Charles Elphinstone Adam Bt. (1859 - 1922)

Born 7 Aug 1859 in Westminster, London, England

Ancestors

Husband of Edith (Dobson) Adam — married 25 Oct 1912 (to 1922) in Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada

Died 6 Dec 1922 at age 63 in Cleish, Kinross-shire, Scotland, United Kingdom

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Biography

Sir Charles Elphinstone Adam (1859-1922), 1st baronet, of Blair Adam. Eldest son of Rt. Hon. William Patrick Adam PC^[1] (1823-81) and his wife Emily^[2], daughter of Gen. Sir William Wyllie GCB, born 7 August 1859.^[3] He was baptised in London on 10 September 1859.^[4]

Educated at Eton, Christ Church, Oxford (MA 1885), and Inner Temple (called to the bar, 1885) practising at the chambers of 3 New Square, Lincoln's Inn, in 1890. At this time he was a member of Brook's Club in St James's, London.^[1]

Charles was created a baronet, an honour which it had been intended his father should receive, 20 May 1882; barrister; private secretary to Parliamentary Secretary to Treasury, 1892-94, Lord Privy Seal, 1894, and Chancellor of Duchy of Lancaster, 1894-95; JP and DL for Fife; Convenor of Fife County Council, 1893-1910; Lord Lieutenant of Kinross-shire, 1909-11; served in the First World War at the rank of Able Seaman with Royal Naval Volunteer Reserve, 1915-16, and received a posthumous military award (the British Award Medal) for his service.^[5]

Sir Charles was interested in Scottish political history and is recorded in 1887 as having written a large work of Scottish political history of "some magnitude", his aim being to present the "political opinions, family connections or personal circumstances of the 2,662 county voters in 1788" as well as an introduction to county electoral law.^[6]

Sir Charles married, 25 October 1912, Edith (d. 1929), daughter of William and Annie Dobson of Victoria, British Columbia, Canada in Vancouver^[7] but he died without issue; baronetcy extinct on his death.

Sir Charles inherited the Blair Adam estate from his father in 1881. At his death it passed to his nephew, Capt. Charles Keith Adam (q.v.). Sir Charles died 6 December 1922, aged 63. Probate was granted on 14 April 1923 in Kinross. The principal beneficiaries named were Sir Douglas Archibald Seton Steuart, James Taylor Cathcart and Archibald George Brown.^[8]

In 1926 a memorial to Sir Charles was erected at the porch of the Tabernacle church near Blair Adam woods. The memorial recorded that Sir Charles was the last of the Adam line who had settled in the area in the early 1700s and that with his death, the estate was passing out of the family.^[9]

Sources

1. ↑ ^{1.0 1.1} 1890 Kelly's Handbook to the Titled, Landed and Official Classes, database on-line. Provo, UT, USA: Ancestry.com Operations, Inc., 2012. Original data: 1890 Kelly's Handbook to the Titled, Landed and Official Classes. London, England: Kelly & Co.
2. ↑ "British Newspaper Archives, Obituaries," database with images, FamilySearch (https://familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:Q269-JB6R : 26 October 2019), Sir Charles Elphinstone Adam in entry for Lady Emily Eliza Adam, 22 Nov 1906; citing Obituary, Dundee, Angus-Shire, Scotland, United Kingdom, page , Records extracted by FindMyPast and images digitized by FamilySearch. The British Library, London; FHL microfilm 102,001,308.
3. ↑ "England and Wales Birth Registration Index, 1837-2008," database, FamilySearch (https://familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:26TY-77T : 1 October 2014), Charles Elphinstone Adam, 1859; from "England & Wales Births, 1837-2006," database, findmypast (http://www.findmypast.com : 2012); citing Birth Registration, Westminster St. Margaret, London, England, citing General Register Office, Southport, England.
4. ↑ City of Westminster Archives Centre - Westminster Baptisms - All Saints, Ennismore Gardens, Knightsbridge : Charles Elphinstone Adam, baptised 10 Sep 1859 (born 7 Aug), son of William Patrick Adam & Emily Eliza Adam.
5. ↑ "England, Royal Naval Volunteer Reserve Ratings, Medal Roll, 1914-1920", database, FamilySearch (https://www.familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:682N-377S : 25 September 2021), Charles Elphinstone (Sir, Baronet) Adam, 1914.
6. ↑ Faringdon Advertiser and Vale of the White Horse Gazette 04 June 1887, accessed via Find My Past.
7. ↑ "Canada, British Columbia Marriage Registrations, 1859-1932; 1937-1938," database with images, FamilySearch (https://familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:JD8Z-GPX : 22 February 2021), Charles Elphinstone Adam and Edith Dobson, 25 Oct 1912; citing Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada, British Columbia Archives film number B11376, Vital Statistics Agency, Victoria; FHL microfilm 1,983,704.
8. ↑ "England and Wales, National Index of Wills and Administrations, 1858-1957," database, FamilySearch (https://familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:QPLH-7MLB : 17 September 2018), Charles Elphinstone Adam, 14 Apr 1923; citing Probate, Kinross-shire, Scotland, United Kingdom, Her Majesty's Stationery Office, Great Britain.; FHL microfilm.
9. ↑ Dundee Courier 26 April 1926, accessed via Find My Past.

See also:

• "Landed families of Britain and Ireland"
• Scottish Genealogy Society, Scotland Monumental Inscriptions - Cleish, Kinrosshire, Scotland : Rt Hon William Patrick Adam MP CIE, eldest son Sir Charles Elphinstone Adam of Blairadam Baronet Lord Lt County Kinross 1909-11, Deputy Lt and JP counties Kinross and Fife, served in war 1915-18 born 7.8.1859 died 6.12.1922, by w; coat of arms Age 63