William Burnes


1721 - 1784

Farmer and father of the poet Robert Burns. Born in Dunnottar (Aberdeenshire), he trained as a gardener at Inverugie Castle with the Keith Earls Marischal, and then in Edinburgh with Sir Thomas Hope before moving to a similar role in Ayrshire. In 1757, Burnes acquired a modest area of land in Alloway to grow produce for sale and built a cottage there, while working as a gardener on the Doonholm Estate. The same year he married Agnes Broun (1732 - 1820) and their first child, Robert Burns, was born two years later. In 1777 the family moved to Lochlea, where he died. He lies buried in the churchyard of Kirk Alloway.


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