Mary McQueen Thomson Honyman
Residence : Edinburgh and later Eastend House, Carmichael, Lanarkshire
Sir James Stirling , 1st Baronet of Mansfield.
Sometime between 1790 and 1792 James Stirling , Lord Provost of Edinburgh bought the lands of Garrieve in the parish of New Cumnock and renamed the estate Mansfield in honour of his wife Alison Mansfield. In July 1792 Sir James Stirling was created 1st Baronet of Mansfield. The lands of Garrieve included the farms of Garrieve and Garclaugh in the east and those of Polquheys and Rottenyard to the west.
Sir James sold off his lands in New Cumnock, retaining the title of Baronet of Mansfield which on his death passed to his only son Gilbert Stirling.
John Buchan Esq.
In the 1803 Tax Rolls for the parish John Buchan Esquire, Writer to the Signet is identified as the proprietor of what effectively was Stirling’s estate of Mansfield, namely –
- Garrieve
- Garrieve Crawford (the latter an old name for those lands owned by the Crawford family, including the Reverend Hugh Crawford, the first minister of the parish of New Cumnock)
Buchan also owned the parcel of properties which made up the Castlemains estate
- Meikle Mains, Middle Park, Little Park and Nether Dalhanna
John Buchan later became Solicitor to the Exchequer and sold off his lands in New Cumnock long before his death in Edinburgh in 1822, aged 79 years old.
Andrew Thomson Esq. of Mansfield and Castlemains
All of Buchan’s lands changed hands again and were acquired by Andrew Thomson now fashioned as Andrew Thomson, Esquire of Mansfield and Castlemains . Following his death at Mansfield House in 1806 these properties appear to have passed directly to his niece Catherine Thomson, daughter of his brother Robert Thomson.
Catherine Thomson and William Honyman
On 29th June 1815 William Honeyman Esq, son of Sir Wm. Honeyman Bart. and Miss Catherine Thomson of Mansfield, Ayrshire were married at Edinburgh [Scotland’s People]. William of Smyllum, Lanarkshire added the name Thomson to his own. Together they had two children Mary McQueen Thomson Honyman born in 1817 at Edinburgh and William Andrew Thomson Honyman born in 1819 at Mansfield, presumably at the small mansion-house there.
Through 1821 to 1824 the Estate of Mansfield (1. and 2.) and Estate of Castlemains (3.) were put up for sale as three lots –
- The lands of Garrieve and Garclaugh (Eastmost Part of the Estate of Mansfield)
- The 40 shilling land of Polquheys and 2 merkland of Rottenyard (Westmost part of the Estate of Mansfield)
- The lands of Castlemains (Estate of Castlemains)
There appears to have been a change of heart and by 1825 only Lot 1 the lands of Garrieve and Garclaugh (i.e. Eastmost part of Mansfield) were put up for sale as ‘An Eligible Investment’ and these were later acquired by the Stuart-Menteth family of Closeburn, Dumfriesshire.
On 25th August 1828 William Thomson Honyman died at Naples and four years later on 15th June 1832 his widow Catherine Thomson Honyman died there too. In her “Inventory; Disposition of Settlement; Codicils” she was fashioned ‘of Mansfield‘ and the rentals recorded therein applied only to lots 2. and 3. above i.e. Polquheys & Rottenyard (Westmost part of Mansfield) and Castlemains.
Tragically her son William Andrew at Naples on February 1833, aged 13 years only a few months before the opening service at the new parish church of New Cumnock.
Inscription
Mary McQueen Thomson Honyman and Michael Thomson Carmichael
These properties fell to her daughter Mary McQueen Thomson Honeyman and it is her name that appears on the list of heritors at the opening of the parish church.
In 1836 she married Michael Thomson Carmichael of Eastend House, Carmichael , Lanarkshire and the family settled at Eastend House.
Eastend House with the Thomson Carmichael arms and the initials of Michael Thomas Carmichael and Mary McQueen Thomson
The name of Michael Thomson Carmichael appears in the list of chief-landowners given in 2nd Statistical Account of the parish of New Cumnock (1838) as M.T.Carmichael Esq of Mains . Mary McQueen Thomson Honyman died at Amisfield House, Haddington in 1899, aged 81 years.
Proprietor Honeyman Carmichael Esq. / Cess Roll > 1836? Meiklemains , Mid and Laigh Park, North Dalhanna, Polquheys and Rottenyard
Proprietor Michael Thomson Carmichael , Eastend / Valuation Rolls 1855: Castlemains, Rottenyard, Cairnhill, Waterside, Polquheys, Muirfoot , Little Dalhanna, Afton Bridgend
ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS
National Library of Scotland
- http://maps.nls.uk/index.html
- All maps reproduced with the permission of the National Library of Scotland
Scotland’s People
- https://www.scotlandspeople.gov.uk
- Old Parish Records, Births, Marriages, Deaths, Census Records, Valuations Rolls, Wills & Testaments
Scotland’s Places
- http://www.scotlandsplaces.gov.uk/
- Historical Land Tax Rolls
NEW CUMNOCK HISTORY 