CHIEF:  Alastair Ivor Gilbert Boyd 7th Baron Kilmarnock

Richard G. Boyd

NEW EMAIL ADDRESS

RichBoyd (at sign) Charter.net

BRODICK CASTLE

                             Photo (c) Eleanor and Clyde Moore  Used with permission

                                  http://www.PHOTOSbyELEANOR.com 

Brodick Castle, from 1998 Trip Journal.  What a beautiful day to see the castle and the Isle of Arran, no coats needed today. The Hamiltons have owned the island for centuries. The Brodick Castle is an ancient seat of the Dukes of Hamilton, there was a fortress on the site since the Viking times. The Stewarts built the original castle but the English held it during the Wars of Independence, until 1307 when the Scots recaptured it. It was damaged by English ships in 1406 and by the MacDonald Lord of the Isles in 1455. Arran passed to the Boyds in 1467, then to the Hamiltons in 1503. The 1st Hamilton Earl of Arran rebuilt the castle about 1510 but it was damaged in a raid in 1528 between feuding Campbells and Macleans and again in 1544 by the Earl of Lennox for Henry VIII of England. 

The Hamiltons remained owners, as Earls of Arran and Dukes of Hamiltons until the death of Mary, Duchess of Montrose, heiress of the 12th Duke of Hamilton. The oldest part of the castle dates from the 13th century,  added to in the 14th century and later in 1558 (East Tower) and extended by Cromwell in the 17th century. In 1844 the West Tower, designed by the architect James Gillespie Graham was added. The foundation stone for the main Victorian extension was laid in 1844 by Princess Marie of Baden, 11th Duchess of Hamilton. Her granddaughter, Lady Mary Louise, 6th Duchess of Montrose, lived in the castle until 1957. The contents include furniture dating from the 16th century, superb paintings, porcelain and silver collected by the Hamilton family, and the William Beckford collection, whose daughter Susan was the 10th Duchess of Hamilton. There is a collection of sporting photos and trophies. There is also a Rochford collection. The woodland garden was begun in 1923 by the Duchess, it is home to an internationally acclaimed rhododendron collection. The walled garden dates from 1710 and has been restored as a Victorian garden. In 1958 the castle and ‘associated chattels’ were accepted in lieu of estate duty by the Commissioners of Inland Revenue and accepted by the Trust at the request of the Treasury. 

Permission to Use Castle Information from The Castles of Scotland was granted by Martin Coventry and Goblinshead, Edinburgh, Scotland

NOTE: Use this data as a finding tool, just as you would any other secondary source. When you find the name of an ancestor listed, confirm the facts in original sources.

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