HISTORY

Photographs of Glentyan Estate, 1922

Richard Hunter was proprietor of Glentyan Estate from 1898 until his death in 1939. He kept the gardens well maintained and invested in new additional features to enhance his estate. One of these was the creation of an artifi cial lake, now known as Glentyan Loch. Richard’s son, Charles was a keen photographer. When I was fi rst shown the glass negatives of his photographs, they were wrapped in pages of an old newspaper dated 1922. The photographs provide a unique visual record of the estate around one hundred years ago. The image below shows the rose beds to the rear of Glentyan House.

Glentyan Loch, and a full sized tennis court, were used by the family for leisure and recreation. The boat house also had a punt gun, used for fowling, moored centre front. A main feature on Glentyan Loch was the Japanese Bridge which separated the loch from the old mill dam which had powered Glentyan Corn Mill.

Charles Hunter’s glass negatives were given to me by his sister, Elspeth. She wanted them to be kept in Kilbarchan. Ian Trushell processed the photographs and the glass negatives are in safe keeping in the village. © 2021 Helen Calcluth, Renfrewshire Local History Forum local community, local life ............... 46 Local history

Listen Closely. Kilbarchan.

Photos: The Cross and Church Street 1900. Kilbarchan Pipe Band, post-war.

Despite the pandemic Listen Closely: an oral history of Kilbarchan 1900-2000, has sold reasonably well. Any profi t that it may make will be shared between Erskine and St.Vincent’s. People in the book have been delighted: ‘I read it from cover to cover and now go back frequently to enjoy many recollections. We now realise how many things we forgot to tell!’ The publisher, who was responsible for the layout, was pleased that someone ‘liked the layout, easy to read.’ Folk who do not feature realised how close their experiences had been to life in Kilbarchan. ‘The opening chapter reminded me of my village in Fife.’ ‘There were many similarities to my time in Girvan.’ ‘It was just like my youth in Edinburgh.’ ‘There are remarkable memories from local boys who could see Clydebank burning. My own memories of fi res at Thameshaven and of machine-gunning German planes remain...’ Authors Colin Campbell and Christine Macleod realised that the main strands of life in the twentieth century were shared throughout the country. Football, pigeons, childhoods, schools, work, the war, prefabs, national service, the cinema, dancing, roaming the countryside and farming were all different from today. Change is the underlying theme of Listen Closely. The book is available in Kilbarchan shops and at www.thirstybooks

e: info@advertizer.co.uk | www.advertizer.co.uk | SPRING April 2021 47 Johnstone History Society

Sadly as everyone knows due to the Pandemic and present restrictions the Museum has been closed for several weeks however as soon as restrictions are lifted we plan to open as quickly as we can following government guidelines. Our hours will be as usual Wednesday, Friday and Saturday from 10.30am till 4pm . Like the Museum our monthly meetings have had to be stopped so as things stand we will not be resuming this season but hopefully in September we will be able to resume as normal with whatever guidelines are in place at the time. Any of the books and publications we offer for sale in the Museum may be purchased online on our website at johnstonehistory.org and paid for through PayPal. We hope all our members and friends are well and staying safe.

Urban Historian - Weavers Project

Weavers of Kilbarchan – Who & Where?

The Weavers of Kilbarchan – Who & Where? Is a new research project being launched by The Urban Historian in April 2021 to research the people behind Kilbarchan’s weaving industry. A gofundme page has been set up to begin raising the funds to allow the research to proceed. The Weavers of Kilbarchan project aims to investigate the weavers of Kilbarchan Parish from the 17th Century through until the 1921 Census. In addition to the census information the project will also use contemporary 17th & 18th Century records such a Poll Tax, Hearth Tax and other Tax rolls to trace the rise and fall of the weaving industry within the parish. Working on the project will cost about £45 per day to access all of the relevant census data in Edinburgh over 26 days. All funding received goes straight to the project and will be used to access the records and produce a fi nal publication report. The start date for the project will be the 1st April 2021 with the intention to complete the project with 2 years. Why I’m doing this project While preparing a talk on the weavers of Kilbarchan in 2019 it became very apparent that previous research has focused on the weaving processes and the buildings associated with the industry and not the people. Being a genealogist as well as a historian made me start thinking of the people themselves - who were they? Can we put names to properties in the parish/ village? Can we trace the family connections such as children following in their parent’s footsteps or did they move into different parts of the textile industry in the area? Through the project I hope to answer these questions. Donations can be made at https://www.gofundme.com/f/weavers-of-kibarchan-who-where New Books Published In addition to the new project, two new books have been published by the Urban Historian in February 2021. The fi rst is “From the Cottage to the Castle” by Andrew Coats fi rst published in 1887 where Andrew describes his family’s history and then goes on to look at the rise of J & P Coats. The Second volume “Peter Burnet” is a new look at the life of Paisley’s black weaver, who during his lifetime was known as ‘Black Peter’. Peter was born in America and arrived in Paisley in the 1790s learning the weaving trade from Robert Tannahill’s father. He died in Paisley in 1847. Both volumes are available on Amazon. Everyone who supports the fundraiser will receive the fi nal report and updates on the project. We appreciate the support of the community. Full details of The Urban Historians schedule can be found at www.theurbanhistorian.co.uk Stephen can be contacted via email (info@theurbanhistorian.co.uk) or on 07557853960 for further information on any aspect of The Urban Historians activities.