Hello Patricia
Thank you for the wonderful picture! What a special photograph to have.
My interest in Mount Hamilton came about because my husband became Chief Executive of the Hannah Dairy Research Institute in 2005. When he became Chief Executive, the Mount Hamilton was very run down; it had been divided into flats in the 1960's and had been empty for some time. The Hannah Dairy Research Institute had purchased Mount Hamilton House from the Welbeck Estates, who had purchased it from the Oswalds of Auchincruive. The Hannah had purchased it because they required accommodation for their staff, property being so hard to come by in the 1940's. Although run down in 2005, it could have been a beautiful house, and had a lot of potential. I was fascinated by the house and decided to write the history of it, and being a genealogist, I concentrated mainly on the people who had lived in the house, hence I looked at the Campbells and the Ligertwoods.
It is my belief that Mount Hamilton House was originally the Manse for St Quivox Church because the building that was latterly the Manse, was not built until about 1775 and St Quivox Church has been there since the 13th century. I have seen a letter which was written by Richard Oswald from Mount Hamilton whilst Robert Adam was working on Oswald House at Auchincruive, it appears that Richard Oswald stayed in Mount Hamilton during the works, there was also a suggestion that Robert Adam also stayed there.
I have found the interior photographs that I promised to hunt for (taken just prior to the sale), and I also found one which I hope you like. It is of Mount Hamilton House and stables, and is from the 1880's.
Kind regards
Catriona
