Place:Auchinhove, Lumphanan, Aberdeenshire, Scotland

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Auchinhove (or Auchenhove) is a farm in Lumphanan parish, Aberdeenshire. It has a substantial 19th century house on it known as Auchinhove Cottage, along with a smaller house called the Gardener's Cottage. The land included a sizeable lake (the Loch of Auchinhove), which was drained in 1859 to add fertile farmland.

Connection to Farquharson of Finzean Estate

In or shortly after 1780, the farm was acquired along with other substantial lands in Lumphanan by Francis Farquharson, the 5th laird of Finzean. In 1784, the laird created a Deed of Entail, that required that the Finzean Estate (some 8,000 acres in Birse parish and 8,000 more in Lumphanan) continue undivided, preventing subsequent generations from dividing and selling off the lands. Part of that deed also specified that widows of Farquharson lairds should not live in Finzean House, but instead would receive one third of the rent from tenanted property on the estate. This Deed of Entail continued until 1936, when the 13th laird of Finzean was able to dissolve it and sell off the Lumphanan and Migvie holdings (including Auchinhove) in order to put the core of the estate on more secure financial footings.

Auchinhove Cottage

Auchinhove Cottage as the dower house

The first widow of Finzean to encounter the provisions of the Deed of Entail was Christian Spring, who married Francis' son Archibald Farquharson (the 7th laird of Finzean). Archibald was several decades her senior, and he died in 1797, just a few years after they were married, leaving her a 27-year-old widow with a 2-year-old son. She lived at Finzean while raising her son, and some years after, but in 1823 she took up residence at Auchinhove Cottage, which became the "dower house" as provided in the Deed of Entail. Christian lived there until her death in 1849. It seems that her entitlement under the Deed of Entail may have been heritable, as her will bequeaths an appreciable income from Auchinhove to her heirs, and descendants of Christian's niece Mary Sherrat lived at Auchinhove at least through 1900.

Sources

1. Farquharson, Geoffrey. Clan Farquharson: A History, pp. 69-70.