Arthur Macnamara (1831 – 11 February 1906), was a squire of Billington near Leighton Buzzard in Bedfordshire, England. He is known for building in and improving the village of Billington. Early life Macnamara was born in Grosvenor Street in London in 1831. His family was wealthy; owning many properties, including a castle at Llangoed, Wales, a country house called Caddington Hall in Hertfordshire, and an estate at Eaton Bray in Bedfordshire. Marriage On 28 September 1854, Macnamara married Lady Sophia Hare, daughter of the local MP for St Albans the 2nd, Earl of Listowel. The couple were married in the bride's family estate at Ballyhooly in County Cork, Ireland. The couple then established their home at Caddington Hall. At that time, young Macnamara developed a passion for building. He embarked on the project of re-creating the lost castle of Eaton Bray on some land bequeathed to him by his mother. After building grandiose lodges and clearing and preparing the moated site, he seemed to abandon the idea, probably due to lack of funds. All was not well in his marriage, either. Sophia's father, a Lord-in-Waiting to Queen Victoria, was able to secure his daughter a position as a Lady-in-Waiting to the Queen's daughter, Princess Louise, Duchess of Argyll. Construction In the early 1880s, Macnamara began to acquire land and cottages at Billington and embarked on an ambitious building project, perhaps inspired by the building of Mentmore by Baron Mayer de Rothschild, which was only five miles away. At first, he built farm houses in the village, adorning each with the Macnamara cypher 'AM'. As Billington became the estate village, Macnamara began to build a manor house, which was a large, multi-gabled Victorian mansion. The grounds had stable yards, lodges, and farm houses. At Little Billington, a mile away, a lodge was built for a new principal approach to the house, but as money became exhausted, the drive was never built. A row of cottages existed within sight of the new drive, although as the landlord, Macnamara turned out the elderly occupants and placed them in the workhouse. Reputation Macnamara had a reputation for severity, and was regarded as someone who was cruel to the common people of the village. It was said that when he encountered any of his tenants driving sheep or cattle along the road, he ordered his coachman not to stop or slow down. If people did