About the Shambellie House Trust

John is a member of the Stewart family who built Shambellie House. Born and educated in Edinburgh, holidays were mostly spent in New Abbey. He obtained a veterinary degree from Cambridge University and was a practicing vet in Surrey and Hampshire for thirty years. For the past fifteen years he has followed his interest in horses’ feet and their problems and continues to work as an equine podiatrist.

In 2012 he was inducted into the International Equine Veterinarian Hall of Fame of the American Farriers Journal and his book ‘Understanding the Horse’s Feet’ was published in 2013. In 2016, he returned ‘home’ to New Abbey from the USA and quickly became involved with the Shambellie House Trust.

Ann is a Shetlander now living in the small village of Mouswald on the outskirts of Dumfries.  She moved to the Scottish mainland in 1981 when she married her husband David who is a consultant radiologist at the Dumfries hospital.  They have four children and eight grandchildren.  Until her retirement she was Chief Executive of the Scottish School Board Association working with all levels of educational personnel. She has been a member of the Scottish Qualifications Authority, is the Scottish representative for the Quilters’ Guild of the British Isles and Quilter in Residence at Alzheimer Scotland. She has received an American Citation Award from the Mayor of Annapolis for her charity work through quilting for dementia, she was honoured to carry the Queen’s baton for the Commonwealth Games and was awarded a Point of Light Award by David Cameron, Prime Minister.  She recently received an award from Alzheimer Scotland for raising £100,000 for the charity through covering Hampden Park Football Stadium with 5,012 quilts. She was awarded the BEM in the 2020/21 New Year’s Honours.  With her team of quilters Ann set up ‘Shambellie Quilters’ and organised the first Dumfries and Galloway Quilt Festival at Shambellie House in 2019.

A Chartered Architect with a family background in haulage and quarrying, and a wide architectural practice experience.  He was based in North Wales, with commissions as varied as Windsor Safari Park and the cafe at the top of Snowdon.

He came to The Stewartry Council in 1980 as Chief Architect progressing to Depute Director of Technical Services, developing the Council’s Health and Safety (Construction) Policy before taking early retirement in 1996. The following period has been taken up with private practice. Apart from a general enthusiasm for old buildings he also brings experience from a commission similar to that which the Trust propose at Shambellie.

Jo was born in Dumfries and educated in Dumfries and Perthshire.  Her first employment was in the Education and Training department at ICI Dumfries. On marriage she moved south and while her children were young, she worked as a volunteer, notably being elected chairman of a committee running a hostel for single mothers when she was involved in mentoring the young women. 

On moving to Derbyshire she joined the WRVS and with a team of volunteers, ran the local Meals on Wheels service.  For ten years she was the Administrator in a care home complex.

On returning to New Abbey nineteen years ago, she started a small livestock business keeping Dexter cattle and coloured Shetland sheep and is still running the farm.  She was a Trustee in the Dexter Society for six years and was appointed as Chair for two of those years.

David was born in Dumfries and educated at Dumfries Academy and Heriot Watt University in Edinburgh.  David returned to Dumfries in 1976 and as a Chartered Surveyor worked in the Construction Industry for over 40 years, prior to retirement in 2019. He was Senior Director in McGowan Miller, Construction Consultants which he set up in 1990, a firm with a presence all over Scotland, as far north as John O’ Groats, as well as the North of England.

For over 10 years David was involved with the Princes Foundations’ work in the Development of Dumfries House and the surrounding Estate, as well as outreach projects in Braemar and at the Castle of Mey. David is married to Norma with two children and, to date, two grandchildren. David is also at this time a Trustee and Chairman of the Dumfries and Galloway Befriending Project and is a Past President and now Assistant Secretary of the Burns Howff Club in Dumfries and also a Past President of the Dumfries and Galloway Burns Association through which he is involved with the organising of the Robert Burns School Competition, which is held annually for all schoolchildren based in Dumfries and Galloway.  David also sits on the Heritage Committee of the Robert Burns World Federation

Stacie grew up locally and has her deepest roots in community development work.

Stacie is an artist fascinated by symbolism and metaphor and creates surrealist imagery to express the inner world of emotion and experience.

Stacie trained as a  psychotherapist and journalist and is inspired to explore meaning making and the stories we tell ourselves and others. Through conversation and the production of artwork she explores sense of ‘self’ and aims to connect an audience to that which is beyond ‘self’.

More recently she deepened her psychotherapy training to include creative arts, mindfulness and sound therapy