Manderston
| Manderston | |
| Berwickshire | |
|---|---|
 Manderston - viewed across the lake | |
| Location | |
| Location: | 55°46’54"N, 2°18’16"W |
| Town: | Duns |
| History | |
| Country house | |
| Information | |
| Owned by: | Lord Palmer |
| Website: | manderston.co.uk |
Manderston or Manderston House is in Duns in Berwickshire. It is the home of Adrian Bailie Nottage Palmer, 4th Baron Palmer.
The house was completely rebuilt between 1901 and 1903 and has sumptuous interiors with a silver plated staircase. The proprietor, Sir James Miller, 2nd Baronet (1864–1906), told the architect, John Kinross, that there was no budget - "It really doesn't matter".
Origins
Manderston was an estate of the powerful Hume family, and their tower house appears on General Roy's map of 1750. Alexander Hume, of Manderston, de jure 5th Earl of Dunbar (1651 to 1720) seems to be the last member of this family who owned the estate.[1] To him on 14 October 1689 King William III confirmed the Earldom of Dunbar, exemplifying the previous confirmation thereof by King Charles II. The estate was later owned for a short time by the head of the Swinton family, who now reside at Kimmerghame House (from whom the actress Tilda Swinton was descended). The present big house at Manderston incorporates the earlier Georgian house built about 1790 for Dalhousie Watherston (1752–1803).
Ownership
Sir James Miller's father, Sir William Miller, 1st Baronet (1809–1887), had, with his father James, made a fortune trading in Russia, mainly in herring and hemp. He was British Vice-Consul at St.Petersburg 1842-54; Member of Parliament for Leith 1859 - 1868, and for Berwickshire 1873/74.
Sir James Miller, 2nd Bt., had married Eveline, daughter of Alfred Nathaniel Curzon, 4th Baron Scarsdale, and his grand house remodelling scheme was said to be in order to remind his wife of the splendour of her family home, Kedleston Hall.
Sir James had no children and the estate passed to his brother John Alexander Miller, the 3rd Baronet, (1867–1918). He also had no children by either of his two wives, and the estate passed to his sister Amy Elizabeth Miller, from whom it has passed down to her great-grandson, the present Lord Palmer.
Trivia
The house contains the world's largest collection of Huntley & Palmers biscuit tins, dating back to 1868: Huntley and Palmer is the owner's family business.
The house is open to the public on selected days only.
Films
The house was used in
- two films about the Prince & Princess of Wales
- "The Edwardian Country House" - ("Manor House" in the USA).
- "Secrets of the Manor House" (2012, PBS)
- "The Awakening" (2012, BBC Films)
- "First Night" (2010, Scorpio Films)
Outside links
 |
("Wikimedia Commons" has material about Manderston) |
- Manderston
- RCAHMS: Manderston House (Kennels)
- CANMORE (RCAHMS) record of Manderston House
- SCRAN image of Manderston
References
- ↑ G. E. Cockayne, Complete Peerage of England, Scotland, Ireland, Great Britain and the United Kingdom, extant, extinct or dormant, Vol. III (D to F) (London 1890)
- Burke's Peerage & Baronetage, 61st edition, 1899.
- An Ordinary of Scottish Arms, by Sir James Balfour Paul, Edinburgh, 1903
- Borders and Berwick, by Charles A Strang, Rutland Press, 1994, pps:41-2. ISBN 1-873190-10-7
