The objective of this section is to show illustrations of Lindsay places, be they houses, castles or the sites where Lindsay structures used to stand. Where we possess history or explanations of their significance you will find them by scrolling past the pictures towards the bottom of the page.
Edzell Castle Edzell garden wall Edzell garden topiary
Edzell gardens Edzell wall Balcarres House
Crawford Castle Crawford House Craigie Castle
Dundonald Castle Dunecht House Dunrod Hill, Inverkip
A Lindsay house Antigua Lochry Manor Lochry House
Hollymount House Invermark at Glen Esk Kilconquhar Castle Estate
Mount Lindsay Colorado New Edzell USA Site of Wilfort House
The Lindesay House Australia The Mount VA Site of Turin Castle
Balcarres
Balcarres Estate has been in the Lindsay family since 1586 when Balcarres, Balniel and Pitcorthie were purchased by John Lindsay, Lord Menmuir. In 1595 he built a semi-fortified house at Balcarres which became his main residence. The house itself has two principal extensions, the first in 1840 when General James Lindsay commissioned William Burn to design the South West wing and the second when Sir Coutts Lindsay employed David Bryce in 1864 to build an extensive addition to the North of the property. Sir Coutts was also responsible for the design and construction of the impressive garden terraces.There is an extensive landscaped park around the house.
Edzell Castle and the Pleasaunce
The Lindsays did not build the first castle at Edzell. It was part of the estates of the Stirling family, who passed it to the Lindsays through the marriage of Catherine Stirling to Sir Alexander Lindsay of Glenesk in 1357. The Lindsay castle is an outstanding example of the L-shaped tower house.
Edzell’s tower house (once known as the Stirling Tower) still rises 4 stories. It contains 2 vaulted cellars and a small prison at basement level. On the level above was the great hall, once embellished with a minstrel’s gallery, where the Lindsays entertained guests with lavish feasts. Immediately above the hall are the private apartments that housed the Earl and his family. Perhaps the most interesting feature to have survived at the tower house is its exterior face. The double row of corbels forms a checkerboard pattern just beneath the rooftop, one of the earliest instances of purely decorative corbelling in Scotland.
The Lindsays never finished Edzell Castle, most likely because the Earl turned his attentions to the surrounding landscaping. Not until the 17th century did Edzell Castle become the garden showcase we see today. In 1604, David Lindsay began building a summerhouse, a bathhouse, and a marvelous walled garden (the Pleasance*) adjacent to his castle (the walled garden was recreated in the 1930’s). Ornate walls, with niches surround the formal gardens echoing the checkerboard pattern or fess checquy of the Lindsay arms. Along the walls shapes represent the seven-rayed mullets or stars of the upper part of the Lindsay arms. Carved boxwood hedges reiterate the Lindsay motto.
For the next century and a half, the Lindsays saw a lot of activity at their castle and, fortunately, never had to withstand the test of a siege.
In 1610, David Lindsay, Lord of Edzell, died, leaving his heirs in tremendous debt due to his building projects. Over the next hundred years, the Lindsays struggled to make good on these debts, but in 1715 they were forced to give up Edzell, selling the castle and estates to the Earl of Panmure. Thanks to the efforts of the Earl of Panmure and his descendants, including the Earls of Dalhousie, Edzell Castle was restored and the Pleasaunce returned to its former glory. Today, Edzell Castle is under the guardianship of the Scottish Development Department and cared for by Historic Scotland (non-profit foundation), which maintains the property and allows visitors to view the castle and its grounds.
The Lindesay House, Australia
Past the Heads into Sydney Cove, Australia, you will see 6 colonial houses on the southern shore. One of these is Lindesay. The original owner, Campbell Drummond Riddell, acquired land at the north-eastern end of Darling Point where he built Lindesay in 1834. Riddell named the house after Sir Patrick Lindesay.
Sir Patrick Lindesay played a role in the early history of the Colony of New South Wales. Born in 1778 at Musselburgh, Scotland, he came to Sydney as brevet-colonel of the Buffs in command of the local garrison. He served for brief periods in both the Legislative and Executive Councils of New South Wales, and was Acting Governor of the Colony from 22 October to 2 December 1831.
His assistance to explorer Charles Sturt was acknowledged in the name of the Lindesay River. His work as a naturalist was of a sufficiently high order for the Professor of Natural History at Edinburgh to name the scrub turkey of Australia after him – Meleager’s Lindesayi. In 1836 he was promoted to major-general and received a knighthood. He died on 14 March 1839.
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Laurel Hill, Virginia
“Laurel Hill” was the name of the family home occupied by William Lindsay (? VA – ca 1793 VA) and Ann Calvert, in Fairfax County, Virginia. William Lindsay was the eldest son of Robert Lindsay (ca 1710 VA – 1784 VA). Ann Calvert was the great grand-daughter of Lord Baltimore (Cecil Calvert).
There are Lindsay researchers who believe that Laurel Hill was a real estate holding of Ann Calvert and became the William Lindsay home as a result of their marriage.
Mount Pleasant, Virginia
“Mount Pleasant” was the name of the home that Robert Lindsay (ca 1710 VA – 1784 VA) built for his third and youngest son, Thomas Lindsay (1750 VA – ?) in Fairfax County, Virginia. Thomas Lindsay was married to Martha Scott-Fox
Mount Lindesay, NSW, Australia
Mount Lindesay (28.4°S, 152.7°E), a peak of the McPherson Range, on the border of New South Wales and Queensland, Australia, rises to a height of 1239 metres. The mountain was originally named by the botanist-explorer Allan Cunningham in 1827 as Mount Hooker (after an English botanist), but later renamed Mount Lindesay in honour of Sir Patrick Lindesay. The Mount Lindesay State Forest, a 3500-hectare woodland, lies adjacent to the mountain, and in the vicinity the Mount Lindesay Highway runs south from Brisbane. There is a second Australian peak named Mount Lindesay. This peak reaches an elevation of 1442 m in the Nandewar Range in northern New South Wales. The explorer Sir Thomas Mitchell named the peak after Patrick Lindesay in 1831. In Western Australia, in the south-west of that state, is a third peak named Mount Lindesay. It is likely that this peak was also named after Sir Patrick Lindesay. Various other geographical features are also named after Sir Patrick Lindesay. An Australian gazetteer shows a number of features with the name Lindsay (however spelt): a village called Lindesay Creek, streams called Lindsay Creek, Lindsay River, Lindsay Hill and Lindsay Island.
Craigie Castle
Craigie Castle, in the old Barony of Craigie, is a ruined fortification situated about 4 miles (6.4 km) southeast of Kilmarnock and 1 mile (1.6 km) southeast of Craigie village, in the Civil Parish of Craigie, South Ayrshire, Scotland. The castle is recognised as one of the earliest buildings in the county. It lies about 1.25 miles (2 km) west-south-west of Craigie church. Craigie Castle is protected as a scheduled monument.
Craigie Castle was originally built for the Lyndesay or Lindsay clan. It passed to John Wallace of Riccarton through marriage about 1371 as the last heir was a daughter. This line of Ayrshire Wallaces lived at Craigie Castle until they moved to Newton Castle in Ayr in 1588. Craigie Castle was then left to fall into ruin. The present ruins date mainly from the 15th century, with some 12th or 13th century work. Another view is that the main part of the building was a hall house dating from the 12th or 13th century, incorporating an even earlier building which may have been built by the predecessors of Walter Hose who held sway prior to Anglo-Norman control
The castle contains one of the finest examples of a vaulted hall in Scotland, easily equal to any Scottish abbey or church. The only rivals of the same period are Tulliallan, Bothwell, and Auchendoun. It has been stated that in its time Craigie was the most impressive building of its kind in Ayrshire.
Dunrod Hill & Castle
Dunrod Castle once overlooked Kip Water. Formerly a property of the Lindsays, it stood a little S of the lands of Flatterton. Its stones were used for wall-building, so that all that remained in 1856 was a slightly raised, grassy mound covering the foundations. The parish of Inverkip’s chief claim to fame (or notoriety) was in relation to witches in the mid 17th century. A local verse recalls
“In Auld Kirk the witches ride thick
And in Dunrod they dwell;
But the greatest loon amang them a’
Is Auld Dunrod himsel’.”
‘Auld Dunrod’ was the last of the Lindsay family of Dunrod Castle. As the result of a dissolute life he lost all his possessions and fell into the black arts. Local reputation had it that he was in league with the devil, and he died in mysterious circumstances in a barn belonging to one of his former tenant farmers. Nothing now remains of the castle which stood at the foot of Dunrod Hill.
Hollymount Estate
This branch of the Lindsey family were descended from a younger son of the first Lindsey of Turin, parish of Kilmainemore, county Mayo. It was through his marriage in 1757 with Frances Vesey, granddaughter of Archbishop John Vesey of Tuam, that Thomas Lindsey came to own the Vesey’s Hollymount estate, parish of Kilcommon, barony of Kilmaine. Charles Cromie was agent to the Lindseys in the 1830s. At the time of Griffith’s Valuation the Lindsey estate was comprised of eleven townlands in the parish of Kilcommon and five townlands in the parish of Kilmainemore. In 1876 Miss Mary Lindsey owned 5194 acres in county Mayo. She married Heremon FitzPatrick, grandson of the 2nd Marquess of Headford and he assumed the additional surname of Lindsey. They had no children. The estate was sold to the Congested Districts’ Board on 31 Mar 1915
Loughry Manor
Loughry, the ancestral home of the Lindesay’s since 1611when the land was granted to Robert Lindesay by James I. stands on fair ground. Sheltered by beech woods the ancient stone house looks out towards rolling hills while a near-by stream babbles continuous music”.
Robert Lindesay’s residence was a wooden structure surrounded by a ditch, situated near the village of Tullyhogue. His eldest son Robert (1604 – 1674), granted a second patent of the Manor and lands of Loughry and Tullyhogue by Charles I, built the first Manor House of Loughry on the present site in 1632.
Joshua Lindesay was the tenth and last owner of Loughry. His inheritance was burdensome for the previous owner left large debts. Joshua died in 1893 with debts still unpaid and the manor house and park were acquired by Mr J W Fleming of Cookstown, eventually to be purchased by the Irish Department of Agriculture and Technical Instruction
Dundonald
There are confusingly two Dundonalds – one in Ayreshire Scotland and one in County Down in Northern Ireland. Irionically both have Lindsay connotations, religious and secular. Both boast ancient fortifications. Gordon Lindsay has written extensively on the Irish connections.
Dunecht House
Dunecht is some ten miles west of Aberdeen. In 1820 William Forbes commissioned Architect John Smith to design a house in a two-storey Grecian style. In 1845 the estate was sold to James Lindsay, 24th Earl of Crawford whose main residence was Haigh Hall in Greater Manchester so it was Alexander Lindsay, his eldest son who extended Dunecht. Internal renovations were also undertaken. A fire in 1872 caused damage to the north west wing. The house also has an observatory, built by James Ludovic Lindsay, the 26th Earl of Crawford in 1872 who gifted his extensive library and all the observatory contents to the Royal Observatory, Edinburgh
Alexander Lindsay, 25th Earl of Crawford died in 1880. His body was stolen in 1881 from a vault in the private chapel. This was not discovered until several months later after a note signed ‘Nabob’ was received. The body was eventually found near a gravel pit close to the house. It was later taken to Haigh Hall and buried in the family vault.
Haigh House
Haigh (pronounced “Hay”) Hall and Manor, in Wigan, Lancashire, was the English seat of the Lindsay family, the Earls of Crawford & Balcarres. The present hall was built between 1827 and 1840.
In 1295 William de Bradshaigh, acquired Haigh Manor by marrying Mabel le Norreys. In later centuries the Bradshaighs encouraged the development of coal mining on their estates – particularly a clean, smokeless coal called cannel valuable as fuel and for carving into decorative household objects. The last of the Bradshaigh male line died in 1787. On June 1, 1780, Alexander Lindsay, 6th Earl of Balcarres married his cousin-german, Elizabeth Dalrymple, only child of Charles Dalrymple, Esq., who inherited the Haigh property on failure of male issue in her maternal family. Thus, ca 1787, the Haigh Hall manor passed to the Earls of Crawford and Balcarres and became the seat of Alexander Lindsay the 6th Earl of Balcarres and de jure the 23rd Earl of Crawford. The Lindsays further expanded the coal mining concerns and took up iron founding; it was here that the famous Laxey Wheel in the Isle of Man is said to have been cast.
A new Haigh Hall was built between 1827 and 1840. Extensive plantations were laid in the 1860s to improve a landscape disfigured by coal mining, giving work to unemployed Wiganers during the cotton famine caused by the American Civil War. James Ludovic Lindsay (1847-1913) spent time there. His library at Haigh Hall in Wigan was one of the finest private collections of literary treasures in the world. A large portion of this library was eventually dispersed by auction.
Kilconquhar Castle
Kilconquhar Castle dates back to the 13th century and was the ancestral home of Adam of Kilconquhar, Earl of Carrick. Upon Adam’s death, as a result of the crusades, his widow, Majorie, Countess of Carrick (d. 1292) married Robert de Brus, 6th Lord of Annandale (d. 1304). Their eldest son was Robert I, King of the Scots (11 July 1274 – 7 June 1329).
Kilconquhar Castle later became the property of the Earls of Dunbar and March, and in 1528 was sold to the Bellenden family. Kilconquhar House later became the seat of the Bethune family. Sir John Trotter Bethune-Lindsay, Baronet, in 1878 proved his right to the peerage. He became 10th Earl of Lindsay and 19th Lord Lindsay of the Byres.
Kilconquhar Castle is located a couple of miles from the village of Elie, in the ancient Kingdom of Fife. Kilconquhar Castle is located approximately 44 miles (approximately one & one half hours drive) east from city center Edinburgh. Kilconquhar Castle is now a luxury timeshare and lodging estate.
The Mount, Scotland
The Mount was home to the Lindsays of the Mount, a cadet line of the Lindsays of The Byres, from 1467 until about 1713. In 1524 the property probably looked much as described by Tranter (1995) in his historical novels featuring Sir David Lindsay of the Mount: “The estate and barony of The Mount of Lindifferon covered the twin hills of that name which rose out of the green vale of Stratheden in the Rigging of Fife, some three miles north-west of the country town of Cupar, a pleasant place of steep fields, hanging woodlands and far-flung vistas, with a square stone tower within its curtain-walled courtyard, its pleasance and orchard and a dovecote …”
The estate comprised about 400 hectares around the hills of Lindifferon and the Mount itself, and included the hamlet of Lindifferon. Tranter (1995) mentions that the Castle of The Mount included “a typical square stone keep of four storeys beneath a parapet and wall-walk, with a garret story above, all surrounded by a barmekin or high defensive wall with a gatehouse, enclosing a courtyard containing lower lean-to domestic outbuildings.” While the original buildings no longer exist, these descriptions would have been based on the extensive research and thorough knowledge of early Scottish history and architecture that Tranter brought to all his historical novels
On 27 March 1467 Sir David Lindsay, the eldest son of William Lindsay of Garleton, acquired part of The Mount. Until Alexander Lindsay’s time the family owned that part of The Mount with a northerly aspect (the “shadow” half). This was probably less valuable as agricultural land. In 1594, Alexander’s eldest son Sir David Lindsay, acquired from Robert, 9th Lord Lindsay of The Byres, the “sunny” half of The Mount and became owner of the entire property.
Today, one can drive to the vicinity of The Mount by car; it is less than 5 km from Cupar, within the triangle formed by the A91, A92, and A913 roads. The view from the top of Mount Hill is worth the climb, and from its peak one can see the village of Lindifferon.
The Mount, Virginia
The Mount was the name of the home that Robert Lindsay (ca 1710 VA – 1784 VA) built for his family in Fairfax County, Virginia
Mount Lindsey, Colorado, USA
Mount Lindsey is located in the state of Colorado at an elevation of 14,042 feet. It is to the North/Northeast of Blanca Peak (14,345 ft), both of which are a part of the Blanca massif. Mount Blanca or the Blanca massif is located in the Sangre de Cristo Mountains.
Phil Lindsey of Illinois provided the following information on Mount Lindsey in Colorado. Phil has a book entitled “A Climbing Guide to Colorado’s Fourteeners”, authored by Walter R. Borneman and Lyndon J. Lampert, published in 1994 that provides additional insight on Mount Lindsey. The Mount Lindsey section is covered on pages 184-189. From approximately 1875 to 1953 this mountain was known as “Old Baldy”. In 1953 it was renamed in memory of Malcolm Lindsey (1880-1951). According to this book, Malcolm Lindsey was a member of the Colorado State Bar, the Episcopal Church and the Sons of the American Revolution. This book does not mentioned Malcolm’s Lindsey lineage.
Crawford Castle
Crawford Castle, substantially in ruins, is located on the north bank of the River Clyde, around half a mile north of Crawford, South Lanarkshire, Scotland. The ruins stand on an earlier motte and bailey earthwork. The castle was formerly known as Lindsay Tower, after its former owners, the Lindsay family. The strategic location of the castle guards the approach from England into the upper Clyde Valley. The Lindsay family inherited half of the Barony of Crawford, known as Crawford Parish, via a marriage in 1215 to the younger daughter of Sir John Crawford, who died in 1246 without male issue. The Crawford family retained the other half, known as Crawfordjohn Parish, as the Barony had been divided among the Crawford family four generations earlier.
In 1398, Robert II granted the title of Earl of Crawford to David Lindsay, who had won great praise on St George’s Day, 23 April 1390 for bravery in a duel with the Englishman Baron Welles on London Bridge
Lindsay house on Antigua
Six generations of Lindseys lived and worked in Antigua. In 1741 founder William Lindsey, a successful merchant in the capital, St.Johns. bought a plantation called Morgans (later named Villa) just north of the town and south of Dickinsons Bay. Over ensuing years the family acquired another estate in the south of Antigua called Farm and other properties in Dominica. All of these bar Farm were sold by William’s grandson in 1779 when the sugar trade started to decline. During the 18th century and beyond Lindseys were among the most influential families on the island. The picture probably depicts the family’s typically rambling Planters house at about 1860.
Wilfort House, co Galway
Another branch of the Lindsey family, originally of Garrankeel, near Ballina, county Mayo, lived at Wilfort near Tuam, county Galway in the early 19th century and held part of the townland of Killaloonty from the Bishop of Tuam. Their interest in this property of 443 acres was advertised for sale in 1861 and was bought by Thomas Tighe, who resold the townland in 1876. The Lindseys also held two townlands in the parish of Attymas, barony of Gallen, county Mayo, on a renewable lease for three lives for ever from Henry Bingham, dated 5 Dec 1741. Richard Chaloner Lindsey sold his interest in this property in the Encumbered Estates’ Court in April 1857.
Turin Castle
The Lindseys were well established in north Mayo at the beginning of the 18th century. On 14 Dec 1705 Samuel Lindsey of Belleek and Robert Lindsey, a merchant of Sligo, bought 2 quarters of Rathoma, parish of Ballysakerry, from the trustees for the sale of part of the estate of Charles Boyle, 3rd Earl of Cork and 2nd Earl of Burlington. The Lindseys came to Turin in the early 18th century and Turin remained their property until the mid 19th century, although they appear to have been largely absentee landlords. In 1749 the Reverend Samuel Lindsey of Turin married Frances Bucknall and their grandson John Lindsey took the additional surname of Bucknall. At the time of Griffith’s Valuation the Lindsey Bucknalls still held 2 townlands in the parish of Kilmainemore. Sir Thomas Staples was in possession of Turin by the time of Griffith’s Valuation and was leasing it to the Rutherford family
The Mount, Falls Church, Virginia
Joseph Haley writes “ ‘Mount’ in Falls Church Virginia was built in 1742 and named for the connection to the Mount Estate, in Fife, of the family of Lindsay’s who produced 3 Lord Lyons. The daughter of the last one married an Edzell Lindsay. Sir Jerome Lindsay, who was also Lord Lyon. My family descends from this daughter and her husband, another Lindsay, Lt. Col Barnard Lindsay of Kingwark. These two died in an epidemic in Leith and their young son Robert was taken to the Colonies, in the 1640’s by his half uncle, Rev. David Lindsay. Robert’s grandson, Col. Robert Lindsay, built the ‘Mount’ on 1200 acres, in Falls Church Va.. My sister and I kept the house from bering destroyed, and it has been restored and sold several times.”
New Edzell, Florida
Joseph Haley also writes “The second photo is of my ggaunt’s home on the Island of ‘Bird Key’ in Sarasota Bay Florida. She was Davie Lindsay daughter of Dr. Opie Lindsay, who’s father was Thomas, 3rd son of Opie Lindsay of the ‘Mount’ Va’, granddson of the founder. She was a very wealthy women, and had also married money. In 1900 when construction was started, there were no bridges. So all materials were brought in by vessel. She was a great socialite, and was a Hostess of the World Fair. This property was called ‘New Edzell’. She was on of the first members and I believe a officer of the first Clan Lindsay USA Branch.”