Notes:

Educated at Eton and Christ Church Oxford
Prior to inheriting the estates he was a captain in the 4th Battalion Argyll & Sutherland Highlanders. His four sons all entered the army; there were two daughters.

(Research): nephew of Lady Aymee Clerk of Penicuik

Family/Spouse: Hon Emily Gifford. Emily (daughter of Robert Francis, (2nd Lord) Gifford and Hon. Frederica Charlotte Fitzhardinge Berkeley) was born in 1847; died on 28 Jun 1928 in St. George's, Hanover Square, London, England. [Group Sheet] [Family Chart]

Notes:

Burnbrae House
Burnbrae estate had been in the Speir family since the early 18th century, with farming being the main income. However the three sons of Robert Speir third Laird of Burnbrae , William and twin brothers Thomas (1801-1874) and Robert (1801-1853) decided that India (Calcutta) was the place to make their fortunes.
William went into business in India as a partner in Grove , Speir and Company while his two brothers first formed a Glasgow manufacturing firm R & T Speir which had been involved with a successful London company who was heavily involved with the East Indies.
In India Robert had a silk print factory and Thomas a dyeing factory both very successful.
In about 1838 the brothers returned to Britain wealthy men with William settling in Brighton while Robert and Thomas returned to Burnbrae where William Napier of Blackstone sold the house and lands of Blackstone to Thomas Speir the twin brother of Robert Speir of Burnbrae and Culdees.
Burnbrae House was said to be one of the most beautiful mansions in Renfrewshire. It was built in the Gothic style with a turreted roof, stone carved balustrades, pillared porches, bay windows and balconies and set in idyllic rural surroundings with farmland, woodland and beautiful gardens.
It was at Burnbrae where in 1839 Robert married Mary daughter of Sir William Milliken Napier of Milliken.
Robert succeeded to Burnbrae on the death of his father two years later but in 1842 purchased the Culdees estate near Crieff Perthshire.
Robert Speir died in 1853 at Burnbrae which was put in the trust of his brother Thomas who earlier in 1843 had purchased the nearby Blackstone estate.
Not a man to be idle Thomas Speir opened a Quarry at Linwood and had 40 acres of bog reclaimed for farming.
Not neglecting his civic duties Thomas Speir of Blackstone was Lord Lieutenant and Convener of the county of Renfrewshire in 1866 and about the same time furthering his wealth when Airdrie coalmaster William Black and his associates acquired the mineral lease of the Blackstone estate from Thomas Speir, and set about sinking a pit to exploit coal, ironstone and shale. They formed the Blackstone Mineral Oil Company, listed in directories as "coal and ironstone masters, coal and shale oil proprietors"
Thomas shared Burnbrae House with his sisters and his nephew Robert Thomas Napier Speir along with a butler, footman and four servant girls who attended to their needs.
When Thomas died in 1874 the estate of Blackstone was inherited by his nephew Robert Thomas Napier Speir his brother Roberts only son who had succeeded to Burnbrae on reaching majority in 1860.
Following his uncles death R T N Speir (1841-1922) was designated of Culdees, Blackstone and Burnbrae.
Thomas's nephew Robert Napier Milliken Speir was educated at Eton and Christchurch Oxford, he married the Hon. Emily Gifford in 1868 and they had five sons and two daughters. Prior to inheriting the estates he was a captain in the 4th Battalion Argyll and Sutherland Highlanders.
With R T N Speir residing at Culdees the Speir family connection with Burnbrae House ended with the death of Thomas Speir's sister Agnes Speir in 1886.
Burnbrae passed through several more owners before being sold, the house was demolished in 1940 and in the 1960's the pressed steel plant and the car factory at Linwood were built on the area.
Currently the Malcolm haulage firm have their premises on the site.
The glory days of Blackstoun, Burnbrae and Culdees are now long gone.
Newspapers reported that in 2010 supermarket chain Tesco uncovered the Speir family vault in an old parish church hall which was to be demolished in the building of a new store in Linwood. It contained the remains of five members of the Speir family in lead lined coffins. Permissions were obtained to remove the corpses for cremation and re-interment near the family home in North Berwick where R T N Speir's eldest son Lt.-Col. Guy Thomas Speir, of The Abbel, North Berwick resided.
The Culdees mention in R T N Speir designation was ;
Culdees Castle
Culdees was the Perthshire Estate of the Speir family. It was situated in beautiful countryside a few miles from the little town
of Muthill near Crieff.
Culdees Castle was a handsome building, with its own chapel, built in the Gothic style in 1810. It was later updated in the Baronial style with interiors by Robert Lorimer.
In the grounds were the remains of an old medieval chapel associated with the Culdees hence the name.
The house which is B listed is now in rapid decline. By all accounts it is a strange, eerie sight. The glass windows are intact as is much of the roof, however the old walls are covered in creeper and the floors and stairs have fallen in on themselves. It is on the Buildings at Risk Register and had full consent for demolition in 1967 but it was never implemented. It has been left to the mercy of the elements and allowed to decay naturally.

Eddie McRorie

Robert + Mary Napier. Mary (daughter of Sir William John Milliken (of Milliken Park) (8th Baronet of Merchiston) Napier and Eliza Christian Stirling) was born on 7 Apr 1817; and died. [Group Sheet] [Family Chart]

Notes:

Culdees Castle was purchased by Robert Napier Spier, a layman in connection with the Episcopal Church in Scotland, and then later passed to his son.

The Speir family fortune was derived from Groves, Speir and Company.

(Research): Lineage? Robert Speir, of Burnbrae, Renfrewshire, b. 1680, m. 1718, Mary, dau of Thomas Fyffe, and had issue, three sons and two daus., of whom the eldest son,
William Speir, of Burnbrae, b. 1725, m. 1750, Mary, dau. of John Robertson, of Easter Walkinshaw, and d. 1810 leaving issue, with four daus., one son.
Robert Speir, of Burnbrae, b. 1752, m. 1787, Isabella, dau. of John Robertson, and d. 1841, having had issue, four sons and seven daus., of whom the third son,
Robert Speir, of Burnbrae, Renfrewshire and Culdees, Perthshire, J.P., b. 1 Jan. 1801, m. 6 June, 1839, Mary, dau. of Sir William Milliken Napier, 8th Bt., of Napier, Renfrewshire (see Burke's Peerage, Napier of Merchistoun, Bt.), and d. 18 Feb. 1853, leaving issue,

Robert + Isabella Robertson. [Group Sheet] [Family Chart]

Notes:

He was a Scottish politician

Sir William John Milliken-Napier, Baronet [S 1627] of Milliken, co Renfrew, heir male collateral of the grantee, being son and heir of Col. Robert John Milliken-Napier, formerly Napier, of Colcreuch, co Stirling, and of Milliken aforesaid, by Anne, daughter of Robert Campbell of Downie, co Argyll, which Robert John (who was born 1765; who was in command at the siege of Mangalore in the East Indies; and who assumed the additional name of Milliken on inheriting the estates of his maternal grandfather, and who died 1803, having previously sold the estate of Culcreuch), was only son of William Napier, of Culcreuch (born 1686; died 1735), son and heir of Alexander Napier (died 1702) of Culcreuch (by purchase from his older brother), who was 4th son of Robert Napier, of Drumhony, 1628, and afterwards of Culcreuch (died before June 1655), who was younger brother, of the half blood, of Archibald the 1st Baronet, and the 1st Lord Napier of Merchistoun [S]. He was born 1788 at Milliken House; succeeded his father in1808, and was, on 17 March 1817, served heir male general of Archibald (Napier), 3rd Lord Napier of Merchistoun [S] and 3rd Baronet [S 1627], when he consequently assumed that Baronetcy. He was Convenor of co Renfrew. He married, 11 November 1815, Eliza Christian, 5th and youngest daughter of John Stirling, of Kippendavie, co Perth. He died 4 February 1852, at Milliken house, aged 63. His widow died 3 March 1860, at Pau in France.

William married Eliza Christian Stirling on 11 Nov 1815. Eliza (daughter of John (6th of Kippendavie) Stirling) died on 3 Mar 1860. [Group Sheet] [Family Chart]

Robert + Anne Campbell. [Group Sheet] [Family Chart]

Notes:

acquired the estate of Kippenross from William Pearson 1778, and the superiority of Kippendavie, Lanrick, Auchinbie, Shanraw, and Woodland from James Stirling of Keir 1813