a page from an album inscribed in the frontispage "F W Staines 3 Uplands St Leonards on Sea"
Amelia Jackson, Nee Staines (1842 – 1925) and thence by descent
Tarbet (Scottish Gaelic: An Tairbeart, in full Tairbeart Loch Laomainn 'Crossing Place of Loch Lomond') is a small village in Argyll and Bute, Scotland. Located within the Loch Lomond and The Trossachs National Park.
Traditionally on the northern fringes of the historic County of Dunbartonshire, it is on the banks of Loch Lomond, and has a pier. It stands on an isthmus where Loch Long and Loch Lomond come close. The village of Arrochar stands at the head of Loch Long, at the other side of the isthmus. Arrochar and Tarbet railway station, on the West Highland Line, stands between the two villages. The village has a primary school (Arrochar Primary School), hotels and bed and breakfasts, and a Tourist Information Centre.
Its name comes from the Scottish Gaelic word for isthmus, although Tarbert is the more common anglicization, and Tarbat also exists.
The village is formed around the junction of the A82 (Glasgow/Inverness) and A83 (Tarbert/Campbeltown).
The area around Arrochar and Tarbet has become the scene of "squirrel wars". The red squirrel is resisting the offensive by the grey squirrel taking place across United Kingdom, since there is a type of woodland they find more favourable than most.
- Prof William John McCallien FRSE geologist and landscape artist
Francis William Staines was the last of a family of merchants from the City of London. Not only was he a successful businessman but he possessed a large independent fortune, such that he could devote his time to the cultivation of his talents in music and art. He was a brilliant amateur violinist, and also loved to spend much of his time painting. His daughter Amelia and her mother accompanied Mr Staines as he travelled throughout the country finding subjects for his painting. One area of the country that they visited frequently was Scotland and the Lake District, and Amelia grew particularly fond of the dramatic landscape of the Fells. Skelwith Bridge with the view of the hills around it 43 was one of her father’s favourite scenes. He painted landscapes and maritime paintings , exhibited 11 works at the RA including views on the Italian Coast, address in London, Hastings and St Leonards on Sea Susssex.