Built by Daniel McNicol, first occupied 1865.

Andrew S McAllan

The first resident was Andrew Stewart McAllan. Andrew was born in Bonhill, near Dumbarton, to William Macallan, a calico printer. He married Margaret More Guthrie, daughter of another Bonhill calico printer, in 1850. Curiously the records show two marriages, one in Bonhill on 13 April, and then again the next day in the Gorbals – go figure. He lived in Great Wellington Street at the time (now Admiral St, behind the Old Toll Bar on Paisley Road West) and followed his father in the calico business, working for McAllan Brothers, calico printers of Renfrew Street.

Bonhill and the Vale of Leven in general were a major 19th century textile centre, the fast-flowing river providing water for bleachfields, where newly woven cotton (perhaps from Lanark mills) was laid out in the sun for months to bleach. Later the process was accelerated with cheimicals such as sulphuric acid and moved indoors. The fabric was then block printed to produce calico. The McAllan brothers, Andrew and John, appear to have owned the Dillichip Works at Bonhill, though they suffered financially in the early 1860s and were sequestrated. In 1866 the Dillichip Works were acquired by Sir Archibald Orr-Ewing, who had consolidated many of the works in the area, and went on to become a millionaire, MP and Baronet . Some get luckier than others.

The Dillichip Works on the River Leven in the inter war period. It closed in 1936. There is now a whisky bond on the site. Source: Vale of Leven Story

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Part of the terrace built by Daniel McNicol around 1865, in a street that was was originally to be called Annita Place. The house was first numbered as 35 Regent Park Square, but renumbered as 31 in 1929-30.

Alexander Brown McLachlan

Alexander was a son of Artt McLachlan, a portioner and publican from Luing, who ran his wine and spirit business initially from 72 Great Clyde Street, and from 1856 at 99-101 Great Clyde Street, in Glasgow. The latter property was just to the west of the Custom House and was known as the Custom House Vaults. While one son went to sea and another became a medical student, three of the boys, including Alexander, worked with their father in the wine & spirit business at Great Clyde Street.

The Custom House Vaults of Artt McLachlan, in later guise as St Mungo’s Vintners (between MacFarlane’s and the Custom House). Source: Glasgow City Archives

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The north side of Queen Square was built by Daniel McNicol to the same design as his terraces in Regent Park Square, and first occupied in 1866. Originally numbered 18, it was renumbered to 38 around 1929.

Matthew Waddell

Matthew Waddell was the first occupant in 1866. He was a hosier, glover and shirt maker at 122 Argyle Street, but also had several restaurants, such as at 126 Union Street. The 1861 census described one of his restaurants on Gordon Street as a “Temperance Dining Room and Coffee Shop, employing 8 girls”. He appears to have been present in Strathbungo for a year or less and later lived in Crosshill.

The Crarae Quarry Incident

On 25 September 1886 Matthew joined up to 1000 tourists on the paddle steamer Lord of the Isles to Inveraray. The trip was especially popular as the owners had promised to stop at Crarae Quarry on Loch Fyne to witness the last of the season’s big gunpowder blasts. The quarry was leased by Faill & Co to provide setts for Glasgow’s roads, and Faill’s had invited a party from the Glasgow Corporation on the trip too. With the steamer stationary off the quarry, it gave a blast on its whistle, and the quarrymen triggered the explosion, bringing down some 70,000 tons of rock in a tremendous display.

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