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history |
Arthur Richard Dufty (1911-1993) was stationed to Edinburgh from 1943-1946 with the Royal Navy Volunteer Reserve. Here he came into contact with the owner of Penkaet Castle, Mrs. Marion Holbourn, widow of the late Professor I.B. Holbourn. The Holbourns had renamed the property Penkaet Castle from Fountainhall when they purchased the house from the Dick-Lauder family in 1922. The Dick-Lauders owned the property from 1681. Prior to 1685 the property was known as Woodhead. In 1956, following the death of Mrs. Holbourn, the proprety was renamed as Fountainhall.
Dufty, an architect by training, took an active interest in both the historical development of the house and its previous inhabitants, undertaking significant research in to the house's origins. During the course of his investigations Dufty collected a number of unique documents, paid a professional researcher to provide abstracts of papers in the possession of various depositories and was given, by Mrs. Holbourn, the research notes made by Professor Holbourn in the 1920s.
The culmination of Dufty's efforts was the presentation of a paper, 'Penkaet Castle, East Lothian: The Story of a House and its Owners' to the Royal Archaeological Institute of Great Britain and Ireland, of which Dufty was the Honorary Secretary. |