Anstruther Lineage Source Page

Carmichael Anstruther & the Anstruthers

Main Carmichael line charted from the site of

Carmichael of Carmichael

Sir Windham George Conway Carmichael Anstruther (b.1846 d.1898)

Married Ellen Anne Katherine Adam

Richard Carmichael of Carmichael

(Great great grandson of Sir Windham George Conway Carmichael Anstruther)

26th Baron, 30th Chief - b1948.

Barony 1980. Chief 1981.

Claims family titles:-

Earl of Hyndford

Lord Carmichael of Carmichael.

The Anstruthers and the Carmichaels - two Chiefs, one resolution:

" ... in 1980 Ralph and I agreed that I would relinquish claims to Anstruther family chiefship and reunite the Carmichael name with its lands and he would be free to claim chiefship of the name Anstruther as the senior heir of the Balcaskie cadet branch ..." (For more detail of Richard Carmichael's obituary on Sir Ralph Anstruther who died in May 2002, click here.)

1 - Dame Mary Ann Carmichael Anstruther (née Parsons) of 23 de Vere Gardens, Kensington, London, died on December 31st, 1905. She was married to Sir Windham Carmichael Anstruther for almost a decade before he died and survived him by some thirty five years. She never re-married and she left a detailed Will - dated 24th April 1903 - with added Codicil, dated 10th November 1905. The Will was construed under the Laws of Scotland.

The Executors of the Will were John Wilson, (King's Counsel and Sheriff of Caithness, Orkney and Shetland) and Phineas Bell Brander, Solicitor of Edinburgh. Witnesses to the Will were George Potter, clerk, of 9 Balfour Mews, Park Lane, Mayfair, London and Arthur Henry Stokes, clerk, of 14 Courtnell Street, Bayswater, London. Witnesses to the Codicil were Charles Ewart, medical practitioner, of 48 Queen's Gate Terrace, London and Lucy Willsher, Maid Servant to Lady Lovat, also of 23 de Vere Gardens, Kensington, London. The full text is available from The National Archives of Scotland. The hand-written copy document there is transcribed as 'Trust Settlement' (pp 533 - 546) and is dated 24th January 1906.

Under the terms of her Will, a number of immediate step- family bequests were made, with extreme care being taken to safeguard the right of female inheritance as being absolute. (" ... as far as devolving upon females shall be paid to them on their own receipt and discharged without the consent or concurrence of husbands and shall be exclusive of the marital right of administration and every other right whatever of husbands ...") The residue was left to the Scottish Branch of the Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Children and to the Scottish Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals.

2 - For some years prior to her death, she had employed a Butler and a Lady's Maid. The Butler's name was Henry Davis. Whilst in service at the house, he had married the Lady's Maid, Amy Elizabeth Curtis. They continued to live in the house and to serve Dame Mary Ann until she died. At least one of their daughters was born at the house and lived there with her parents. She carried the third name of "Mary" - possibly as a tribute to their employer. (Family portrait courtesy of John Boon.)

On the Dame's instructions by her Will, the Davis/Curtis family received several items of furniture and linen as well as a cash legacy. With a portion of it, they bought a town house for their new family home. It was (and still is) called "Carmichael" - in Minster Road, Westgate-on-Sea, Kent. Amy Curtis's father was a Master Mariner and was Captain of a 3-masted private yacht. The Curtis family lived in Suffolk. For a recent photograph of 23 de Vere Gardens and more details of the Davis/Curtis families in question, visit this link.

Photographs of "Carmichael" - courtesy of and © John Boon 2001