Barony of Blackhall

The Barony of Blackhall is a Scottish feudal barony which originally covered the area of Renfrewshire and a part of Ayrshire. It is governed under the Abolition of Feudal Tenure Act, Scotland, 2000. Baronies date from the Scottish Middle Ages and were administrative units established by the monarch, where the local barons ruled on behalf of the monarch through a baron court. Their powers were substantial within the barony and included law enforcement (through the pit or the gallows) and military conscription.

History

Around 1140, a Norman knight, Walter Fitzalan, designated First High Steward of the royal household and Baron Renfrew by King David I, received the lands of Kerkert and Strathgryffe, later to be called Renfrewshire, from the hands of his king. These lands held the Forest of Paisley, a large, wild reserve to the south-west of the city, which included an estate called "Nigra Aula," or Blackhall, where Walter built his House of Blackhall. Walter Fitzalan went on to found Paisley Abbey in 1163.

The House and Barony of Blackhall are mentioned in a 1272 charter, witnessed by the chaplain of Blackhall Chapel, and again, in a 1283 charter granted by James, Fifth High Steward, which describes certain lands belonging to the Park of Blackhall.

Seven generations on, in 1390, Robert III, son of the first Stewart king, Robert II, and grandson of Walter, Sixth High Steward, succeeded to the throne of Scotland and, on 12 December 1395 at Dundonald, conferred on his "natural" son, Sir John, all the lands of Blackhall in the Barony of Renfrew in the Vicecounty of Lanark.

The Lands and Barony of Blackhall are mentioned in numerous charters issued by the Stewart kings confirming them to Sir John’s heirs and successors, among them are:-

The Manor House

The state of Blackhall Manor before restoration
12th century Blackhall Manor in Paisley today

The House of Blackhall is the oldest remaining dwelling in Paisley; it is situated in the suburb of Blackhall, one mile south east of Paisley Abbey. The house was inherited by Walter Fitzalan's direct descendent Walter Stewart, the 6th Baron Renfrew, who married Marjory, the daughter of Robert the Bruce: their son became the first of the Stewart kings, King Robert II, and the Barony of Blackhall continued to be passed down through the Royal Stewart family.

Blackhall was inhabited and used until around 1840, at which time the family had already moved to Ardgowan House at Inverkip. The house was given to Paisley Town Council by the 23rd Baron, Sir Michael Hugh, in 1936, desiring that the ancient place be held in trust for the people of Paisley. In 1978 the local council considered demolition, causing public outcry; the house returned into private ownership in 1982 after restoration using funds from the Paisley Common Good Fund and from the Dalrymple Fund. It comprises today a great hall, dining room, four bedrooms and a stone spiral staircase, with elements of the current building going back probably to the 14th century.

The House of Blackhall stands no longer in the Forest of Paisley, nor in rich meadowlands, but is situated behind its walled gardens off the Lonend road, south of the Paisley Hammills, in an area uniting the city's past and present.

When Sir Michael, 18th of Blackhall, inherited from his brother, Sir Archibald in 1724, he enclosed and subdivided the lands in the baronies of Blackhall and Mearns at Mearns Castle. At that time, the Barony comprised 24 families; the House and estate; chapels at Craigton and Thrusheraig, and the estate at Achtriochtan. Sir Michael moved his family sometime after 1738 from the House of Blackhall to Inverkip, where the family built the fine Ardgowan House on the estate.

The barony since Scottish Feudal Land Reform

Until the passage of the Scots feudal land reform act in 2004, 70 acres of land close to the family's Ardgowan House in Inverkip in Renfrewshire's Spango valley remained within the ancient feudal superiority of Blackhall.

The Barons of Blackhall since 1395

The following list gives the name of each Baron of Blackhall, the date when infeft in the barony, and certain notes including the names of spouses holding the title of "Lady Blackhall." King Robert III (d.1406) had an illegitimate son, (Sir) John (possibly by a daughter of Sir Archibald Campbell of Lochow), who became the first Baron:

1. Sir John, 1395; b.c. 1355; d.c. 1413; illegitimate, possibly first born, son of King Robert III (cr. 1390:d. 1406): received the lands of Blackhall in the barony of Renfrew and Lanark, by royal charter signed at Dundonald 12 December 1395: previous known charters relating to the lands of Blackhall in 1272 and in 1283
2. John, 1414; d.c. 1442
3. Sir James, c. 1442; b.c. 1414: slaughtered by the Boyds of Duchal in 1445
4. John, c. 1445; d.c. 1493; m. Elizabeth, dr. of Robert, 1st. Lord Lyle
5. John, c. 1493; b.c. 1467; d.c. 1513: possibly killed at Flodden Field: charter granted by James IV in 1508; m. Marion, dr. of Sir Adam Mure of Caldwell
6. James, 1514; b.c. 1491; d.c. 1553: headed an expedition to assist the king of Denmark and received the lands of Finnock: King James V charter 1539; m. Janet Kennedy
7. James, c. 1553; b.c. 1521: d.c. 1579; m. Janet, dr. of Maxwell of Newark
8. James, 1574; d.c. 1589: King James VI charter of confirmation 1579 erecting his estates into the Barony of Ardgowan; m. Margaret, dr. of Sir William Wallace of Johnston and Auchenbothie
9. John, c. 1589; d.c.1597; m. Margaret, dr. of Sir Archibald Stewart of Castlemilk
10. James, c. 1597; b.c. 1588; d.c. 1612: Earl of Abercorn charter 1607 relative to the lands of Innerkip; unmarried: no issue
11. Sir Archibald, c. 1613; b.c. 1589; d. 1665; Knighted by King Charles I ca. 1636: Commissioner for Renfrewshire, Privy Councillor: acquired the Barony of Mearns; m. 1/ Margaret, dr. of Bryce Blair; 2/ Lady Margaret, dr. of Sir George Home of Wedderburne
12. John, 1634; b. 1614; d. 1656; m. Maria Stirling of Keir
13. John, 1658; b. 1634; d. 1658; m. Barbara, dr. of Sir William Scott of Clerkington: no issue
14. Sir Archibald, 1666; b.c. 1635; d.c. 1718: 1st Baronet of Nova Scotia 1667: King Charles II charter in 1667; m. 1/ Anne, dr. of Sir John Crawford of Kilbirnie; 2/ Agnes Dalmahoy; 3/ Mary, dr. of Sir John Douglas of Hillhead
15. Archibald, 1692; b.c. 1661; d.c. 1695; unmarried: no issue
16. John, 1696; b.c. 1662; d. 1713; m. Rebecca Wallace
17. Sir Archibald, 1717; b. 1705; d. 1724: 2nd Baronet; unmarried: no issue
18. Sir Michael, 1724; bc. 1708; d. 1796: 3rd Baronet: planned Ardgowan Estate; m. Helenor, dr. of Sir John Houston, heiress through her mother of Sir John Shaw of Greenock
19. Sir John, 1796; b. 1740; d. 1812: 4th Baronet: M.P. for Renfrew 1780–1796; built Ardgowan Ho. 1798–1804; Dame Frances, widow of Sir James Pollok, dr. of Robert Colquhoun (of Luss): no issue
20. Sir Michael, 1813; b. 1766; d. 1825: 5th Baronet: change of lineage to Michael Stewart Nicholson with name change to Shaw Stewart; m. Catherine, dr. of Sir William Maxwell of Springkell
21. Sir Michael, 1827; b. 1788; d. 1836: 6th Baronet; m. Eliza Mary Farquhar
22. Sir Michael Robert, 1836; b. 1826; d. 1903: 7th Baronet: M.P. for Renfrewshire 1855–1865; Lord Lieutenant for Renfrewshire 1868–1903; m. Lady Octavia Grosvenor, dr. of 2nd Marquess of Westminster
23. Sir Michael Hugh, 1904; b. 1854; d. 1942: 8th Baronet, K.C.B. 1933; m. Lady Alice Emma Thynne, dr. of 4th Marquess of Bath: no issue
24. Sir Walter Guy, 1942; b. 1892; d. 1976: 9th Baronet; Lord Lieutenant of Renfrewshire 1950; m. Diana Bulteel
25. Sir Euan Guy, 1976*; b. 1928: 10th Baronet; m. 1/ Mary Louise D. Shaw; 2/ Victoria Fryer
26. Sir Houston Mark, 1980; b. 1931: 11th Baronet; m. Lucinda Victoria Fletcher
27. Robert, 2001; b. 1947: O.B.E. 2005: m. Sylvie, dr. of Jacques Maisonrouge, Gr. Off. Légion d'Honneur

The 27th Baron

Eur Ing Robert Brown Gillespie of Blackhall[1] OBE[2] CEng FIMechE (born 1947) is the 27th Baron of Blackhall, educated at Ipswich School, Sussex University and INSEAD.

Between 1970 and 2010, he was a consultant with McKinsey & Co., chief executive of industrial companies in France and in the United Kingdom, and board director of industrial companies in the UK, France, Italy and Norway; Vice-Chairman of the British Non-Ferrous Metals Federation and Chairman of the Federation of French Copper and Copper-alloy Foundry Owners (1991–1995.) He was twice Chairman of the French Branch of the Institution of Mechanical Engineers (2004–2007; 2013–2015) and a 150th Anniversary Gold Medalist of this institution (1997); Chairman of the British Luncheon-1916 (2005) in Paris; Chairman of the British Community Committee[3] (2006–2009) in Paris; Director of the Thomas More Institute in Paris (2007–2012;) Freeman of the City of London and Liveryman of the Worshipful Company of Engineers (2013.) Blackhall is also a member of the Court of the Convention of the Baronage of Scotland (2013) and a prison visitor.

In 1977, he married Sylvie Maisonrouge, daughter of Jacques Maisonrouge, Grand Officer of the Légion d'Honneur and, except for three years in Chicago, he and Lady Blackhall reside in Paris.

Works

Under the name, Bob Gillespie, he has written Machiavelli and The Mayflower[4] (2009), an essay in comparative European cultures, and has spoken on television about the ideas in this book.[5] He has written a cold-war novel, The Angry Sky (2012).

Footnotes

Notes

Further reading

External links