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Archiver > KINCAID > 2006-06 > 1149759659


From: "Dick Kinkeade" <>
Subject: RE: [KINCAID] Lennox Castle
Date: Thu, 8 Jun 2006 04:40:59 -0500
In-Reply-To: <001101c687dd$d0fb9a70$2e129a8e@PeterAKincaid>


Here are some pictures I took of Lennox castle in Jan 04. I walked up from
the road.
Dick K (MN)

http://s69.photobucket.com/albums/i56/keokuk44/


Lennox Castle was at one time the most striking building within the Parish
of
Campsie. While the name bears honour to the ancient Earls of Lennox and
a principal landowner in the area, the Lennoxes of Woodhead, the castle
itself
was built by the Kincaids of that Ilk. It was John Lennox Kincaid who was
the builder of this massive family monument.

John Lennox Kincaid was born on 8 October 1802, to John Kincaid of Kincaid
and Cecilia Lennox, daughter of William Lennox of Woodhead. John's father
was
a Justice of the Peace and one of the original partners of Carrick Brown &
Co.
(Ship Bank) which merged with the Glasgow Bank to become Glasgow and Ship
Bank
in 1836. Cecilia Lennox died in 1817 and her son John Lennox Kincaid became
heir to her half interest in the large Lennox of Woodhead estates.

The other half interest was held by Cecilia's Lennox's elder unmarried
sister,
Margaret Lennox of Woodhead, who was in effect the last of the direct line
of
the Lennoxes of Woodhead. She was convinced that she was the legitimate
heir
to the rights and honours of the ancient Earls of Lennox which for the most
part
fell out of use with the execution of the Earl of Lennox with the Duke of
Albany,
Regent of Scotland, in 1425. To press her case she hired the prominent
lawyer
Robert Hamilton of Gilkerscleugh who, in 1813, prepared and published her
claim
in a impressive paper titled "The Case of Margaret Lennox of Woodhead, in
relation to the Title, Honours, and Dignity of the ancient Earls of Levenax
or
Lennox." She was not able to establish her claim and when she died in 1831
her nephew, John Lennox Kincaid, became heir to her half interest and thus
now had full rights and possession of the Lennox of Woodhead estates. He
thus assumed the surname Lennox when he was served heir to her in 1833. His
father, John Kincaid of Kincaid, passed away in 1832 and John Lennox
Kincaid,
now John Lennox Kincaid-Lennox, found himself with a considerable wealth in
money and property.

John Lennox Kincaid-Lennox married Frances Maxwell of Craigends on 26 August
1828 and ultimately became a brother-in-law to the Duke of Argyll. Bent on
continuing
his aunt Margaret's claim to the ancient earldom of Lennox he decided to
build a
residence befitting the dignity of an Earl. He thus commissioned Scotland's

eminent
architect, David Hamilton, to develop plans for a large addition to Woodhead

House.
However, the location was unsuitable and it was decided that a new castle
was to
be built on a more visible location in the valley. This new castle was to
be built in the
Norman style in recognition of the ancestors of the Earls of Lennox coming
to
the district in the Norman period. Construction began in 1837 and took two
years
to complete. In addition to income from his estate, funding for the
building of the
Castle came from the sale of the stocks he had inherited in the Glasgow and
Ship bank. Although he became possessed of a castle befitting a Scottish
Earl his case
to be recognized as heir to the rights and dignity of the ancient Earls of
Lennox had
to be abandoned.

John Lennox Kincaid-Lennox was appointed a Deputy-Lieutenant of
Stirlingshire
and Dumbartonshire in 1832. He also became Convenor of the County of
Stirlingshire
in 1842. He died in London suddenly on 6 March 1859. He was predeceased
by a son John Kincaid Lennox, a Captain in the 12th Lancers, who died
in Thebes, Egypt after contracting a lung disease during the Caffre War.
Thus,
on his death his eldest daughter, Margaret Cunningham Lennox, became 2nd of
Lennox Castle. She married in 1857, George Augustus Frederick Percy Smythe,
7th Visount Strangford. She became Viscountess Strangford but her husband
passed away shortly after their marriage. In 1861, she married Hon. Charles
Spencer Bateman Hanbury, second son of William, Lord Bateman and resumed,
with her new husband, her family name of Kincaid-Lennox.

Margaret did not have any children and upon her death in 1892, her younger
sister Cecilia Kincaid-Lennox became her heir. On the death of Margaret's
second husband in 1912, Cecilia came into full possession of Lennox Castle
and other family estates. In 1856, Cecilia had married Captain William
Peareth
of the 12th Royal Lancers; he having served with her brother. He was heir
to
Usworth House, County Durham and of Thorpe Mandeville in County Northampton.
He died in 1870. Cecilia Peareth-Lennox of Lennox Castle and Kincaid
died on 21 April 1914.

Cecilia's eldest son, William George Peareth, having inherited his father's
estates in 1870 also inherited Lennox Castle and Kincaid upon the death of
his
mother and he too assumed the name Kincaid-Lennox. He rented Lennox
Castle out at various times and during World War I it was used as a
hospital. William G. P. Kincaid-Lennox in his lifetime did have an interest
in local affairs having become a Justice of the Peace for Stirlingshire and
a
Deputy-Lieutenant for the same County. However, he took a keener interest
in
horseracing and was once the proud owner of the Grand National winner,
Glenside,
and the Cambridgeshire winner Twelve Pointer.

Debts caught up to him and as a result he was oblidged to sell many of the
family assests. Lennox Castle, together with other family building assests
in
the area and 8650 acres of land, were put up for auction in February 1927.
By
August of that year Lennox Castle and 3000 acres were sold with the prized
building being bought by the Glasgow Corporation. Part of the estate was
developed as a hospital for the mentally handicaped and Castle itself was
converted into a Nurse's Home.



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