Women Patrons and Designers in Early Eighteenth-century Scotland: Lady Panmure and Lady Nairne

Lady Margaret Hamilton,4thCountess of Panmure (1668-1731),the youngest daughter of the redoubtable Anne, 3rd Duchess of Hamilton,is a distinguished example of a woman involved in politics and architecture around the time of the Union of Parliaments. Analysis of family correspondence in the Maule Family Papers shows that she took part in the management of her husband’s estates and was devoted to the building projects of Panmure House and Brechin Castle in the 1690s-1700s. Her correspondence with the Jacobite Lady Nairne (1669-1747 provides an insight into the architectural interests of these two talented women. After the House of Nairnewas severely damaged by fire in 1704, a new house was built, and evidence remains of Lady Nairne’s talent for draughtsmanship and remarkable understanding of building works. Therefore, by focusing on the Panmure estates and the House of Nairne this chapter analyses the unique contribution of women both through architectural patronage and also to building design, as amateur architects.