page_title: Glen Affric
section_title: History
hierarchical_section_title: Glen Affric / History
caption_attribution_description: English: by Arthur James ('A.J.') Melhuish, albumen cabinet card, 1876
context_page_description: Glen Affric is a glen south-west of the village of Cannich in the Highland region of Scotland, some 15 miles to the west of Loch Ness. The River Affric runs along its length, passing through Loch Affric and Loch Beinn a' Mheadhoin. A minor public road reaches as far as the end of Loch Beinn a' Mheadhoin, but beyond that point only rough tracks and footpaths continue along the glen.
  Often described as the most beautiful glen in Scotland, Glen Affric contains the third largest area of ancient Caledonian pinewoods in Scotland, as well as lochs, moorland and mountains.
  The area is a Caledonian Forest Reserve, a national scenic area and a national nature reserve, as well as holding several other conservation designations.
  The forests and open landscapes of the glen, and the mountains on either side, are a popular destination for hikers, climbers and mountain bikers.
context_section_description: Glen Affric, also written Glenaffric, was part of the lands of the Clan Chisholm and the Clan Fraser of Lovat from the 15th to the mid 19th centuries. By the early 15th century, Lord Lovat had passed the lands to his son Thomas who in turn passed it on to his son, William, who was recorded in Burke's Landed Gentry Scotland as William Fraser, first Laird of Guisachan. In 1579, Thomas Chisholm, Laird of Strathglass, was imprisoned for being a Catholic. By the 18th century, the title deeds of Glen Affric had been a source of feuding, with the Battle of Glen Affric taking place in 1721.
  There exists in the Scottish Register of Tartans a "Glenaffric Fragment" that possibly dates from the late 17th century.
  Dudley Marjoribanks, later Lord Tweedmouth was a rich Liberal MP who took a long lease on shooting rights over much of Glen Affric in 1846 and, by 1856, had acquired ownership of the Glen Affric Estate from "Laird Fraser" whose family had built the original Guisachan Georgian manor house around 1755. The estate held over 13,000 hectares (32,000 acres) at the time of its transference from the Clan Chisholm to Lord Tweedmouth. By the 1860s, Lord Tweedmouth, as the new laird, had much enlarged the house, using Scottish architect Alexander Reid who designed many buildings on Tweedmouth's vast Glen Affric Estate, including an entire village—Tomich—and the Glen Affric Hunting Lodge, described in appearance as "castle-like". Tweedmouth had enjoyed shooting rights over much of Glen Affric since 1846, and, following his acquisition of the estate he initiated the first breed of golden retrievers at kennels near Guisachan House. He put the retrievers to good use at the shooting parties he hosted when at Glen Affric Lodge. The retrievers were sent to other estates when, for some months of the years 1870–71, he leased the Glen Affric Estate to Lord Grosvenor.
  In 1894 Edward Marjoribanks, 2nd Baron Tweedmouth had inherited the Glenaffric and Guisachan estates from his father. His wife, the 2nd Baroness Tweedmouth, was born Lady Fanny Spencer-Churchill,  the daughter of the 7th Duke of Marlborough, and died at Glen Affric Lodge in 1904. Known in the highlands as the Lady of Glenaffric and Guisachan, she was reported to be a "lover of the golden retriever dog". 
  The Duke and Duchess of York are reported in The Graphic, 25 September 1897 to have visited the Guisachan Estate in Strathglass, including Glen Affric Lodge. Lady Tweedmouth's nephew Winston Churchill also came to visit the estate in 1901, and amused himself learning how to drive a car in the grounds.
  Clan Marjoribanks' ownership ended with Edward’s son, Dudley Churchill Marjoribanks, who became 3rd Lord Tweedmouth in 1909. He and his wife had two daughters, but no male heir. For the next few years, until 1918, the estate was owned by the family of Newton Wallop, 6th Earl of Portsmouth (1856–1917). Marmaduke Furness, 1st Viscount Furness owned the estate throughout the 1920s and 30s. The entire property, then consisting of 22,000 acres (8,900 ha), had been sold by 1936 to a Mr Hunter. It was he who resold the Glen Affric deer forest to the west and a large area of grazing land to the Forestry Commission.
  Lady Islington acquired the Guisachan portion of the estate in 1939 but let the property go to ruin. In 1962 the Guisachan estate was bought by a descendant of the Frasers of Gortuleg. In 1990, this later generation laird wrote a booklet concerning his Fraser ancestors who had once owned Guisachan—Guisachan, A History by Donald Fraser.
  Provost Robert Wotherspoon was recorded as owning Glen Affric Estate in 1951, having purchased it in 1944 and selling the "majority of its ground to the Forestry Commission" in 1948. His son, Iain Wotherspoon was listed as living at Glen Affric Lodge in 1958.
caption: 1876—Lady Glen Affric (Fanny, Baroness Tweedmouth) died in 1904 at Glen Affric Lodge on the estate where her golden retriever, Crocus, had been bred
exif: {"Image ImageWidth": "530", "Image ImageLength": "800", "Image Orientation": "Horizontal (normal)", "Image XResolution": "72", "Image YResolution": "72", "Image ResolutionUnit": "Pixels/Inch", "Image Software": "Adobe Photoshop CS5 Macintosh", "Image DateTime": "2012:04:03 16:43:25", "Image Artist": "National Portrait Gallery London", "Image ExifOffset": "4898", "Thumbnail ImageWidth": "132", "Thumbnail ImageLength": "200", "Thumbnail Compression": "JPEG (old-style)", "Thumbnail Orientation": "Horizontal (normal)", "Thumbnail JPEGInterchangeFormat": "108", "Thumbnail JPEGInterchangeFormatLength": "4664", "EXIF ColorSpace": "Uncalibrated", "EXIF ExifImageWidth": "530", "EXIF ExifImageLength": "800"}