29 October 2023
Lyon & Turnbull
After almost 150 years within the Henryson-Caird family, Cassencarie House is changing hands. We were pleased to offer the Cassencarie House collection to new owners in our November 2023 Five Centuries auction.
All sale results shown are inclusive of buyer’s premium.
Cassencarie House is a now ruined Scottish baronial house with origins in a 16th century tower that formed its core. It sits on high ground overlooking the Cree estuary but protected from the east by steep rocky crags. It appears on Blaeu’s mid-17th century maps of Galloway, which were in turn based on Pont’s late 16th century work, identified as a large tower named ‘Kassinkary’ surrounded by parkland and an enclosure.
The earliest documented family connected to Cassencarie was the Muirs, who had possession of the house and estate from at least the second half of the 16th century. Cassencarie remained under their stewardship until the 1860s when it was purchased by the Cairds and has remained in that family for five generations to the present day, making them only the second family to have ownership over the course of nearly five hundred years.
Originally a square defensive tower, the house went through its first alteration in the 17th century when it was changed to an L plan and given a grander appearance, with roll moulded surrounds to the doors and windows. Renovations and expansions over the intervening years continued and in the late 18th century a considerable extension was added to create a more balanced symmetrical appearance.
The house, renamed Woodbourne, and its library were used as inspiration for Sir Walter Scott’s novel Guy Mannering. In the early 19th century a low service wing was added, and later in the 19th century after the Cairds took possession a new three-storey wing was added and the house’s appearance changed once again to the Scots baronial style with added turrets and crenelations. Sadly damp and dry rot damage eventually made the structure unsafe, and in the 1960s the family moved to the renovated stable block.
Sir James Caird KCB FRS (Scottish, 1816-1892), the politician and agricultural writer, purchased the house and estate, and it is by his marriage to his first wife Margaret Henryson, that the Henryson-Caird line was created although the name wasn’t adopted until 1897. Margaret Henryson was the daughter of Captain John Henryson, of the Royal Engineers of Stranraer. The military presence was strong in the Henryson family and several lots offered here reflect several generations of Henryson military appointments.
Sir James wrote extensively on issues of farming, land-use, and free trade, and took on governmental advisory positions following the famines in Ireland and India. He was appointed a CB in 1869 and promoted to Knight Commander of the Order of the Bath (Civil division) in 1882 [offered here as lot 34]. Margaret Henryson died in 1863 and in 1865 he remarried, to Elizabeth Jane, to whom he remained married until his death in 1892.
Sir James’ and Margaret’s son James Alexander Henryson-Caird (1847-1921) managed the family estate, now over 2,000 acres, during his father’s political career in London and took great interest in both shooting and fishing. He married Alice Mona Alison in 1877, adopting the surname Henryson-Caird in 1897. After his death in 1921 many of the valuable items from his library were auctioned by Sotheby’s in 1922. His wife Mona Caird (1854-1932) went on to become a feminist journalist and prose writer. Spending most of her time in London, she was notorious for her unorthodox views on sexual relations and her advocacy of civil liberties and animal rights, and was instrumental in introducing the concerns of the New Woman into the public arena. Despite her important contribution to late Victorian culture, Mona was isolated for her views during her lifetime and became a silent voice. Recent study and scholarship have rediscovered her contributions as an early radical feminist critic of marriage and motherhood. Her portrait in later life, is offered as lot 35.
They had one son, Alison James Henryson-Caird, born in 1884 (in later life known as Alister). He had a long military career serving in The King’s Own Scottish Borderers, firstly as Captain and then as Major. He was decorated in both the First and Second World War, being awarded a Military Cross and mentioned in dispatches. Alister died in 1950 and was succeeded in turn by his son, Captain Murray Alister Cooper James Henryson-Caird. He also served in the military and was decorated in the Second World War. Their medals are offered as lot 37.
After almost 150 years within the Henryson-Caird family, the property is changing hands again. Lyon & Turnbull are pleased to offer the following collection to new owners.
19th Century
David and Goliath
Mid 19th Century
Late 19th Century