John Gardiner Muir

   Another name for John was Gardie.

  General Notes:

According to the 1861 census he was born in Australia and was with his Aunt, Agnes Wingate.

Gardie was the eldest son of Matthew Andrew Muir and Clara Bunton. His three sisters remained unmarried, the elder known as Great Aunt Clara. She left John Hobson her ruby and diamond ring set in gold which is now in Edwina's possession along with her portrait. The six red lacquer chairs and red painted Venetian chest also belonged to her. He married Jessie Hendrie. They had 5 children, 4 daughters and a son. Muriel (Millie) was not liked by her younger sisters. She had brains and drive and was a great worker. Millie married Ted Sowerby who was the land agent for the Duke of.... She died of cancer in 1933. Ted was so lost without her that he committed suicide a year later. Matthew, know as Nony, died from Blackwater Fever in South Africa in 1916. Jessie made a short note in her daily prayer book, 'Nony at peace'. He was the only child for whom she made regular entries.

Gardie was known as a blackguard within the family . He loved horses, wine and women, and kept them all in quantity. He had a number of good steeplechasers and on one occasion at Ludlow he won eleven out of twelve races. In 1882 his hourse Gunboat won the Scottish Grand National. In 1886 he had a very good horse called Coronet. It was entered in the Grand National and started favourite. Gardie backed it to win to the tune of £7,000 at 3 to 1. Unfortunately he only came home 6th. This just about ended his racing.

He was meant to have made and lost three fortunes throughout his life. The first came from iron ore from the Anderston Foundries near Glasgow, the second is not recorded, but the third was won at Monte Carlo when he stripped a 22 year old of his fortune who then shot himself the next day. He was a great spender and only liked the best. At the start of his marriage he gave Jessie beautiful jewellery. The main pieces she left
to Wynnie, by then her eldest daughter. She asked for them to be treated as heirlooms and kept in the family.

Jessie became stone deaf at 20, and always used an ear trumpet. Once the family were born Gardie lost interest in her and had a succession of mistresses and was on the whole pretty horrid to her. One mistress came to his funeral, to the knowledge of Jessie. She spent much of her time on needlework and produced some beautiful and very fine work. Edwina has a bed cover embroidered with birds flying in an arc over waves. This is possibly stitched on her wedding dress which she is known to have used as a base for her work. She also made a collection of embroidery. She and Gardie lived a leisured life, socialising and travelling regularly to Scotland, London
and Europe. They went on a world trip, travelling east to Japan then across the Pacific to California in the 1880's. Jessie wrote an account of the trip which she published
privately. Edwina has a copy of this book. She spent the last years of her life in London in a small house in Chester Square.

Her grandson John Hobson was a regular visitor. She left him a Japanese album presented to her in Japan. Caroline Meynell now has this. She also increased her cash legacy to him in appreciation of his kindness after her sister Muriel's death.

He sold Farming Woods in 1909 to two strangers who arrived one Sunday afternoon. They eventually settled on a figure of £87,000. This included 5,000 acres, including woodland that had previously been valued at £10,000 and most of the village
of Brigstock. The following day he was horrified to discover that he had sold the house etc. 'as it stands'. Luckily one of the men was found to be an undischarged bankrupt and had no right to sign the contract, and the terms were amended. However,after the sale, the beautiful oak woods were cut down and yielded over £87,000 so in effect the house was sold for nothing.

He inherited a large share of the Anderston Foundries as well as other capital worth about £130,000 but the income he derived from the foundries alone amounted to £40,000 a year.

He was a very big man and was a fine man to hounds and a remarkably good rifle shot; he was one of the shooting pioneers in east Africa.

He hunted from Melton Mowbray and then from Hill Crest, Market Harborough (c. 1887-1893). In 1885 he bought Newport House, Eardsley, Herefordshire but only remained there 2 years. At this time he had a number of good steeplechase horses and once one 11 races out of 12 at Ludlow.

Gardie ended up in 2 Grosvenor Crescent and in 1913 was found dead in his chair in the smoking room when the maid went in in the morning.

  Noted events in his life were:

• Address: 1861 Scotland census, 27 West Camberland St, Glasgow.

• Occupation/Address: Founder, 1871 Scotland census, 20 Park Terrace, Anderston, Glasgow, Lanarkshire.

• Occupation/Address: Iron Founder & Machine Maker, 1881, Cunninghamhead House, Dreghorn, Ayrshire.

• Occupation/Address: Own means, 1891, Newport Lodge, Seaford Road, Melton Mowbray, Leicestershire. With brother Robert.

• Occupation/Address: JP, DL & living on own means, 1901, Farming Woods Hall, Brigstock, Northamptonshire.

John married Jessie Agnes Henderson Hendrie, daughter of John Hendrie JP and Agnes Galloway Henderson, on 24 Sep 1880 in Renfrew. (Jessie Agnes Henderson Hendrie was born on 17 Nov 1859 in Kirkwood Farm, Old Monkland, Lanark ^45,46 and died after 1933 in 32 Chester Square, London SW1.)