Early life
He was born in Old Monkland on 4 July 1824, the son of Isabella Robertson and Alexander Christie (1789-1859), a colliery-owner and ironfounder. He attended Grange School in Northumberland and then the University of Glasgow. [1]
John Christie FRSE (1824-1902) was a Scottish industrialist, arboriculturalist and landowner.
He was born in Old Monkland on 4 July 1824, the son of Isabella Robertson and Alexander Christie (1789-1859), a colliery-owner and ironfounder. He attended Grange School in Northumberland and then the University of Glasgow. [1]
On his father's death in 1859 he inherited vast lands in Ayrshire, Midlothian and Clackmannanshire, largely focussed upon coal-mining and iron-foundries. In 1865 he purchased a 524-acre estate lying between Dollar and Muckhart, and renamed it from Castleton to Cowden Castle. This estate provided a more rural environment than his other landholdings and focussed on farming, forestry and raising deer and pheasant.
John married Alison Philp (b. about 1817), daughter of Alison Coldwells and William Philp, of Stobsmills, [2] Midlothian (the home of her uncle John Coldwells) on 27 April 1859.
Christie was a keen traveller and filled Cowden Castle with a wide range of artefacts. [3] The estate grounds were replanted with many exotic species from around the world, and it was one of the estates that established the fashion for rhododendrons in the late 19th century.
He was elected a Fellow of the Royal Society of Edinburgh in 1875, his proposers including John Hutton Balfour. [1]
In 1887 he suffered at attack of pernicious anaemia, leaving him in poor health. The illness had a dramatic effect on his character, which became eccentric, insular and argumentative. [3] However, his lifestyle also changed to be more philanthropic (although not known to his family). In 1889 he founded Christie Homes, a series of orphanages for girls in the East Lothian area, later renamed Lothian Homes Trust.
His wife died in 1894. John Christie's eccentricity increased, dyeing his moustache and proposing to a woman 50 years his junior. [4]
On 19 August 1902 Christie died at his home at 19 Buckingham Terrace, Edinburgh (age 78). He is buried in Muckhart Churchyard, against the east gable of the church.
At the time of his death his will demonstrated that, apart from the huge estates inherited from his father, he had acquired further estates in Glenfarg, Carnbo and other lands in Perthshire. [5]
John and Alison Philp Christie had three children; John Coldwells, who died in childhood, Isabella (Ella) Robertson Christie (1861-1949) and Alice Margaret Christie. He encouraged his daughters to travel the world from an early age. Ella was a noted author and world traveller.
Alice Christie married Robert King Stewart, KBE, of Murdostoun at the age of seventeen in 1881. Thereafter she made her home at Murdostoun Castle in Lanarkshire. [3]
Midlothian is a historic county, registration county, lieutenancy area and one of 32 council areas of Scotland used for local government. Midlothian lies in the east-central Lowlands, bordering the City of Edinburgh council area, East Lothian and the Scottish Borders.
Dalkeith is a town in Midlothian, Scotland, on the River Esk. It was granted a burgh of barony in 1401 and a burgh of regality in 1540. The settlement of Dalkeith grew southwestwards from its 12th-century castle . Dalkeith has a population of 12,342 people according to the 2011 census.
Clan Scott is a Scottish clan and is recognised as such by the Lord Lyon King of Arms. Historically the clan was based in the Scottish Borders.
Walter Stewart was the 6th Hereditary High Steward of Scotland and was the father of King Robert II of Scotland, the first Stewart monarch.
The Heart of Mid-Lothian is the seventh of Sir Walter Scott's Waverley Novels. It was originally published in four volumes on 25 July 1818, under the title of Tales of My Landlord, 2nd series, and the author was given as "Jedediah Cleishbotham, Schoolmaster and Parish-clerk of Gandercleugh". The main action, which takes place between September 1736 and May 1737, is set in motion by the Porteous Riots in Edinburgh and involves an epic journey from Edinburgh to London by a working-class girl to obtain a royal commutation of the death penalty incurred by her sister for the alleged murder of her new-born baby. Despite some negative contemporary reviews, some now consider it Scott's best novel.
William Kerr, 6th Marquess of Lothian,, was a British soldier, landowner and politician. He was the son of William Kerr, 5th Marquess of Lothian. He served as a representative peer from 1817 to 1824.
Muckhart commonly refers to two small villages in Clackmannanshire, Scotland, Pool of Muckhart and Yetts o' Muckhart. Muckhart is one of the Hillfoots Villages, situated on the A91 around 3 miles northeast of Dollar. The Gaelic name, Muc-àird, comes from muc ("pig") + àird ("height"), and may derive from the fact that the surrounding fields may once have been used for pig farming.
Crichton Castle is a ruined castle near the village of Crichton in Midlothian, Scotland. It is situated at the head of the River Tyne, 2 miles (3.2 km) south of the village of Pathhead, and the same distance east of Gorebridge.
Clan Lindsay is a Scottish clan of the Scottish Lowlands.
The Forresters are an ancient and noble clan of the Scottish Lowlands.
Murdostoun is an estate in North Lanarkshire, Scotland, which includes a castle, which lies on the South Calder Water near the village of Bonkle in the parish of Shotts, North Lanarkshire, Scotland. The name Murdostoun was derived from the words Murthock and Toun which meant dwelling of Murthock. Murdostoun can refer to the ancient barony of the Scott and then the Inglis clan, the castle built by the Scotts or a bridge over the South Calder Water.
Sir John Henderson FRSE FSA, fifth of the Henderson baronets of Fordell, Fife, was a Scottish nobleman and politician. He trained as a lawyer and was also a competent antiquary.
Charles George Hood Kinnear FRIBA ARSA FRSE was one half of Peddie & Kinnear partnership, one of Scotland’s most renowned and prodigious architectural firms. They were noted for their development of the Scots Baronial style, typified by Cockburn Street in Edinburgh, which evokes a highly medieval atmosphere. Kinnear was also a pioneer photographer credited with inventing the bellows attachment on early cameras.
Isabella "Ella" Robertson Christie was a pioneering Scottish traveller and explorer, landowner, gardener and author.
David Douglas FRSE FSA was a Scottish publisher in the 19th century. He was publisher of works by authors including John Stuart Blackie and Dr John Brown. In later life he formed half of the successful Edinburgh publishing business Edmonston & Douglas. The latter were responsible for a highly popular set of animal prints aimed at children. His final partnership was called Douglas & Foulis.
Francis Brown Douglas FRSE DL was a Scottish advocate who served as the Lord Provost of Edinburgh from 1859 to 1862.
Piers de Lombard was an either a Gascon or Lombard knight who served in the Scottish War of Independence.
Colonel Sir Robert "Bobby" Christie Stewart KCVO CBE TD was a Scottish landowner who had a military career in the British Army and was a Lord Lieutenant of two counties in Scotland. He was generally referred to in the community as R. C. Stewart.