The Holburnes of Menstrie and Windsor Castle
1649 to 1882
On 28th June 1649, Major General James Holburne bought the estate of Menstrie. His grandson James Holburne of Menstrie was created a Baronet of Nova Scotia on 21st June 1706.
The last descendant of Major General Holburne, Miss Mary Anne Barbara Holburne, died at Bath in England in 1882. She bequeathed £8,000 for the building and endowment of a church in Menstrie, ' ... as a Memorial to the Holburne family'. There is a Holburne of Menstrie Museum of Art in the town of Bath.
Menstrie Castle in 1649, the Holburnes lived in a stone-built house known as Windsor Castle on the former Main Road of Menstrie (the present back road over the hump-backed bridge). This house had a carved coat of arms over the north-facing doorway. When the house was demolished in the 1950s this stone was removed to Alloa for safe keeping at the instigation of the Congregational Board of Menstrie Parish Church.Before buying
When the new houses were built on the west bank of Menstrie Burn, the stone was built into its present position on the gable facing the A91 Stirling to St. Andrews roadway. This coat of arms is described by R. Menzies Ferguson in his 'Logie - A Parish History', Vol. 2 and is sketched by J.S. Fleming F.S.A. Scotland in his 'Ancient Castles and Mansions of Stirling Notability'. These books were published in 1905 and 1902 respectively.
- History of Major General Sir James Holburne of Menstrie.
- Portrait of Sir James Holburne, circa 1706.
- Portrait of Sir Thomas William Holburne of Menstrie Bart., 1827.
- Photograph of Miss Mary Anne Barbara Holburne and creation of the Holburne Museum.
- Website of The Holburne Museum, Bath.
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