William Forbes of Callendar
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Sir William Forbes of Callendar (1756 - 1823) was a prosperous coppersmith and landowner who lived in Callendar House in Falkirk. Forbes was a self-made man. The son of an Aberdeen merchant, he began work as a coppersmith and won a government contract to sheath ships’ hulls in copper. With the fortune he made, he purchased the estates of Callendar and Linlithgow near Falkirk, which had been forfeited by the Jacobite Earl of Linlithgow after the 1715 Rising. He bought the estates at auction and is said to have astounded bystanders by producing a banknote for £100,000, specially printed for the occasion, at the age of just 40. At the time he was the greatest landowner in the county, with some of the largest collected lands in Scotland. He was the proprietor of the world-renowned Carron Iron Company, which produced all sorts of ironwork from cannons to fireplaces for use all over the globe.
Wishing to set himself up as a 'landed gentleman', Sir William purchased further vast estates in Ayrshire, Earlstoun, Kircudbright and Dumfriesshire. He spent ten years making improvements to Callendar House, dividing his time between the house and London. He gave orders for the complete renovation and refurnishing of the entire house, adding a new wing and ripping out old rooms. He added the various turrets and exterior decoration which give the house its chateau-like appearance today. Although Sir William preferred the newest fashion (and purchased the best furniture and household goods from makers in London and Edinburgh) he did not spend money
Forbes' descendants left the Callendar Estate in the 1960s and are listed in Burke's Landed Gentry.