Pitfour estate
The Pitfour Estate, in the Buchan area of North-East Scotland, was an ancient barony encompassing most of the extensive Longside Parish, stretching from St Fergus to New Pitsligo. It was purchased in 1700 by James Ferguson of Badifurrow, who became the first Laird of Pitfour.
The estate was substantially renovated by Ferguson and the following two generations of his family. At the height of its development in the 18th and 19th centuries the property had several extravagant features including a two-mile racecourse, an artificial lake and an observatory. The original mansion house was extended before being rebuilt. The surrounding parklands were landscaped, major renovations were undertaken, and follies such as a small replica Temple of Theseus were constructed, in which George Ferguson, the fifth laird, was thought to keep alligators in a cold bath.
The first three lairds transformed the estate into a valuable asset. Lord Pitfour, the second laird, purchased additional lands including Deer Abbey and Inverugie Castle. Pitfour's son, James Ferguson, who became the third laird, continued to improve and expand the estate by adding the lake and bridges, and establishing planned villages. The third laird died a bachelor with no children, so the estate passed to the elderly George Ferguson, who was only in possession of the property for a few months. George was already a wealthy man, owning lands in Trinidad and Tobago, but despite not directly improving the Pitfour estate he added considerable value to the inheritance passed to his illegitimate son. The extravagant lifestyles of the fifth and sixth lairds led to the sequestration of the estate, which was sold off piecemeal to pay their debts.
What remained of the estate was sold after the First World War. The mansion house was demolished in about 1926, and its stone used to build council houses in Aberdeen. In more recent times some of the remaining buildings, including the temple, the bridges and the stables, have been classified as at high risk by Historic Scotland because their condition has become poor. The chapel was fully renovated and converted to a private residence in 2003; the observatory was purchased and restored by Banff & Buchan District Council and can be accessed by the public. The racecourse has been forested since 1926, and the lake is used by members of a private fishing club.
Early history
The Pitfour estate in Mintlaw extended from St Fergus to New Pitsligo and encompassed most of the extensive Longside Parish. The meaning of Pitfour is given in the 1895 records of the Clan Fergusson as "cold croft", but the historian John Milne breaks the name into two parts and indicates the meaning as Pit being place and feoir or feur being grass. The Pitfour estate is shown on old maps as Petfouir or Petfour. It was formerly one of Scotland's largest and best-appointed estates and was referred to as "The Blenheim of Buchan", "The Blenheim of the North" and "The Ascot of the North" by the architectural historian Charles McKean.Scant early records exist of the lands, but Alexander Stewart, the natural son of King Robert II of Scotland, was given the Pitfour lands together with those of Lunan by his father in 1383. However, writing in 1887 Cadenhead states the lands were sold to Stewart by Ricardus Mouet, also known as Richard Lownan. During the next three centuries, the lands had several different owners. Transactions show it passed to a burgess of Aberdeen in 1477 from Egidia Stewart; Walter Innes of Invermarkie gained feudal superiority to all Pitfour lands in 1493; and in 1506 the land was purchased by Thomas Innes, who died the following year. His son, John, inherited the property. It remained in the possession of the Innes family until at least 1581, when it was owned by James Innes and his wife Agnes Urquhart. Between 1581 and 1667, the lands were bought by George Morrison. His son William inherited the property in 1700, and immediately sold the estate to James Ferguson, who became the first Laird of Pitfour.
The lands purchased by Ferguson were recorded in 1667 in a charter granted by Charles II and were stated as encompassing "the lands and Barony of Toux and Pitfour in the Parish of Old Deer and Sheriffdom of Aberdeen including the towns and lands of Mintlaw, Longmuir, Dumpston in the Parish of Longside and County of Aberdeen." Several other lands, including "the Barony of Aden with the Tower, Fortaliss, Mains and Manor Place thereof and pertinents of the same called Fortry, Rora Mill thereof, Croft Brewerie, Inverquhomrie and Yockieshill" were individually listed. State papers from the reign of Queen Anne in the 18th century record the lands in favour of James Ferguson.
Lairds and subsequent development
1st lairdJames Ferguson—known as the Sheriff, reflecting the post he held, recognised by the Society of Advocates—bought the Pitfour estate after selling the lands of Badifurrow. He had inherited Badifurrow after demanding that his uncle Robert Ferguson should appear in court if he wished to contest the inheritance. Robert, nicknamed the Plotter, was in hiding to avoid charges of treachery, and after his non-appearance in court James Ferguson's inheritance was confirmed in mid-June 1700. At that time, the estate contained only a small country house.
2nd laird
James was laird until his death in 1734, after which the estate passed to his eldest son, also called James, who was born in Pitfour soon after it was purchased. A solicitor like his father, he was promoted to the bench in 1764 and became Lord Pitfour. He continued to expand and improve the estate until his death in 1777, and set up the planned village of Fetterangus in 1752.
Lord Pitfour purchased the lands of the last Earl Marischal, George Keith, which were adjacent to Pitfour, in 1766. They were considered the Earl Marischal's most significant property and had been forfeited when the Earl Marischal fell out of favour. He had bought it back from the York Buildings Company for £31,000, but Pitfour only paid £15,000 for it. The of land included Deer Abbey and Inverugie Castle, but consisted predominantly of peat bogs, woods and uncultivated land. This addition made the Pitfour estate the largest in the area, with more than stretching from Buchanhaven to Maud along the course of the River Ugie.
3rd laird
The third laird, also named James, inherited the estate in 1777; he was usually referred to as the Member to differentiate him from previous generations. Like his forebears, he was an advocate but also became a member of parliament. He too continued to expand and improve the estate; he constructed a lake and a canal, and built the new mansion. He also expanded and altered Longside at the start of the 1800s, founded Mintlaw in 1813, assisted in the extension of New Deer and extended Buchanhaven.
The Member died unmarried, childless and intestate in 1820. In normal circumstances his brother Patrick would have been his heir, but he died in battle in October 1780.
4th laird
In 1820, the estate was inherited by the Member's younger brother, George Ferguson, who was by then in his seventies. He was known as the Governor, reflecting his appointment as Lieutenant Governor of Tobago. He was laird from September 1820, but died in December that year. The Governor had spent most of his life in Trinidad and Tobago, where he was a principal landowner, and had inherited the Castara Estate on Tobago from Patrick. George was appointed Lieutenant Governor of Tobago in 1779, and after a battle with the French in 1781 surrendered the island to the French on 2 June. The Governor returned to Britain, although the terms of the surrender meant he still owned the Castara estate and all the slaves who worked on it. George had illegitimate children with an unknown woman. He continued to buy estates in the Caribbean and returned there in 1793, staying until 1810.
5th laird
The estate started to deteriorate after it was inherited by the Governor's illegitimate son George Ferguson, known as the Admiral because of his naval career. He was already heavily in debt when he became the fifth laird in 1821, but he still enjoyed a lavish lifestyle and undertook much extravagant construction on the estate, including the erection of follies. To cover his substantial gambling debts, he began to sell parcels of estate land, and upon inheriting Pitfour he began selling furniture, books, farm equipment and other items, realising more than £9,000.
6th laird
After the Admiral's death in March 1867, the estate passed to his son, George Arthur Ferguson, the sixth and final laird. He served in the Grenadier Guards and eventually became a captain. He married Nina Maria Hood, the eldest daughter of Alexander Nelson Hood, 1st Viscount Bridport, in February 1861. Later that year Captain Ferguson was posted to Canada, where he was promoted to Lieutenant Colonel and where his first two sons, Arthur and Francis William, were born. His eldest son, Arthur, became Inspector of Constabulary for Scotland. Returning to Britain in 1864, the family had a nomadic lifestyle, but the sixth laird and his wife were extravagant and habitual gamblers. In June 1909, a trust deed was registered, and what remained of the estate was put on the market. After large parts of the land had been sold under the ownership of the sixth laird, the estate was listed by Bateman in 1883 as being just over with an income of £19,938; at the height of its development the estate had occupied, and was valued at £30 million.
The last laird died in 1924 and is buried in Luton.
Following its 20th-century decline, the estate changed hands several times until local farmer Hamish Watson purchased it in December 2010. The local historian Alex Buchan summed up the demise of the estate: "They thought the estate was here to provide them with money, to gamble, to travel, to simply fritter away and very quickly, within a couple of decades, they had wasted the whole lot." He added, "Eccentricity amounted to just squandering money."