Notes |
- "Prestoun
The lands of Prestoun occupy the bottom right hand corner of theStewartry of Kirkcudbright. At their heart is the three or four housesthat make up the burgh of Preston and a few hundred yards to the south isWreiths tower. The tower was once part of the Earldom of Morton and cameto Lord Maxwell with the Earldom in 1581. I would seem the lands remainedin the Earls line until the early part of the eighteenth century when thywere purchased by a William Maxwell who took Prestoun as his designation.Along with Prestoun he also seems to have had the lands of Cavens andKirkhouse, the whole adding up to a considerable holding. William wasmost likely a member of the Maxwell family of Carnsalloch inDumfriesshire. He was reputedly a very wealth man. His brother was HomerMaxwell was a lieutenant in Colonel Blythes regiment of foot and he had asister Mary married to the Rev. Allen of Dunscore. William was married toElizabeth Hairstains heiress of Craigs and had by her two daughters Marywho married the Earl of Sutherland and Willielma who married ViscountGlenorchy. William died shortly before the birth of his younger daughter.With the death of William's widow the lands passed out of Maxwell hands."
From Maxwell Lands at http://www.maxwellsociety.com/Scotland/Lands.htm
"On the Prestoun lands was a burgh of regality called Preston (i.e.,Priestown), which had four yearly fairs. The village has disappeared, butthe site of East Preston is marked by a stone cross pillar seven feethigh, on a pedestal four feet square and the same in height. A stone wallwas erected around it about 1832."
Page 140. In "Lands & Their Owners - Kirkbean Parish" From "The Parishesof the Stewarty of Kirkcudbrightshire" CD by James Bell available atwww.kirkyards.com
"About this time we find William Maxwell, styled of Prestoun, and havingsasine of the lands and barony of Prestoun and the lands and village ofCravens. We do not learn to which family he belonged, but from lettersfound, he appears to have been a relative of Maxwell of Carnsalloch. Hehad a brother, Homer, lieutenant in Colonel Blythes regiment of foot, andtwo sisters - Mary who married to the Reverend Mr Allen, minister ofDunscore, and Jean. Whether William Maxwell obtained the property throughmarriage or purchase, we are not in possession of the particulars. Thathe purchased is understood. The absence of direct information makes itnecessary to give all the infeftments so as to work out the succession.William Maxwell was married, but to whom, we have not traced. She isstated to have been a proud and ambitious women. He appears to have diedin 1741, and had issue -
Mary, who married at Edinburgh on the 14th April 1761, William, Earl ofSutherland, and had issue, two daughters, the eldest of whom, Catherinedied in 1766, aged about two years, and in June following the Earl andCountess. The other daughter, Elizabeth, became Countess of Sutherland inher own right. She married, in 1785, George Granville, Levenson Gower.Afterwards Marquis of Stafford, and created, in 1833, Duke of Sutherland.
Willielma. She was born after her father's death. She was married (aboutthe same time as her sister) to John, Viscount Glenorchy, the second sonand heir to John third Earl of Breadalbane. Seized with .dangerous feverat Taymooth Castle in 1765, she became seriously alive to the importanceof religion, and her name became well known as a zealous supporter of theProtestant Church first as an Episcopalian, then as a Wesley, and lastlyin communion with the Church of Scotland. Her first desire was to have aplace of worship in which ministers of all the Protestant Churchs, shouldpreach. This was a failure. Lord Glenorchy bought the estate of Barnton,near Edinburgh, and at his death, in 1771, he bequeathed it, and all hisdisposable property to her. The Church she built in Edinburgh is stillcalled Lady Glenorchy's. She also established Presbyterian Churches inseveral places in England. She died about 1786. She left no issue.
We have given accounts of William Maxwell's two daughters above. Theywere his co heiresses. On the 13th May 1742, Mary and Willielma Maxwell,daughters and heir-portioners of the deceased William Maxwell ofPrestoon, had sasine of the forty shilling land of Wreath."
Pages 146-147. In "Lands & Their Owners - Kirkbean Parish" From "TheParishes of the Stewarty of Kirkcudbrightshire" CD by James Bellavailable at www.kirkyards.com
|