Month: December 2021

Independent Means

Mary Morris (1873-1951)

Donor    Mary Morris (1873-1951)

Painting

Figure 1. Captain Hugh Morris.  Artist unknown. Date unknown Acc. 2905  © CSGCIC  Glasgow Museums and Libraries. 

Donor

Mary Morris (1873-1951)

The donor of this painting was Mary Morris (see below) who bequeathed the portrait on 22  May  1951 as well as several other items.1 At the time of her death she was living at 67 Argyle Road, Saltcoats.2  There is no date or artist attributed to this portrait and there are several members of the Morris family named Hugh  but evidence leads us to believe that the portrait is that of Mary Morris’s great -great grandfather (see  Morris Family Tree below).3 Before discussing the life of Mary Morris   the Morris Family who came before her  will  be discussed.

Figure 2. Morris Family Tree . © J M Macaulay. * Probable subject of Portrait

*Captain Hugh Morris (1736-1786 or1819)

Captain Hugh Morris was our donor’s great-great grandfather. He was possibly born on 6 May 1736  in Largs ,Ayrshire. His father was John Morris and his mother was Jean McFie.4 After his birth the next information we have is his marriage on 31  July 1764 to Elizabeth Newlands at Calton then a separate weaver’s village outside Glasgow. Elizabeth’s father Richard was a weaver and Hugh Morris’s occupation is given as ‘mariner.5 By the time of the birth of their first child John in 1766 Hugh Morris  was described on the baptism certificate as a ‘shipmaster’ (captain)of Port Glasgow’.6 Subsequent children were born in Port Glasgow leading us to believe that the family lived there while the head of the family was at sea. Hugh and Elizabeth had at least seven children. All but Hugh (b1768 in Barony, Glasgow) were born in Port Glasgow between 1766 and 1785 including our donor’s direct descendant Richard  Morris born in 1776.7 Also there is a Captain Hugh Morris, shipmaster of Port Glasgow listed in John Tait’s Directory of the City of Glasgow 1783.8

There is evidence that Captain Hugh Morris was involved in Glasgow’s tobacco trade  with Virginia as captain of a ship owned  by  William Cunninghame, one of Glasgow’s foremost ‘tobacco lords.’  Morris was captain of the ship Neptune from about 1769 to at least 1781. 9 The Neptune appears to have made  at least two voyages each year. For example it was reported  in February 1775, ’A Manifest of the Lading on board the ship Neptune, Hugh Morris Master, for Glasgow 476 hogshead tobacco, 30,000 staves, 30 dozenHoops’.10 Then in July 1775 the James River Manifest Book 1774-5 reported ‘a manifest of lading of the ship Neptune, Hugh Morris master, to be 474 hogshead of tobacco,13,000 staves  and 40 dozen hoops’.11

In 1777 shortly after the beginning of the American War of Independence an Act of Parliament was passed allowing the Lord High  Admiral or his Commissioners to grant Letters of Marque to merchant ships which allowed them to be armed and to seize any enemy ships encountered in regular trading enterprises for the duration of hostilities. Any prize money gained from the selling- off of enemy ships and or cargo went to the ship owner, captain and possibly the crew. The Letter of Marque was given to the captain of the ship and a copy was preserved in the records of the High Court of the Admiralty.12 In 1777 one such Letter of Marque signed by Registrar Godfrey Lee Tarrant was granted to Captain Hugh Morris and the ship Neptune.13  

 There are two  further reports of Captain Morris’s  involvement in voyages to Virginia after the issue of the Letter of Marque but no information as to seizure of American ships. In 1779 the Chester Courant reported the arrival  at Falmouth of the Neptune from Jamaica  with  Morris as Captain. It is unclear if this was referring to Falmouth Virginia or Falmouth in England.14 Then in September 1781 the Neptune, captained by Morris, sailed from Portsmouth (presumably Portsmouth Virginia) to London.15 There is no information after this date of any further voyages.

Perhaps Captain Morris retired from sea at this time? Perhaps he had  gained some prize money from seized  American ships? Information on this point is speculative. Did he develop business interests of his own in America perhaps? James Robinson, superintendent factor  of W. Cunninghame and Co. who was based in Falmouth, Virginia reported in a letter to Cunninghame on 15 September 1774 that ,’Captain Morris…wants to go to Carolina to look after some old affairs’.16 So perhaps he had business interests there.

In The Biographical Register of St Andrews Society of the State of New York 17 the entry for Richard  Morris (see family tree above) our donor’s great grandfather, who appears to have joined the society in 1797 while living in New York, describes him as, ‘ a son of Captain Hugh Morris of the Greenhead, Glasgow’. Greenhead was an old industrial part of Glasgow north of John Street (now Tullis Street) in  Bridgeton extending into the Calton.18  There is  a present day Greenhead Street near to Glasgow Green which possibly took its name from the area known as Greenhead.

Jones Directory or Useful Pocket Companion  for  1787 lists a Morris ,Hugh &Son, manufacturers, Todds Land, High Street and for  1789 Morris ,Hugh & Sons, manufacturers  High Street,’ above no 16’.19  The family business was certainly known as Hugh Morris &Sons  in 1797 in a letter written to the United States Secretary of State, James Madison  by John J Murray Consulate General in Glasgow  concerning a dispute over ownership of ships being traded by the company to New York.20 The business later moved to St Andrews Square(see below). There are also examples of Hugh Morris & Sons  trading with Jamaica. For example in July 1802 when customers were invited to contact Hugh Morris& Sons  regarding freight and passage  aboard The Maria sailing from Port Glasgow.21

A map of Glasgow of 1807 shows a piece of land off Glasgow Green owned by Hugh Morris Senior.22  

Figure 3 Extract from Peter Fleming Map of Glasgow and Suburbs 1807. Reproduced with the permission of the National Library of Scotland.

 The Glasgow Sasines Register  1801 shows that a Hugh Morris   bought land in St Andrews Square off Glasgow Green23 and  The Post Office Directory for 1801  has an entry for Morris H & Sons  Merchant, 55 St Andrews Square  and in 1806 for Morris H Senior merchants 55 St  Andrews Square.  House, Greenhead.24 By this time his second son Hugh and third  son Richard appear to have joined the business (see below).

 It is unclear when our Captain Hugh Morris died. A Captain Hugh Morrice, shipmaster, died on 20 April  1786  with no indication of age.25 But a  Captain Hugh Morrise died 22 February  1819 aged 89. Both died in Glasgow and both were buried in the Parish of Ramshorn and Blackfriars.  However as there continued to be a Hugh Morris Senior mentioned in the various directories later than 1786 it is probable that our Hugh Morris(or Morrise) died at the later date.26 The alternative is that the name of the firm Hugh Morris Senior  was used by  his son  Hugh for several years after his death.

Hugh Morris (1768-1819)

This Hugh Morris was our donor’s great- uncle. The second son of Captain Hugh Morris and Elizabeth Newlands he was born on 21 March 1768 in Glasgow Barony.27 There is little information  about his early life and no evidence that he went to sea. It is not clear exactly when he started in  the family business of Hugh Morris and Sons  but as we know from about 1801  the business premises were at 55 St Andrews Square. Around 1806 his brother Richard appears in the Glasgow Post Office Directory at the same address.28

 In 1807 Hugh  married Jane Bannatyne  daughter of John Bannatyne of  Castlebank, Lanark.29  As we have seen, the Morris Family appears to have lived in the Greenhead area  better known as Bridgeton today and  many streets have  been renamed  for example the then William street is now Templeton Street around the area of the  former Templeton Carpet Factory building. By 1819  Jane and Hugh  had a house in St Vincent Street.30

There do not appear to have been any children as when Hugh  was thrown from a gig and killed at Pitcaithly near Perth in August 31  his  estate,  after making provision for his wife Jane, went to his brother Richard and  various nephews and nieces.32

Around 1810 a Hugh Morris appears to have become part of the firm of Morris, Kinnear &Co at 55 St Andrews Square and this partnership continued until Hugh’s death in 1819. They were listed as ‘merchants’.33

 By the time of his death in 1819  as well as being a partner  in the Glasgow firm of Morris, Kinnear and Company,  Hugh Morris was also a partner  in the firm of Ferguson, Morris and Co of St Lucia34 which suggests an involvement in trade with St Lucia. He left an estate worth £10,000 including the house in St Vincent Street and a house in Largs which he left to his brother Richard together with the  business property in St Andrews Square.35

Richard H Morris (1776-1827)

Richard Morris was our donor’s great-grandfather. He was born 28 July 1776 in Port Glasgow.36There is little information about his early life but one presumes it was spent in Port Glasgow with the rest of the family. Most of our information in this period comes from  The Biographical Register of the St Andrew Society of New York, which Richard joined in 1797. He was introduced as ‘a son of Captain Hugh Morris of the  Greenhead of Glasgow.’

 By the age of twenty Richard had moved to New York and had begun business principally as a shipping agent and commission merchant for the family business Hugh Morris &Sons. He was also part owner of the brig  Moses Gill which traded between New York and Greenock.37 On 16 June 1797 he married Mary Ford (1778-1840).38 They went on to have nine children between Agnes, born in New York in 1801 and Jean born in 1815 a total of seven girls and two boys.39

By 1799 Richard’s business was operating from 10 Liberty Street,  New York.40 He and Mary appear to have travelled back to Scotland around 1802 as a son Hugh was born there about 1802.41 Richard’s brother Captain John Morris, master of a vessel  The Hunter  went to New York in 1804 to take over the business in Liberty Street which suggests that was when Richard and Mary  moved back to Scotland. Unfortunately John Morris died of consumption in 1807 which brought Richard back to New York to settle up his brother’s affairs. Then  on 15  December  1808 ,along with his nephew John, he set sail on the British packet Chesterfield  for Falmouth.42

 As we have seen Richard went into the family business  known as Hugh Morris & Sons with  his father and then his brother  Hugh. In 1809 the firm of Morris ,R H  & Co merchants was based at 55 St Andrews Square as was Morris, H, Merchant. In both cases the home address was given as Greenhead possibly 63 William Street43 (later renamed Templeton Street) in present day  Bridgeton. Between 1810 and the death of his  brother Hugh in 1819 the firm changed to Morris ,Kinnear &Co still based at 55 St Andrews Square.44

 He was executor of both his brother’s estate, Hugh Morris (junior) and that of Hugh Morris( senior) of Greenhead, presumably his father. On 16 June 1820 an advertisement appeared in the Glasgow Herald  for the sale of

‘Property at Greenhead belonging to the late Mr Hugh Morris Senior ,extending to about 2 acres and bounded by the Camlachie Burn…’

 suggesting that as executor for both his late father and brother he was dispensing with the Greenhead land. It is also further indicates that Hugh Morris senior died at the later date of February 1819 but of course we cannot be certain.

  Richard was also  Treasurer of the Calton Chapel of Ease and owned a house in Rothesay.45

By 1824 Richard and his family were living at 24 Monteith Row off Glasgow Green.46 In 1814 permission had been granted to build a terrace of houses  to front Glasgow Green. The row of houses which was in three sections, was not completed until the1840s. The street was named after Henry Monteith the then Lord Provost of Glasgow. This development had been planned for several years, the plans having been drawn up by architect David Hamilton in 1812. Monteith Row was referred to as the ‘Park Lane ‘ of Glasgow where affluent citizens lived until smoke and industrial development moved them out to the developing West End.47

Figure 4. 1830 Map of Glasgow showing Monteith Row and Morris Place48. Reproduced with the permission of the National Library of Scotland

 In his will Richard Morris refers to his building a three-storey tenement in Monteith Row of which his wife Mary was to receive the  rental as part of her settlement49. As can be seen from the above map there was a short road called Morris Place  between the second third terraces  of Monteith Row which possibly takes its name from the Morris family. Mrs Richard Morris was living at 1 Morris Place in 1831-2.50

Richard had retired from business in August 1827  and died  in Rothesay on 22 October  1827 of cholera morbus  an old medical term for acute gastroenteritis. He was buried in  St Davids (Ramshorn) ‘in Capt Morris Lair’.51

Hugh Morris (1802-1851 )

This Hugh Morris was Richard Morris’s eldest son born around 1802 and the grandfather of our donor. There appears to be no record of his birth at this point but the UK Census of 1851 puts his birth around 1802 or 1803. He attended  Glasgow University from 181852 and then joined the family business.53

On 11 July  1824 Hugh married Mary Baxter  at the Chapel of Ease,Calton.54 Hugh is described as a ‘cloth merchant’. Mary was the daughter of Isaac Baxter who was also a merchant with a business Isaac Baxter & Sonswho were  grocers, confectioners, oilmen and wine merchants  operating from The Italian Warehouse in Candleriggs and from 137 Buchanan Street.55 At some point Isaac bought Rhinsdale  House close to Baillieston on the outskirts of Glasgow56  together with nine acres of land. There is a Rhinsdale  Tavern and a Rhinsdale Crescent in Baillieston today. The house had five bedrooms, a drawing room, dining room and parlour, servants quarters stables and coach house together with a large garden.57

Figure 5.Extract from 1890 Map of Glasgow showing Rhinsdale.58 Reproduced with the Permission of the National Library of Scotland.

Mary and Hugh went on to have at least nine children including another Richard born in 182559, Mary born in 1827, Hugh born in 1830 and our donor’s father Campbell Brisbane Morris  born in 184760. They  appear to have lived for a time at 48 West Nile Street.61

When his father Richard retired in August 1827 Hugh appears to have bought his father’s share of the family business by an agreed series of instalments. When his father died he inherited the family business as well as receiving £3,000 from his father.62

In 1829  the firm of Hugh Morris &Co Cloth Merchants was still operating but from 18 Hutcheson Street.63 By 1832 Hugh had become a partner in the firm of Morris Kirkwood & Co, merchants and warehousemen. Unfortunately the company  and the two partners went bankrupt in 183264  but the following year sees Hugh applying for a discharge of bankruptcy so he must have been able to pay off his various creditors.65 It is difficult to know exactly what was going on as no other details are forthcoming.

The family appears to have gone  to live  at Rhinsdale  House in Baillieston with Mary’s father as Hugh is referred to as ‘Hugh Morris Esquire of Rinsdale’ when his son Hugh Baxter was born in 1828.66 The present A8,Edinburgh Road, cuts through what was once the site of Rhinsdale House and its policies and stood where Kaldi’s (formerly the Little Chef) restaurant stands today at the Baillieston end of the Edinburgh Road.67

 Mary and the children were still at Rhinsdale at the time of the 1841 Census but Hugh was not there. There are two  entries for a Hugh  Morris  of relevant age in the 1841 Census. One, a seaman in Port Glasgow aged 30 and one in Mount Stuart Road in Rothesay aged 35.68 The Rothesay entry would appear to be the closest as the age is about right and we know Hugh’s father  Richard owned a house in Rothesay.69  This Hugh Morris  was said to be of independent means.

We can presume the family remained in Baillieston until Isaac Baxter’s death in 184870 when the house was advertised for rent probably by Mary’s brother Walter.71 As daughter Jane was born in Ardrossan in 1845 and son Campbell in West Kilbride (see below Campbell Baxter Morris) in 184772 perhaps the family then moved to Ayrshire. Certainly by 1851 the family was living at Sandlands House, Seamill.73 Hugh’s occupation in the 1851 Census is given as ‘retired cloth merchant’. Along with wife Mary were five of their children. Mary was twenty, Walter was fourteen, Eliza was eleven, Jane six and our donor’s father Campbell Brisbane was three.

In April 1851 Sandlands House was put up for sale.74 However it had not sold by 4 October of that year when Hugh Morris died.75 He was buried in Glasgow Necropolis.76

Campbell Brisbane Morris (1847-1924)

 Campbell Brisbane Morris our donor’s father was born  on 19 April  1847 at Kenningbrae Cottage, Seamill 77  in the Parish of West Kilbride.78 He was only three years old when his father died. By 1861 aged thirteen he was a pupil at Montgreenan  House School, Kilwinning while his mother, now a widow, lived at Springburn Cottage, Ardrossan  Road, Saltcoats.79

Figure 6. Montgreenan House Kilwinning. © Chris Hawksworth

Montgreenan  House  was built in 1810 by Robert Glasgow  a Glasgow merchant who had bought the Montgreenan Estate in 1794. Robert Glasgow had owned two sugar plantations  and 247 slaves in St Vincent in the West Indies. After Robert Glasgow’s death in 1827 the house was often let out.80

 Montgreenan School was opened in 1849 by Thomas R Wilson who  originally ran a boarding school at North Woodside in Glasgow. The school was  ’For the Education of Young Gentlemen’.81  Thomas R Wilson also taught mathematics. At the time of opening the school had three residential teachers covering Classics, English, Writing and Drawing as well as visiting teachers of French and German, Fencing and Gymnastics, Music and Dancing. Many of the pupils were from the British Colonies.82 We do not know when Hugh started at the school but perhaps he was a pupil on 20 August 1856 when the school went on a trip to The Isle of Arran  but unfortunately missed the last ferry home and had to stay the night on Arran. No doubt the boys found that an adventure.83

There are several examples of the boys donating pocket money to the local poor. For example at Christmas in 1856 they donated £25. There were four mining villages nearby whose inhabitants lived  precarious lives.84 In August 1861 the School moved to Sunderland so presumably Hugh left Montgreenan at that point.85

The 1871 Census puts Hugh age twenty-three at Clydeview Terrace, a row of villas on the north side of Whiteinch in  Partick  with his mother Mary now sixty-eight. His occupation is ‘engineer in steamships.86 On 20 April 1871  at 20 Laurence Place, Partick, Campbell married Jane Smith Wilson, daughter of the late David  Wilson of Rothesay, a grocer and wine and spirit merchant. One of the witnesses at the wedding was Hugh Baxter Morris, Campbell’s elder brother.87

The newly-weds lived at 20 Laurence Place. They had two daughters, Jane born in 1872 and our donor Mary in 1873.88 Sadly Campbell’s wife Jane aged only thirty, died in July 1877 of a long-standing pulmonary complaint. She died at 5  Mount Stuart Road, Rothesay. Perhaps this was her former family home or the house in Rothesay owned by Campbell’s grandfather Richard. Campbell was still a marine engineer at the time of Jane’s death.89

By 1881 Campbell appears to have given up his maritime career as his occupation  in the 1881 Census is given as  ‘calico printer’. The family was living at Primrose Place, 219 Paisley Road. Also in the house was  nephew Hugh Low, a marine  insurance clerk, and a domestic servant called Margaret Milne aged twenty-three. Ten-year old daughter Jane died  the following year of diptheria. She died at 5 Mount Stuart Road, Rothesay.  As has already been suggested perhaps this was her mother’s family home or the house which had been in the  Morris family since the time of Richard Morris.90 Our donor Mary then became an only child. The family was still at Primrose Place in 1891 with Campbell’s occupation now ‘warehouseman/calico printer’ and he was an employee rather than an employer. Margaret Milne was still employed in the house as ‘housekeeper’ now aged thirty-three, assisted by a sixteen-year old domestic servant Janet Jack.91

According to the Valuation Rolls of 1885 Campbell  owned Mansfield Cottage, Howgate, Kilwinning as well as being tenant/occupier of Primrose Place. Mansfied Cottage was rented out.92 He was also a partner in Charles Cassils &Co, Calico Printers based at 13 St Vincent Place in Glasgow. The company went bankrupt in 189893  but by 1901 Campbell seems to have recovered from this as his occupation was that of calico printer but this time he was an employer. He and Mary were now living at 5 Walmer Crescent, Bellahouston with one servant.  Margaret  Milne was  included in the census as a visitor so she must have remained very close to Campbell  and Mary.94

The next census in 1911 tells us that Campbell and Mary had moved to  53  Glencairn Drive,Polloksheilds. Campbell’s occupation was ‘calico  printer/salesman’ and he was now ‘a worker’ rather than an employer. Once again Margaret Milne was  a visitor at the house at the time of the census.

There is no more information concerning Campbell Brisbane Morris until his death on 21 May 1924 at home in Glencairn Drive. He was seventy-six.95

Mary Morris (donor) (1873-1951)

As has been experienced many times before it is always difficult to find information about female donors apart from the little which is contained in official documents such as Census Reports. Mary Morris is no exception to this thus much of Mary’s early life has been covered in the above section about her father.

Mary Morris was born on 27 August 1873 at Primrose Place, Paisley Road Govan.91  Mary was the second daughter, her sister Jane having been born on 14 February  1872.96 The family had moved to Primrose Place ( 219 Paisley Road) in Govan by the time of the 1881 Census. Also living in the family home was Mary Milne, a general domestic servant aged twenty-three. Mary was seven at this time and was at school.

As we know Mary had lost both her mother and her only sister by the time she was  nine years old and she lived with her father and servants. She was at school at the time of the 1881 census . At 17 in1891 Mary was still a scholar97 which was beyond the normal school leaving age at that time and  suggests she may have either been at a private school or had entered further education of some kind but this is speculation.

 Mary’s next home was 5 Walmer Crescent, Bellahouston where she still lived with her father and there is no information as to any occupation. Again, as  at the time of the 1901 census, Margaret Milne was a visitor and again at the time of the 1911 census when the family had moved to Pollokshields and was living at 53 Glencairn Drive. Perhaps Margaret Milne, former housekeeper, had become something of a mother figure to  Mary or perhaps there is some other explanation for her continued presence in the house.

In 1911 Mary who was thirty-two by this time and  unmarried   with no recorded occupation perhaps looked after the house for her father as was the lot of many unmarried daughters. They still had one servant  Williamina Cunningham aged seventeen.98

Mary remained at 53 Glencairn Drive until 193099 when she bought a property at 67 Argyle Road, Saltcoats. This may have been a flat as there was another occupier of that address who appears unconnected to Mary. This remained her address throughout World War II.100 We have no information as to any involvement in war work as it has been impossible to access the 1939 Scottish Register at this time.

 It was in Saltcoats Mary  died on 19 February 1951. Interestingly on her death certificate her occupation is given as ‘artist’ but this was the first mention of any such occupation and so far no information has been found to give more details.101

Acknowledgements.

Many thanks to Chris Hawksworth of  Kilwinning Heritage   for sharing  his research on the Montgreenan Estate and Montgreenan  House.

Many thanks also to Jane Raftery of Glasgow Museums Resource Centre for bringing to my attention the Letter of Marque issued to Captain Hugh Morris in 1777

Notes and References

  1. As well as the portrait Mary Morris donated the following items which are in stored at the Glasgow Museums Resource Centre.

Glasgow Museums  Resource Centre Object Files:

  1. Punch Bowl  ref A.1951.38.a
  2. Vase              ref A1951.38.b
  3. Mustard Mill  ref A 1951.37.c
  4. Letter of Marque 1777.ref A.1951. 37.d (See Above p1)
  5. Two Toddy Ladles  ref A.1951.38.a

2. www.scotlandspeople.gov.uk Statutory Deaths. Mary Morris

3.The name Hugh Morris is very common and although every care has been taken to be accurate the information in the Old Parish Registers is often incomplete and errors do happen unintentionally.

4. www.scotlandspeople.gov.uk  Births OPR 602/10 186

5. www.scotlandspeople.gov.uk Marriages  OPR 622/60 162

6. www.scotlandspeople.gov.uk  Births OPR 622/20 286

7. http://www.scotlandspeople.gov.uk    eg. David- OPR 574/30/306 ; Robert OPR 574/30/255

8.National Library of Scotland John Tate’s Directory of the City of Glasgow 1785

9.Devine T.M. A Scottish Firm in Virginia. 1767-1777. Clark Constable,1882. pp113,155,201

10. https://www.history.navy.mil  Naval Documents of the American   Revolution. Volume 1 Part 8

11. As above p 1329

12. www.loyalist.lib.unb.ca.node/4439

13.op cit. ref 1

14. Chester Courant 01/06/1779 p.2

15. Hampshire Chronicle  17/09/1781 p.2

16.op. cit. Devine p.155

17. McBean W.M.  Biographical Register of the St Andrews Society of the State of New York . Volume II. New York, 1925.

18. Smart, Aileen. Villages of Glasgow . Volume 1  John Donald 1988. P43

19. www.nls.ukJones Directory or Useful Pocket Companion. 1787,1789.

20. https://archives.gov/documents/Madison/02-91-02-6741

21. Glasgow Courier 01/07/1802

22. https://maps.nls.uk/  Fleming, Peter Map of the City of Glasgow and its suburbs. 1807.

23.Burgh of Glasgow  Register of Sasines 1801. Mitchell Library Archives 1801 B10/5/10/11

24. www.nls.uk Post Office Directories . Glasgow 1801,1806

25. www.scotlandspeople.gov.uk  Deaths OPR 644/1 590 323

26. http://www.scotlandspeople.gov.uk Deaths  OPR 644/1 610 221

27. www.scotlandspeople.gov.uk Births  OPR 622/20 286

28. www.nls.uk Post Office Directories. Glasgow 1806

29. http://www.scotlandspeopl.gov.uk Marriages OPR  644/1 280 66

30. www.scotlandspeople.gov.uk Wills and Testaments. Hugh Morris (junior)

31. Caledonian Mercury  23/08/1819

32. op cit. ref 30

33. http://www.nls.uk  Post Office Directories Glasgow 1810-1820

34. Glasgow Herald 27/11/1820

35. op cit.  ref 30

36. www.ancestry.co.uk Statutory Births

37. op cit.  ref 17 p.327

38. www.ancestry.co.uk /family-tree/person/tree17218896

39. as above

40. op cit. ref 15

41. UK Census 1851

42. op cit. ref 34  pp.379/80

43.  www.nls.uk    Post Office Directories 1806,1809

44.as above 1810-1819

45. www.scotlandspeople.gov.uk Wills and Testaments. Richard Morris

46. www.nls.uk Post Office Directories Glasgow 1825

47.   Mitchell Library Archives. The Regality Club. RC4 4th Series. James Macelhose &Sons 1912. P110.

48. maps/nls/towns/rec/7507 City of Glasgow and its Suburbs c1830. Pub James Lumsden & H Wilson Glasgow 1830. Hamilton Street is now London Road.

49. op cit. ref 45

50. http://www.nls/uk  Post Office Directories  Glasgow 1830-31

51. www.scotlandspeople.gov.uk Deaths  OPR 644/1620 182

52. op cit. ref 17

53. www.nls/uk  Post Office Directories  Glasgow 1822

54. www.scotlandspeople.gov.uk  Marriages  OPR 644/1 400 276

55 www.nls/uk Post Office Directories  Glasgow 1828

56. UK Census 1841,1851

57. Glasgow Herald  10/04/1841 p.1

58. www.maps.nls.uk/counties Lanarkshire/Baillieston

59. www.scotlandspeople.gov.uk OPR 644/1 320 65

60.  op cit. ref 53

61. www.nls/uk Post Office Directory Glasgow 1828

62. www.scotlandspeople.gov.uk Wills and Testaments. Richard Morris

63. www.nls/uk   Post Office Directories   Glasgow 1829

64. Perthshire Courier 05/04/1832 p.4

65. Scotsman 24/08/1833

66. www.scotlandspeople.gov.uk Births OPR 652/20  113

67.Wilson, Rhona  Old Baillieston, Garrowhill and Easterhouse. Stenlake  Publishing 1997.p26

68. UK Census 1841

69. op.cit. ref 62

70.. www.scotlandspeople.gov.uk Deaths OPR Deaths 644/1 580 9

71. Glasgow Herald 10/04/1848 p.1

72. www.scotlandspeople.gov.uk  Statutory Births. Jane Campbell Morris

73. www.nls/uk Post Office Directories  Ayrshire 1851-2

74. Glasgow Herald  07/04/1851

75. Glasgow Herald  10/10/1851 p.5

76. The Glasgow and West of Scotland Family History Society. The Glasgow Necropolis. DVD 2012 .KAP104a

77. Glasgow Chronicle  28/04/1847 p.8

78. www.scotlandspeople.gov.uk Births OPR 620/30 239

79. UK Census 1861

80Chris Hawksworth Kilwinning Heritage  

81. Greenock Advertiser 15/01/1861 p.2

82. op cit.  Ref 80

83. Ardrossan and Saltcoats Herald 23/08/1856 p.2

84. Scottish Guardian  16/03/1855 p.3

85. Dundee Courier 02/08/1861 p.1

86.UK Census 1871

87. www.scotlandspeople.gov.uk Statutory Marriages

88. www.scotlandspeople.gov.uk Statutory Births

89. www.scotlandspeople.gov.uk Statutory Deaths

90. as above

91. UK Census 1891

92.www.scotlandspeople.gov.uk  Valuation Rolls 1885

93. Edinburgh Evening News 07/05/1898 p.4

94. UK Census 1901

95.www.scotlandspeople.gov.uk Statutory Deaths

96  www.scotlandpeople.gov.uk  Statutory Births.

97. UK Census 1891

98. UK Census 1911

99. www.scotlandspeople.gov.uk  Valuation Rolls 1920,1925

100.  as above 1930

101. www.scotlandspeople.gov.uk  Statutory Deaths

Private Means

Mary Alston Waddell Thomson (1876-1947)

‘There was submitted a letter from Messrs. A. and J. Graham, writers, intimating that the late Miss M. A. W. Thomson of Ridge Park, Lanark, had bequeathed to the corporation a collection of pictures and the committee, after hearing a report from the Director, agreed to accept eighteen of the pictures mentioned in the list now submitted.’1

The pictures selected consisted of five watercolours and thirteen oils. The water colours were:

Sir John Lavery R. A.   Head of a Child                                          (2634, Accession No.)

Sam Bough R. S. A.     Busy Harbour                                             (2635)

Jan Zoetelief Tromp   The Young Harvesters                                 (2636)

Janet M. Aitken          Trafalgar Square                                         (2645) 

This artist lived at 2 Woodlands Terrace until 1925. She exhibited at the Glasgow Instutute 1906 – 1920.                           

M. B. Barnard (?)        Shore Scene                                                (2648)  

The thirteen oils are shown below. Given the dates of completion, it seems likely that Miss Thomson purchased all of them.           

Figure 1. Park, Stuart; Vase of Roses; © CSG GIC Glasgow Museums Collection. (2633)
(http://www.artuk.org)
Figure 2. Park, Stuart; Orchids; © CSG GIC Glasgow Museums Collection. (2649)(http://www.artuk.org)
Figure 3. Park, Stuart; Daffodils; © CSG GIC Glasgow Museums Collection. (2650) (http://www.artuk.org)

Figure 4. McEwan, Thomas; Tea Time; © CSG GIC Glasgow Museums Collection. (2638) (http://www.artuk.org)

Figure 5 McGhie, John; Fisher Girls Landing the Catch; © CSG GIC Glasgow Museums Collection. (2639) (http://www.artuk.org)

Figure 6. Hornel, Edward Atkinson; The Paper Hat;  © CSG GIC Glasgow Museums Collection.(2641) (http://www.artuk.org)
Figure 7. Hornel, Edward Atkinson; In a Japanese Garden; © CSG GIC Glasgow Museums Collection.(2642) (http://www.artuk.org)

Figure 8. Allan, Archibald Russell Watson; Harvest Time; © CSG GIC Glasgow Museums Collection.(2643) (http://www.artuk.org)

Figure 9. Elwell, Frederick William; The Squire; © CSG GIC Glasgow Museums Collection.(2644) (http://www.artuk.org)
Figure 10. Jansen, Willem Georg Frederik; Milking Time; © CSG GIC Glasgow Museums Collection.(2646) (http://www.artuk.org)

Figure 11. Anderson, James Bell; Still Life; © CSG GIC Glasgow Museums Collection.(2647) (http://www.artuk.org)

Figure 12. de Hoog, Bernard; Tea Time; © CSG GIC Glasgow Museums Collection.(2637) (http://www.artuk.org)
Figure 13. Westerbeek, Cornelis; At the End of the Day; (currently under restoration). © CSG GIC Glasgow Museums Collection.(2642) (http://www.artuk.org)

Mary Alston Waddell Thomson was born on 14 December 1876 at 10 Moray Place, Regent’s Park, Strathbungo – one of a row of houses designed by Alexander ‘Greek’ Thomson but apparently no relation. This was the home of her grandparents after whom Mary was named. Her mother Catherine was born in 1851 at Wiston, Lanarkshire to James Waddell a coal master and his wife Mary Alston.2 Catherine married William Thomson on 28 October 1875 also at 10 Moray Place.3 Mary’s birth was registered in two separate birth certificates – one for Kinning Park and one for Shettleston which was her father’s ‘domicile’. Her father, William Thomson a rope manufacturer, had a house ‘Ferndean, in Shettleston, Glasgow.4 The family business was the Glasgow Rope Works which was founded in 1842 by William’s father, Archibald Thomson. The firm had offices at 58 Howard Street, Glasgow, and a factory in Shettleston. Archibald Thomson lived nearby at Braidfaulds, Tollcross. 5 In 1891 this was ‘one of the oldest houses engaged in this branch of productive industry in Glasgow. The trade of the firm is of world-wide proportions and at one time employed over three hundred people’.6

The 1881 census recorded Mary and her parents at Ferndean, 299 Main Street, Shettleston. Mary’s father was a ‘cordage manufacturer, master, employing 105 men, 95 boys, 40 females’. Also on the census was Mary’s younger brother Archibald and her aunt Mary Waddell.7 Mary’s sister, Helen Jane Thomson was born in 1883.8 William Thomson died suddenly and intestate at Ferndean on the 11 September 1888 aged forty-two.9 An inventory valued his personal estate at £1189.16.3. 10 Archibald Thomson then assumed sole control of the ropeworks and moved into Ferndean. 11

In the 1891 census the family was at Stockbriggs House near Lesmahagow. (Stockbriggs was a family estate owned at one time by Mary’s great grandfather James William Alston a wealthy Glasgow merchant one of whose sons Edward Richard Alston became a prominent zoologist contributing many papers to the ‘Proceedings of the Zoological Society’. He was elected Zoological Secretary of the Linnean Society in 1880 but died the following year. 12) In the census, the head of the household was John Waddell, Mary’s uncle, who was a coal master. Also present were Mary’s grandmother Mary Waddell, aged seventy-five and Mary’s mother Catherine both of whom were living on private means. Mary, aged fourteen, her brother and sister were all ‘scholars’. Also present were Catherine’s sister Mary McMillan and her family. 13

Archibald Thomson died aged seventy-four on 27 October 1893. Shortly afterwards the firm amalgamated with John Black and Co. to become Archibald Thomson, Black and Co. 14 They maintained the works at Shettleston until about 1911. 15 Mary’s grandmother, Mary Waddell died at 11 Newark Drive, Glasgow on 30 January 1899. Her death was reported by her son John A. Waddell whose address was 10 Moray Place. 16

In 1901 Mary was with her mother who was living on her own means, brother Archibald and sister Jane, at Cragieburn, Crichton Road, Rothesay. Mary was twenty-four, with no occupation listed. Archibald aged twenty was a bank clerk and Jane aged seventeen, was a scholar. 17 Archibald Thomson was a former pupil of Glasgow High School. In 1914 he succeeded his maternal uncle to became Laird of Stockbriggs. He was interested in agriculture and would have been keen to develop the land around Stockbriggs for farming but with the outbreak of WW1 he enlisted in the 16th Highland Light Infantry. 18 He served with the 14th Platoon, ‘D’ Company and later transferred to the 97th Machine Gun Corps. Unfortunately, he did not survive the War and was listed as missing in action on 2 December 1917. He was commemorated as ‘Private Archibald Thomson, H.L.I., of Stockbriggs, Lesmahagow, Lanarkshire. Only son of Catherine Thomson (now of Largs, Ayrshire) and the late William Thomson.’ 19

Mary and her mother Catherine moved to Largs possibly as early as 1914. By 1925 Mary was the proprietor/occupier of Moorburn House and Grounds on the north side of Largs. 20 Five years later she was still the proprietor of Moorburn but apparently, not the occupier. 21 Mary’s mother Catherine died at Moorburn on the 21 May 1931. She was eighty-six. 22 In the 1935 valuation roll Mary is listed as the proprietor of Moorburn and also of Moorcote House in Haco Street, Largs. 23 Moorburn House was described as ‘one of the most stunning mansions in Largs’. 24 After her mother’s death, Mary put Moorburn House on the market. It sold for £7,500 and became the offices of the district council in 1936. 25

On 26 May 1934, Ridge Park House in Lanark was advertised for sale. 26 This was after the death of the owner Maria Louisa Roberts Vassie the previous month. 27 However, the house did not sell and was re-advertised the following year when it was purchased by Mary Thomson. The house was set in nine acres of land and has three public rooms, a billiard room and five bedrooms with central heating, a garage, a tennis lawn and a greenhouse. 28

While resident at Ridge Park, Mary Thomson involved herself in local affairs and especially those involving the youth of the area. She ‘acted as inspecting officer for a Girls’ Guildry display in 1938 and expressed herself greatly impressed by the smart appearance of the girls. She also presented prizes and decorations.’ 29 The following year she was present, along with the great and good of the district, at the opening and dedication of the new Salvation Army Hall in Westport. She proposed the vote of thanks after the dedication service. 30 Towards the end of 1945 she was present at the re-opening of the Lanark YMCA Institute, which had been commandeered by the military during the war. In her speech she said that ‘the YMCA was the big brother of the BWTA the women of which had run a soldiers’ parlour in the town for three years and the YMCA had helped greatly. She thought it would be nice if the YMCA could carry on the work among the men who were returning from the forces. She was pleased that BWTA had helped them furnish their premises and she wished them every success.’ 31

Mary Alston Waddell Thomson was found dead at Ridge Park on the 21 April 1947. She was seventy years old and had died suddenly from heart failure. Her death was reported by a friend Walter J. J. Cook. 32 After a service at Ridge Park, she was buried in Cathcart Cemetery. 33

In her will, Miss Thomson left bequests to various charities and to her household staff as well as the bequest to Glasgow Art Galleries. 34 In November 1947 a sale of furniture and household effects was conducted by McTears auctioneers. This raised £5000 and was notable for the fact that a bedroom suite sold for more than £700 which, as the local newspaper reported, could have purchased a small bungalow.35 Miss Thomson left Ridge Park House and her estate of £74,000 to the Royal Hospital for Sick Children, Glasgow. She hoped that the house would be converted to a childrens’ or nurses’ home. However, the hospital decided against conversion and sold it to the local council for £8,555. 36

Miss Thomson suffered from a rare eye condition called side-vision which meant she could not see things in front of her, only to the side. As part of her bequest, she instructed that her eyes should be offered for research to either the Glasgow Ophthalmic Institute or the Glasgow Eye Infirmary. Both institutions turned down the bequest. 37

References

  1. Glasgow Corporation Minutes, 10 June 1947, Mitchell Library
  2. Old Parish Registers, FamilySearch
  3. Scotland’s People, Marriage Certificate
  4. Scotland’s People, Birth Certificate
  5. Glasgow Post Office Directory, 1880-81
  6. glasgowwestaddress.co.uk/1891_Book/Thomson_Archibald_&_Co.htm
  7. ancestry.co.uk, 1881 Census, Scotland
  8. Scotland`s People, Birth Certificate
  9. Scotland’s People, Death Certificate
  10. Scotland’s People, Wills and Inventories
  11. Glasgow Post Office Directory, 1890-91
  12. Bettany, George Thomas. Edward Richard Alston, in Dictionary of National Biography, , Vol 1,1885-1900
  13. Scotland’s People, 1891 Census
  14. Glasgow Post Office Directory, 1900-1901
  15. Glasgow Post Office Directory, 1911-1912
  16. Scotland’s People, Death Certificate
  17. Scotland’s People, 1911 Census
  18. https://www.highschoolofglasgow.co.uk/media/812654/biographies-part-6.pdf
  19. https://www.pagesofthesea.org.uk/soldier/archibald-thomson/
  20. Scotland’s People, Valuation Roll, 1925, Largs, Ayrshire
  21. Scotland’s People, Valuation Roll, 1930, Largs, Ayrshire
  22. Scotland’s People, Death Certificate
  23. Scotland’s People, Valuation Roll, 1935, Largs, Ayrshire
  24. http://www.oldlargs.com/Walk%20-%20Gnk%20Rd%20to%20Gallowgate%203.html
  25. Ibid
  26. Scotsman, 26 May 1934
  27. Scotsman, 7 April 1934
  28. Scotsman, 2 March 1935
  29. Carluke and Lanark Gazette, 28 April 1938
  30. Carluke and Lanark Gazette, 17 November 1939
  31. Carluke and Lanark Gazette, 26 October 1945
  32. Scotland’s People, Death Certificate
  33. Glasgow Herald, 23 April 1947
  34. Carluke and Lanark Gazette, 22 August 1947
  35. Carluke and Lanark Gazette, 21 November 1947
  36. Ibid
  37. Carluke and Lanark Gazette, 22 August 1947
Engineer

JOHN NORMAN LANG (1890-1965)

Our donor John Norman Lang was born in 1890. He was the son of Robert Lang and Margaret White Lang. On 25 November 1942 he presented to the Glasgow City Council a painting named Portrait of a Boy by David Gauld.

He came from a family whose name is famous and important among the mechanical engineering profession. The firm originally started with the grandfather of our donor John Lang senior, who was the founder of the world-famous engineering firm ‘John Lang and Sons of Johnstone, Renfrewshire near Glasgow’.

In 1874 John Lang senior, who had risen to the position of foreman in the engineering works of Messrs. Shanks of Johnstone, started his own engineering company with two of his sons John and Robert. They built small premises in Laigh Cartside Street, Johnstone. [1] Although he did not have much capital, he had the ability, pluck, and some fresh ideas on the subject of iron-turning, and with his sons they worked together to develop their business. Robert was the father of our donor.

The new firm called Lang quickly became one of the most important engineering firms in Britain and had a large work force in Johnstone. They had customers across the world, from Europe to Hong Kong to Russia [2] and accomplished a large variety of engineering jobs. At first, Messrs Lang undertook any kind of engineering work they could get, but gradually they discovered a special line in the making of lathes. [3] This discovery led to far greater success. Their little machine shop of about 70 ft by 30 ft. was gradually extended until it filled the whole space between Mary Street and Cartside Street.

In 1895 they had a visit from the representatives of the Institution of Mechanical Engineers. [4] Encouraged by this, the firm later took on 15 acres on the other side of Mary Street and erected splendid machine shops and a modern foundry on part of the ground. This whole plan of the new buildings indicated that further extensions were both possible and anticipated.

Although the town of Johnstone originally got its wealth from coal mining, from the beginning of the nineteenth century, the main industry was cotton spinning. The rapid growth of the town was mainly due to the success of the thread and cotton industry. The first mill in Johnstone was built in 1782 on Mill Brae. The others quickly followed until there were 15 to 20 mills at the peak of the industry. [5]

However, the cotton industry declined towards the end of the nineteenth century, and in Johnstone, engineering took over as the main industry. Many engineering firms had developed alongside the mills, servicing their needs. Among these, John Lang & Sons Ltd. was now one of the most prominent tool-making engineering firms. It was a part of the Associated British Machine Tool Makers Ltd. which was a much larger group of machine toolmakers. It had its registered offices at 17 Grosvenor Gardens, London SW1 and had agents and offices worldwide. In 1966, John Lang & Sons Ltd became Wickman Lang Ltd., but remained in Johnstone until about 1968, when they became Wickman Ltd. and listed their offices as 40/44 Colquhoun Avenue, Glasgow, Scotland. In 1991, a Wickman Machine Tool Co. Ltd. was based in Coventry, England. [6]

The first time we meet John Norman Lang’s name is as a one-year-old in the 1891 Scotland Census with his mother Margaret White Lang and his father Robert who was one of the original founders of the company. Then, he also appears in the 1901 and 1911 Scotland Censuses with his brothers William and Lawrence. In the 1911 Census, John Norman, who was now 21 and his brother William who was 20 were both recorded as ‘Apprentice Engineer’. His other younger brother Lawrence, who was 14, is recorded as a schoolboy.

On 27 November 1919, John Norman Lang was married to Jeanie Jackson Biggart. In their marriage certificate, his occupation is described as ‘Master Engineer’. This means that he was now a qualified engineer and worked in John Lang & Sons Ltd.  

There were also two notable Provosts of Johnstone, besides being engineers, in the family. These were John and William, our donor’s uncles. In particular, William was knighted [7, 8] for his services to his country and industry in 1937, the same year in which he was elected a Member of the Institution of Mechanical Engineers. Sir William Lang died 17 February 1942 in his seventy-fourth year.

Our donor seems to had lived a very quiet life, as there are very few records to be found about him. Outside the usual biographical milestones in his life, there were no other records apart from a shipping record found in Ancestry.com. According to the shipping record our donor and his wife Jean J. Lang were on board SS Empress of France sailing from Montreal and Quebec to Liverpool arriving on 19 June 1953. Clearly, they were coming from the Americas after a holiday trip. We just know that on 25 November 1942, he donated the above-mentioned picture to our Gallery through the City of Glasgow Council and at that time, he was living at Thornwood, Bridge of Weir, Renfrewshire.

When he died, there was a notice of the death of John Norman Lang in the Glasgow Herald of 21 August 1965 viz.:

Deaths:Lang– Peacefully at Thornwood Bridge of Weir on the 19 August 1965 JOHN NORMAN husband of the late Jeanie Jackson Lang – Funeral on Monday 23 inst. to Woodside Crematorium Paisley. Friends desirous of attending please meet there at 3p.m. No flowers or letters please.

References
[1] http://www.gracesguide.co.uk/John_Lang
[2] https://www.nms.ac.uk/explore-our-collections/stories/science-and-technology/john-lang-lathe/
[3] Op.cit. [1]
[4]https://www.gracesguide.co.uk/1895_Institution_of_Mechanical_Engineers:_Visits_to_Works#John_Lang_and_Sons

[5] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Johnstone#History

[6] Reference:  gb 248 GB 248 UGD 048.  Held at Glasgow University Archive Services. https://archiveshub.jisc.ac.uk/search/archives/57851a2e-95a4-38f0-84a8-6810dce2fc88?terms=Wickman%20Machine%20Tool%20Co.%20Ltd

[7] Op.cit. [1]

[8]  http://www.gracesguide.co.uk/William_Biggart_Lang