Bonnyton, Ochiltree

Location

The History of Ochiltree Village & Parish - Dane Love

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Bonnyton

In some accounts referred to as Bonnyton Mains. 100 acres in 1861.

1632                    Polquhairn Estate - Hugh Watt

1725                    John Chalmers

<1830                                  - William Guthrie

1835-1851                           - John Reid (1806-18     )

1851-1854          Bonnyton Estate - James Murdoch

1861                   Bonnyton Estate - James Bowman (1815-    )

1871-1901          Bonnyton Estate - William Jardine

        -1914          Bonnyton Estate (William Jardine (1871-1941)

1925-1941          William Jardine (1871-1941)

1941-1981          Archibald Jardine (1902-1981)

1981-     

OPR baptism 1809

James McClownan lawful son to James McClownan and Barbara Gemmell in Bonnyton was born on the 12th and baptised on the 21st May 1809.

OPR burial 1839 Thomas Murdoch formerly residing in Bonnyton died 5 February 1839 age 19. Son of Thomas Murdoch - fever - buried Glasgow.

OPR burial 1830 Janet Key widow of William Guthrie late in Bonnyton died on 25 Oct 1830 age 60. She died suddenly.

Census returns

1841 Bonnyton, Ochiltree

John Reid - farmer

John is 35. Living at Bonnyton are also Margaret 16, William 14, John 12 Agnes 10, and Andrew 8. Presumably these are children of John's but there is no wife named.  They also have a servant, Veronica Davidson 20.

1851 Bonnyton

James Murdoch - farmer of 86 acres emp 1 agricultural labourer

James is 29, living at Bonnyton with wife Elizabeth 26, and children James 2 and John 1. Their servants are Mary Dickie 17, house servant, and John Sloan 28, farm labourer.

1861 Bonnyton

James Bowman - farmer of 100 acres emp 1 man 1 boy.

James is 46, and wife Jane 38 are at Bonnyton with their son John 22, Nephew James Timpany 12 and niece Jane Poteous 18.

1871 Bonnyton

Wlliam Jardine 42 is dairyman at Bonnyton along with his sister Catherine 27, dairymaid, and Niece Mary Caruthers 9.  Mary Ann Bunyon 18 is their general domestic and they have a lodger Robert Young 39, a mineral borer.

1881 - Bonnyton 

William Jardine - farmer of 100 acres arable emp 1 man 2 women.

William is 52, farming with his sister Catherine Sproul 37 and her husband David 37, she is described as a dairymaid, and David as a farm servant. The Sproul children are Catherine 4, and John 1. There are also two more Jardine children described as nieces Ann 12 and Catherine 10, and Margaret McCallum 21 a general domestic.

1891 - Bonnyton

William Jardine - farmer 

William 62, is still farming with his sister and her family.  TheSprouls now have six children, Catherine 14 a pupil teacher, John 11, Jane 9, William J 7, David 4, and Daniel D 2.  They have two servants Allan Wilson 19, and Knelly Ness 17.

At Bonnyton Cottage, Malcolm Jardine 50, and wife Jeanie 47, are living with their son and daughter John 8, and Sarah 11.  Malcolm is listed as a general labourer.

1901 - Bonnyton

William Jardine - farmer 72, and family as in the previous census. William Jardine was born in Stonehouse Lanarkshire.

Ochiltree OPR: Thomas Murdoch formerly residing in Bonnyton died 5/2/1839 age 19yrs son of Thomas Murdoch.

In 1865 the Valuation Rolls give the proprietor William Allason (Alison) as owning the lands of Auchingee, Greenside and Fauld, Waterston and Drumbowie, Bonmiston (Bonnyton?) and various houses and woodlands.

Bonnyton farm, where the Jardines and Sprouls lived in 1885 was the home farm of Bonnyton Mansion House, residence of James Alison.  The house is currently on the market and described as an eight bedroomed Victorian manor house, which suggests it may have been built by James Alison. The family has an entry in Burke's Colonial Gentry that details James Alison's forebears, one of whom was taken prisoner at the battle of Airdsmoss and executed at the Edinburgh Grassmarket in 1679. His is described as a  "commissioner of supply for the county of Ayr, born 1854".

The original family name was McAlister, but this was changed to Alison to differentiate the part of the family that were covenanter sympathisers.

The other farms in the Bonnyton estate from the Valuation Rolls of 1885  are :

Drumbowie

Waterton

Ravenscroft

VR 1885 prop. James Alison, tenant Malcolm Jardine (his census entry gives Bonnyton Cottage as his address, and Bonnyton Cottage and Land in the VR.).  

1895 prop. Capt. J M Gordon, tenant William Jardine. This William Jardine is not the same person as in the earlier records.

James Alison does not appear in any of the census records so it is not clear if  Bonnyton House was his main residence.

By 1925  William Jardine, living at Bonnyton farm,  is the proprietor of House and farm Bonnyton, house Bonnyton Toll, woodlands Bonnyton Toll, and shootings Bonnyton Toll, and this follows on through the remaining records for the VRs. to 1940.