Falconar Ladies

Date: [unknown] [unknown]
Location: [unknown]

Five of Alexander Falconar's daughters lived with him in Falcon Hall when he bought it on returning from India. All but one remained single, and they all outlived him.

The census of 1841 list six family members, and five (living in) servants.
The Falconars were: Alexander, Caroline, Margaret, Louisa and Charlotte. In addition there was Jesse and her husband Henry Craigie, and a visitor, Louisa Yeats.

In 1851 Henrie Craigie, a Writer to the Signet, is the head of the household, with Jesse and her four sisters and six servants.

The four unmarried ladies had a Mutual Deed of Trust which ensured that one could not marry without the others' approval. This was set up by their father to protect them from fortune hunters. ^[1]

In 1878 their nephew Alexander Charles Grant visited Falcon Hall, and wrote an account of his visit^[2]. By this time only Margaret was alive. Grant had visited the Hall before, and:
"Dear old Cousin Margaret looked just the same as when I said good-bye to her seventeen years before, but evidently had failed, and with little power in her hands and none in her feet. "

He goes on to describe the opulent style in which Alexander and his family lived "The cellars of Falcon Hall were well stocked, especially with Hermitage and Chambertin "and to list the paintings that had been collected. Finally
"When Cousin Margaret Falconar (the eldest and last of the family) died, the hall was rented out as a boys' school and later torn down to make room for a real estate promotion project. The city purchased the gates which were installed at the Zoo, and all the beautiful contents were sold at auction and the proceeds divided among the numerous heirs."

Census

 1841 

Place: St Cuthbert's -Midlothian Enumeration District: 4 Civil Parish: St Cuthbert's Ecclesiastical Parish, Village or Island: Morningside Folio: 217 Page: 1

Address: Falcon Hall

Surname		First name(s)	Sex	Age	Occupation	Where Born	Remarks
FALCONER		Alexr.	M	66	Independent	Outside Census County (1841)
FALCONER		Margt.	F	30		Outside Census County (1841)
FALCONER		Caroline	F	28		Outside Census County (1841)
FALCONER		Louisa	F	27		Outside Census County (1841)
FALCONER		Charlotte	F	22		Outside Census County (1841)
CRAIGIE		Henry	M	34	W.S.	Outside Census County (1841)
CRAIGIE		Jessie	F	25		Outside Census County (1841)
YEATS		Louisa	F	64		England

Sources

1. ↑ Falconar Trust
2. ↑ Alexander Charles Grant,Falcon Hall Revisited

• 'Adelaide Falconar' in Eleanor Harris, The Episcopal Congregation of Charlotte Chapel Website (online, archive.stjohns- edinburgh.org.uk, 2011). © Eleanor Harris 2011 eleanormharris.co.uk