Hartrigge House or Stewartfield House was a country house in Jedburgh in the Scottish Borders. Its first owner was in 1614 and it was rebuilt in 1854. It was the home to the Lord Chancellor,

John Campbell, 1st Baron Campbell John Campbell, 1st Baron Campbell, PC, QC, FRSE (15 September 1779 – 23 June 1861) was a British Liberal politician, lawyer and man of letters. Background and education The second son of the Reverend George Campbell, D.D., and Magdalene H ...

. It was demolished in the 1950s. Some listed outbuildings and lodges still exist.

History

The first owner of the Hartrigge house was Andrew Miller who lived in it from 1614 to 1640, and the second owner was Sir Francis Scott of Mangertoun.

John Stewart John Stewart may refer to: Business * John Aikman Stewart (1822–1926), American banker * John Killough Stewart (1867–1938), businessman and philanthropist in Queensland, Australia * John K. Stewart (1870–1916), American entrepreneur and inve ...

, an ex-

Commissioner A commissioner (commonly abbreviated as Comm'r) is, in principle, a member of a commission or an individual who has been given a commission (official charge or authority to do something). In practice, the title of commissioner has evolved to in ...

for Kirkcudbrightshire in the Parliament of Scotland, was in charge of the house after his marriage in 1704 to Elizabeth Scott, the daughter and heir of Sir Francis Scott. Stewart already had land at Kirkcudbright that he had inherited from his father. The land at Hartrigge became "Stewartfield" under his brief control. The newlywed Stewart was invited to after election meeting at the Black Bull Inn in Jedburgh to celebrate the victory of

Sir Gilbert Eliott, 3rd Baronet, of Stobs Sir Gilbert Eliott, 3rd Baronet, of Stobs ( – 27 May 1764) was a Scottish Whig politician who sat in the British House of Commons between 1708 and 1727. He was outlawed after killing his opponent in an after-dinner argument and fight, but w ...

. Eliot was annoyed that Stewart had not voted for him and Stewart threw a glass of wine at Eliot. Stewart later complained that he was murdered whist sitting although he did manage to rise to his feet after Eliot stabbed him with his sword. Stewart died and Eliot had to flee the country. In time Eliot's friend's interceded on his behalf and he was allowed to return to Scotland after a

royal pardon In the English and British tradition, the royal prerogative of mercy is one of the historic royal prerogatives of the British monarch, by which they can grant pardons (informally known as a royal pardon) to convicted persons. The royal preroga ...

. In 1845 Miller sold "Stewartfield" to

. Campbell was a lawyer who rose to be Lord Chancellor. He changed the name of the house back to Hartrigge - a name it had in the 17th century. This was after he became Baron Campbell of St Andrews. His wife had become Baroness Stratheden in her own right in 1836. In 1854 he had the house rebuilt with David Bryce as the architect. Campbell became a widower in 1860 and died the following year. The house became the property of William Campbell, 2nd Baron Stratheden and Campbell who was a politician with another house in Knightsbridge. Thomas Gordanborn in Dumfries in Nov 1809 who had served in the army in India married Elizabeth Brown. He had an accident in a carriage that damaged his hip. He left India in 1860 and rented Hartrigge in May 1864. William Lowndes Yancey stayed at the house at the end of 1862. Yancey was a Confederate politician intent on persuading Lord Russell that slavery was OK. He was also talking to "North". Commander James North was placing orders for an iron clad steamship in Glasgow. Gordan rented the house until 1872.

William Penney, Lord Kinloch The Hon William Penney, Lord Kinloch (1801–1872) was a Scottish judge, and Senator of the College of Justice. Life The son of William Penney, a manufacturer at Castlepens Wynd in Glasgow, and Elizabeth, daughter of David Johnston, D.D., Nort ...

died at Hartrigge House, near Jedburgh, on 31 October 1872. In 1929 it was rented by Sir

Charles Addiss Charles is a masculine given name predominantly found in English and French speaking countries. It is from the French form ''Charles'' of the Proto-Germanic name (in runic alphabet) or ''*karilaz'' (in Latin alphabet), whose meaning was "f ...

who was a director of the Bank of England from Lord Stratheden. One of his house guests was the poet laureate

John Betjeman Sir John Betjeman (; 28 August 190619 May 1984) was an English poet, writer, and broadcaster. He was Poet Laureate from 1972 until his death. He was a founding member of The Victorian Society and a passionate defender of Victorian architecture, ...

who began an affair with his daughter. The house was put up for auction but it was withdrawn because of lack of interest. The highest bid was £600 and the owners were expecting £5,000.

Legacy

There are several listed buildings that survived after the demolition. Hartrigge Lodge and Wildcat lodge are both residences and the old coach and stable block are also extant.

References

{{reflist Jedburgh Country houses in the Scottish Borders