Robert Shafto Adair, 1st Baronet Adair was born 26 June 1786 in Ballymena, County Antrim, Northern Ireland, United Kingdom to William Adair (1754-1844) and Camilla Shafto (1756-1827) and died 24 February 1869 of unspecified causes. He married Elizabeth Maria Strode (1792-1853) 17 September 1810 in Buckhamstead, Buck, England, United Kingdom. He married Jane Anne Clarkson (1813-1873) 3 October 1854 in Amberley, Sussex, England, United Kingdom.
He died on 24 February 1869 at age 82.1 He was created 1st Baronet Adair [U.K.] on 2 August 1838.1
His father, William Adair (1754-1844), inherited Benwell Tower (Northumberland) from his father-in-law, which he sold c.1831; and Flixton Park (Suffolk) from his kinsman, Alexander Adair (1743-1834) in 1834; this he made over to his eldest son (Robert). At his death, Ballymena also passed to his eldest son.
Adair Baronets
Adair Baronetcy, of Flixton Hall in the County of Suffolk, was a title in the Baronetage of the United Kingdom given to a distinguished branch of the Adair Family.[1] It was created on 2 August 1838 for Robert Adair. He was succeeded by his eldest son, the second Baronet, Robert who sat as Member of Parliament for Cambridge. In 1873 he was created Baron Waveney, of South Elmham in the County of Suffolk, in the Peerage of the United Kingdom for services rendered as Lord-Lieutenant of County Antrim and Aide-de-Camp to Her Majesty Queen Victoria of England.[2] The barony became extinct on his death in 1886 while he was succeeded in the baronetcy by his younger brother, Hugh Adair, the third Baronet. The latter had earlier represented Ipswich in Parliament. Two of his sons, the fourth and fifth Baronets, both succeeded in the title. The fifth Baronet's son, the sixth Baronet, was a Major-General in the British Army during World War II. The title became extinct on the latter's death in 1988.
- See Also Adair Family Ancestry.
- See Also Ballymena Castle - primary family estate in County Antrim, Northern Ireland.
Ballymena Castle
From a postcard of the early 20th Century.
Ballymena Castle was a large estate located in the village of Ballymena in County Antrim, Northern Ireland. The land was first given to the Adair family by King Charles I in 1626, with a right to hold two annual fairs and a free Saturday market in perpetuity. As of 2018, the Saturday market still runs.
The Adairs were active in helping Scotch settlers settle the "Ulster Plantation" in Northern Ireland. In the 1600s Sir Robert Adair (d. 1655) built Ballymena Castle as a centre for their Irish estates. But a great portion of the Adair Family continued at their main residence in Kilhilt Tower in Wigtownshire, Scotland. For time Ballymena was renamed "Kinhiltshire".
In 1865, one of the key descendants, Robert Alexander Shafto Adair (2nd Baronet Adair) made extensive modifications to the castle. But in the 20th century, the placed was little used, becoming victim to vandalism and arson before being sold and demolished in 1957. The Adairs sold much of the surrounding landholdings to their tenants.
In 1753, William Adair (1700-83), a great-great-grandson of Ninian Adair of Kinhilt (d. c.1608), who had made a fortune as an Army agent, purchased the Flixton Hall estate in Suffolk from the heirs of the last of the Tasburgh family (q.v.). At his death he bequeathed Flixton to his nephew Alexander Adair (1743-1834), who followed him into business as an army agent, in preference to his natural son or his daughter Jane, the wife of Edward Brice. Alexander died without issue, and bequeathed Flixton his distant kinsman, (Hugh) William Adair of Ballymena (1754-1844), who had married the daughter and heir of Robert Shafto of Benwell Tower in Northumberland. Hugh had purchased Heatherton Park (Somerset) in 1807 and Colehayes Park (aka Colehouse) (Devon) – which he rebuilt – in 1825, and sold Benwell Tower after his wife’s death in 1827. Heatherton and Colehouse were bequeathed to his younger son, Alexander (see Adair of Heatherton Park), while the Flixton and Ballymena estates were settled on the elder, Sir Robert Shafto Adair, 1st baronet. In 1846, the Jacobean house of the Tasburghs at Flixton was severely damaged by fire, and Sir Robert employed Anthony Salvin to carry out a reconstruction. The house at Ballymena was let at this period, being occupied in 1837 by P. Cannon esq. Sir Robert also bought Wingfield Castle in Suffolk, then little more than a farm, which remained in the family until the 1980s but was let and restored in the 1940s.
Marriage and Family
- Robert Alexander Shafto Adair (1811-1886), 2d Baronet Adair
- Hugh Edward Adair (1815-1902), 3d Baronet Adair
Children
| Name | Birth | Death | Joined with |
| Robert Alexander Shafto Adair (1811-1886) | 25 August 1811 Suffolk, England, United Kingdom | 5 February 1886 England, United Kingdom | Theodosia Meade (1811-1871) |
| Hugh Edward Adair (1815-1902) | 26 December 1815 Suffolk, England, United Kingdom | 2 March 1902 Tunbridge Wells, Kent, England, United Kingdom | Harriet Camilla Adair (1838-1909) |
Siblings
| Name | Birth | Death | Joined with |
| Robert Shafto Adair (1786-1869) | 26 June 1786 Ballymena, County Antrim, Northern Ireland, United Kingdom | 24 February 1869 | Elizabeth Maria Strode (1792-1853) Jane Anne Clarkson (1813-1873) |
| William Robert Adair (1788-1844) | |||
| Alexander Adair (1791-1863) | 8 September 1791 Durham, Durham, England, United Kingdom | 22 November 1863 Wells, Somerset, England, United Kingdom | Harriet Eliza Atkinson (1793-1878) |
| Camilla Anne Adair (1793-1822) | |||
Residences
See Also
- Robert Adair
- Adair Family
- Adair Family Ancestry
- Adair in County Antrim
- Adair in Sussex
References
- Sir Robert Shafto Adair, 1st Bt. at thePeerage
- Sir Robert Shafto Adair, 1st Bt - Geni.com
- Townend, Peter. Burke's Peerage and Baronetage, 105th edition. London, U.K.: Burke's Peerage Ltd, 1970.
- Adair of Ballymena Castle and Flixton Hall, Baronets - Landed Families of England Blog.
| Baronetage of the United Kingdom | ||
|---|---|---|
| New title | Baronet Adair (of Flixton Hall, Suffolk) 1838–1869 |
Succeeded by Robert Alexander Shafto Adair (1811-1886) |