Gallery

Captain Archibald Alexander Speirs 1841 – 1868 (father of Alexander Archibald Hagart Speirs). Married Lady Anne Pleydell Bouverie in 1867, died of typhoid from the Clyde 1868. Educated Eton and Oxford, served in the 7th Hussars. MP for Renfrewshire 1865. Grand Master Mason of Scotland.

Houston Church 1884. This, the present church, was built in memory of Captain Archibald Alexander Speirs by his mother.

Boating on the lake at Houston 1890. The boat is one of a pair of seagoing kayaks built at the Eton Boat House and still at Houston.

Thomas Burnett, Head Gamekeeper, 1891, aged 59. At the time of the 1881 census he lived at Langdales Cottage with his wife Catherine, his daughter Euphemia and his sons John (25, bank clerk), Thomas (19, apprentice joiner), Archibald (17, game watcher) and William (10, scholar).

4 Hill Street, just off Berkeley Square, Mayfair 1885. 4 Hill Street was the London home of Lady Anne Speirs.

Alexander Archibald Hagart Speirs (1869 – 1958) in militia uniform on the steps of Houston House c.1889

Alexander Archibald Hagart Speirs and his mother Lady Anne Speirs at Houston c 1880. The large portrait behind is Lady Anne’s father, Jacob, 4th Earl of Radnor.

Alexander Archibald Hagart Speirs

Boating on the lake at Houston 1890. The boat is one of a pair of seagoing kayaks built at the Eton Boat House and still at Houston.

Alexander Archibald Hagart Speirs and his mother Lady Anne Speirs in a skiff at Houston 1885.

Houston Stables

Elderslie House 1884. Built by Alexander Speirs and finished in 1782, the year of his death, this was the principal family residence until 1870. The house was demolished in the 1920s and is now the site of Braehead Shopping Centre.

Eton High Street at Barnes Pool Bridge

Eton College outside School Yard

A A Speir’s boarding house at Eton 1884. Baldwins Bec was demolished and rebuilt in 1964. Note Lady Anne’s annotation in the left margin – “sons bedroom”

Eton College School Yard in 1884 when Alexander Archibald Hagart Speirs was there (and probably took the photographs). The statue of the Founder Henry IV is in the centre. The scene remains unchanged today.

Eton College Chapel interior 1884. Although the school was founded in 1440, progress on the Chapel was slow and it was eventually finished in the late 1470s as a much smaller version of its founders intentions. In 1921 the stall canopies on the left were removed to reveal a series of medieval wall paintings, the best surviving in England. Dating from 1479 – 1487 they were whitewashed over by the school barber in the Reformation and subsequently forgotten.

Houston Church 1884. This, the present church, was built in memory of Captain Archibald Alexander Speirs by his mother.

Houston House as it was in the 1890s before the Tower, library and hall were added.

A A Speir’s boarding house at Eton 1884. Baldwins Bec was demolished and rebuilt in 1964. Note Lady Anne’s annotation in the left margin – “sons bedroom”.

Houston House c 1915. The tower was the last of Lady Anne’s projects. Since leaving Elderslie House in 1870 she had transformed it from a simple shooting lodge to a country mansion in the best Scottish Baronial style.

Houston Church 1884. This, the present church, was built in memory of Captain Archibald Alexander Speirs by his mother.

Houston House in the snow c 1885.

Houston House 1890.

The Lily Pond at Houston. On the drive between the House and the Kitchen Garden they were briefly restored in the 1960s but soon silted up again.

Houston House c 1915

A staff group, Houston House. Thomas Burnett, gamekeeper with other senior members of staff. Possibly Cook, Chambermaid, Housekeeper, Butler and Head Gardener. At that time there were in the region of ten indoor staff and fourteen outdoor.

Houston House 1884

Kilallan Kirk 1884. When the parishes of Houston and Kilallan were merged in 1760, this church became redundant, being last regularly used in 1771. It is a Scheduled Ancient Monument whose origins go back to the 10th or 11th Century. In 2005 the Kilallan Kirk Preservation Trust was set up to halt the decline of this nationally important building. The manse behind is reputed to be Renfrewshire’s oldest inhabited building.

Lady Anne Speirs, 1898, aged 43.

Mr Myles the Factor (Estate Manager).

Houston Lake 1885. the lake was subsequently enlarged and the House in the background acquired its tower.

The view from Bogston Hill in 1884. In the left background is Barochan House and right background Houston House. In the left middle ground are the Stables (now demolished and the site of the Medical Centre) and Houston Church.

Houston House 1885. Butler and Coachman with Viva and Gift in the traces and Smut the dog.