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John Christie FRSE (1824-1902) was a Scottish industrialist, arboriculturalist and landowner. ==Life== He was born in Old Monkland on 4 July 1824, the son of Alexander Christie (1789-1859), a colliery-owner and ironfounder, and Isabella Robertson. He was sent to Grange School in Northumberland for private education and then attended Glasgow University.〔https://www.royalsoced.org.uk/cms/files/fellows/biographical_index/fells_indexp1.pdf〕 On his father’s death in 1859 he inherited vast lands in Ayrshire, Midlothian and Clackmannanshire, largely focussed upon coal-mining and iron-foundries. In 1865 he purchased a 524 acre estate lying between Dollar and Muckhart, and renamed it from Castleton to Cowden Castle. This estate provided a more rural environment than his other landholdings: and focussed upon farming, forestry, and raising of deer and pheasant. He was a keen traveller, and filled Cowden Castle with a wide range of artefacts.〔Alicella by Averil Stewart, 1955〕 The estate grounds were replanted with many exotic species from around the globe, and it was one of the estates that established the fashion for Rhododendrons in the late 19th century. He was elected a Fellow of the Royal Society of Edinburgh in 1875, his proposers including John Hutton Balfour.〔 In 1887 he suffered at attack of pernicious anaemia, leaving him in poor health, and having a dramatic effect upon his character, which became eccentric, insular and argumentative.〔 However, his lifestyle also changed to be more philanthropic (although not known to his family). In 1889 he founded Christie Homes, a series of orphanages for girls in the East Lothian area, later renamed Lothian Homes Trust. His wife died in 1894. John Christie’s eccentricity increased, dyeing his moustache and proposing to a woman 50 years his junior.〔Spinsters Abroad, by Dea Birkett. The History Press 2004〕 He died at his Edinburgh townhouse, 19 Buckingham Terrace, on 19 August 1902 and is buried in Muckhart Churchyard. At the time of his death his will demonstrated that, apart from the huge estates inherited from his father, he had acquired further estates in Glenfarg, Carnbo and other lands in Perthshire.〔The Will of John Christie of Cowden: The Scotsman newspaper, 21 July 1903〕 抄文引用元・出典: フリー百科事典『 ウィキペディア（Wikipedia）』 ■ウィキペディアで「John Christie (landowner)」の詳細全文を読む スポンサード リンク
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