The Rocking Chair Ranche was a ranch located at North Elm Creek in

Collingsworth County, Texas Collingsworth County is a county in the U.S. state of Texas. As of the 2020 census, its population was 2,652. Its county seat is Wellington. The county was created in 1876 and later organized in 1890. It is named for James Collinsworth, a signer ...

from 1883 to 1896.

History

The Rocking Chair Ranche was bought by The 1st Baron Tweedmouth in 1883. After his death in 1894, it was owned by his son and heir, The 2nd Baron Tweedmouth, and the 1st Baron's son-in-law, The 7th Earl of Aberdeen. The ranch was sold to the Continental Land and Cattle Company in December 1896.

Owners

The Hon. Archibald John Marjoribanks, the youngest son of The 1st Baron Tweedmouth, was sent to Texas to work as the assistant ranch manager and bookkeeper. Archibald was not paid by the ranch but his father gave him a living allowance of £400 a year.Marjoribanks, Roger. "Coutts and Archie - The Honourable Cowboys"
The Marjoribanks Journal Number 5
December 1998. Retrieved 22 May 2010 Lord and Lady Aberdeen visited Archibald in the summer of 1887 and found him living in a one-bedroom wood frame house which he shared with the ranch manager, J. John Drew. During their stay, the Aberdeens slept in the bedroom while Archibald and the ranch manager slept on the terrace. The closest township to the ranch was renamed Aberdeen after their visit at the suggestion of Archibald Marjoribanks. Archibald became engaged to Elizabeth (known locally as "Myssie") Brown, of

Nashville, Tennessee Nashville is the capital city of the U.S. state of Tennessee and the county seat, seat of Davidson County, Tennessee, Davidson County. With a population of 689,447 at the 2020 United States census, 2020 U.S. census, Nashville is the List of muni ...

, daughter of Judge Trimble Brown, to the disapproval of Archibald's sister, Lady Aberdeen, who regarded Nashville ladies as frivolous and empty-headed compared to sober and industrious Scottish girls. Nevertheless, Archibald and Elizabeth were married and, after the ranch failed, moved to Bath in

Somerset ( en, All The People of Somerset) , locator_map = , coordinates = , region = South West England , established_date = Ancient , established_by = , preceded_by = , origin = , lord_lieutenant_office =Lord Lieutenant of Somerset , lord_ ...

, England, where they had two children. After Archibald's death in 1900, Elizabeth married Archibald's cousin

Douglas Hogg Douglas Martin Hogg, 3rd Viscount Hailsham, Baron Hailsham of Kettlethorpe (born 5 February 1945), is a British politician and barrister. A member of the Conservative Party he served in the Cabinet as Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Foo ...

, who later became The 1st

Viscount Hailsham Viscount Hailsham, of Hailsham in the County of Sussex, is a title in the Peerage of the United Kingdom. It was created in 1929 for the lawyer and Conservative politician Douglas Hogg, 1st Baron Hailsham, who twice served as Lord High Chancello ...

and

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References

Ranches in Texas 1883 establishments in Texas American companies established in 1883 American companies disestablished in 1896 1896 disestablishments in Texas Collingsworth County, Texas 1896 mergers and acquisitions {{Texas-stub