I was reading an article on Loring's site that mentioned 965 as the oldest dunhill custom blend and became curious about the gentlemen for whom it was blended. I imagined him to be a well-heeled barrister local to Duke Street. That was not the case.
Edward Armitstead Baxter (1848-1933) of Kincaldrum, in the county of Angus, Scotland, was a member of a prominent merchant family. His great grandfather William Baxter was founder of Baxter Brothers textiles, the most successful and advanced mill in Scotland.
His father William Edward was a prominent Liberal Member of Parliament, Secretary to the Navy and later to the Treasury. His uncle David, a successful business man in his own right died without heirs and left his enormous fortune to the City of Dundee, where his Aunt Mary Ann Baxter went on to co-found University College.
His brother, George Washington Baxter was a colorful character who followed in his fathers footsteps as a Liberal Unionist. His dreams were dashed when he lost a race to a young comer named Winston Churchill.
This next bit is a little odd, if not wonky. E.A.'s son seem to have been John Alexander who fought on the Transvaal side in the Boer War. According to the book "Innocent Blood", John was reported to have spectacularly poor eyesight even with spectacles. Returning from patrol he lost his way back to his Commando unit and happened across a shepherd. Apparently confused by John's english accent the shepherd guided him to a nearby encampment. Due to his poor eyesight, John could not distinguish the Khaki uniform of the 17th lancers from that of the Transvaal commandos and was immediately captured.
A military court found him guilty of wearing "Khaki's"(the English Uniform) and he was summarily sentenced to death by firing squad. Now, just before this, the 17th Lancer's had just been involved in a friendly fire accident in that resulted in the death of their XO. Apparently, half the company mistook the other for Boer Soldiers. Details are scarce.
In any event , the English CO said before the sentence was carried out John asked for a pipe and a bit of tobacco. He refused a blindfold and stood before the firing line. His final words reportedly "I'm all right. Don't bother about me. We're both soldiers and have to die sooner or later. I'm not afraid to die".
The wonky bit-I don't know why an Englishman would be fighting on the Tansvaal side, particularly this Englishman.
Back to E.A., he seems to have lived a quiet, comfortable life. Aside from loaning a painting or two to the City of Dundee, there's little record of note. Though in 1901 he alongside all the gentry in Forfar were awarded the position of Duty Lieutenant which granted minor legal power but placed them below the Magistrates authority. Seemingly, he had plenty of leisure time to refine his palate.
Less than 20 years after his death his great estate, Kincaldrum House was sold by a land agent to a local farmer and quickly fell to ruin. The estate had a storied history going back to the 14th century and has been associate with at least one "dramatic Jacobite incident" (though I don't know more than this).
Doubtless someone with stronger google-foo could pull up way more detail but I found this bit to be interesting.
Suffice it to say, I'll be adding a tin or three of His Mixture 965 to my next order!
Some links for the interested:
http://loringpage.com/pipearticles/duntob1.htm
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/William_Edward_Baxter
https://books.google.com/books?id=QCyiA5yBTSIC&pg=PA93&dq=%22E.+A.+Baxter,+Esq%22&hl=en&sa=X&ved=0ahUKEwiwxuyjrI7SAhVIqlQKHQJEBiYQ6AEIGjAA#v=onepage&q=%22E.%20A.%20Baxter%2C%20Es&f=false
https://archive.org/stream/b24748894/b24748894_djvu.txt
http://www.fdca.org.uk/Burgess_List.html
https://books.google.com/books?id=Cp4zAQAAMAAJ&pg=PA39&lpg=PA39&dq=Edward+Armitstead+Baxter&source=bl&ots=q67O71x_KM&sig=kxduPkHYI-vNGTHpFYrDnGu1sVc&hl=en&sa=X&ved=0ahUKEwjbg4KQuI7SAhXIhlQKHcuVDMIQ6AEITjAN#v=onepage&q=Edward%20Armitstead%20Baxter&f=false
https://www.findagrave.com/cgi-bin/fg.cgi?page=pv&GRid=126970043&PIpi=129931848
https://www.monikie.org.uk/kincaldrum-house.htm
Edward Armitstead Baxter (1848-1933) of Kincaldrum, in the county of Angus, Scotland, was a member of a prominent merchant family. His great grandfather William Baxter was founder of Baxter Brothers textiles, the most successful and advanced mill in Scotland.
His father William Edward was a prominent Liberal Member of Parliament, Secretary to the Navy and later to the Treasury. His uncle David, a successful business man in his own right died without heirs and left his enormous fortune to the City of Dundee, where his Aunt Mary Ann Baxter went on to co-found University College.
His brother, George Washington Baxter was a colorful character who followed in his fathers footsteps as a Liberal Unionist. His dreams were dashed when he lost a race to a young comer named Winston Churchill.
This next bit is a little odd, if not wonky. E.A.'s son seem to have been John Alexander who fought on the Transvaal side in the Boer War. According to the book "Innocent Blood", John was reported to have spectacularly poor eyesight even with spectacles. Returning from patrol he lost his way back to his Commando unit and happened across a shepherd. Apparently confused by John's english accent the shepherd guided him to a nearby encampment. Due to his poor eyesight, John could not distinguish the Khaki uniform of the 17th lancers from that of the Transvaal commandos and was immediately captured.
A military court found him guilty of wearing "Khaki's"(the English Uniform) and he was summarily sentenced to death by firing squad. Now, just before this, the 17th Lancer's had just been involved in a friendly fire accident in that resulted in the death of their XO. Apparently, half the company mistook the other for Boer Soldiers. Details are scarce.
In any event , the English CO said before the sentence was carried out John asked for a pipe and a bit of tobacco. He refused a blindfold and stood before the firing line. His final words reportedly "I'm all right. Don't bother about me. We're both soldiers and have to die sooner or later. I'm not afraid to die".
The wonky bit-I don't know why an Englishman would be fighting on the Tansvaal side, particularly this Englishman.
Back to E.A., he seems to have lived a quiet, comfortable life. Aside from loaning a painting or two to the City of Dundee, there's little record of note. Though in 1901 he alongside all the gentry in Forfar were awarded the position of Duty Lieutenant which granted minor legal power but placed them below the Magistrates authority. Seemingly, he had plenty of leisure time to refine his palate.
Less than 20 years after his death his great estate, Kincaldrum House was sold by a land agent to a local farmer and quickly fell to ruin. The estate had a storied history going back to the 14th century and has been associate with at least one "dramatic Jacobite incident" (though I don't know more than this).
Doubtless someone with stronger google-foo could pull up way more detail but I found this bit to be interesting.
Suffice it to say, I'll be adding a tin or three of His Mixture 965 to my next order!
Some links for the interested:
http://loringpage.com/pipearticles/duntob1.htm
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/William_Edward_Baxter
https://books.google.com/books?id=QCyiA5yBTSIC&pg=PA93&dq=%22E.+A.+Baxter,+Esq%22&hl=en&sa=X&ved=0ahUKEwiwxuyjrI7SAhVIqlQKHQJEBiYQ6AEIGjAA#v=onepage&q=%22E.%20A.%20Baxter%2C%20Es&f=false
https://archive.org/stream/b24748894/b24748894_djvu.txt
http://www.fdca.org.uk/Burgess_List.html
https://books.google.com/books?id=Cp4zAQAAMAAJ&pg=PA39&lpg=PA39&dq=Edward+Armitstead+Baxter&source=bl&ots=q67O71x_KM&sig=kxduPkHYI-vNGTHpFYrDnGu1sVc&hl=en&sa=X&ved=0ahUKEwjbg4KQuI7SAhXIhlQKHcuVDMIQ6AEITjAN#v=onepage&q=Edward%20Armitstead%20Baxter&f=false
https://www.findagrave.com/cgi-bin/fg.cgi?page=pv&GRid=126970043&PIpi=129931848
https://www.monikie.org.uk/kincaldrum-house.htm
