The Story
So, this story starts with Archibald Menzies of Weem (1754 - 1842) the monkey puzzle man who originally brought seeds on to his ship in Chile. His life overlaps with that of Grace Menzies (who was the daughter of the Sixth Baronet Menzies of Weem.) Her full name was Grace Charlotte Ellen Augusta (or Valentine) Menzies. In March 1856 she marries Aeneas William Mackintosh of Raigmore (1819 - 1900). Aeneas and Grace lived at Raigmore House, Inverness. The house was large and built new about 1810 for Lauchlan Mackintosh when he came back from India. When Lauchlan dies in 1845 the estate passes to Aeneas Macintosh of Raigmore. The tree is a female. It is unfenced and can be visited 24/7. It is close enough to other male trees in Inverness to be capable of producing fertile seeds. So in 1842, when Aeneas Macintosh and Grace Menzies marry, Aeneas is just 23. He dies in 1900 aged 81. He later became an MP and Liberal politician and held many local positions in Inverness-shire. They had no offspring. The house was used in WW2 as a military base and hospital. The house was demolished in 1965. Some of the land was used for local authority housing and the remainder for the Raigmore Hospital complex we see today. The monkey puzzle tree that dominates the vicinity today dates from between 1845 and 1900, and probably to the earlier end of this range - when Aeneas and Grace were recently married and living at Raigmore House.
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