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Lot Essay
The schooner Lady Evelyn was designed and built by William Fife at Fairlie, Ayrshire for the 3rd Marquis of Ailsa in 1870. Registered at 81 tons gross (141 Thames), she measured 94½ feet in length with an 18½ foot beam and was the first in a small fleet of yachts owned by Lord Ailsa, several of which achieved great success under his colours. Ordered at about the same time as the Marquis commissioned Fife to build him his celebrated 35-ton cutter Foxhound, Lady Evelyn - named for Ailsa's first wife, Evelyn Stuart, the daughter of Lord Blantyre - seems to have been intended for cruising rather than racing. Sold by Lord Ailsa in 1878, probably due to the completion of his new steam yacht Marchesa, Lady Evelyn was purchased by Mr. Francis Pym of Hertfordshire who kept her until 1888; her last recorded owner was Sir Roderick Cameron, a British resident of New York.
Archibald Kennedy, 3rd Marquis of Ailsa (1847-1938) was a notable early patron of yachting in Scotland who, in his racing heyday from 1871-84, won 113 prizes with his three most well-known cutters Foxhound, Bloodhound and Sleuthhound. He also designed several yachts and, after studying navigation, obtained his Master's Certificate in 1874. A prominent member of numerous clubs, including the Royal Yacht Squadron, he did much to encourage ship and yacht building in and around Ayrshire and was widely regarded as "a tower of strength to Scottish yachting."
Archibald Kennedy, 3rd Marquis of Ailsa (1847-1938) was a notable early patron of yachting in Scotland who, in his racing heyday from 1871-84, won 113 prizes with his three most well-known cutters Foxhound, Bloodhound and Sleuthhound. He also designed several yachts and, after studying navigation, obtained his Master's Certificate in 1874. A prominent member of numerous clubs, including the Royal Yacht Squadron, he did much to encourage ship and yacht building in and around Ayrshire and was widely regarded as "a tower of strength to Scottish yachting."