William Cunninghame 14th of Craigends

3rd Apr 1801 - 1852

Claimant or beneficiary

Biography

William Cunninghame (sometimes given as Cuninghame) 14th Laird of Craigends, Renfrewshire, son of Alexander Cunninghame. Trustees (Alexander Pearson, William Houston and James Stirling, each of whom q.v.), almost certainly of William Cunninghame, were awarded the compensation for the Grandvale or Grand Vale estate in Westmoreland Jamaica. The family had owned land in Jamaica since the 1730s. In Britain Cunninghame formed the firm, Merry & Cunninghame, with James Merry (later MP for the Falkirk Burghs), which built the Glengarnock Steelworks in Ayrshire in 1843, as well as owning mines throughout Ayrshire and Renfrewshire and in the north of England, and having interests in steel and the railways.

He married Robina, daughter of A. Currie in 1831. Upon his death in 1852 he was succeeded by his son William, who employed the eminent Scottish architect, David Bryce to rebuild Craigends House in 1857. The house was demolished in 1971.

  1. In 1832 William Cuninghame of Craigends was seeking to promote an Act of Parliament to exchange some of the entailed lands of Craigends for other land in the Houstoun barony.

Sources

T71/871 Westmoreland no. 453. Records of the Cuninghame family of Craigends Renfrewshire tie the family to the Grandvale estate 1736-1757, National Records of Scotland GB234/GD148.

Will of Sir James Campbell of Houstoun, PROB 11/674/380 . Extensive Cunninghame family genealogy at http://www.ourlocalhistory.co.uk/geneology3.html and http://www.clanmacfarlanegenealogy.info/genealogy/TNGWebsite/getperson.php?personID=I37507&tree=CC [both accessed 08/12/2016].

James Merry, http://www.theglasgowstory.com/image/?inum=TGSA00119

Craigends House, http://www.ourlocalhistory.co.uk/mansion2.html

  1. Edinburgh Gazette 4041 14/02/1832 p.38

We are grateful to Sara Broadbent, Eric Graham and James Graham for their help compiling this entry.


Further Information

Absentee?
British/Irish
Spouse
Robina Currie
Children
William, 15th Laird of Craigends

Associated Claims (1)

£3,278 5s 6d
Beneficiary (Owner-in-fee)

Associated Estates (2)

The dates listed below have different categories as denoted by the letters in the brackets following each date. Here is a key to explain those letter codes:

  • SD - Association Start Date
  • SY - Association Start Year
  • EA - Earliest Known Association
  • ED - Association End Date
  • EY - Association End Year
  • LA - Latest Known Association
1826 [EA] - → Buyer
1822 [SY] - 1852 [EY] → Trust beneficiary

Relationships (4)

Grandson → Grandfather
Nephew → Uncle
Nephew → Uncle
Son → Father

Addresses (1)

Craigends, Renfrewshire, Central Scotland, Scotland