-1851) of Inglesea Brooking, Barthomley (Ches) and later of Betley (Staffs), son of William Salmon, maltster, but had no issue; buried at Barthomley, 3 February 1852; will proved at Chester, 7 August 1852;

(7) Ellen Bayley (b. & d. 1789), baptised at Sandbach, 26 January 1789; died in infancy and was buried at Sandbach, 18 March 1789;

(8) John Bayley (b. & d. 1790), baptised at Sandbach, 25 March 1790; died in infancy and was buried at Sandbach, 27 December 1790;

(9) Sophia Bayley (1791-1808), born 5 May 1791 and baptised at Sandbach, 8 May 1800; died unmarried and was buried at Wistaston, 23 August 1808;

(10) Penelope Bayley (b. & d. 1792); died in infancy and was buried at Sandbach, 4 September 1792;

(11) Henry Bayley (1793-94), baptised at Sandbach, 23 December 1793; died in infancy and was buried at Sandbach, 14 April 1794;

(12) Emma Bayley (1795-1842), born 28 March 1795 and baptised at Sandbach, 8 May 1800; married, 3 December 1840 at Wybunbury, George Edwards of Hough (Ches.), maltster, but had no issue; died 15 November and was buried at Wybunbury, 21 November 1842;

(13) Penelope Bayley (1796-1850), born 10 July 1796 and baptised at Sandbach 8 May 1800; lived with her brother Edward in Nantwich; died unmarried, 31 October and was buried at Wybunbury, 6 November 1850;

(14) Henry Bayley (1799-1861), born 19 April 1799 and baptised at Sandbach, 8 May 1800; farmer at Stapeley Cottage; married, about 1825, Hannah Burgess, and had issue four sons and five daughters; died 24 August 1861;

(15) Matthew Bayley (1800-42), baptised at Nantwich, 15 August 1800; died 27 January and was buried at Nantwich, 3 February 1842;

(16) Weston Bayley (b. & d. 1802), baptised at Nantwich, 27 January 1802; died in infancy and was buried at Wistaston, 4 February 1802.

His wife inherited a long lease of Hassall Hall from her father and they lived there until they sold it in 1797 to Richard Lowndes, who held the reversionary interest. They lived later at Stapeley Hall, a moated house which he evidently demolished in the early 19th century and replaced by a small house now called Stapeley Old Hall (which he let to a farmer) and at the Red Hall, Wistaston. He also owned the manor of Hankelow, which was sold after his death.

He died 28 April and was buried at Wybunbury, 5 May 1840. His wife died 22 April 1825.

* James Bayley of Stourport committed suicide in 1785.

Bayley, James (1782-1842). Eldest son of James Bayley (1759-1840) and his wife Penelope, daughter of Edward Salmon of Hassall Hall (Ches.), born 22 May and baptised at Wybunbury (Ches.), 29 May 1782. JP for Cheshire and an officer in the Cheshire militia (Ensign, 1801; Lt., 1804; Capt.). He married, 1812 (settlement 22 August*), Elizabeth (1788-1876), daughter of John Franklin of Rumleigh House, Bere Ferrers (Devon), and had issue six sons and five daughters including:

(1) James Franklin Bayley (1814-59), baptised at Wybunbury, 18 May 1814; a Land Tax Commissioner for Cheshire, 1844, but seems to have held no later public office; lived at The Willows, Nantwich; died unmarried, 27 January 1859; administration of his goods granted to his sister Elizabeth, 21 February 1859 (effects under £200);

(2) Richard Bayley (c.1815-26); died young and was buried at Bere Ferrers, 10 March 1826;

(3) Henry Bayley (1817-18), born about December 1817; died in infancy and was buried at Bere Ferrers, 15 August 1818;

(4) Elizabeth Smith Bayley (c.1819-91), baptised at Bere Ferrers, 16 December 1821; living in 1848; married, 28 October 1863, Rev. Urquhart Cookworthy (1822-78), rector of Sandford Orcas, but had no issue; lived latterly at East Woodhay House (Berks); died 12 March and was buried at Sandford Orcas (Dorset), 17 March 1891; will proved 2 April 1891 (effects £14,046);

(5) Penelope Harriet Bayley (c.1820-30), baptised at Bere Ferrers, 16 December 1821; died young and was buried at Bere Ferrers, 25 March 1830;

(6) Maj. Edward Bayley (1821-55), baptised at Bere Ferrers, 16 December 1821; an officer in the 88th Foot (Ensign, 1839; Lt., 1841; Capt. 1847; Maj., 1855); died unmarried when he was killed at the battle of Sebastopol in the Crimean war, 7 June 1855; commemorated by a monument designed by Joseph Stephens of Worcester at Wybunbury;

(7) Emma Bayley (b. 1822), born in March and baptised at Bere Ferrers, 28 April 1822; died in infancy and was buried at Bere Ferrers, 13 February 1823;

(8) Emma Bayley (b. 1824), baptised at Bere Ferrers, 23 June 1824; living in 1848 but death not traced;

(9) John Salmon Bayley (1827-59) (q.v.);

(10) Frederick William Salmon Bayley (1831-32), baptised at Bere Ferrers, 19 December 1831; died in infancy and was buried at Bere Ferrers, 26 January 1832.

He lived at Rumleigh House until he inherited various properties from his father in 1840 and also Willaston Hall from his first cousin twice removed, Ellen Salmon, in 1832. His widow probably continued to occupy Willaston Hall after his death.

He died 27 April and was buried at Wybunbury, 5 May 1842; his will was proved in the PCC, 25 November 1843. His widow died 30 September 1876.

* The date of the settlement is given in his will, but I have not been able to locate the marriage.

Bayley, John Salmon (1827-59). Son of James Bayley (1782-1842) and his wife Elizabeth, daughter of John Franklin of Rumleigh House, Bere Alston (Devon), baptised at Bere Ferrers, 23 April 1827. An officer in the 88th Foot (Ensign, 1846; retired 1849). The accounts of his conduct given at the time of his divorce suggest that he had an uncontrollable temper and was perhaps mentally unstable. He married, 6 June 1854 at Wybunbury (Ches.) (sep. 1859 on grounds of his cruelty and violent conduct), Maria (1831-94), daughter of Rev. James Hayes of Wybunbury, and had issue:

(1) Maria Elizabeth Salmon Bayley (1855-1942), born at Lower Wick Lodge, St John in Bedwardine, Worcester, 26 April ô1855, and baptised at Wybunbury, 4 January 1856; married, October 1881, Rev. George Edgar Augustus Pargiter (1857-1929), a missionary in northern India and later vicar of Normanton-by-Derby (Derbys) and West Torrington (Lincs), and had issue one son and two daughters; died 30 June 1942; administration of goods granted 19 August 1942 (estate £530);

(2) Harriet Bayley (b. 1856), born 12 May and baptised at Newland (Worcs), 15 June 1856; probably died young;

(3) James Bayley (1857-1922) (q.v.).

He inherited Willaston Hall from his father in 1842, but lived at Southwick Lodge, Worcester.

He shot himself at Anderton's Hotel, Fleet St., London, 11 March and was buried at Kensal Green Cemetery, London, 17 March 1859; administration of his goods was granted to his widow, 11 April 1859 (effects under £6,000). His widow married 2nd, 22 November 1865 at Stepney (Middx), Rev. Richard Henry Beaumont Lee (c.1802-69), the turbulent rector of Stepney, 1847-69 (bankrupt 1867), third son of Thomas Lee of Leeds (Yorks WR); she lived latterly at Park House, Tunbridge Wells (Kent) and died 20 March 1894; her will was proved 29 May 1894 (estate £375).

Bayley, James (1857-1922). Only son of John Salmon Bayley (1827-59) and his wife Maria, daughter of Rev. James Hayes of Wybunbury (Ches.), born at Lower Wick Lodge, St John's Bedwardine, Worcester, 1 July and baptised at Wybunbury, 27 September 1857. JP for Cheshire. He married, 25 January 1880 at Willesborough (Kent), Ellen Barker (d. 1923), daughter of George Andrews of Dun's Hill House, Willesborough, and had issue:

(1) Cmdr. James Bayley (1880-1933) (q.v.);

(2) Nellie Bayley (1882-1974), born 25 February and baptised at Wybunbury, 26 March 1882; married, 1907, Ernst Sehmer (d. 1928) of Saarbrucken (Germany) and Toat, Pulborough (Sussex), and had issue three sons and two daughters; died aged 92 on 30 March 1974; will proved 4 July 1974 (estate £12,780);

(3) Edward Bayley (b. & d. 1883), baptised privately at Wistaston, 9 May 1883; died in infancy, Apr-Jun 1883;

(4) Edward Vincent Bayley (1885-1917), born 5 August and baptised at Wybunbury, 1 November 1885; stockbroker in London with Keith, Bayley and Reader; served in First World War as an officer in the Royal Flying Corps (2nd Lt.); died in an accident while landing at the British Flying School, Vendôme (France), 24 February 1917; administration of goods granted 23 May 1917 (estate £2,637);

(5) Dorothy Bayley (b. 1886), born 5 September and baptised at Wybunbury, 12 December 1886; married 1st, 21 April 1910 at St Margaret, Westminster (div. 1919 on grounds of his desertion and adultery), Ronald Freeman Carrick (1886-1970), son of Albert Carrick of Ealing (Middx); married 2nd, 1922 at Bostandjik (Turkey), Maj. Meredith Denison Townsend (1887-1948), and emigrated to British Columbia (Canada), 1923, but returned to England later; living in 1948 but death not traced;

(6) Muriel Bayley (1888-1962), born 29 August and baptised at Wybunbury, 14 October 1888; married, 1 February 1915 in Paris (France), Lt-Col. the Rev. Benjamin William Rowan (c.1874-1928), a chaplain to the forces and later vicar of Ansley (Warks), and had issue one son; died 14 February 1962; will proved 25 June 1962 (estate £18,221);

(7) Henry Bayley (1890-1956), born 2 May and baptised at Wybunbury, 27 July 1890; rubber planter in Malaya before emigrating in 1930 to British Columbia (Canada); lived in Australia, 1939-44 before returning to Canada; married 1st, 1924 in Victoria (Australia), Agnes Winsome (1896-1939), daughter of Herbert Osburn Cowen, and had issue one son; married 2nd, 1940, in Australia, Clarice Marjorie Cook (b. c.1913); buried at Duncan, British Columbia, 8 May 1956;

(8) Marjorie Bayley (1893-1967), born 20 May and baptised at Wybunbury, 13 August 1893; married, 3 November 1920 at St Peter, Eaton Sq., Westminster (Middx), Maj. Gordon William Forsayeth (1884-1963) of Hardham House, Pulborough (Sussex), son of Surgeon Lt-Col. Richard William Forsayeth of Whitechurch (Co. Waterford), and had issue one son; died 9 September 1967; will proved 10 January 1968 (estate £11,130);

(9) Pyrethia Bayley (b. 1899), born 30 January and baptised at Wybunbury, 19 March 1899; living in 1901 but probably died young.

He inherited Willaston Hall from his father in 1859 and came of age in 1878.

He was killed in a bizarre accident during the trial of a milling machine at Luckings Farm, Coleshill (Bucks), 19 May, and was buried at Wybunbury, 25 May 1922; administration of his goods (with will annexed) was granted to his eldest son, 20 September 1922 (estate £45,878) and a further grant was made to two of his daughters, 1 November 1943. His widow died 28 June 1923; her will was proved 23 October 1923 (estate £887).

Bayley, Cmdr. James (1880-1933). Eldest son of James Bayley (1857-1922) and his wife Ellen Barker, daughter of George Andrews of Dun's Hill House, Willesborough (Kent), born at Dorfold Cottage, Acton near Nantwich (Ches), 14 February and baptised at Wybunbury, 5 December 1880. Educated at HMS Britannia. He entered the Royal Navy in 1895 (Cadet, and Midshipman, 1897; Lt., 1902; retired 1910; returned to service, 1914 and was promoted Lt-Cdr., 1916 and retired as Cdr., 1919). After inheriting his estates he proved an enterprising farmer, and was also active as a housing developer in Nantwich. During the period of mass unemployment in the 1920s and early 1930s, he devised and invested his own money in schemes to help relieve unemployment, including one by which unemployed men sold tea door to door, which is said to have taken 100 men off the dole. He was a Conservative in politics, but never sought office himself. He married, 19 December 1907 at Holbeton (Devon), Constance Theodora Mitford (1884-1957), youngest daughter of Charles Henry Ogbourne of Efford, Holbeton (Devon), underwriter, but had no issue.

He inherited Willaston Hall from his father in 1922. After his widow's remarriage, his executors sold the estate in 1937.

He died from a gunshot wound while testing a revolver he had bought to provide protection for his wife while she was motoring alone, 27 January 1933; there were strong suspicions that his death might have been suicide, but the evidence at the coroner's inquest made this seem unlikely and the jury rejected the coroner's guidance towards an open verdict and recorded a verdict of accidental death; his will was proved 1 June 1933 (estate £34,432). His widow built up a herd of Freisian cattle at Willaston and after a brief engagement to Lord Robert Edward Innes-Ker (1885-1958), married 2nd, 19 August 1937, Istvan Basil Jarmay (1884-1946) of Bulkeley Hall (Ches.), son of Sir John Jarmay, kt., who shared her passion for Freisians; she died 6 October 1957 and her will was proved 17 December 1957 (estate £53,969).

Principal sources

Burke's Landed Gentry, 1937, p. 124; P. de Figueiredo & J. Treuherz, Cheshire country houses, 1988, pp. 239, 282; C. Hartwell, M. Hyde, E. Hubbard & Sir N. Pevsner, The buildings of England: Cheshire, 2nd edn., 2011, p. 668;  http://www.carlolittle.com/ft/people/p0000009.htm#I754

Location of archives

Bayley family of Willaston Hall: deeds, family and estate papers, 17th-20th cents. [Cheshire Archives & Local Studies, D4415, D8070]

Coat of arms

None recorded.

Can you help?

• I should be most grateful if anyone can provide photographs or portraits of people whose names appear in bold above, and who are not already illustrated.
• If anyone can offer further information or corrections I should be most grateful. I am always particularly pleased to hear from descendants of the family who can supply information from their own research or personal knowledge for inclusion.

Revision and acknowledgements

This post was first published 8 August 2021 and was updated 10 August 2021 and 8-9 February 2024. I am grateful to Andrew Timmis and Jason Hoole for corrections.

(464) Fleming and Baxter of Sibdon Castle

The story of this family begins with Richard Fleming (1681-1748), a lawyer who inherited the Shropshire estates of Westhope in Diddlebury, and Shadwell in Clun. To these he added Sibdon Carwood (Shropshire), which there are some grounds for believing his family may previously have rented from the Corbets. In 1745 he sold Sibdon to his eldest son, Edward Fleming (1711-73), who was practising as a barrister in London, and moved to Dinmore Manor in Herefordshire, which he may have leased. When he died in 1748, Edward also inherited the Westhope and Shadwell properties, though Dinmore Manor passed to Richard's second son, another Richard Fleming (1713-72). Edward Fleming is the central figure in the story of Sibdon Castle, for through his remodelling of the house and his landscaping of the grounds he largely created the estate that exists today, but despite this, he is not a sympathetic figure. He was permanently overstretched financially, and his creditors, his wife and his family all paid the price for his chronic indebtedness, both financially and emotionally. In 1763 his second wife left him for several weeks, and although she eventually returned to Sibdon for the sake of her children, her relationship with her husband remained strained until she died in 1770. In 1773, Edward was murdered by the addition of a fatal dose of arsenic to his breakfast potage, and it was quickly realised that a member of the household must have been responsible. The housekeeper was charged with the crime but acquitted at her trial at Shrewsbury Assizes, and the crime was never brought home to anyone else. Later speculation suggested that Edward's only son, Gilbert Fleming, who inherited the family estates, might have been responsible, and that perhaps he had bribed the housekeeper to administer the poison, but the truth will probably never be known. Gilbert drank himself to death less than a year after his father, which does sound rather like the effects of a bad conscience. He died intestate, and his three surviving sisters and their husbands agreed a partition of his estates between them. As a result of this, Sibdon Castle passed to the eldest daughter, Sarah (1742-74), the wife of John Baxter of The Rock, Llanllwchaiarn (Montgomerys). Sarah herself died just seven months after her brother, so Sibdon Castle passed into the hands of the Baxter family.

John Baxter (d. 1788) was a gentleman farmer, who had served as High Sheriff of Montgomeryshire in 1770, and he seems to have continued to live at The Rock, a farm in a loop of the River Severn, since he and his wife were both buried at Llanllwchaiarn. He was succeeded at Sibdon by his only surviving son, James Fleming Baxter (1768-1830), who was trained as a solicitor in the office of James Kinnersley at Ludlow (Shrops). Although his father died before he had completed his articles, he seems to have qualified as a solicitor, for by 1808 he had been appointed Town Clerk of Ludlow, a responsible position which he held until his death. He seems to have lived chiefly in Ludlow rather than at Sibdon, although since there is no evidence that the latter was let, he perhaps divided his time between the two: they are only about ten miles apart.

Sibdon Cottage, which James Fleming Baxter left
to his mistress, Elizabeth Gwilliam, in 1830.

His appointment as Town Clerk demonstrates fairly clearly that James commanded the confidence of the leading townspeople, and it is a telling comment on the prevailing moral standards that he could do so while (as his will makes explicit) living openly with Elizabeth Gwilliam, a woman who was not his wife, and who bore him two children. In fact James never married, and he bequeathed his estate to his illegitimate son, James Baxter (1805-71), although he made extensive financial provision for his mistress, who was also left a charming Regency Gothick cottage on the Sibdon estate, which he may have built for her.

James Baxter was trained as a solicitor, like his father, being articled clerk to Richard Barneby (1769-1830) of Worcester in 1822. After completing his articles he may have practised for some years in Birmingham, as he was living there at the time of his first marriage in 1827. After his father's death he relocated to Ludlow, where he lived in Mill St. and later Broad St., although it is not clear whether he was practising as a lawyer at this time. Like his father he may have divided his time between Ludlow and Sibdon. He had four sons, but the two eldest both predeceased him, so on his death in 1871 the Sibdon estate passed to his third son, the Rev. Henry Fleming Baxter (1838-1916), who was then vicar of Bushbury (Staffs), although he took an early opportunity of presenting himself to the living of Sibdon Carwood in 1872. His first concern at Sibdon was to remodel the church, adding an apse and replacing the Georgian ball finials on the tower with oversize battlements. He was probably also responsible for adding a small service wing to the house. In 1899 he decided to retire from his clerical duties and perhaps to make this financially possible, he sold the Sibdon estate to his younger brother, Herbert Fleming Baxter (1839-1905), who was an American merchant and much wealthier than his brother. In other ways, the decision is hard to explain: Henry had three surviving sons, who were respectively a doctor, a farmer and a clergyman; whereas Herbert had only one, who was an artist and sculptor with no interest in the estate. Henry's second son, Robert Hanbury Fleming Baxter (1874-1936), who had perhaps expected to inherit Sibdon, emigrated to Canada in 1899 and never returned. When Herbert's widow died in 1907, his son Fane Fleming Baxter (1873-1939) inherited, and at once let the house. It remained tenanted until he sold the freehold in 1929.

Sibdon Castle, Sibdon Carwood, Shropshire

Leland, writing in the mid 16th century, records the existence of a castle at 'Shepeton Corbet', which is probably to be identified with Sibdon Carwood, then an outlying estate belonging to the extensive Corbet family. Nothing remains of a masonry castle today, and it may always have been a timber-framed manor house. In the early 17th century the Corbets largely rebuilt the house on a U-plan, with the entrance front facing west and having a recessed three bay centre and projecting gabled wings. The wings survive largely intact today, and are of two storeys with attics above; inside, two rooms at the north end of the house, the kitchen and library, have distinctive wide fireplaces with segmental arches beneath hooded moulds, similar to those at nearby Stokesay Castle. The northern end of the house was probably the service end from the beginning, with the family rooms at the southern end, and this arrangement survives today.

Sibdon Castle: the west front, with the early 17th century gable-ends and the single-storey 18th century entrance block between them.
Image: Nicholas Kingsley. Some rights reserved.

In 1659 the Corbets sold the Sibdon Carwood estate to John Walcot (1624-1702), who undertook a further remodelling and extension of the house and rebuilt the stables. Work may have been in progress in 1672 when Walcot was taxed on only one hearth at Sibdon (although, as we have seen, at least two hearths survive from the early 17th century house in the present building!). Walcot refenestrated the centre of the west front with new timber mullioned and transomed windows with segmental heads, and created a new east range which is rather deeper than the west range and also a little wider. The new east front had four widely-spaced windows on each floor and an asymmetrically-placed doorway between the middle windows, all set under a hipped roof punctuated by brick chimneystacks with panelled sides. The asymmetrical doorway may be evidence that the new range incorporated some earlier work, rather than being entirely new. The windows on the east front had shallow segmental arches above flat heads, and were similar to those installed by Walcot's younger brother Thomas at Bitterley Court, making it likely that the same craftsmen were employed at both houses. Little survives inside of Walcot's time except for the secondary staircase in the centre of the house.

In 1725 the Sibdon estate was sold for £2,410 to Richard Fleming, whose only contribution to the building history seems to have been the rebuilding of the parish church, which stands in the garden of the house. He signed a contract for the work with John Tasker, a local builder, in 1738, and there was formerly a datestone in the east wall for 1741. The building that resulted was a simple two-cell chapel with a western bell-tower, although the the design of the battlements and ball finials on the tower was not finally decided until 1746. By then, Richard Fleming had sold the house to his son, Edward Fleming (d. 1773), who forsook a successful career at the bar to devote himself to the management and improvement of the estate. Sadly, he did not have the capital to match his ambitions for the place, but even so, the remodelling that he undertook in the late 1740s or 1750s, probably to the designs of William Baker (1705-71) of Highfields, is largely responsible for the present character of the house. On the west front, he filled in the space between the two wings with a battlemented single-storey block with a doorway beneath an arched fanlight, flanked by narrow windows. Although the main entrance had always been on the west side until now, this 'Palladian doorway' was intended as a secondary entrance, connecting the house to the stable court. 

Sibdon Castle: the east front today, after the recent restoration of the glazing bars. Image: Nicholas Kingsley. Some rights reserved.

On the east side, which became the entrance front at this time, he inserted additional windows between the widely spaced ones of the 1670s, to create a seven bay front, gave all the windows narrow moulded surrounds with small keystones, and built a new central porch with alternating angle quoins and an arched doorway that effectively concealed the asymmetric positioning of the doorway on this side. More strikingly, he added a battlemented parapet which rises at either end of the facade to incorporate an oculus window and again in the centre to incorporate a Diocletian window: although these windows are all classical in origin, the overall effect is strongly that of a toy fort.

Sibdon Castle: entrance hall and staircase in 1967. Image: Country Life.

The new porch on the east front led into one corner of the entrance hall, with full-height panelling articulated by giant fluted Doric pilasters. To the right lay the panelled Oak Room, which probably functioned as a study and business room, and beyond that the Gun Room. To the west there opened a new principal staircase, with inlaid treads, fluted colonnette newels, and three balusters to each tread, two of which are turned and one twisted for variety. Although generous in size and feel, the staircase actually takes up a surprisingly small part of the volume of the house. One almost expects it to lead to a first-floor saloon, but it goes up only to a state bedroom with an old-fashioned deep bed alcove divided from the rest of the room by a segmental arch. 

Sibdon Castle: principal staircase. Image: Nicholas Kingsley. Some rights reserved.

Sibdon Castle: the bed alcove in the first floor bedroom. Image: Nicholas Kingsley. Some rights reserved.

To the south of the hall are the drawing room and dining room, the latter with 17th century ceiling beams encased in plaster and decorated with 18th century egg-and-dart mouldings. Later alterations to the house have been few, and one major one has been reversed. A small service wing was built onto the north-west corner of the house in Victorian times, perhaps in about 1872, when Thomas Nicholson was making alterations to the church and may have worked on the house too. At some point - perhaps after 1899 - the glazing bars of the sash windows on the east front were all removed, giving the house the soulless blank look which so affronts modern eyes but which the Victorians seemed to have found a price worth paying for slightly lighter rooms and an uninterrupted view. Happily, they have recently been put back.

Edward Fleming's remodelling extended to the grounds of the house, where he created a long curving drive leading up to the house and the stable court, and was perhaps responsible for building the present kitchen garden. The decorative planting of the hill to the west of the house, the field trees to the south, and the creation of the small lake north-east of the house all seem to date from Edward Fleming's time.

Descent: Sir Pelham Corbet (c.1602-c.1659); to son, Robert Corbet (1629-98), who sold 1659 to John Walcot (1624-1702), who let to Charles Langford (fl. 1660); to son, Charles Walcot (1660-1726); who gave it to his brother, Humphrey Walcot (1672-1743); sold 1725 to Richard Fleming (1680-1748); sold 1744 to son, Edward Fleming (1711-73); to son, Gilbert Fleming (1745-74); to sister, Sarah (1742-74), wife of John Baxter (d. 1788); to son, James Fleming Baxter (1767-1830); to son, James Baxter (1805-71); to son, Rev. Henry Fleming-Baxter (1838-1916); sold 1899 to brother, Herbert Fleming-Baxter (1839-1905); to son, Fane Fleming-Baxter (1873-1939); sold 1929 to Robert Millington Holden (1885-1950); to son, Maj. Hubert Robert Holden (d. 1987); to son, Robert David Holden (1956-2014); to widow, Susan Emily Frances Holden (b. 1965).

Fleming and Baxter of Sibdon Castle

Fleming, Richard (1681-1748). Eldest son of John Fleming (1652-1716) of Westhope in Diddlebury and Shadwell in Clun (both Shropshire), and his wife Elizabeth (1655-1728), elder daughter of Sir John Edwards of Diddlebury (Shrops), kt., baptised at Diddlebury 20 July 1681. Solicitor. He married, 12 June 1708 at Morville (Shrops), Elizabeth (1683-1738), fourth daughter of Sir Edward Acton, 3rd bt., of Acton Scott (Shrops), and had issue:

(1) Mary Fleming (b. & d. 1709), baptised at Morville, 26 May 1709; died unmarried and was perhaps buried at Morville or Clun, 10 November 1709;

(2) Edward Fleming (1711-73) (q.v.);

(3) Richard Fleming (1713-72), born 25 September and baptised at Clun, 10 October 1713; solicitor; one of the six clerks in Chancery; married, 7 December 1752 at St George-the-Martyr, Bloomsbury (Middx), Frances (1729-1805), daughter of the antiquary, William Stukeley (1687-1765), and had issue one son and one daughter; died 14 September 1772 and was buried at Clun (Shrops);

(4) Rev. John Fleming (1719-c.1782), born 4 August and baptised at Clun, 23 August 1719; educated at Christ Church, Oxford (matriculated 1738; BA 1741; DCL 1764); ordained deacon, 1742; rector of Greet (Shrops), 1754-60; rector of Acton Scott, 1756-81; vicar of Highley, 1759-77; JP for Shropshire; had a 'colourful' life, being jailed in Shrewsbury for debt, running away to sea in 1779 aged 60 to escape his creditors, going as chaplain on board HMS Ajax, bound for the Leeward Islands; he married Mary [surname unknown] of Morville (Shrops), but had no issue; died at sea in 1781 or 1782;

(5) Beatrice Fleming (1721-40), born 11 October and baptised at Clun, 23 October 1721; died unmarried in 1740.

He inherited the Westhope and Shadwell estates from his father in 1716 and purchased the Sibdon Carwood estate from Humphrey Walcot in 1725, but sold it to his son Edward in 1745. At the time of his death he was living at Dinmore Manor (Herefs).

He died 20 June, and was buried at Clun (Shrops), 2 July 1748; his will was proved in the PCC, 29 November 1748. His wife was buried at Morville, 6 June 1738.

Edward Fleming (1711-73) 

Fleming, Edward (1711-73). Eldest son of Richard Fleming (1681-1748) and his wife Elizabeth, fourth daughter of Sir Edward Acton, 3rd bt., of Acton Scott (Shrops), baptised at Clun, 19 April 1711. Educated at the Inner Temple (admitted 1731; called 1735). Barrister-at-law (ceased practising in 1745). 'Smug and self-seeking', he was not an attractive personality. He was perpetually hard up and more than usually dilatory in paying his bills. He ignored his father-in-law's advice to clear his debts before embarking on the expansion of his estate or building and landscaping works, and his expenditure on the these matters so far exceeded what he could really afford that he begrudged any other expenditure, leading to tensions in his household. His second wife left him in 1763 and although she later returned to him, there was never a true reconciliation between them. He was eventually murdered by someone in his household, who put arsenic in his breakfast one morning; his housekeeper was tried for the crime but acquitted. He married 1st, 31 January 1734/5 within the precincts of the Fleet Prison, Elizabeth Bunbury (1711-35), and 2nd, 27 March 1740 at Trowbridge (Wilts), Ann (d. 1770), daughter of John Allen Cooper of Cumberwell (Wilts), and had issue:

(2.1) Sarah Fleming (1742-74) (q.v.);

(2.2) Gilbert Fleming (1745-74), baptised at Sibdon, 29 November 1745; perhaps the most likely suspect in the murder of his father, as he inherited the Sibdon Castle estate on his father's death; he drank himself to death within a year, perhaps the victim of a bad conscience; buried at Sibdon, 26 May 1774; he died intestate and his property was apportioned among his surviving sisters by a deed of partition;

(2.3) Ann Fleming (1748-1801), baptised at Sibdon, 10 May 1748; inherited the Shadwell estate from her brother under the deed of partition; married, 29 August 1773 at Clungunford (Shrops), Richard James (1750-1802) of Ludlow, and had issue two sons and two daughters although only one daughter survived to adulthood; died as a result of injuries received in a carriage accident and was buried at Sibdon, 29 April 1801;

(2.4) Elizabeth Fleming (b. & d. 1751), baptised at Sibdon, 17 August 1751; died in infancy and was buried there, 29 August 1751;

(2.5) Frances Fleming (1754-92), baptised at Sibdon, 9 January 1754; inherited Westhope from her brother under the deed of partition; married, 20 October 1773 at St Paul, Covent Garden, Westminster (Middx), John Harries (1719-78) of Cruckton, Pontesbury (Shrops), barrister-at-law, but had no issue; died 24 November 1792 and was buried at Paddington (Middx); her will was proved 11 January 1793, and left all her property to Sir John Swinnerton Dyer (1738-1801), 6th bt..

He purchased the Sibdon Carwood estate from his father in 1745; remodelled the house and laid out the grounds. He inherited the Westhope and Shadwell estates from his father in 1748.

He was poisoned with arsenic in his breakfast potage, 31 March 1773; his housekeeper was charged with his murder but acquitted at her trial; it seems likely that his son, impatient for his estate, was the real culprit; he was buried at Clun (Shrops). His first wife was buried at Mortlake (Surrey), 18 November 1735. His second wife was buried at Sibdon Carwood, 6 May 1770.

Fleming, Sarah (1742-74). Eldest daughter of Edward Fleming (1711-73) and his second wife Ann, daughter of John Allen Cooper of Cumberwell (Wilts), baptised at Sibdon, 6 April 1742. She married, 30 April 1764 at Llanllwchaiarn (Montgomerys), John Baxter (1724-88) of The Rock, Llanllwchaiarn, High Sheriff of Montgomeryshire, 1770, and had issue:

(1) Ann Maria Baxter (1765-77), baptised at Llanllwchaiarn, 2 April 1765; died young, 10 June, and was buried at Llanllwchaiarn, 13 June 1777;

(2) Frances Fleming Baxter (1767-1841), baptised at Llanllwchaiarn, 26 June 1767; married 1st, 19 October 1784 at St Mary, Shrewsbury, Joshua Symonds (1760-91); 2nd, 25 January 1814 at St Chad, Shrewsbury, Richard Harper (1772-1832); and 3rd, 1 May 1840 at St Julian, Shrewsbury, John Meredith (d. 1855?) of Yockleton (Shrops), son of Thomas Meredith, farmer, but had no issue; buried at St Alkmund, Shrewsbury, 24 May 1841;

(3) James Fleming Baxter (1768-1830) (q.v.);

(4) Richard Baxter (1769-70), baptised at Llanllwchaiarn, 30 July 1769; died in infancy and was buried at Llanllwchaiarn, 15 March 1770;

(5) John Baxter (b. & d. 1771), baptised at Llanllwchaiarn, 11 March 1771; died in infancy and was buried at Llanllwchaiarn, 26 July 1771;

(6) Sarah Baxter (1772-1850), baptised at Llanllwchaiarn, 8 November 1772; married, 31 December 1792 at Llansanffraid Cwmteuddwr (Montgomeryshire), Richard Owen of Newtown (Montgomerys); buried at Llanllwchaiarn, 21 March 1850;

(7) Edward Baxter (1774-93), baptised at Llanllwchaiarn, 14 December 1774; died unmarried and was buried at Sibdon Carwood, 14 September 1793.

She inherited the Sibdon Castle estate under the deed of partition after the death of her brother in 1774.

She died 10 December 1774 and was buried at Llanllwchaiarn, where she is commemorated by a monument. Her husband died 24 August 1788 and was also buried at Llanllwchaiarn.

Baxter, James Fleming (1768-1830). Eldest son of John Baxter (1724-88) and his wife Sarah, daughter of Edward Fleming of Sibdon Castle (Shropshire), born 4 August and probably baptised at Llanllwchaiarn (Montgomerys), 7 August 1768. He was articled clerk to James Kinnersley of Ludlow (Shrops), 1784, and no doubt practised as a solicitor in Ludlow, becoming Town Clerk of Ludlow by 1808, a post which he held until his death. An officer in the Ludlow & Bishops Castle Volunteer Infantry (Capt., 1808). He was unmarried, but lived for many years with Elizabeth Gwilliam (c.1772-1853), by whom he had issue:

(X1) Elizabeth Baxter (1794-1828), born 17 August and baptised at Ludlow, 26 August 1794; married, 15 May 1818 at Ludlow, Rev. James Cumpson (1793-1835), vicar of St Chad, Shrewsbury (Shrops), and had issue three sons and two daughters; died at Shrewsbury, 16 May 1828;

(X2) James Baxter (1805-71) (q.v.).

He inherited Sibdon Castle from his father in 1788, but lived chiefly in Ludlow.

He died 24 January and was buried at Sibdon, 30 January 1830; his will was proved in the PCC, 1 June 1830, and made elaborate provision for Elizabeth Gwilliam. She died 14 September 1853.

Baxter, James (1805-71). Illegitimate son of James Fleming Baxter (1768-1830) and his partner, Elizabeth Gwilliam, baptised at Ludlow, 27 May 1805. Articled clerk to Richard Barneby of Worcester, solicitor, 1822, and may have practised as a solicitor for some years before coming into his inheritance. JP (from 1836) and DL for Shropshire. He married 1st, 8 April 1827 at St Philip, Birmingham, Penelope (c.1799-1832), daughter of John Hammond of Ledbury (Herefs) and 2nd, 18 June 1833 at Ludlow (Shrops), Frances (1803-86), daughter of Thomas White of Ludlow, and had issue:

(2.1) James Fleming Baxter (1835-60), baptised at Ludlow, 20 June 1835; an officer in the 56th foot (Ensign, 1853; Lt., 1854; Capt., 1860); died at Ahmednuggar (India), 20 August 1860; administration of his goods granted to his father, 22 June 1864 (effects under £50);

(2.2) Alfred Fleming Baxter (1836-52), born 2 October 1836; died young, 22 June 1852;

(2.3) Rev. Henry Fleming Baxter (1838-1916) (q.v.);

(2.4) Herbert Fleming Baxter (1839-1905) (q.v.);

(2.5) Frances Elizabeth Baxter (1841-94), baptised at Ludlow, 31 July 1841; married, 20 April 1871, as his second wife, Rev. Henry Bayley Clissold (1828-79), rector of St Saviour, Bath (Som.), and had issue two sons and two daughters; died at Bath, 18 February 1894; will proved 13 March 1894 (effects £5,634).

He inherited Sibdon Castle from his father in 1830, but at least at first lived chiefly in Ludlow.

He died 7 June 1871; his will was proved 11 July 1871 (effects under £5,000). His first wife was buried at Sibdon, 21 May 1832. His widow died at Bath (Som.), 29 May 1886.

Baxter, Rev. Henry Fleming (1838-1916). Third, but eldest surviving, son of James Baxter (1805-71) and his wife Frances, daughter of Thomas White of Ludlow (Shrops), baptised at Ludlow, 18 May 1838. Educated at Brasenose College, Oxford (matriculated 1857; BA 1860; MA 1864). Ordained deacon, 1861 and priest, 1862. He held various curacies, 1862-67, before being appointed Vicar of Bushbury (Staffs), 1867-72 and then vicar of Sibdon Carwood with Halford, 1872-1900; after retiring he moved to Ealing (Middx), where he was a licensed preacher for a time. He married, 14 September 1869 at Bushbury (Staffs), Anne Maria (1842-1930), daughter of James William Weaver of Oaken, Wolverhampton, carrier and wharfinger, and had issue:

(1) James Fleming Baxter (1870-1910), born 12 August and baptised at Bushbury, 21 September 1870; educated at Westminster Hospital, 1887-98; qualified as a doctor, 1898 (LRCPE 1898; LRCSE 1898); practised latterly in the Canary Islands; died unmarried, 21 February 1910 and was buried in the English Cemetery at Las Palmas, Gran Canaria (Canary Islands);

(2) Gilbert Fleming Baxter (1872-73), born 5 November 1872 and baptised at Sibdon Carwood; died in infancy, Apr-Jun 1873;

(3) Robert Hanbury Fleming Baxter (1874-1936), born 28 January and baptised at Sibdon Carwood, 5 April 1874; educated at Lancing College; emigrated to Canada, 1899 and farmed at Cariboo, British Columbia; married, 24 December 1907 in British Columbia, Amy (1874-1947), daughter of Robert John Gedge of Coltishall (Essex), and had issue one son; died 6 October 1936 and was buried at Burnaby, Vancouver, British Columbia;

(4) Hilda Mary Fleming Baxter (1876-1962), born 14 October and baptised at Sibdon Carwood, 19 November 1876; married, 1908, William George Biggs (1878-1918), but had no issue; lived as a widow at Craven Arms (Shrops); died 25 June 1962; will proved 31 July 1962 (estate £54,235);

(5) Henry Courtney Fleming Baxter (b. & d. 1878), born Apr-Jun 1878; died in infancy, Oct-Dec. 1878;

(6) Rev. Godfrey Fleming Baxter (1879-1964), born 13 September 1879; educated at Emmanuel College, Cambridge (matriculated 1898; BA 1901; MA 1905); ordained deacon, 1902 and priest, 1903; held curacies, 1902-19; rector of Essendon (Herts), 1919-39; rural dean of Hertford, 1921-26, 1935-39; married, 15 September 1909 at St Mary, Twickenham (Middx), Ethel Mary (1880-1951), daughter of Rev. H.P. Prosser, vicar of Twickenham, but had no issue; died 5 June 1964; will proved 13 August 1964 (estate £38,362).

He inherited Sibdon Castle from his father in 1871, but sold it to his younger brother in 1899.

He died 22 December 1916; his will was proved 20 January 1917 (estate £26,684). His widow died 15 September and was buried at Sibdon Carwood, 18 September 1930; her will was proved 6 November 1930 (estate £6,246).

Baxter, Herbert Fleming (1839-1905). Fourth son of James Baxter (1805-71) and his wife Frances, daughter of Thomas White of Ludlow (Shrops), born 9 November and baptised at Ludlow, 11 November 1839. American Merchant. He married, 27 April 1865 at St George, Hanover Sq., Westminster (Middx), Maria Jane (1846-1907), daughter of Charles Frederick Hancock of Hendon Hall (Middx), jeweller, and had issue:

(1) Violet Fleming Baxter (1866-1936), born 19 October and baptised at St Mary, Hendon (Middx), 27 December 1866; married, 19 October 1895 at St Paul, Hampstead (Middx), Thomas Leslie Nelson (1869-1926) of Field Dalling Hall (Norfk), son of Thomas Boustead Nelson, railway contractor, but had no issue; died 8 June 1936; will proved 31 August 1936 (estate £157,631);

(2) May Fleming Baxter (1870-1944), born 13 September and baptised at St Mary, Hendon, 27 October 1870; married, 15 July 1899 at St Paul, Hampstead, Dr. John Fawcett MD (1866-1944) of London, consulting physician to Guy's Hospital, London, son of John Bisdee Fawcett, insurance broker, and had issue one son and one daughter; died 21 August 1944; will proved 13 December 1944 (estate £86,134);

(3) Fane Fleming Baxter (1873-1939) (q.v.).

He purchased Sibdon Castle from his elder brother in 1899. At his death he left the estate to his widow for life and then to his only son.

He died 21 July 1905; will proved 18 August 1905 (estate £186,676). His widow died 6 February, and was buried at Sibdon, 9 February 1907; her will was proved 23 March 1907 (estate £50,345).

Baxter, Fane Fleming (1873-1939). Only son of Herbert Fleming-Baxter (1839-1905) and his wife Maria Jane, daughter of Charles Frederick Hancock of Hendon Hall (Middx), born 8 January and baptised at St Paul, Hampstead (Middx), 27 February 1873. Educated at Uppingham School and Jesus College, Cambridge (matriculated 1891). Sculptor and artist in oils. During the First World War he served on the War Refugee Committee. Appointed MBE, 1918, and OBE, 1920. He married, 30 April 1907 at Sibdon, Mary Scovell (1871-1955), daughter of Ambrose Ives Upson of New York (USA) and formerly wife of Daniel Thomas Vose Huntoon (1871-1943), but had no issue.

He inherited Sibdon Castle on the death of his mother in 1907, but he preferred to live in London, and let it until he sold it in 1929 to Robert Millington Holden (1882-1950).

He died 23 October 1939; his will was proved 15 January 1940 (estate £28,945). His widow died 6 July 1955; her will was proved 4 October 1955 (estate £11,161).

Principal sources

Burke's Landed Gentry, 1925, pp. 103-04; E.H. Martin, A history of the manor of Westhope (Salop), 1909, pp. 60-68; A. Rowan, 'Sibdon Castle, Shropshire', Country Life, 1-8 June 1967; J. Newman & Sir N. Pevsner, The buildings of England: Shropshire, 2006, pp. 593-95; G. Williams, The country houses of Shropshire, 2021, pp. 583-86;

Location of archives

No significant accumulation is held in a public repository, but it is believed some papers remain at Sibdon Castle.

Coat of arms

Fleming of Sibdon Carwood: none recorded.

Baxter of Sibdon Carwood: none recorded.

Can you help?

• I should be most grateful if anyone can provide photographs or portraits of people whose names appear in bold above, and who are not already illustrated.
• If anyone can offer further information or corrections I should be most grateful. I am always particularly pleased to hear from descendants of the family who can supply information from their own research or personal knowledge for inclusion.

Revision and acknowledgements

This post was first published 1 August 2021 and updated 25 July 2024 and 25 June 2025. I am grateful to David Radcliffe and Eileen Ward for additional information.

(463) Baxter of Kilmaron Castle, Kincaldrum House, Gilston House, Teasses House, and Invereighty House, baronets

Baxter of Kincaldrum

This family traces its origins to John Baxter (c.1700-85), a handloom weaver who moved from Fife to Dundee in about 1728. His sons prospered as merchants and linen manufacturers in Dundee, and his grandson John Baxter (1765-1833) became first chairman of the city's chamber of commerce. John's brother, William Baxter (1767-1854) secured the fortunes of the family when he won a Royal Navy contract for the manufacture of sailcloth in 1795. It was Baxter's sailcloth that carried Admiral Lord Nelson's HMS Victory to the Battle of Trafalgar in 1805, and the firm continued to supply the navy for much of the 19th century. In 1822, he formed a new partnership (later Baxter Bros. & Co.) with his sons, Edward, John and William, and built a new linen mill at Lower Dens, Dundee, enabling the rapid expansion of his business. His son Edward soon withdrew from the firm to establish a new concern as a general merchant and shipping agent, but was replaced by his brother David (later Sir David Baxter (1793-1872), 1st bt.), whose first business as a sugar refiner had failed in the financial crash of 1826. Sir David became the senior partner in the firm after the death of his father and two brothers in less than three years, 1852-54.

During the 19th century both the linen manufactory (Baxter Bros & Co.) and the merchant house (E. Baxter & Co.) prospered. Sir David Baxter, who purchased Kilmaron Castle (Fife) in 1854, left a fortune of £1.2m at his death in 1872, and although I have not been able to find a more precise figure than 'upwards of half a million' for Edward Baxter, who died the previous year, he was obviously extremely wealthy too; an obituarist called him 'one of the merchant princes of Dundee'. Sir David had no issue, and on his death the firm passed into the hands of his partners, Peter Carmichael and William Ogilvie Dalgleish, while Kilmaron Castle passed first to his widow and then, in 1882, to his nephew, William Edward Baxter (1825-90). A good deal of Sir David's fortune was left to philanthropic causes, continuing a pattern of charitable generosity he and his spinster sisters had set in life. His brother Edward, although equally philanthropic while living, had to provide for a large family, with children by each of his three marriages. Edward had bought Kincaldrum House in 1853, and this also passed to his eldest son, William Edward Baxter (1825-90), along with the family mercantile business. W.E. Baxter, who as a young man had been a considerable traveller, was MP for the Montrose Boroughs for thirty years from 1855, and served in Gladstone's Liberal Government from 1868-73. To provide for his younger sons, John Henry Baxter (1851-1908) and Edward Gorrel Baxter (1855-1928), in 1862 Edward Baxter bought the Gilston estate in Fife, which he left to them jointly. After Edward's death, John Henry Baxter seems to have bought out his brother, and Edward Gorrel Baxter used the proceeds to purchase the Teasses estate, next door to Gilston, before 1874. So by the 1880s, the three brothers held four estates in Angus and Fife between them.

William Edward Baxter died in 1890, and left his mercantile business, along with Kilmaron and Kincaldrum, to his elder son, Edward Armitstead Baxter (1848-1933), who sold Kilmaron in about 1908 and spent most of the remaining capital before his death. E.A. Baxter's younger brother, Sir George Washington Baxter (1853-1926), 1st bt., shared his father's political interests but never became an MP, although he was eventually made a baronet for his services to the Unionist party. He became a partner in Baxter Bros. & Co., renewing the family involvement with that firm, and in 1894 bought Invereighty House (Angus), which stood close to his brother's house at Kincaldrum. Sir George had no children, so once again a family baronetcy died with the person on whom it had been conferred, and when his widow died in 1937, Invereighty passed to E.A. Baxter's second son, Lt-Col. George Lewis Baxter (1883-1962); it was sold after his death. Kincaldrum House passed to E.A. Baxter's eldest son, William Edward Elliot Baxter (1880-1955), who moved to Ireland after his second marriage in 1952.  After he died, the trustees of his son, Normile Baxter (1929-2017), sold the estate (against the latter's wishes) and the house subsequently slid into dereliction. Normile Baxter then bought the House of Aquahorthies in Aberdeenshire as a replacement.

On the deaths of John Henry Baxter and his brother Edward Gorrel Baxter in 1908 and 1928 respectively, the Fife estates of Gilston and Teasses both passed to John Henry's eldest son, Lt-Col. Noel Edward Baxter (1880-1950), who was a career army officer. It seems to have been the intention of Edward Gorrel Baxter that the two estates should be merged and run as one, but Teasses was sold instead in 1932. The capital generated no doubt helped the Gilston estate to survive the difficult mid 20th century years, and it descended to Alan George Laurie Baxter (1927-88) and on his death to Edward Thomas Baxter (b. 1960), the present owner.

Kilmaron Castle, Cupar, Fife

About 1800 the lands on which this house was built were purchased from Captain Barclay of Collarnie, by Oliver Gourlay of Craigrothie and two partners for £2,800. Having bought out his partners, Gourlay proceeded to plant and improve the grounds, and subsequently sold them to a Mr Lumsden, for £20,000. In about 1809 they were sold for £26,000 to Admiral Sir Frederick Maitland, who then spent over £12,000 more in building a new house and outbuildings to the designs of James Gillespie Graham in 1810-11. The house has marked similarities to Gillespie Graham's Culdees Castle (Perths) of 1810, so it is no surprise to find it was designed at much the same time. Both houses have a round tower engaged at one corner of the house and battlemented turrets at the angles. 

Kilmaron Castle: engraving showing the house from the north-east, as first built to the designs of James Gillespie Graham.

The main entrance at Kilmaron was in the centre of the north front, and was protected by a whimsical Gothick porch formed of two miniature turrets linked to each other and to the house by pointed arches under machicolated parapets carrying pyramidal tablets. The interior contained in 1825 a drawing room, dining room, library, and principal bedroom apartment on the ground floor, bedrooms on the first floor, and service accommodation in the basement.

Kilmaron Castle: the house from the south-east after the additions made for Sir David Baxter about 1860, from an old postcard.

Kilmaron cost the Admiral over £38,000, but after years of letting it to tenants and increasingly desparate efforts to sell it, he eventually sold it to an Edinburgh accountant and insurance agent for just £16,250. After Sir David Baxter bought the estate in 1854, the house was altered more radically than has previously been realised. The main entrance was moved from the north to the east front, where a new and much heavier porch was built, and the house was roughly doubled in size to the south, where a new facade rippling with bay windows was created. The new porch led into a broad corridor with the principal rooms to the south and the staircase opening on the north side. Very little of Gillespie Graham's original interior can have survived such a radical remodelling. Further additions were made in 1897 by Alexander Johnston of Dundee, who worked extensively for the Baxter clan and took David William Baxter (who was in his office at this time of these works) into partnership, but it is not clear what the works consisted of. A further major enlargement of the house to the north-west to provide a new billiard room, additional bedrooms and 'other apartments' was carried out after the estate was bought by Sir James Low in about 1908.

In the late 20th century the house fell into disrepair and was extensively damaged by dry rot. The Morrison-Low family moved out into a smaller new house built nearby; the contents were sold in 1969; the fittings stripped out in 1970, and the house stood as a roofless shell until 1985, when it was rather tragically blown up by the army as a training exercise. The army made a mess of the demolition, which had to be completed by more traditional means, and nothing survives today except the pretty stable block which has miniature turrets echoing those of the former mansion.

Descent: built for Adm. Sir Frederick Lewis Maitland (1777-1839), who let to his kinsman, Patrick Maitland (c.1770-1821), Capt. & Mrs. Douglas (fl. 1824); sold 1835 to James Auchinleck Cheyne (d. 1853), who also let it from about 1847; sold 1854 to Sir David Baxter (1793-1872); to widow (d. 1882); to nephew, William Edward Baxter (1825-90); to son, Edward Armitstead Baxter (1848-1933); sold about 1908 to Sir James Low (1849-1923), 1st bt.; to son, Sir Walter John Low (later Morrison-Low) (1899-1955), 2nd bt.; to son, Sir James Richard Morrison-Low (1925-2012), 3rd bt., who demolished it in 1985.

Kincaldrum House, Angus

The estate belonged to the Guthries of Guthrie Castle from 1457, and later passed to the Bowers, a Catholic family who supported the Stuart cause at the time of the 1745 rebellion, as a result of which the head of the family was killed and the family lost possession of the property for a time. Their house here was modest, apparently consisting of six main rooms in addition to service accommodation when it was advertised to let in 1745. When Kincaldrum was offered for sale in 1801 nothing was said about its chief residence. 

Kincaldrum House: the footprint of the early 19th century house
as shown on the OS 1st edn. map of 1858 

By 1816, however, there was a house 'fit for the immediate reception of any family', and this building probably formed the centre of the later mansion. Later photographs and maps suggest the original building was a double pile house with the entrance front to the south. The central three bays on this side were occupied by a deeply recessed portico in antis, with a broad flight of stone steps leading up to a screen of Tuscan columns, within which further stairs led up to the main entrance at piano nobile level. Behind this entrance lay an oval staircase hall with a glazed dome. To either side of the centrepiece were shallow curved bows. In 1852 this house was considered 'modern, and in perfect repair', although  Edward Baxter found it necessary to make further repairs in 1853-54 after purchasing the property.

Kincaldrum House: the house from the south-east after the enlargement of 1873 by John Carver of Kinloch. Image: Estate of Normile Baxter.

In 1873, the house was greatly enlarged to the designs of John Carver of Kinloch by the addition of wings at either end of the existing building, giving it seven reception rooms and sixteen bedrooms on the principal floors. The wing on the west side was of three storeys, with a high basement to accommodate the fall of the land, higher rooms than in the original house on the principal floor, and lower attic rooms above them with windows that rose above the wallhead as dormers. The larger east wing extended to the north of the original block and terminated in a tower-like block, perhaps meant to suggest early origins as a tower-house.

Kincaldrum House: the ruins in 2007. Image: Anne Burgess. Some rights reserved.

In 1952 William Elliot-Baxter moved to Ireland following his second marriage, and the following year the contents of the house were sold. Kincaldrum was subsequently abandoned and slowly fell into ruin. In the 1970s some windows and internal fittings were still intact, but it is now almost a complete ruin, with bare stone walls.

Descent: Alexander Bower (d. 1801)... Robert Stirling Graham (d. 1846); to daughter, Jessie Graham (d. 1852); sold 1853 for £42,000 to Edward Baxter (1790-1871); to son, William Edward Baxter MP (1825-90); to son, Edward Armitstead Baxter (1848-1927/33); to son, William Edward Elliot-Baxter (1880-1955); who sold it shortly before his death.

Gilston House, Fife

Gilston House: detail of an engraving of 1813 showing the house designed by Robert Balfour for Col. Dewar in about 1800.

The core of the present house is a two-storey house designed by Robert Balfour of St. Andrews for Col. (later Maj-Gen.) David Erskine Dewar, who had made a fortune in India and bought three farms here to form an estate commanding a fine view across Largo Bay to the Lothian hills. The house was said in 1813 to have been 'built a few years ago' and was probably built about 1800. An engraving of 1813 shows its original form, with a seven by three bay front block and a lower wing at the rear. The seven bay entrance front had a pedimented central breakfront with three closely spaced windows on the first floor and a broad semi-circular porch below. When it was advertised for sale in 1818 there were four reception rooms and fourteen principal bedrooms.

Gilston House: the house after the remodelling by John Currie & Son in 1879, from an old postcard.

In 1874 tenders were invited for building new a new stable block to the designs of John Currie & Son of Elie (Fife), and in 1879 the same architects made large additions to the house itself, consisting of irregular wings sprouting from the east and west flanks of the building, and the remodelling of the existing centre, with the addition of a new taller centre and porch on the south front, and elaborate Classical pedimented aedicule surrounds to the ground floor windows. Further minor additions and alterations were made between 1894 and 1907 by James Gillespie & Scott. 

Gilston House: the house and gardens in 2021. © Stewart Atkinson.

Later in the 20th century, the east and west wings were pulled down and the side elevations tidied up. The grounds were laid out for James Wyld in the early 19th century and the areas near the house  were developed later as attractive gardens, which have been open to the public occasionally for the National Gardens Scheme since the mid 20th century.

Descent: built c.1800-05 for Col. (later Maj-Gen.) David Erskine Dewar (d. 1821); sold c.1821 to Capt. Parsons; sold c.1825 to James Wyld, a Leith merchant; to son, who sold 1862 to Edward Baxter (1791-1871), who gave it to his son, John Henry Baxter (1851-1908), who let it until he came of age; to son, Noel Edward Baxter (1880-1950); to son, Alan George Laurie Baxter (1927-88); to son, Edward Thomas Baxter (b. 1960).

Teasses House, Ceres, Fife

The original plain neo-Jacobean house was designed by William Burn for Robert Christie, and built in 1825-26. Unfortunately, no view of the house as built seems to survive, but it was apparently constructed to a reduced version of the designs (which survive in the RIBA), two rooms deep rather than three; however, the arrangement of the principal rooms along the south front (drawing room, vestibule, dining room) appears to follow Burn's proposed arrangement. 

The house as it exists today is largely the creation of John Currie, who remodelled the Burn house in his own version of the Tudor-Jacobean style for Edward Gorrell Baxter in 1879. Currie's additions encased the earlier house, the main walls of which were retained as its core. Currie added the three-storey tower over the entrance, the canted bays and angle turrets. The roofline was simplified during alterations by Gillespie & Scott in 1930-33 for Major W.C.J. Black, and the house has been thoroughly restored by the present owners since 1996.

Teasses House: the house as remodelled in 1879, altered in the 1930s and restored since 1996.

The house is irregular in plan, with the large square entrance tower of 1879 to the south, and a projecting wing at the rear. The main block is of two storeys over a basement which is in part exposed by the fall of the ground. It is built of grey sandstone rubble laid in courses with ashlar dressings. The attractive and playful elevations are asymmetrical, with canted and square projecting bays, Tudor style drip moulds above the principal windows of the main floor and  tower, and a parapet with incised vertical flute detailing, from which triangular wallhead pediments rise. At the corners, small bartisans are corbelled out from the walls, with crosslet loop, arrow slot and quatrefoil detailing. 

The interior now largely dates from the remodelling of 1932-33 by Gillespie & Scott, which toned down the more wilful details of the 1870s. The interior decoration of that date seems to have been contracted out to Dobie & Son of Edinburgh. The timber main staircase with twisted balusters and bulbous knops survives from 1879, and the principal rooms retain their elaborate Victorian cornices. There are fine neo-Jacobethan timber chimneypieces in the billiard room and dining room, somewhat simplified in 1933. The drawing room has a  Caroline-style chimneypiece of 1933.

Descent: built for Robert Stark Christie (1792-1862); to son, James Stark Christie, who sold c.1874 to Edward Gorrell Baxter (1855-1928); to nephew, Col. Noel Edward Baxter (1880-1950); sold 1932 to Brig. W.C. Gordon Black; to son, W.G.M. Black... sold 1996 to Sir (Alexander) Fraser Morrison (b. 1948).

Invereighty (alias Inverighty) House, Angus

An early 19th century Classical house of two storeys, set on a high basement. The house was a rectangular block of five by three bays, with the wider central bay of the entrance front stepped slightly forward, and having a simple porch on the ground floor and a tripartite window above. The elevations were Greek Revival in their severity and plainness. 

Invereighty House: the house as first built, from a mid 19th century engraving.

The estate formed part of the property of the Earls of Strathmore in the mid 19th century, but in 1872 one half of the estate was sold to W.E. Baxter and added to the Kincaldrum property, while the other half, including the house, was sold to James Paterson of Kinnettles House. Paterson renovated the mansion at Invereighty, adding bay windows on the south and west fronts, but then leased it out to tenants before selling it to Sir George Washington Baxter (1853-1926), 1st bt. by 1894.

During the Second World War a children's home from Broughty Ferry was evacuated to the house, and later it fell into poor repair like so many others. It was bought in about 1967 by Derek Thomson, the managing director of D.C. Thomson Ltd. of Dundee, who demolished it and built a smaller new house a few yards to the north. A 19th century lodge survived until 1993 when it was demolished for the widening and realignment of the A90 south of Forfar. 

Descent: Lt-Col. John Lawrenson (d. 1836); sold or leased to James Aynsworth; sold to Claud Bowes-Lyon (1824-1904), 13th Earl of Strathmore & Kinghorne; sold 1872 to James Paterson, who let to W.G. Don and by 1894 sold to Sir George Washington Baxter (1853-1926), 1st bt.; to widow, Edith, Lady Baxter (d. 1937); to nephew, George Lewis Baxter (1883-1962)...sold 1967 to Derek Thomson (1922-2002); to widow, Jean Thomson (1926-2016).

Baxter family of Kilmaron Castle and Kincaldrum House

Baxter, John (c.1700-85). Son of John Baxter (b. 1670) and his first wife, Janet Leper, said to have been born about 1700 at Tealing (Fife). He moved to Dundee in about 1728 to pursue his trade as a handloom weaver. He married 1st, 25 October 1734 at Perth, Elizabeth Butcher, and 2nd, 25 July 1749 at Dundee, Mary Grieve (d. 1791), and had issue:

(1.1) John Baxter (b. c.1735) (q.v.);

(1.2) Rachel Baxter (1737-1814), baptised at Dundee, 16 July 1737; married, 18 September 1755, James Nicoll and had issue; buried 23 March 1814;

(1.3) William Baxter (fl. 1807); merchant; married 1st, Isabella Catto (d. 1793) and had issue four sons and four daughters; married 2nd, 14 December 1794, Helen Shaw, and had one further daughter; married 3rd, 11 December 1797, Elizabeth Birnie; married 4th, 8 November 1807, Mary Spaid;

(1.4) Thomas Baxter (fl. 1802); manufacturer; married 1st, 30 November 1762, Elizabeth Craik (d. 1776) and had issue four sons; married 2nd, 27 March 1778, Margaret Morison (d. 1781) and had further issue one daughter; married 3rd, Elizabeth Lindsay (d. 1787); married 4th, 5 March 1792, Christina Paul;

(1.5) George Baxter (c.1746-1825); manufacturer; married, 7 June 1765, Rebecca Hunter (d. 1806) and had issue four sons and two daughters; died August 1825.

He lived in Dundee.

He died in December 1785. His first wife died before 1749. His widow was buried 30 January 1791.

Baxter, John (b. c.1735). Eldest son of John Baxter (c.1700-85) and his first wife, Elizabeth Butcher, born about 1735. Linen manufacturer in Dundee. He married, 29 December 1762, Margaret, daughter of John Milne, manufacturer, and had issue:

(1) Margaret Baxter (b. 1764), born 21 April 1764 and baptised at Dundee, April 1784; married, 3 November 1783, as his second wife, Dr. John Mudie (1756-1830), of Arbroath (Angus), surgeon, son of William Mudie, and had issue four sons and eight daughters; death not traced;

(2) John Baxter (1765-1833), of Idvies, born 17 July 1765 and baptised at Dundee, April 1784; merchant in Dundee; founding Chairman of Dundee Chamber of Commerce, 1814; married Mary Gorrell (c.1759-1837), and had issue seven children; died 25 August 1833;

(3) William Baxter (1767-1854) (q.v.);

(4) Mary Baxter (b. 1769), born 21 April 1769; probably died before 1784;

(5) Elizabeth Baxter (1771-1850), born 7 April 1771; married, 4 July 1790, Dr. John Crichton (1772-1860) of Dundee, surgeon, and had issue fourteen children; died at Dundee, 28 April, and was buried at Howff Graveyard, Dundee, 2 May 1850;

(6) Alison Baxter (1772-1801?), born 1 October 1772; married, 4 September 1795 at Edinburgh, William Mudie (b. 1777) of Edinburgh, stationer (who m2, 24 September 1803 at Forfar, Margaret Wallace), son of George Mudie; died in or before 1803 and was perhaps the 'Alison Baxter' buried at Dundee, 28 February 1801;

(7) Helen Baxter (b. 1774), born 5 April 1774 and baptised at Dundee, April 1784; died young;

(8) David Baxter (b. c.1776); died young before 1784;

(9) Isabella Baxter (b. 1778), born 10 December 1778 and baptised at Dundee, April 1784; married, 28 March 1803, Thomas Collier (fl. 1836), factor to William Ramsay Maule, 1st Baron Panmure of Brechin Castle (Angus), and had issue at least two sons; death not traced;

(10) Hannah Baxter (1780-1829?), born 10 July 1780 and baptised at Dundee, April 1784; said to have died in 1829;

(11) Jean Baxter (b. 1783), born 1 March 1783 and baptised at Dundee, April 1784;

(12) Charlotte Baxter (1784-1860), born 19 April and baptised at Dundee, April 1784; married, 26 June 1809 at Dundee, William Small (1777-1822), Town Clerk of Dundee, son of David Small, and had issue five sons and one daughter; died 16 December 1860.

He lived in Dundee.

He died before 1795. His wife's date of death is unknown.

Baxter, William (1767-1854). Second son of John Baxter (b. c.1735) and his wife Margaret, daughter of John Milne, born 20 April 1767. Export merchant and sailcloth manufacturer, who in 1795 secured the Royal Navy contract for canvas sailcloth. He later took his sons into partnership in the firm that became Baxter Bros & Co. He played no part in public life. He was a friend of William Godwin, whose daughter, the future author, Mary Shelley, lived in his household from 1812-14 while recovering from illness [but see the comment at the end of this article]. He married, 16 October 1787, Elizabeth (c.1763-1804), daughter of Edward Gorrell, and had issue:

(1) Ellen Baxter (1788-1868), born 29 September 1788; died unmarried, 8 December 1868 and was buried at Roodyards Cemetery, Dundee; will confirmed 2 April 1869 (estate under £100,000);

(2) Edward Baxter (1791-1871) (q.v.);

(3) Sir David Baxter (1793-1872) (q.v.);

(4) Margaret Baxter (1794-1845), born 25 June and baptised at Dundee, 29 June 1794; died unmarried, 10 March 1845 and was buried at Roodyards Cemetery, Dundee;

(5) John Gorrell Baxter (1796-1853), born 20 May and baptised at Dundee, 29 May 1796; partner in Baxter Bros, 1822-53; died unmarried, 19 April 1853 and was buried at Roodyards Cemetery, Dundee; will confirmed 23 June 1853;

(6) William Gorrell Baxter (1798-1852), born 16 March and baptised at Dundee, 18 March 1798; partner in Baxter Bros, 1822-52; lived at Reres House, Broughty Ferry (Angus); died unmarried, 17 December 1852 and was buried at Roodyards Cemetery, Dundee; will proved at York, November 1854 (effects under £3,000);

(7) Mary Ann Baxter (1801-84), born 4 May 1801; philanthropist; co-founder of University College, Dundee (forerunner of the University of Dundee), 1881, to which she gave £120,000; she also helped her brother and sister create and endow Baxter Park, Dundee, and endowed the Misses Baxter scholarships at Edinburgh University, 1869, the Congregational Church of Scotland Theological Hall, Edinburgh, 1877, and funded London Missionary Society expeditions to New Guinea, 1874, 1881; she died unmarried, 19 December 1884; her will  was confirmed 10 June 1885 (estate £283,586);

(8) Elizabeth Baxter (1802-83), born 26 April 1802; co-founder of Royal Dundee Institution for the Blind, 1865; married, 21 October 1833 at Dundee, Francis Molison of Errol Park (Perths), and had issue one daughter; died 2 October 1883; will confirmed 20 November 1883 (estate £210,006).

He lived at Balgavies (Angus) and Ellengowan, a villa in Dundee.

He died 22 February 1854 and was buried at Roodyards Cemetery, Dundee; his will was confirmed 3 October 1854. His wife died 5 November 1804 and was buried at the Old Burying Ground, Dundee.

Sir David Baxter (1793-1872) 

Baxter, Sir David (1793-1872), 1st bt. Second son of William Baxter (1767-1854) and his wife Elizabeth, daughter of Edward Gorrell, born 13 March and baptised at Dundee, 24 March 1793. Manager of Dundee Sugar Refining Co. to 1826 (when it collapsed) and subsequently a partner (senior partner after 1854) in Baxter Bros & Co., linen and sailcloth manufacturers. He was also a partner in Turnbull & Co (later Boase & Co), which operated a bleachfield at Claverhouse; this firm was later taken over by Baxter Bros. A Liberal in politics, he played a relatively small part in public affairs as a young man, being chosen as a police commissioner in 1825, a guild councillor in 1828, and a member of the harbour board. In 1861-63 he and his sisters Mary Ann and Ellen gave 37 acres of land for the establishment of a public park in Dundee and funded its laying out by Sir Joseph Paxton and the provision of an endowment fund of £10,000 to secure its future maintenance. His principal philanthropic work was, however, connected with education. He founded a school for young ladies at Cupar, and the foundation of the Albert Institute of Literature, Science, and Art (now the McManus Galleries) was largely due to gifts and bequests by Sir David and other members of his family. By a bequest of £20,000, he founded the Dundee Technical Institute (predecessor of Abertay University), and he endowed the Sir David Baxter Scholarships, and the Regius Chair of Engineering at Edinburgh University in 1863-68. He was created a baronet in recognition of his charitable works, 1 January 1863. He married, 22 April 1833, Elizabeth (1801-82), daughter of Robert Montgomery of Barrahill (Ayrshire), but had no issue.

He purchased Kilmaron Castle in 1854.

He died 13 October 1872, when his baronetcy became extinct, and was buried at Cupar (Fife); his will was confirmed October 1872 (estate £1,200,000). His widow died 11 September 1882 and was buried at Cupar with her husband; her will was confirmed 21 December 1882 (estate £40,379).

Baxter, Edward (1791-1871). Elder son of William Baxter (1767-1854) and his wife Elizabeth, daughter of Edward Gorrell, born 3 April and baptised at Dundee, 6 April 1791. He entered upon his business career in partnership with his father as an export merchant in 1813; they also operated a mill at Glamis. In 1822, in partnership with his father and younger brothers, he built a spinning mill at Lower Dens, Dundee, and the firm of Baxter Bros. & Co. was established to operate it and others built subsequently. In 1831 Edward withdrew from this partnership and founded E. Baxter & Co., merchants and shipping agents, in Dundee, which eventually extended its activities from the import and export of physical goods to overseas investment activities, especially in the United States (one of his clerks was Robert Fleming, later founder of the Scottish American Investment Trust). He became US Vice-Consul in Dundee in 1834. In about 1850, Edward took his eldest son into partnership, but he continued to manage the firm in person until a few months before his death. He was a Congregationalist in religion, and like several of his siblings, a noted philanthropist and reformer: he was a founder member of the Anti-Corn Law League, 1838, and later President of its Dundee branch; and took a particular interest in educational causes, including the reform and building of new premises for Dundee High School. He was admitted a burgess of Dundee, 1816, and was a member of the reformed Town Council for some years, holding the office of Bailie; he also served as Dean of the Guildry of Dundee, 1831. He matriculated his arms at the office of Lord Lyon King of Arms in 1855. He married 1st, 12 July 1824 at Dundee parish church, Euphemia (1793-1833), daughter of William Wilson of Whitfield, Dundee, merchant; 2nd, 15 September 1835, Elizabeth (1804-42), daughter of David Jobson, baker and provost of Dundee; and 3rd, 19 April 1844, Jean (c.1819-99), daughter of Rev. Dr. John Paterson DD, a missionary in Scandinavia and Russia, and had issue:

(1.1) William Edward Baxter (1825-90) (q.v.);

(1.2) Jane Elizabeth Baxter (1827-1913) of Castle Huntly (Aberdeens), born 10 January 1827; married, 19 May 1848 at Dundee Presbyterian Church (sep. 1872), George Armitstead (1824-1915), 1st Baron Armitstead, jute merchant and shipowner and MP for Dundee, 1868-73, 1880-85, but had no issue; died 6 January 1913; will confirmed 8 April 1913 (estate £48,302);

(1.3) Euphemia Wilson Baxter (1830-97), born 28 March 1830; married, 25 July 1851, James Ramsey (1827-1907), merchant at Dundee and later of Balhousie Castle (Perths), and had issue three sons and six daughters; died 18 October 1897; will confirmed 5 February 1898 (estate £19,690);

(2.1) Marion Crawford Baxter (1838-1911), born 17 July and baptised at Dundee, 9 October 1838; married, 6 June 1861, Thomas Bett (c.1833-1905) of Dundee and later of Down Place, Compton (Surrey), Russian fur merchant, and had issue five sons and two daughters; died 12 July 1911;

(2.2) Elizabeth Jobson Baxter (1842-1927), born 17 June 1842; married, 8 May 1866, Alexander Robertson (1833-1902) of Burnside, Forfar (Angus), advocate and sheriff depute of Forfar, son of Hercules James Robertson, Lord Benholme, and had issue two sons; died 14 February 1927 and was buried at Newmonthill Cemetery, Forfar (Angus); will confirmed 27 April 1927 (estate £13,038);

(3.1) John Henry Baxter (1851-1908) [for whom see Baxter family of Gilston and Teasses below]

(3.2) Emily Margaret Baxter (1853-1926), born at Newton Abbot (Devon), 18 May and baptised at Dundee, 29 June 1853; married, 6 September 1882 at Teasses (Fife), Maj. Randle Jackson (1839-1902) of The Priory, St. Andrews (Fife) and later of Swordale House (Ross & Cromarty), and had issue two daughters; died 14 March 1926 and was buried at Swordale; will confirmed 2 August 1926 (estate £34,683);

(3.3) Edward Gorrel Baxter (1855-1928) [for whom see Baxter family of Gilston and Teasses below]

(3.4) Lucy Eleanor Baxter (1858-1943), born 30 April 1858; married, 3 June 1880 at Edinburgh, Charles Julian Brewster Macpherson (c.1855-1942) of Balavil alias Belleville House, Kingussie (Inverness), son of Lt-Col. David Edward Macpherson, and had issue one son; died 9 February 1943;

(3.5) Flora Jean Baxter (1860-1953), born 26 January 1860; married, 28 February 1881 at Edinburgh, Arthur Raymond Heath (1854-1943) of Thorpe Hall (Lincs) and Kitlands (Surrey), Conservative MP for Louth (Lincs), son of Vice-Adm. Sir Leopold George Heath, and had issue two sons and one daughter; died aged 93 on 23 July 1953.

He bought Kincaldrum House in 1853.

He died at Kincaldrum, 26 July 1871; by his will he left 'upwards of half a million' pounds. His first wife died 22 August 1833. His second wife died 2 July 1842. His widow died 23 December 1899; her will was confirmed 8 March 1900 (estate £56,986).

Rt. Hon. W.E. Baxter MP

Baxter, Rt. Hon. William Edward (1825-90). Only son of Edward Baxter (1791-1871) and his first wife Euphemia, daughter of William Wilson of Dundee, born 25 June 1825. Educated at Dundee High School and Edinburgh University. A partner in E. Baxter & Co (later W.E. Baxter & Co.) of Dundee, merchants and commission agents; Chairman of the Dundee Savings Bank. A Liberal in politics, he was MP for Montrose District Burghs, 1855-85; and served in Government as Secretary to the Admiralty, 1868-71 and  Secretary to the Treasury, 1871-73; sworn of the Privy Council, 1873. When the Liberal party split over Home Rule for Ireland in 1886, he supported the Unionist faction. A commissioner of supply (from 1853), DL and JP for Angus. Beyond his business and public appointments, he was noted as a linguist and traveller, and was the author of several books, including Impressions of Central and Southern Europe (1850); The Tagus and the Tiber, or Notes of Travel in Portugal, Spain, and Italy (1852); America and the Americans (1855) and Hints to Thinkers, or Lectures for the Times (1860). His health was affected by an accident while travelling in Norway from which he never fully recovered. He was a Congregationalist in religion and was involved as a young man with a number of local nonconformist organisations. Later, he supported more charitable bodies in Dundee, including the Albert Institute, the Dundee Industrial Schools Society and the Dundee Model Lodging House Association. He was a Trustee of University College, Dundee, which was largely endowed by his aunt. He married, 3 November 1847 at Dundee, Janet (1824-1910), daughter of John Home Scott of Dundee, and had issue:

(1) Edward Armitstead Baxter (1848-1933) (q.v.);

(2) Mary Euphemia Baxter (1850-1914), born 17 March 1850; married, 21 April 1871 at Kensington Independent Chapel (Middx), Edward Francis Maitland (1845-1929) of Dundee, manufacturer, third son of Edward Maitland, Lord Barcaple, and had issue two sons and three daughters; died 20 October 1914; will confirmed 23 April 1915 (estate £1,423);

(3) Jessie Scott Baxter (b. 1852), born 30 August and baptised at Dundee, 19 October 1852; married 1st, 11 June 1879 at Kensington Congregational Chapel (Middx), Cdr. Herbert Dolphin (1839-83) and had issue one son and one daughter; married 2nd, 22 December 1885 at St Paul's Episcopal Church, Dundee, Capt. Stanhope Grove Price (later Grove) (1837-1909) of Taynton (Glos), and had no further issue; died at Bishopton House, Stratford-on-Avon (Warks), 12 December 1886;

(4) Sir George Washington Baxter (1853-1926), 1st bt. (q.v.);

(5) Alice Jane Baxter (b. 1855), born 30 June 1855; married, 26 January 1882 at Calcutta (India) (div. 1893 on grounds of her adultery with Capt. Henry Blackie Brownlow), Maj. (later General Sir) Alfred Gaselee (1844-1918) (who m2, 20 August 1895, Alice Margaret, daughter of Gartside Gartside-Tipping of Rossferry (Co. Fermanagh)), younger son of Rev. John Gaselee, rector of Little Yeldham (Essex); death not traced;

(6) Edith Eleanor Baxter (1857-1923), born 19 March 1857; married, 5 March 1886 at Kincaldrum House, Henry Charles Mylne (1853-1919) of Wokingham (Berks), then an employee of her father's company but later a consulting engineer and ten times Mayor of Wokingham, fourth son of James Mylne WS of Edinburgh, and had issue one daughter; died 21 November 1923 and was buried at Dean Cemetery, Edinburgh, with her husband; will confirmed 11 February 1924 (estate £16,170);

(7) Rosa Elizabeth Baxter (1860-1943), born 6 January 1860; married, 18 January 1894 at Jubbulpore (India), Lt-Col. Ludlow Tonson Bowles (1859-1939) of St. Saviour's (Jersey), eldest son of Rev. John Wright Bowles, but had no issue; died 8 February 1943; her will was proved in Jersey, 12 February 1943;

(8) David Montgomery Baxter (1863-64), born 22 December 1863; died in infancy, 11 October 1864;

(9) A son (b. & d. 1865), born 17 December 1865; died in infancy, 22 December 1865.

He built a villa called Ashcliff on Perth Rd., Dundee to the designs of Charles Wilson in 1854 and lived there until he inherited Kincaldrum from his father in 1871. He also inherited Kilmaron Castle on the death of his aunt in 1882, and he rented houses in London for use during his attendance in Parliament.

He died 10 August 1890 and was buried at Inverarity (Angus); his will was confirmed 18 November 1890 (estate £128,903). His widow died 17 October 1910; her will was confirmed 11 January 1911 (estate £3,343).

E.A. Baxter (1848-1933)
Image: Nat. Galleries of Scotland 

Baxter, Edward Armitstead (1848-1933). Eldest son of Rt. Hon. William Edward Baxter (1825-90) and his wife Janet, daughter of John Home Scott of Dundee, born 25 September and baptised at Dundee, 28 September 1848. Educated at Dundee High School and St. Andrews University (admitted 1865). Landowner and partner in W.E. Baxter & Co., merchants and commission agents. JP and DL for Fife; but took little part in public affairs. He married, 29 October 1879 at St Andrews Cathedral, Isobel (c.1853-1943), daughter of William Scott-Elliot of Arkleton (Dumfries), and had issue:

(1) William Edward Elliot Baxter (1880-1955) (q.v.);

(2) Lt-Col. George Lewis Baxter (1883-1962), born 18 January 1883; educated at Eton; an officer in the army (2nd Lt., 1905; Lt., 1911; Capt., 1914; T/Maj. 1915; T/Lt-Col., 1917; retired as Lt-Col. 1920), who served in the First World War and was awarded the DSO, 1916; during the Second World War he served with the Angus Home Guard and was appointed OBE, 1944; he inherited Invereighty from his aunt in 1937; married, 28 December 1933, (Jeannette Elizabeth Edith) Grizel (1894-1981), second daughter of Brig-Gen. William Charles Douglas of Brigton (Angus) and formerly wife of Capt. William Gilbert Don (1888-1961), and had issue one daughter (who died young in an accident); died at Pittenweem (Fife), 7 April 1962;

(3) Herbert Home Baxter (1885-1932), born 1885; educated at Eton; an officer in the army (2nd Lt., 1905; Lt., 1908; Capt., 1914; Maj. 1916; retired 1930), who served in the First World War and was awarded the MC, 1916; married, 5 January 1932, Helen Agnes (1885-1971), daughter of John Murray Purves, but had no issue; died suddenly at sea, 22 July 1932; will proved 18 October 1932 (estate £5,413);

(4) Marjory Isobel Baxter (1888-1961), born 8 April 1888; artist, living chiefly in Chelsea (Middx) and the island of Jersey; died unmarried, 5 March 1961; will proved 3 August 1962 (estate £19,031);

(5) Isobel Mary Baxter (1894-1970), born 19 March 1894; married, 1 June 1923, Lt-Col. Robert Alexander Wolfe-Murray DSO MC (1889-1973) of Daviot House (Inverness), eldest son of Cdr. Philip Charles Knightly Wolfe-Murray RN, and had issue one son and one daughter; died 7 November 1970.

He inherited Kincaldrum and Kilmaron Castle from his father in 1890. He sold Kilmaron Castle in about 1908.

He died 17 January and was buried at Inverarity (Fife), 21 January 1933; his will was confirmed 13 May 1933 (estate £23,799). His widow died in Hove (Sussex), 26 December 1943 and was also buried at Inverarity.

Baxter, William Edward Elliot (1880-1955). Eldest son of Edward Armitstead Baxter (1848-1933) and his wife Isobel, daughter of William Scott-Elliot of Arkleton (Dumfries), born 30 July 1880. An accident in childhood left him partly deaf, and since as a young man he was a keen cyclist, he invented and saw widely adopted by deaf cyclists a symbol to indicate the disability to overtaking motorists. Educated at Oriel College, Oxford; Royal Agricultural College, Cirencester; and Crystal Palace School of Engineering. As a result of his deafness, he was rejected as unfit by the British army in the First World War, but he was accepted by the French army (Capt.) and was awarded the Croix de Guerre. He married 1st, 27 October 1927 at St Margaret, London, Ellen Oda Ingrid Marie (d. 1950), a nursing sister in the First World War, second daughter of Rasmus Theodore Alexander Rasmussen Skovsgaard, of Skovsgaard, Nakskov (Denmark), and 2nd, November 1952, Louisa Frances Chichester (1888-1975), daughter of Henry Chichester Hart and widow of Col. Marcus Maxtone Moore (d. 1948), and had issue:

(1.1) Normile Edward Alexander George Wyndham Elliot Baxter (1929-2017), born 2 October 1929; educated at Eton; an officer in the army (Capt.; retired 1969); director of Colvilles Ltd; settled at the House of Aquahorthies (Aberdeens); married, 7 May 1955 at St John's Episcopal Church, Forfar (Angus), Anne Margaret Robertson (d. 2004), daughter of Col. Lionel Edward Hill OBE MC of Overdale, Forfar, and had issue three sons and one daughter; died aged 88 on 15 November 2017;

(1.2) Daria Ethelinda Vanessa Atalanta Louisa Polly Elliot Baxter (1933-2008), born 30 July and baptised at the English church in Copenhagen (Denmark), October 1933; educated at Heathfield School, Ascot; married, 26 June 1951 at St John the Evangelist, Edinburgh, Capt. Christopher Lorimer (1904-91) of Gibliston, Kilconquhar (Fife), eldest son of the architect Sir Robert Stodart Lorimer KBE (1864-1929) of Gibliston, and had issue three sons and one daughter; died 31 July 2008.

He inherited Kincaldrum from his father in 1933, but found that it was more or less bankrupt. He moved to Ireland in 1952 after his second marriage, and his trustees broke up and sold the estate, against the wishes of his son.

He died at Portrush (Co. Antrim), 28 January 1955. His first wife died 3 September 1950. His widow died 25 December 1975; her will was proved 10 June 1976 (estate £6,683).

Baxter, Sir George Washington (1853-1926), 1st bt. Second son of  Rt. Hon. William Edward Baxter (1825-90) and his wife Janet, daughter of John Home Scott of Dundee, born 20 November 1853. Educated at St. Andrews (admitted 1869) and Edinburgh Universities. A partner in Baxter Bros & Co. JP for Angus and DL and JP for city of Dundee. He was President of the Scottish Unionist Association, 1919, and unsuccessfully contested Dundee twice and Montrose Boroughs once in the Unionist interest. He was President of University College, Dundee (Hon. LLD, 1889); a director of Dundee Royal Infirmary; and chairman of city of Dundee Territorial Army Association. He was knighted, 1904, and created a baronet, 21 June 1918. He married, 20 February 1889, Edith OBE JP (d. 1937), herself a notable Unionist politician in the years after the Great War, daughter of Maj-Gen. James Lawtie Fagan, but had no issue.

He purchased Invereighty House in about 1894 and also had a house at Keswick (Cumberland). After his death Invereighty passed to his widow for life and then to his nephew, Lt-Col. George Lewis Baxter (1883-1962).

He died at Keswick, 26 November 1926, when his baronetcy became extinct; his will was confirmed 26 January 1927 (estate £78,964). His widow died 29 January 1937; her will was confirmed in April 1937 (estate £11,248).

Baxter family of Gilston and Teasses

Baxter, John Henry (1851-1908). Eldest son of Edward Baxter (1790-1871) and his third wife, Jean (c.1819-99), daughter of Rev. Dr. John Paterson DD, born 24 June 1851 and baptised at Dundee the same day. Educated at St. Andrews University and Trinity College, Cambridge (matriculated 1870; BA 1874; MA 1881). JP for Fife from 1877. A member of the Royal Company of Archers from 1874. Captain of the Royal & Ancient Golf Club of St. Andrews, 1890; he was also a keen supporter of the Fife Hunt. He was elected a Fellow of Society of Antiquaries of Scotland, 1880. A Conservative in politics. He married 1st, 19 September 1876 at St John's Episcopal Church, Edinburgh, Amy Constance Brewster (1853-81), daughter of Col. David Edward Macpherson of Balavil (Inverness), and 2nd, 18 October 1892 at Thakeham (Sussex), Ethel Louisa (1863-1945), daughter of Frederick King of Fryern (Sussex), and had issue:

(1.1) Evelyn Vida Baxter (1879-1959), born 29 March 1879; naturalist and ornithologist, who became an expert in the patterns of bird migration, which she studied particularly on the Isle of May in the Firth of Forth with her life partner, Leonora Jeffrey Rintoul  (1878-1953); she and Rintoul were co-founders of Scottish Ornithologists' Club in 1936 and served jointly as its President, 1936-48; she was also active in the Scottish Women's Rural Institutes and served as Chairman of the Fife Federation three times between 1925 and 1943; in the Second World War she worked as an organiser for the Women's Land Army (MBE 1945); co-author of several publications, including The Birds of Scotland (1953); elected Fellow of the Royal Society of Edinburgh, 1951; a member of the British Ornithologists Union (Vice-President; Union Medal); awarded an honorary degree by University of Glasgow (LLD, 1955); died unmarried, 1 October 1959 and was buried at Largo Cemetery;

(1.2) Noel Edward Baxter (1880-1950) (q.v.);

(2.1) Charles William Baxter (1895-1969), born 16 February 1895; educated at Charterhouse; served in army in First World War (MC 1918); an official in the diplomatic service, 1919-50 (First secretary, 1928; acting Counsellor of Embassy, 1938-40; Counsellor, 1940-47; HM Minister to Iceland, 1947-50); married, 24 June 1924, Patience Violet (1898-1974), second daughter of  Sir Henry Charles Miller Lambert KCMG, CB of Larklands, Banstead (Surrey), and had issue two sons and one daughter; died 21 April 1969; will proved 20 August 1969 (estate £71,719);

(2.2) Ralph Frederick Baxter (1897-1915), born 25 May 1897; an officer in the army (2nd Lt., 1914); died unmarried when he was killed in action, 25 September 1915; buried at Dud Corner Cemetery, Loos (Belgium).

His father bequeathed the Gilston House estate to him and his brother Edward Gorrel Baxter in 1871, but he was already resident by 1868. He had bought out his brother's interest by 1874.

He died 30 March 1908 and was buried at Largo Cemetery; his will was confirmed 16 May 1908 (estate £100,314). His first wife died of complications following childbirth 27 January 1881. His widow died at Storrington (Sussex), 11 December 1945; her will was proved 29 April 1946 (estate £25,418).

Col. N. Baxter (1880-1950) 

Baxter, Lt-Col. Noel Edward (1880-1950). Only son of John Henry Baxter (1851-1908) and his first wife, Amy Constance Brewster, daughter of Col. David Edward Macpherson of Balavil (Inverness), born 25 November 1880. Educated at Eton and Royal Military College, Sandhurst; an officer in the army (2nd Lt., 1900; Lt., 1901; Capt., 1905; Maj. by 1920; Lt-Col., 1926; retired 1941) who served in the Boer War, First World War (wounded; prisoner of war, 1914-18) and Second World War; a member of the Royal Company of Archers from 1908. Convenor of Fife County Council, 1945-49; DL (from 1942) and JP for Fife. He married, 24 July 1923, Evelyn Mary (1894-1974), daughter of Sir Wilfred Emilius Laurie, 5th bt., and had issue:

(1) John Edward Baxter (1925-44). born 2 February 1925; educated at Eton; an officer in the Scots Guards (Lt.); died unmarried when he was killed in action in Italy, 16 October 1944; buried in Castiglione South African Cemetery (Italy);

(2) Alan George Laurie Baxter (1927-88) (q.v.); 

(3) David Julian Baxter (1930-59), born 18 June 1930; farmer at Windyhill Farm, Kincardine (Fife); died unmarried, 9 September 1959.

He inherited Gilston House from his father in 1908 and Teasses House from his uncle in 1928; he sold Teasses in 1932.

He died 29 March 1950; his will was proved 1 August 1950 (estate £116,100). His widow died 9 May 1974 and was buried at Largo.

Baxter, Alan George Laurie (1927-88). Second, but eldest surviving, son of Lt-Col. Noel Edward Baxter (1880-1950) and his wife Evelyn Mary, daughter of Sir Wilfred Emilius Laurie, 5th bt., born 5 June 1927. Educated at Eton, Trinity College, Cambridge (MA) and Edinburgh University (LLB 1956). Undertook National Service with the Black Watch (2nd Lt., 1949). Writer to the Signet. DL for Fife; Member of Royal Company of Archers; County Cadet Commandant for Fife, 1965-75. He married, 6 September 1956, Elizabeth June (b. 1933), only daughter of Vice-Adm. Sir Thomas Hope Troubridge KCB DSO of Oakshott, Hawkley, Liss (Hants), and had issue:

(1) Elizabeth Anne Baxter (b. 1958), born 9 January 1958; living in 2001;

(2) Edward Thomas Baxter (b. 1960) (q.v.);

(3) Sarah Evelyn Baxter (b. 1962), born 31 August 1962; married, 20 October 1984, Richard Hugh Cundall (b. 1960) of Driffield (Yorks ER), and had issue one son and two daughters; now living;

(4) Mary Emma Baxter (b. 1965), born 28 November 1965; married, 6 September 1999, Sir Geoffrey Doyne Adams KCMG (b. 1957), diplomat, Ambassador to the Netherlands, 2013-17 and to Egypt, 2018-date, son of Sir Philip Doyne Adams KCMG of London, and had issue one son and one daughter; now living;

(5) Louisa Jane Baxter (b. 1969), born 14 August 1969; charity worker and Mangalitza pig farmer; married, 24 June 1995, Mihai Cochris, a Romanian artist blacksmith, and had issue two sons and one daughter; now living.

He inherited Gilston House from his father in 1950. After his death, his widow moved to St. Andrews (Fife).

He died in 1988. His widow is now living.

Baxter, Edward Thomas (b. 1960). Only son of Alan George Laurie Baxter (1927-88) and his wife (Elizabeth) June (fl. 2001), only daughter of Vice-Adm. Sir Thomas Hope Troubridge KCB DSO of Oakshott, Hawkley, Liss (Hants), born 2 March 1960. Educated at Eton and Edinburgh University (BSc). Land agent and surveyor (ARICS). Member of Royal Company of Archers. Member of the Guildry of Dundee. He married 1st, 4 July 1992 (div. 1995), Camilla Jane St. John (b. 1960) (who m2, 1997, as his second wife, George Dominick Mackintosh Warre (b. 1949) and had issue one daughter), daughter of Ronald Carlile Buxton MP of Kimberley Hall (Norfk), and 2nd, February 2004, Catherine E. Brown.

He inherited Gilston House from his father in 1988.

Now living. His second wife is now living.

Baxter, Edward Gorrel (1855-1928). Second son of Edward Baxter (1791-1871) and his third wife, Jean (d. 1899), daughter of Rev. Dr. John Paterson DD, born 28 August 1855. Educated at Merchiston Castle, Clifton College and Pembroke College, Cambridge (matriculated 1873; BA 1877; MA 1891). An officer in the 1st Fifeshire Light Horse Volunteers (2nd Lt., 1878; Lt., 1884) and a member of the Royal Company of Archers from 1879. A director of the Royal Bank of Scotland, 1895-1928. He was a freemason from 1876, and a member of Council of the Episcopal Church of Scotland, 1885-1928. JP for Fife from 1877. Elected a Fellow of Society of Antiquaries of Scotland, 1880. He was unmarried and without issue.

He purchased the Teasses estate before 1874 and remodelled the house in 1879.  After his death it passed to his nephew, Lt-Col. Noel Edward Baxter (1880-1950).

He died in Edinburgh, 13 February 1928; his will was confirmed 22 May 1928 (estate £282,003).

Principal sources

Burke's Landed Gentry of Scotland, 2001, pp. 61-64; B. Lenman, C. Lythe and E. Gauldie, Dundee and its textile industry, 1850-1914, Abertay Historical Society, 1969; James Macaulay, The Gothick Revival, 1745-1845, 1975, p.245; 

https://mcmanus168.org.uk/mcmanus168entry/w-e-baxter-esq-m-p/.

Location of archives

Baxter Bros. & Co.: minute books, ledgers, journals, balance books, wages books, production records, contract and order books, technical drawings and misc. papers including genealogical notes on the Baxter family, 1795-1992 [Dundee University Archives, MS 11; MS 102; 1981/400]

Baxter, Rt. Hon. William Edward (1825-90): travel diaries, 1850-52 [National Library of Scotland, MS.15906-15907]

Coat of arms

Ermine, on a chevron engrailed between three mullets gules, as many garbs or.

Can you help?

• Can anyone provide additional or better pictures of the houses illustrated above, and in particular a view of the original house at Teasses or the present house at Invereighty?
• I should be most grateful if anyone can provide photographs or portraits of people whose names appear in bold above, and who are not already illustrated.
• If anyone can offer further information or corrections I should be most grateful. I am always particularly pleased to hear from descendants of the family who can supply information from their own research or personal knowledge for inclusion.

Revision and acknowledgements

This post was first published 26 July 2021 and was updated 3 and 11 November 2021 and 13 January 2023. I am grateful to Robin Baxter and Iain Scott for corrections.