Ferguslie

A brief history of the medieval estate to the 20th Century

Ferguslie today is seen as a large housing scheme – totally unrecognisable from its medieval origins. The name Ferguslie is most likely derived from “the meadow of Fergus” but who was this Fergus? We will probably never know.

The lands that comprise Ferguslie were given to Paisley Abbey, possibly around 1220 when Walter, The Steward granted the lands of the Forrest of Paisley to the Abbey. The grant included the forest that lay between the Black Cart & White Cart.

The link below shows the area as it was in the mid 18th Century in General Roy’s Map of Scoland.

https://maps.nls.uk/geo/explore/#zoom=16&lat=55.84325&lon=-4.44798&layers=4&b=1

The earliest recorded name with Ferguslie comes from the Abbey Rental book in 1460 when a widow, Matilde de Craig pays the Abbey £3 along with Cart Service on lands worth £6. (As a widow she would have been given a discount). It is highly possible that area Craigielea takes its name from her family.

The next named tenant is a Ninian Wallace paying rent in 1522 and 1523. In 1544 the Registrum de Monasterii de Paslet records John Hamilton obtaining the grant of the lands from John Hamilton, Abbot of Paisley – possibly a relation. The John Hamilton who obtained the lands was a descendant of the Hamiltons of Orbieston. The Register of the Great Seal of Scotland records John renting the lands in 1547 and becoming the owner of the lands in 1551. John Hamilton, Laird of Ferguslie died in 1557.

On Johns death his granddaughter, Margaret Wallace, inherited the estate. Margaret was married to a John Wallace of Elderslie – son of William Wallace of Elderslie who was Chamberlain to James, Earl of Abercorn. A condition of the inheritance was that Margaret was to change her surname to Hamilton which she duly did in 1609. She became better known as ‘Margaret Hamilton, The Guidewife of Ferguslie‘

By 1710 the estate had been sold to William Cochran, son of Colonel Hugh Cochrane, a younger brother of the Earl of Dundonald. The last Cochrane to live in the Castle or house of Ferguslie was Mrs Grizel Cochrane, sister of the 6th Earl of Dundonald. Grizel died on the 12th September 1753 at Cardonald, but on the 6th July 1748 her brother-in-law, put the Ferguslie Estate up for auction in Edinburgh. John Hare and Robert Fulton bought the estate on behalf of the Town Council of Paisley for £33,000 Scots or £2,700 Sterling. The town council held the estate until around 1800 when they sold the estate along with that of Carriagehill for the grand sum of £12,000, giving a nice cash boost to the town.

Until this time the Castle or House of Ferguslie lay to the north of the estate, close to the site of the much later Ferguslie Park House (known later as the Glen-Coats Hospital) of which only the gatehouse still survives.

The new owner of the Estate was Thomas Bisland, a wealthy Paisley Merchant, and son of the Town Treasurer. Thomas constructed a new manor house to the extreme south of the estate, naming it Ferguslie House. In 1811 Thomas became bankrupt and the estate was divided into two, along the route of the later railway. The northern portion of the estate with the old castle or house was purchased by John Campbell of Edinburgh. The southern portion centered on Ferguslie House was purchased by Miss John Maxwell of Williamwood, who in 1818 sold it on to Lorrain Wilson another Paisley Merchant. Lorrain Wilson upgraded the house and it passed to his son and then grandson in sequence. James Wilson, the grandson, sold it in 1845 to Thomas Coats.

Ferguslie House

The northern portion of the estate was passed to John Campbell’s widow – Elizabeth Barr in 1853 and when she died the property was sold to Thomas Coats on the 16th Feb 1872. The purchase by Thomas reunited the northern and southern estates of Ferguslie under one owner, but the northern estate was renamed Ferguslie Park, and in 1890 a new mansion was constructed for Thomas’ son, Sir Thomas Glen-Coats.

Ferguslie Park House often hosted large parties. In 1926 when Lord Asquith stood as the Liberal candidate in a Paisley parliamentary election the house hosted a large party where Lord & Lady Asquith, David Lloyd George and his daughter Megan along with Lady Bonham Carter.

Fergusie Park House

Sir Thomas Glen-Coats died in 1922 to be succeeded by his son Sir Thomas Coats Glen Glen-Coats.

In 1931 Woodside House, the neighbouring estate to Ferguslie House, also in possession the Coats family was given to Paisley as a home for mothers and children. This was through the will of W H Coats, another of the Coats brothers. W H Coats died in 1928 and his will stated the house should be transferred to the town council on the death of his wife.

Woodside House

The donation of Woodside in 1931 led to an article in the Paisley and Renfrewshire Gazette on the 23rd May 1931 calling on Ferguslie Park House to be given to Paisley as a replacement for the Barshaw Nursing Home (Maternity). It wasn’t until 1933 when Major A Harold Glen-Coats died that Ferguslie Park House was offered to the trustees of the Royal Alexandria Infirmary in memory of his parents, Sir Thomas & Lady Glen-Coats and Major Harold.

In 1934 the trustees of the Royal Alexandria Infirmary decided to convert the house into a 14 bed hospital with provision made for the number of beds to be increased or decreased as funds permitted. The Glen-Coats Auxiliary Hospital opened on the 19th July 1934 with 25 beds, due to a donation of £5,000 from Sir Thomas Glen Glen-Coats, his sister Mrs E H T Parsons and Major Harold’s widow. The hospital operated until 1973, and was demolished in 1982 after 9 years of dereliction and vandalism. Today the gatehouse and part of the garden survive.

Also during the 1930s the Ferguslie Houe Estate was given to the Town of Paisley by Miss Margaret & Miss Lily Coats, two of Thomas Coats’ daughters. The house was demolished and the estate was turned into the park we know today.

Based on work researched by Stephen Clancy & David Campbell in 1997 as part of the ‘Ferguslie Park History Project’ based in the former Fergulsie Park House / Glen Coats Lodge on Blackstone Rd, Fergusie Park, Paisley.

© 2021 Stephen Clancy

Paisley Canal Disaster 1810, list of those who died & survived

On the 10th November 1810, 10 days afte the canal opened, the duchess of Eglington, skippered by Thomas Rhodes was returning from Johnstone with an excursion.

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Awaiting the arrival of the boat from Johnstone, there was, in the forenoon, a large assemblage of people, mainly youths and children, who, in the enjoyment of their holiday, had been drawn to the Canal Basin, either from curiosity or with the intention to take a passage in the fly boat to Johnstone. As those desirous to go in the boat far exceeded in number its capacity to carry them, the crowd got excited and unruly, and to secure a passage pressed forward towards the banks of the Canal. No sooner did the boat touch the bank than attempts were made by many, before the Johnstone passengers were landed, to force their way into the boat; and in a few minutes every part of it was filled, and particularly the top deck, where, reckless of all consequences and not for a moment dreading danger, a number far in excess of what the boat could safely carry, were densely packed together, while other parts of the boat were equally overcrowded. The crowd on the banks seeing that the boat was in danger of being overturned from an excess of top-weight, shouted to the crowd of young persons to keep back, and to the boatmen to push the boat away from the warff; but some time before this could be done the boatmen found that they were quite unable to control those already on board, or to prevent others from forcing there way into it. But, alas, it was too late for the safety of those on board, the ropes fastening the boat to the bank were unloosed, and, being pushed a few feet off, the boat instantly capsized, and all the passengers who were on the top deck were thrown into the water, and the cabin was filled with water through the windows, those who were in there were thus also put in great danger, and some were drowned.

The list presented below shows those who died, occupation, address and age. The 2nd table shows those who survived with notes about those who escaped by swimming, and those who were seriously ill follwing the accident. (note s. is son of & d. is daughter of)

Additional list of people who were on the deck of the COUNTESS OF EGLINTON when she capsized, on the 10th November, 1810, and were saved.

Those marked Ϯ were extremely ill; those marked ֍ made their own way out by swimming; and those marked ɤ later died.

The information presented her was originally published in Vanduara, or Odds and Ends published by William Hector in 1880.

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© 10 November 2020 in this format.

Dark Events at Bargarran in 1676

Today when the name Bargarran is mentioned, we always turn our mind to 1696 and the last mass witch hunt in Scotland that led to the execution of 7 people in Paisley on the 10^th October 1697.  But the events that unfolded there in 1696 were preceded by a mysterious death in 1676.

In the Winter of 1676, John Shaw (Christian Shaw’s grandfather) died in mysterious circumstances, with his body being discovered the following spring, as though he had died the day before.

The account was described by Robert Law the son of the minister of Inchinnan Church, the neighbouring parish to Erskine. 

There was a gentleman, John Shaw of Bargarran, in Erskine Parish. He always used to ride across the water of Gryfe, which was between his house and Paisley.  The River Gryfe was often deep late at night. Being at Paisley one night, he came late out of the town to go home, something ordinary to him, and it being very dark, he came to the water side at the ford, (Allan’s ford). He called to his servant that was riding with him to cross the water first. The servant told him it was deep, due to high tide, and that it was also very dark.  John Shaw believed he could cross and set his horse to begin crossing the river.

The servant thinking Shaw was too adventurous stayed behind, waiting to see what would become of him.  When Shaw was halfway across, the other man heard him groan heavily, and then nothing more.  Suspecting Shaw might have been thrown from the horse the servant then went to the nearest house and stayed all night.

Meanwhile, ‘Bargarran’, Shaws horse returned home, alone with bridle and saddle still intact but without his master around 11 or 12pm. Shaws Lady and children were amazed at this and concluded that he had perished crossing the water.

Early the next morning his family and neighbours began to look for him, and not only seek him between the house and the river, but  also by boat searching all the river to the Clyde and along the Clyde along the Bargarran Estates River Bank.  He was not found, and they gave up searching for him.

Four months later, in the spring, his body was found near two miles of the water, and a mile from Bargarran House, in a ditch at the end of a moor. (Those gentlemen who had searched the area in the winter declared that in their searching during the winter they had searched that area “and found nothing like him in it).

What was remarkable, was that his right hand had been cut off; his private members were cut off; his cloths and boots not wet, nor in anyway spoiled.  Papers in his pocket were bone dry, his gold that wore was found on him. (Among which papers there was a discharge of an account he had just received from a Paisley merchant, who, ‘believing that his payment had been lost with John Shaw in the river, had again paid his son for the same count already payed).  Shaw’s hat Iay beside him, and his leather-cap was in place on his head with the string of his hat around his collar, which was normal for him when he was riding in dark nights or on windy nights. Shaw’s body found, fresh, as if he were newly deceased. When his boots were taken off, one of his heels bled.

All men were sensible that he was brought to that untimely death by the hidden works of darkness (witchcraft) but how to investigate this, his relations knew not.

Where did the event take place? 

In the early part of the story it is said that Shaw crossed the River Gryffe at Allans Ford.  Alans Farmstead is shown on Roy’s Military Survey Map on what we now know as the Black Cart Water, below the confluence of the River Gryffe with the Black Cart.  It is assumed the Ford named after the farm, would be in close proximity to the property.   See https://maps.nls.uk/geo/explore/#zoom=15&lat=55.88360&lon=-4.43515&layers=4&b=1.   If you look at the Ordnance Survey 6 inch map of 1843 – 1882 there is a track running from Easter Yonderton Farm toward the Black Cart Water and terminates on the river bank beside a small island.  On the opposite bank there appears to be the remains of a track running along the land boundary between Allans Farm and Townhead of Inchinnan.  It is very possible this is the route Shaw had taken, and the site of Allans Ford. See https://maps.nls.uk/geo/explore/#zoom=15&lat=55.88139&lon=-4.43411&layers=5&b=1.

Today the site of Allans Farm is off Inchinnan Drive, with the Rolls Royce factory sitting on the norther end of the farmstead.  The present open farmland between Inchinnan Drive and the Black Cart Water would be part of the original farm.  See https://www.google.co.uk/maps/@55.8800711,-4.4325068,1082m/data=!3m1!1e3. If you zoom in on the island at the centre of this satellite image, you can see possible remains of two fords on either side of the island.

The site of the location of Shaw’s remains, remains a mystery.  Described as “near two miles of the water, and a mile from Bargarran House, in a ditch at the end of a moor” would imply to me that his remains were found along the banks of the River Clyde, having been washed down river as the tide went out.   Allans Ford/ Farm is 2.5 miles from Bargarran House, and if you go upriver from the ford, you are further away from the house.  To be around a mile from the house means the only possible water he could have been found in is the Clyde, somewhere around Newshot Island or in front of Erskine House. 

I will leave it to you to decide what really happened.

The information presented in this blog is (c) Stephen Clancy, The Urban Historian – 20 October 2020

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