William Honyman

Sir William Honyman, 1st Baronet (December 1756 – 5 June 1835), also known by his judicial title Lord Armadale, was a Scottish landowner, and judge from Orkney. On his lands in Sutherland he was one of the first landlords to evict tenants in order to create sheep farms, a process which grew to become the Highland Clearances.

He used his political power in Orkney to return as Member of Parliament (MP) for Orkney and Shetland first his brother Robert, then his son Robert, and finally a younger son Richard.

Early life His father, Patrick Honyman of Graemsay, was a great-grandson of Andrew Honyman, a 17th-century Bishop of Orkney.

Sutherland In 1790 Honyman purchased lands at Strathy on the north coast of Sutherland from his maternal grandfather Captain John Mackay. The estate included Armadale, which Honyman later took as his judicial title.

Honyman was one of the first landlords in the north of Scotland to recognise the higher returns available from sheep farming, and became one of the pioneers of the Highland Clearances in which the people were driven off their land.

Family In 1777 Honyman married Mary McQueen, the daughter of Lord Braxfield,