Lairds of Hunterston

Detailed history on Hunter Family Chiefs (Lairds)

List of Chiefs

#	Name	Dates	Ancestral notes
1	William Venator (William The Huntar)	1116-1153	Named at the Inquisition of David I of Scotland, Ca. 1116
2	Norman Venator (Hunter The Norman)	1153-1165	Received Grant of Land from King Malcolm IV of Scotland who reigned from 1153 to 1165
3	Venator (The Hunter)	1165-?	Named in charters of King Alexander II
4	John Huntar		Witness to a deed of 1233. (Glasgow Church Records: Jon Deo Venator)
5	Ardneil (Ardnell) Hunter		Ardneil Bay extends from West Kilbride towards Portencross on the south side of the Hunterston peninsula. This land was originally in the possession of the Hunter family.
6	Norman Huntar
7	William Huntar
8	Aylmere le Huntar, Del Counte de Are		Aylmere was one of the Magnates Scotiae who like the majority of those of Norman descent settled in Ayrshire, signed the noted submission to King Edward I of England, known as RAGMAN ROLLS.These documents referred to the question of succession to the Scottish Crown, between King Edward and Balliol. It was signed in Berwick on Tweed on 28 August 1296.
9	Huntar, son of Aylmere
10	William Huntar
11	Huntar
12	William Huntar	1425-1454	Grandson of William, the 10th Laird. William is the next Laird on record. He paid 11 years BLENCH DUTY and DOUBLE SUCCESSION MONEY which are duly accounted for in the Exchequer Roll for 1447.The next remaining charter in the possession of the family concerns the transfer of land at Highlees (near Dairy) to William Hunter from Andrew Lyn of that Ilk, for services rendered, dated last day of February 1452. William was hereditary keeper of the Royal Forest of Little Cumbrae in 1453.On the death of William in 1454 his brother, John, succeeded him as hereditary forester, until William's son, Archibald, was old enough to take over.
13	Archibald Hunter	1454-1487	Records of Archibald are shown in a deed dated 1462 in the Charter Chest of the Earl of Eglinton: this details the marriage of Archibald to Margaret Kerr on 14 June 1462. This deed concerns land transfers. In addition the following extract from the Exchequer Rolls of Scotland 1488: (Translated).Account of Robert Chamberlaine of Bute: . . . and he charges himself with 30 shillings being the rent of the land of Almolach (The Holy Island which is close to Arran and was also Hunter Land) and for the office of Forester of Arran and with 30 shillings and 3 chalders of oats and two silver pennies being for payment of the BLENCH FERME due to the King by John Hunter.This excerpt shows that the Hunters of Hunterston were, in the 15th Century the Kings foresters in Cumbrae and the Island of Arran.Blench Duty or Blench Feu was a fee paid on demand. This was a nominal sum (one silver penny) payable to the King, usually as rent for land granted by the Crown. It was not a regular payment
14	John Huntar of Ardneil and Huntarstoune	1487-1513	Married Margaret daughter of John, 2nd Lord Cathcart, on 13 June 1505. He produced the Charter granted to his ancestor, before the Court of Justices in Ayr, shewing that his lands were held in Blench of the Crown on payment of one silver penny and was exonerated from all claims.John was killed at the Battle of Flodden on the 9th of September 1513 in the service of the Crown of Scotland.
15	Robert Huntar of Huntarstoune	1515-1546	A minor when his father fell, he inherited on 6 May 1515. He married Janet, (known as Lady Huntarstoune), daughter of John Montgomerie. Robert sold a large amount of Hunter land in Forfar and other distant parts of Scotland and bought in more land in Ayrshire, near to the main estate.In 1542 he was granted a licence by King James 5th permitting his absence from the Wars, "he being" weak and tender of complexion and troubled with sickness and infirmity. He died in 1546. There are a large number of papers in the possession of the family, in connection with the land transfers.
16	Kentigern (Mungo) Huntar	1546-1548	Married Marion, daughter of James Hamilton, of Torrance, Co. Lanark. He was present with OUR SOVEREIGN LADY'S ARMY AT DUMBARTON ON THE 11th OF JULY 1546, AT THE SEIGE OF THE CASTLE. Mungo died AT THE FAITH AND PEACE OF QUEEN MARY UNDER HER STANDARD AT THE BATTLE OF PINKIE 10th SEPTEMBER 1547.Mungo's brother in law, John Crawford, was killed with him. Mungo had two sons, Robert and John. Marion continued to live at Hunterston for 48 years.
17	Robert Hunter	1548-1580	An infant at his father's death, Robert inherited in 1548. He was one of the Ayrshire gentlemen who defended the reformed religion in September 1562.He married Margaret, daughter of Thomas Crawford. They had five children, four daughters and one son, he died in 1580.
18	Robert Hunter	(1580) 1609-1616	A minor at the death of his father, in 1580, he was tutored by his father's brother, John, and obtained Royal Charters for the lands on 5 April 1609.He married Margaret Peibles but they had no children. Robert settled the estate on Patrick Hunter, husband of his niece, Jean. This is the first time that the inheritance of the estate was diverted through the female line, and explains the remarkable way the Hunter family have continued their unbroken history in Scotland for so long.One of the old marriage contracts that we have, dated 1704, states that in the absence of a male heir, a female may succeed under certain conditions, one being that she marries "A GENTLEMAN WHO WILL ASSUME THE NAME OF HUNTER".
19	Patrick Hunter	1616-1665	Laird and co-heir on marrying Jean Cunningham (her mother was Robert Hunter's sister). They had three sons: Robert, Henry, Francis, and two daughters.A large part of farm land was sold that was distant from Hunterston to consolidate the estate. Patrick died in 1665 aged 74.
20	Robert Hunter	1665-1698	Robert entered Glasgow University in July 1627. He married twice, first to Elizabeth Crawford, in 1635, and second to Marion Cunningham in 1649.He had five children by his first wife: Patrick, Robert, James, Hugh and Jean. (James had a son Robert who was Governor of Virginia and New York from 1709 to 1719).
21	Patrick Hunter	1698-1699	Elder son of Robert, his title to the estate was ratified by King William III on 27 June 1698: in consideration of good and faithful services done and performed.He married Marion Cuningham of Longmuir in 1662, and they had seven children: Patrick, Henry, John, Dorothea, Marion, Anne, and Margaret.
22	Patrick Hunter	1699-1732	Patrick unfortunately alienated a considerable portion of the estate. This is thought to have been due to gambling debts. He married Marion Crawford, and they had ten children: Patrick, Robert, Thomas, Henry, David, Rebecca, Elizabeth, Marion, Dorothea, and Margaret. Margaret married Robert Caldwell from Larne, Co. Antrim, Ireland, and their son, (also called Robert Caldwell), married Eleonora Hunter, his cousin. Eleonora was the daughter of Robert Hunter (the 23rd Laird) and she became the 24th Laird.It appears from the family records that Patrick was forced by his sons to hand over the remains of the estate to them, before his death in 1738. His eldest son, Patrick, was legally conveyed the income from the lands on 3 January 1729, and on his premature death, in 1732, his brother, Robert, succeeded to become the 23rd Laird.
23	Robert Hunter	1732-1796	Robert is best described by a noted historian as: "A TRUE SCOTTISH BARON OF THE GENUINE AGE OF BARONAGE". Robert took over the estate on 27 December 1732 after the death of his elder brother. (His father was still alive at this time).He married Janet Atchison, the daughter of a merchant, Mathew Atchison, of Glasgow. They had five children: Thomas and Patrick, the two sons, both died young, and two of their daughters died unmarried. The third daughter, Eleonora, succeeded her father who died in 1796, aged 86.
24	Eleanora (Helen) Hunter	1796-1851	Born in 1764, she inherited in 1796, and married her cousin, Robert Caldwell, in the same year. Robert returned from Maine where he had been a mariner, and devoted the rest of his life to managing the estateHunterston House in 1799. (This was completed in 1810). They had seven children, and Robert died in August 1826, having greatly improved the estate. Eleonora, his widow, lived until DecemberHe and his wife started to build 1851.
25	Robert Caldwell Hunter	1852-1880	Born in 1799, Robert was the eldest son, and he continued with the good work started by his father. He enlarged the new house, which had been built in the Georgian style, and drained large areas of marshland on the estate to create some of the finest arable farming land in the west of Britain.He married Christian Macknight Crawford in 1836, and was an Advocate and Justice of the Peace and an important local figure. Robert died in 1880, leaving two daughters, Jane and Eleonora, but no sons
26	Jane Hunter	1880-1911	Born in 1837, Jane was the elder daughter. She married Lieutenant- Colonel Gould Read Weston in 1863. Gould's family seat was at Sutton Place, Guildford, England. (Recently owned by Paul Getty) and he had a successful career in the service of H.M. Indian Army.He survived the siege of Lucknow in 1847, and was awarded the Distinguished Service Order (D.S.0.). Gould and Jane had two sons, Aylmer, born April 1864, and Reginald, born September 1869. Jane was a Laird in the true sense of the word. She completely managed the estate, and proved herself to be a most competent Laird.
27	Aylmer_Hunter-Weston	1911-1940	Lieutenant-General Sir Aylmer Gould Hunter-Weston, K.C.B., D.S.O. J.P. D.L., Member of Parliament for Bute and North Ayrshire for 27 years. the general as he is referred to by the family, had a most distinguished army career, and undertook further improvements to the estate after the First World War.He commissioned the Scottish architect, Sir Robert Lorimer, to restore the castle. The General married Grace Strang-Steel of Selkirkshire, in 1905. He died in 1940, leaving no heir. He is buried in the cemetery at West Kilbride with other members of the Hunter family.When the General died without leaving any children to inherit, the hereditary title passed back to the family of Eleonora Hunter, the sister of Jane. (25th Laird.) Eleonora married Robert William Cochran-Patrick, D.L., J.P. , in 1866. He was a Member of Parliament for Bute and North Ayrshire (1880–85) and Under Secretary of State for Scotland (1887–92).They had two children: William, who died while a student at Cambridge University (1891), and Eleonora Cochran-Patrick, who married Neil Kennedy of Underwood, in Ayrshire, in 1895.Neil Kennedy brought in the connection with the Kennedy family of Culzean, another very ancient Ayrshire family, and in 1897 he assumed the surname of Kennedy-Cochran-Patrick. He eventually became: Sir Neil ]ames Kennedy-Cochran-Patrick, K.B.E. , D.L. , ].P. , B.A.(Cantab), LL.B.(Edin.), Advocate, and Member of the Royal Company of Archers.He died in 1958 aged 91. Sir Neil and Eleonora had four children: William Iohn Charles (d. 1933), Eleonora (the 28th Laird) (d.1984), Margaret Hamilton (d.1982), and her twin Kathleen Agnes (d.1985).
28	Eleonora Hunter	1940-1969	Eleonora was born in December 1899 as Kennedy-Cochran-Patrick. She took over the estate after General Hunter-Weston died in 1940, and assumed the hereditary title of Hunter of Hunterston. She witnessed a remarkable number of human achievements in her lifetime: the replacement of the carriage by the motor car, a man landing on the moon, and the building of a nuclear powered electricity generating station on Hunterston land.
29	Neil Kennedy-Cochran-Patrick File:Neil Aylmer Hunter of Hunterston.jpg	1969-1994	Born in May 1926, educated at Eton and Cambridge, Neil is a member of the Royal Company of Archers, The Queen's Royal Bodyguard for Scotland, and a member of The Royal Yacht Squadron. He won an Olympic silver medal at Melbourne, 1956, for sailing yachts.He married Sonia Furlong of Gloucestershire, England, in 1952, and they have seven children, one daughter and six sons. Neil matriculated his arms as Hunter of Hunterston, with the Lord Lyon, King of Arms, in 1969.From the moment he inherited, he has spent his time fighting the planners of extensive industrial development that threatens the total loss of all the Hunterston lands
30	Pauline Hunter of Hunterston	1994–Present