Show Navigation

Collectors & Explorers

John Dalrymple, 10th Earl of Stair

John Dalrymple, 10th Earl of Stair

John Dalrymple (1819-1903), 10th Earl of Stair, represented Wigtownshire in Parliament from 1841-1856, was Governor of the Bank of Scotland from 1870 to 1903 and acted as Chancellor of theUniversity ofGlasgow from 1893 to 1903.  He became Earl of Stair on the death of his father in 1864. 

 

Like many other local landowners Dalrymple had a strong interest in archaeology.  He joined the Society of Antiquaries of Scotland in 1856 and in 1877 was elected President of the newly formed Ayrshire and Wigtonshire Archaeological Association.  In 1870 he excavated the crannog site onHeronIslandin the Black Loch, Castle Kennedy and ten years later he provided the workforce for the excavation at Barhapple crannog, Glenluce.  In 1856 he published a note on a prehistoric bronze axe which had been found during peat cutting on estate ground at Corsewall, Kirkcolm.

 

Tenants on the Stair Estates were encouraged to report any archaeological finds and the 10th Earl built up an impressive collection of local antiquities. In 1879, encouraged by Rev. George Wilson of Glenluce, another local antiquarian, he donated a large number of prehistoric finds to the Society of Antiquities inEdinburgh.  Much of his collection, however, was kept atLochinchCastle.  This was given toStranraerMuseum in 1964.