census

Blanefield Smithy

Blanefield Smithy

Blanefield’s charming art gallery is housed in a smithy that is thought to be around 300 years old, though its exact age is unknown. It is certainly one of the very oldest surviving buildings in the parish of Strathblane. It appears on John Grassom’s map of the area...

read more
Duntreath and the Edmonstones

Duntreath and the Edmonstones

A Brief History of Duntreath Castle and the Edmonstone FamilyBy Juliet Edmonstone Originally thought to have been of Flemish stock, the Edmonstone family are said to have come to Scotland in the train of Princess Margaret who became the Queen of Malcolm Canmore III...

read more
Dumbrock Mills and Bleachfields

Dumbrock Mills and Bleachfields

Stained Glass panel from Maryhill Burgh Halls showing bleachfield workers The abundance of water meant that bleaching and water-driven industries were commonplace in the parish in the 18th century and lasted well into the 19th century. By 1870 most of them had closed...

read more
Missing Men – George Douglas Wilson

Missing Men – George Douglas Wilson

George Wilson’s Gravestone George Douglas Wilson, Lt Royal Field Artillery, aged 45 The country edition of the Stirling Observer of September 23 1916 contains a simple stark sentence in its war news: “Lieut. Col. Douglas Wilson, Royal Field Artillery, late of...

read more
Missing Men – John Douglas Walker

Missing Men – John Douglas Walker

John Douglas Walker, Gunner Royal Garrison Artillery, aged 36 It is easy to imagine the wife and children of Gunner John Douglas Walker celebrating the news of the Armistice of 1918 and joyfully anticipating his return to Blanefield from the Front. It was a Monday...

read more
Missing Men – William Rankin McLintock

Missing Men – William Rankin McLintock

William Rankin McLintock, Private Royal Canadian Dragoons, aged 30. William McLintock’s Gravestone A brief bleak item appeared in the Milngavie & Bearsden Herald in July 1917. Under the headline “Strathblane Soldier Killed”, it noted: “The past week has been a sad...

read more
Missing Men – James McLean Love

Missing Men – James McLean Love

James McLean Love, Private Seaforth Highlanders, aged 43. James spent a year fighting for his country and the next 11 fighting for his life, after being caught in the first German chlorine gas attack of the war.He died of chronic nephritis in February 1927, too late...

read more
Missing Men – Alexander Buchanan Gilchrist

Missing Men – Alexander Buchanan Gilchrist

Gravestone at Bramshott (St Mary) Churchyard , East Hampshire. Alexander Buchanan Gilchrist, Sergeant/CSM Reserve Canadian Infantry, aged 30. On June 6 1906 Passenger Number 192 boarded the Allan Line’s SS Carthaginian in Glasgow bound for Montreal with the dream of...

read more
Missing Men – George Cumming Gardner

Missing Men – George Cumming Gardner

George Cumming Gardner, Cpl King’s Own Scottish Borderers, aged 26 George Cumming Gardner was born at Muirhouse Farm, Strathblane, on September 6 1889. Having left the village in his youth to live in Craigton, his name finds no place on the Strathblane War Memorial,...

read more
Missing Men – Andrew Fitzpatrick

Missing Men – Andrew Fitzpatrick

Andrew Fitzpatrick, Quartermaster Sergeant Scottish Rifles, aged 37. Of all the First World War casualties with local connections and who do not feature on Strathblane War Memorial, the case of Quartermaster Sergeant Andrew Fitzpatrick is the most puzzling. Though...

read more
Missing Men – Robert Walker Macindoe Coubrough

Missing Men – Robert Walker Macindoe Coubrough

Robert Walker Macindoe Coubrough, Lance Cpl Highland Light Infantry, aged 23 Robert was born in September 1894 at Craigend Farm, Campsie Glen, the second son of farmer John Coubrough and Jessie Walker Macindoe, who had married at Knowehead, Campsie in June 1889. His...

read more
Missing Men – John Colquhoun

Missing Men – John Colquhoun

John Colquhoun’s Gravestone John Colquhoun, Private Argyll & Sutherland Highlanders, aged 19 On April 14 1917 the Stirling Observer reported the “death of a Strathblane man”, aged 19. In fact, John Colquhoun had never resided in Strathblane but was one of many...

read more
STRATHBLANE WW1 PROJECT: 27 JOHN DILLON

STRATHBLANE WW1 PROJECT: 27 JOHN DILLON

STRATHBLANE WW1 PROJECT: 27 JOHN DILLON, PRIVATE ROYAL ARMY MEDICAL CORPS, AGED 24. John's CWGC gravestone in France with a poignant inscription from his family Colonel Otto Elsner with "A" Section of 129th Field Ambulance "somewhere in Flanders" As Elsner names John...

read more
STRATHBLANE WW1 PROJECT: 25 ERIC FERNANDEZ YARROW

STRATHBLANE WW1 PROJECT: 25 ERIC FERNANDEZ YARROW

STRATHBLANE WW1 PROJECT: 25 ERIC FERNANDEZ YARROW, LIEUTENANT ARGYLL & SUTHERLAND HIGHLANDERS, AGED 20. In 1914 Eric could have avoided war service but it wasn't his style. Here, writing soon after war was declared, he begs his father to allow him to "jion (sic),...

read more
STRATHBLANE WW1 PROJECT: 24 FERGUSON THOMSON

STRATHBLANE WW1 PROJECT: 24 FERGUSON THOMSON

STRATHBLANE FIRST WORLD WAR PROJECT: 24 FERGUSON THOMSON, PRIVATE, SCOTS GUARDS, AGED 22. Private Fergie Thomson The Thomson family assembled en masse, probably for the wedding of Annie (back row, second from left) in September 1906. Fergie, aged ten (front row,...

read more
STRATHBLANE WW1: 23 MICHAEL STEWART

STRATHBLANE WW1: 23 MICHAEL STEWART

STRATHBLANE WORLD WAR 1: 23 MICHAEL STEWART, PRIVATE KING’S LIVERPOOL REGIMENT, AGED 29. The glasshouses at Dinneiddwg, the mansion in Mugdock where Michael worked as second gardener Michael joined Lowland Division Cycle Corps but was soon transferred to the Army...

read more
STRATHBLANE WW1 PROJECT: 22 ARCHIBALD (ARCHIE) LAMONT SCOTT

STRATHBLANE WW1 PROJECT: 22 ARCHIBALD (ARCHIE) LAMONT SCOTT

STRATHBLANE WW1 PROJECT: 22 ARCHIBALD (ARCHIE) LAMONT SCOTT, PRIVATE MACHINE GUN CORPS, AGED 27. Machine Gun Corps Archie Scott The Machine Gun Corps Memorial at Hyde Park Corner.The boy David is flanked by real Vickers machine guns encased in bronze. “He was a fine...

read more
STRATHBLANE WW1 PROJECT: 21 JAMES ROBB

STRATHBLANE WW1 PROJECT: 21 JAMES ROBB

STRATHBLANE FIRST WORLD WAR PROJECT: 21 JAMES ROBB, TROOPER, LIFE GUARDS (HOUSEHOLD BATTALION), AGED 21. Household Battalion “Having gone into this action 498 men strong, the Household Battalion suffered 348 casualties. 13 officers were also hit. The majority of these...

read more
STRATHBLANE WW1 PROJECT: 20 ROBERT RIGG

STRATHBLANE WW1 PROJECT: 20 ROBERT RIGG

STRATHBLANE FIRST WORLD WAR PROJECT: 20 ROBERT RIGG, CORPORAL GORDON HIGHLANDERS, AGED 21. Robert Rigg's grave In the early 20th century, well-heeled families in the Strathblane area began swapping their horse drawn carriages for motor cars. Some of those, including...

read more
STRATHBLANE WW1 PROJECT: 18 WILLIAM PATERSON

STRATHBLANE WW1 PROJECT: 18 WILLIAM PATERSON

STRATHBLANE FIRST WORLD WAR PROJECT: 18 WILLIAM PATERSON, PRIVATE ARGYLL & SUTHERLAND HIGHLANDERS, AGED 27. Above: Williams attestation papers from November 22 1915, when the family was staying in Balfron Memorial to the 51st Highland Division with Gaelic...

read more
STRATHBLANE WW1 PROJECT: 17 ROBERT ROWLEY ORR

STRATHBLANE WW1 PROJECT: 17 ROBERT ROWLEY ORR

STRATHBLANE WW1 PROJECT: 17 ROBERT ROWLEY ORR, CAPTAIN ARGYLL & SUTHERLAND HIGHLANDERS/ROYAL FLYING CORPS, AGED 30. Captain Robert Baird Rowley Orr Robert's Commonwealth War Grave at Lijssenthoek Military Cemetery, Belgium Painting by Frederick Alsop of...

read more
STRATHBLANE WW1 PROJECT: 16 DONALD JOHNSON MCNEIL

STRATHBLANE WW1 PROJECT: 16 DONALD JOHNSON MCNEIL

STRATHBLANE FIRST WORLD WAR PROJECT: 16 DONALD JOHNSON MCNEIL, SERGEANT 1ST BLACK WATCH (ROYAL HIGHLANDERS), AGED 24. The Stirling Observers lurid account of December 5 1914 describes the stirrup charge in its report of Donald's death. The entirely mythical "stirrup...

read more
STRATHBLANE WW1 PROJECT: 14 DONALD MCINTYRE

STRATHBLANE WW1 PROJECT: 14 DONALD MCINTYRE

STRATHBLANE FIRST WORLD WAR PROJECT: 14 DONALD MCINTYRE, TROOPER LOVAT SCOUTS, AGED 23. The Blairquhosh Meikle Tree and Donald's childhood home Report of Donald's death in the Southern Reporter. Floors Castle where Donald worked as a gardener. “Both as a civilian and...

read more
STRATHBLANE WW1 PROJECT: 13 JOHN MCCULLOCH

STRATHBLANE WW1 PROJECT: 13 JOHN MCCULLOCH

STRATHBLANE WW1 PROJECT: 13 JOHN MCCULLOCH, PRIVATE ARGYLL & SUTHERLAND HIGHLANDERS, AGED 34. Left: Report of John's death in the Milngavie & Bearsden Herald. Immediately beneath there is an item about soldiers' pay being increased to 1s 6d a day after six...

read more
STRATHBLANE WW1 PROJECT: 12 WILFRID BLAKE MOYES

STRATHBLANE WW1 PROJECT: 12 WILFRID BLAKE MOYES

STRATHBLANE FIRST WORLD WAR PROJECT: 12 WILFRID BLAKE MOYES, SERGEANT 8th ROYAL WEST SURREY REGIMENT, AGED 30. Wilfrid Moyes 1881 painting by local artist Frederick Alsop with the Manse where Wilfrid grew up in the foreground. Dumgoyne looms in the distance. Wilfrid's...

read more
STRATHBLANE WW1 PROJECT: 11 DANIEL MORRISON

STRATHBLANE WW1 PROJECT: 11 DANIEL MORRISON

STRATHBLANE WORLD WAR ONE PROJECT: 11 DANIEL MORRISON, PRIVATE KING’S OWN SCOTTISH BORDERERS, AGED 38 Daniel Morrison Tyne Cot Memorial Daniel Morrison M&B Herald October 1917 Tyne Cot, Zonnebeke, Belgium “Of a quiet and retiring disposition, he put his heart into...

read more
STRATHBLANE WW1 PROJECT: 10 ALEXANDER MITCHELL

STRATHBLANE WW1 PROJECT: 10 ALEXANDER MITCHELL

STRATHBLANE WW1 PROJECT: 10 ALEXANDER MITCHELL, PRIVATE CAMERONIANS (SCOTTISH RIFLES), AGED 36. Silk postcards sent by Sandy Mitchell to his wife at Duntreath Alexander Mitchel- family grave Strichen Parish Churchyard, Aberdeenshire Sandra Mitchell, Sandy's...

read more
STRATHBLANE WW1 PROJECT: 9 ALEXANDER LOWE

STRATHBLANE WW1 PROJECT: 9 ALEXANDER LOWE

STRATHBLANE WORLD WAR 1 PROJECT: 9 ALEXANDER LOWE, SAPPER ROYAL ENGINEERS, AGED 25 Alex Lowe's grave Steam train on the Somme 1918 with men ofthe Railway Operating Division Effie Lowe (MOBE) in her QMAAC uniform The lodge at Parklea (now Blanefield House) where Alex...

read more
STRATHBLANE WW1 Project: 8 WILLIAM KER

STRATHBLANE WW1 Project: 8 WILLIAM KER

STRATHBLANE WW1 Project: 8 WILLIAM KER LIEUTENANT HAWKE BATTALION ROYAL NAVAL DIVISION, AGED 24. William Ker William Ker RND 1916 Christmas Card “I crossed the blood red ribbon, that once was no man’s land, I saw a misty daybreak and a creeping minute-hand; And here...

read more
STRATHBLANE WW1 PROJECT: 7 WILLIAM GEORGE EDMONSTONE

STRATHBLANE WW1 PROJECT: 7 WILLIAM GEORGE EDMONSTONE

STRATHBLANE FIRST WORLD WAR PROJECT: 7 WILLIAM GEORGE EDMONSTONE, LIEUTENANT COLDSTREAM GUARDS, AGED 19. Willie, aged 15, towers over his classmates in Eton's Officer Training Corps his much-loved cousin Enid Dudley Ward The oil painting ofWillie that hangs in...

read more
STRATHBLANE WW1 PROJECT: 5 WILLIAM DEVLYN

STRATHBLANE WW1 PROJECT: 5 WILLIAM DEVLYN

STRATHBLANE FIRST WORLD WAR PROJECT: 5 WILLIAM DEVLYN, PRIVATE HIGHLAND LIGHT INFANTRY, AGED 22. Private William Devlyn, Highland Light Infantry, aged 22 Burnside, Station Road, Blanefield, home of William's mother, Jessie The Mons Star Diary extract from William...

read more
STRATHBLANE WW1 PROJECT: 2 ROBERT BLAIR

STRATHBLANE WW1 PROJECT: 2 ROBERT BLAIR

STRATHBLANE FIRST WORLD WAR PROJECT: 2 ROBERT BLAIR, PRIVATE HIGHLAND LIGHT INFANTRY, AGED 33. Robert Blair's grave Posters on Glasgow trams read: "Bantams for the Front -3000 wanted -Apply 46 Bath St." Around 1200 men quickly signed up, every one of them 5ft 3ins or...

read more
STRATHBLANE WW1 PROJECT: 1 JOHN YOUNG BARR

STRATHBLANE WW1 PROJECT: 1 JOHN YOUNG BARR

STRATHBLANE WW1 PROJECT: 1 JOHN YOUNG BARR, LIEUTENANT ARGYLL & SUTHERLAND HIGHLANDERS, AGED 23. Lieut. Barr, Killed April 25, 1915, St Julien. Eric Yarrow's letter of condolence to Jack Barr's sister Morag, May 7 1915, in which he compares the shattered landscape...

read more
Edenkill/Edenkiln

Edenkill/Edenkiln

View from Old Mugdock Road, where a lone cyclist contemplates the grandeur of the Campsies. Edenkill (now Edenkiln) occupied the heart of the community we now call Strathblane and was one of the three villages that comprised the parish, along with Netherton...

read more
Netherton/Blanefield

Netherton/Blanefield

"Nothing is now left of Old Netherton save the smithy and the school-house, and its very name seems likely to perish, for the factory originally called Blane Printfield has expanded to such ample proportions, and covered its environs with so many workers' houses that...

read more
Water

Water

Local Workmen with the Water BoardLeft to right : Tom McCulloch, Jimmy Baxter, Tommy Miller, David Getty , John Harkins The Glasgow Water Supply The Blane Valley is the final stage of what justifiably can be called one of the greatest civil engineering achievements of...

read more
Blanefield Printworks

Blanefield Printworks

The Printworks (from John Guthrie Smith 1886. Photograph by John Coubrough) Block printing is the printing of patterns on fabrics using a carved block, usually made from wood. It originated in India around the 5th century BC but did not arrive in Scotland until the...

read more
Missing Men

Missing Men

For various reasons, a number of men from the parish fell in the First World War yet are not commemorated on the War Memorial. These men are also therefore only briefly mentioned in "A Village Remembers", a book about the men commemorated on Strathblane War Memorial...

read more
A Village Remembers: Strathblane First World War Project

A Village Remembers: Strathblane First World War Project

Families of some of the men on the memorial A Village Remembers (pdf)Download Contents Foreword by the Wright family Introduction by Anne Balfour (nee Johnstone) Jack Barr, inventor’s son Robert Blair, gardener James Cartwright, joiner William Cartwright, storeman...

read more