Notes:

Robert Baikie, 7th of Tankerness, succeeded to
the estates of Egilshay, and became representative
and heir of line of the families of Douglas of Egilshay
and Monteith of Egilshay.


Of an old Orkney family, influential both in the burgh of Kirkwall and in the county, Robert Baikie was connected through his mother with the Douglases, Earls of Morton. His father James Baikie, provost of Kirkwall during and after the '45, was a supporter of the Morton interest; and in 1760 received for his electoral services a pension of ?200 p.a. continued after his death to his widow.1

In 1780 Robert Baikie stood as the Government sponsored candidate for Orkney and Shetland against Charles Dundas, then in opposition. Payments were made from the King's private account to assist Baikie: ?300 on 22 Sept. 1779, ?315 on 16 Feb. 1781, and ?2300 on 26 July 1781 for 'Orkney and Edinburgh'.2 He was returned by 11 votes to 5, but unseated on petition. In 1784 he was defeated at the poll by Thomas Dundas.

(Research):I have a note that says Alexander Douglas of Spynie married a daughter of Robert Baikie, 7th of Tankerness who died 04.04.1817. However, Here, I record Janet douglas marrying James Baikie, 6th Laird.

1st s. of James Baikie of Tankerness by Janet, da. of William Douglas, and heiress of the Monteiths of Egilshay. m. 12 Feb. 1785, Mary, da. and coh. of Thomas Balfour of Huip, 4s. 3da. suc. fa. 1764.

Robert married Mary Balfour on 12 Feb 1785. Mary (daughter of Thomas (of Huip) Balfour) was born about 1817; and died. [Group Sheet] [Family Chart]

Notes:

James Baikie of Tankerness, of Kirkwall in the Orkney Islands, was a member of a distinguished Orcadian family, and was the Eighth Laird of Tankerness.

In the 17th Century the Baikie family owned estates and a substantial mansion house in Kirkwall. The daughter of an earlier James Baikie, Elizabeth, married into the family of Bishop Mackenzie, and sometime late in the 18th Century a Mr. Gilmour, leather merchant and tanner, bought the property from Mackenzie's descendants, pulled it down and erected a new building on the site.

James Baikie was born in 1786, and died in 1869. He married Eleanor Anderson Wemyss, daughter of William Whitelaw-Wemyss of Cuttlehill, Fife, at Aberdour in Fife on 12 December 1814. He died without issue, and the Tankerness estate was inherited by his brother, Dr. Robert Baikie M.D., who had been employed in the service of the East India Company. Robert was a man of outstanding ability, especially on the scientific side, and had published in Calcutta a work entitled "Observations on the Neilgherries", in which he devoted special attention to the topography, climate and the influence of these on health.
Their father, Robert Baikie, 7th Laird of Tankerness, was the son of James Baikie, Provost of Kirkwall from 1737 to 1764. With Andrew Ross, Chamberlain of the earldom estate for Lord Morton, and Sheriff-depute, these two were the most important men in Orkney in the mid 18th century. They managed local elections in the interest of the Earl of Morton who was strong supporter of the House of Hanover, and both had to flee to Shetland when in early April 1746 Orkney was briefly invaded by Jacobite Highlanders.

Lairds' incomes were never better than in the 18th century. When a string of European wars prevented the import of Spanish barilla and other sources of alkali for Britain's growing glass and soap industries, the best alternative British source was kelp, the ash of burnt seaweed. Orkney, with seaweed in abundance, became Britain's main supplier and modest estate incomes grew out of all proportion. In the late 18th century Robert Baikie, 7th Laird, made a thirty year lease of farm land to a tenant in Eday at an annual rental of 30-35 tons of kelp.

Robert Baikie, described as "a polite, well informed country gentleman", used some of the proceeds the lucrative kelp trade to amass a wide ranging library of which some 500 volumes survive. They comprise contemporary poetry, drama and novels, books on history, science and geography, dictionaries and grammars, including the works of Swift, Congreve, Fielding and Johnston. They have remained at Tankerness House, giving a unique glimpse of the literary tastes of a wealthy Scots family two centuries ago.
Robert Baikie was five times Master Mason of Lodge Kirkwall Kilwinning. Among his activities in a period of Masonic idealism (symbolised by Mozart's opera The Magic Flute), he founded the town's first string band or orchestra, an involvement in musical performance which would be continued by later generations of the family.

Elected MP for Orkney in 1780, Robert Baikie was immediately unseated for alleged irregularities during the election. He then engineered the appointment of a notorious smuggler, George Eunson, as customs officer with instructions to expose his political opponents as smugglers, while turning a blind eye to the smuggling activities of Robert and his friends.

Along with other lairds, Robert Baikie, a man of no military experience, was, as a reward for political favours, awarded a captaincy of the newly formed Orkney and Shetland Fencibles in 1793. The following year he took his turn in commanding the company at Fort Charlotte in Lerwick (the Fencibles were disbanded on Christmas Day, 1797).

On a visit to Orkney in 1814 Sir Walter Scott recorded in his diary "we dine at the inn and drink the Prince Regent's health?.Mr. Baikie of Tankerness dines with us". Robert Baikie told Scott of recently deceased inhabitants of the island of North Ronaldsay who recited in the old Orkney Norn tongue the poem 'The Fatal Sisters'. Robert Baikie died in 1817.
James studied law in Edinburgh and, with his brothers, was not immune to the 18th century high living which in the early years of the 19th century still typified and sometimes ruined the lives of 'young men about town'. His brother William returned from naval service to a life of dissipation and died diseased and penniless in London.

After James succeeded his father in 1817, at a time when kelp prices were faltering and the Estate was in debt, he was obliged to borrow ?1000 from Kirkwall merchant James Spence This debt was increased to ?5000 when The Commercial Bank of Scotland took a bond over the Tankerness estate, but his financial affairs took an upward turn when, in 1824, Samuel Laing of Papdale bought James Baikie's half share of the island of Eday.
As an interesting sidelight, this Samuel Laing served in the army in the Peninsular War, fighting at Rolica, Vimeiro and Corunna, but retired from the Army to Orkney after the retreat from Corunna. One can speculate that he may have encountered the first owner of the Northumberland Street house during the campaign in Spain. The life of Samuel Laing is told in a most interesting history, published in 2000 ( The Autobiography of Samuel Laing of Papdale 1780 ? 1868, Edited and Supplemented by R.P. Feredy ) which is based on a recently discovered manuscript, but although fascinating is not germane to the history of the house in Northumberland Street.

The sale of share in the island of Eday allowed James to clear his debts and finance improvements in farming on the Tankerness lands. He also invested in the fishing industry. At a time when the various lairds of Orkney were debating how the introduction of the steamship might benefit the Orkney economy, James Baikie distributed in 1833 to all 'Gentlemen of Orkney and Caithness' a printed circular letter promoting the use of a fast, regular steamship service to ship live cattle to mainland markets, although it was not until 1836 when the paddle steamer Sovereign was put into service.

James obviously had an admiration for the architectural style of Edinburgh's New Town and, in 1820, he remodelled the North Wing of Tankerness House, his Kirkwall residence, in the style of the New Town.

Described as "bountiful in his contributions to charity", James Baikie served as Provost of Kirkwall from 1836 to 1850 and was appointed Vice lieutenant of Orkney and Shetland in 1854. He died in 1869, aged 83, after a fall from his horse.

It is clear that James Baikie liked Edinburgh and the architecture of the city's New Town, but his taste for high living compromised his ability to enjoy the ownership of the fine house in Northumberland Street. The sale of 57 Northumberland Street occurred around the time that his debts appeared to be spiralling out of control and Bryce Wilson, in his history of the Baikies of Tankerness, "Profit Not Loss", published in 2003, states that if not for Samuel Laing's purchase of the land on Eday then the Baikie estate may have been lost. So it is perhaps no surprise that he decided to sell the Edinburgh property at that time. It is probable also that when his father died, and he succeeded to the estate in Kirkwall, he would have had no plans to continue residence in Edinburgh.

Family/Spouse: Elanor Wemys. [Group Sheet] [Family Chart]

Notes:

He had been employed in the service of the East India Company. Robert was a man of outstanding ability, especially on the scientific side, and had published in Calcutta a work entitled "Observations on the Neilgherries", in which he devoted special attention to the topography, climate and the influence of these on health.

Dr Baikie of Tankerness is the proprietor.of Egilshay c1882