Below I have transcribed a report on Hunterston taken from The Castles and Mansions of Ayrshire 1885
HunterstonAs early as the year 1080 there was a Norman Hunter settled on the coast of Ayrshire opposite The Cumbraes, one of the Anglo-Normans who had come northward in the train of David 1., and who doubtless gave his name to the lands which his descendants have continued to hold down to the present hour.
Deriving his name from his office, "Praefectus Venatorum Regiorum", he must have been one of the first residents in Scotland who bore an appellation continued to his descendants. His office of Royal Forester became hereditary, the last mention of it being made in a charter granted by James V., dated 31st May 1527, by which the Little Cumbrae was conferred on Robert Hunter of Hunterston and his heirs, in respect that his ancestors
had been the hereditary keepers of the island.
As early as 1116 the name of William Hunters occurs as witness on an inquisition by David, Prince of Cumbria, regarding lands pertaining to the Church of Glasgow. Aylmere De La Hunter appears in the Ragman Roll, 1296.
In the family archives, in excellent preservation, is a charter by Robert 2nd to William Hunter in 1374. From a younger son of the house in the seventeenth century were descended the Hunters of Long Calderwood. A branch of the family which produced Doctor John Hunter the anatomist, his brother William, the founder of the Hunterian Museum at Glasgow and Joanna Baillie the poetess.
The ancient seat of the Hunters was originally in the form of a parallelogram, having its entrance to the westward, its eastern front resting on the borders of a morass. The greater part of this fortalice has entirely disappeared, a farm-steading now occupying a portion of its site - the only remains of the old stronghold being the massive square tower, in perfect preservation,
which formed its north-eastward extremity; to the southward, and attached to it, is the former dwelling house, the cottage shewn in the illustration being on the northern side.
The new manor house a plain building of four storeys erected about eighty years ago, has an elegant interior, and is now being considerably altered and enlarged.
Amongst many fine trees that surround the castle, a giant ash known as the "Resting Tree," is especially worthy of mention.
By his marriage with Christian Macknight eldest daughter of William Macknight Crawfurd of Cartsburn, county Renfrew, Mr Hunter, dying in 1880 - left two daughters Jane and Eleanora. He was succeeded by his elder daughter Jane, who in 1863 married Lieut.-Colonel Gould Weston. A direct descendant of the ancient Staffordshire family of that name, seated at Weston-under-Lyzard in the reign of Henry 2nd.
This officer distinguished himself in the Indian service by extirpating the thugs and decoits
who infested the Kingdom of Oudh and earned the praises of Outram for his skill and bravery during the siege and at the capture of Lucknow. In conformity with the provisions of the Hunterston entail Lieut.-Colonel Weston assumed in 1880, under Royal License, the additional surname and arms of Hunter of Hunterston. Lieut.-Colonel Hunter Weston has two sons - Aylmer Gould, born 1864, a Lieutenant in the Royal Engineers; and Reginald Hugh, born in 1869.
The late Mrs Cochran-Patrick, wife of R W Cochran-Patrick of Woodside and Ladyside, county Ayr, the eminent archaeologist, and M.P. for North Ayrshire, was the younger daughter of the late Mr Hunter.
The famous "Hunterston Brooch" was discovered in 1826 on this estate at the foot of Hawking Craig. It is undoubtedly the finest fibula ever found in Scotland, and is the only one known to exist in this country bearing runes.
The possessions of this family were formerly far more considerable. including Holy Isle near Arran, the little Cumbrae, and lands in the county of Ayr, Bute, Lanark and Forfar now of very considerable value. Hunterston is beautifully wooded, and the garden near the old castle, notable alike for its size and its antiquity, contains some shrubs and evergreens of great size and beauty.