| Notes |
- In 1845 founded Robert Maclaren & Co., Iron Founder and Manufacturer of patent cast-iron pipes, Eglinton Iron Works, Port Eglinton. "Among the greatest of Glasgow's iron industries" Report on Robert Maclaren & Sons, in Industries of Glasgow. (in Notes). See History of Robert Maclaren & Co in the Notes for his son Norman Henry William Maclaren
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Robert Maclaren
in the Scotland, Select Births and Baptisms, 1564-1950
Detail Source
Name: Robert Maclaren
Gender: Male
Baptism Date: 7 Mar 1817
Baptism Place: Falkirk, Stirling, Scotland
Father: Robert Maclaren
Mother: Margaret Shaw
https://www.ancestry.com/discoveryui-content/view/6596770:60143
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Robert Maclaren
In Scotland, Births and Baptisms, 1564-1950
Name Robert Maclaren
Gender Male
Birth Mar 4 1817
Christening Mar 7 1817 Falkirk, Stirling, Scotland
Residence 1817 Falkirk, Stirlingshire, Scotland
Father Robert Maclaren
Mother Margaret Shaw
Indexing Project (Batch) Number C11970-2
System Origin Scotland-VR
GS Film number 1041943
Reference ID - 2:18JR88F
https://www.myheritage.com/research/record-30226-788817/robert-maclaren-in-scotland-births-baptisms
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http://www.thepeerage.com/p69401.htm#i694001
See more at :
https://wc.rootsweb.com/trees/616047/I000049/robert-maclaren/individual
Ancestors at https://ancestorium.com/tng/verticalchart.php?personID=I000049&tree=1&parentset=0&display=vertical&generations=8.
Descendants https://ancestorium.com/tng/descendtext.php?personID=I000049&tree=1&display=block&generations=10
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More information on this Maclaren family is at genealogy.com (originally from the Family Tree Maker site) "Robert Maclaren 1776-1826 & Ralph de Birdtwisell 1160" at http://www.genealogy.com/ftm/m/a/c/Hamish-S-Maclaren/index.html
That web site had many of reports, obituaries, photographs, etc. but that is no longer accessible
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See Clan MacLaren Surname DNA Project - Y-DNA at https://www.familytreedna.com/public/MacLaren/default.aspx?section=yresults
a bit after halfway down under "Type 1 : (R1b-L1335>L1065>S744>S7370/S764>Y16252>BY23333): Scots Cluster, Sub group A MacLaren " "431343 Maclaren Robert Maclaren b 1745 (v approx) d bef June1786. Scotland. R-Z19118
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I would be very grateful for more information on this line. If you have any please email Hamish Maclaren at maclaren@earthlink.net
Paternal line DNA Confirmed Haplogroup is R-Z19118
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A version of this family tree file, in GEDCOM format, is at “Maclarens, Birtwistles and Many Other Families” at https://wc.rootsweb.com/trees/616047/I000141/robert-maclaren/descendancy
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The Post-Office Annual Glasgow Directory for 1889-1890 (page 413)
Maclaren, Robert, & Co ironfounders, egineers, and patent cast-iron manufactures, Eglington Iron Works, Canal Street. Port Eglington.
Maclaren, Robert, jun. (of Robert Maclaren & Co), house, Ardenshaw, Pollokshields
Maclaren, Robert, sen. (of R. Maclaren & Co), house, Ardenshaw, Pollokshields
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Robert Maclaren 1817-1889
Born 1817 Falkirk, Scotland
Died 2nd April, 1889. Ardenshaw, 5 St Andrews Drive, Pollokshields, Glasgow.
(Record of death 1889 Kinning Park District, entry 175)
Son of Robert Maclaren (of Bainsford) 1778-1826 & Margaret Shaw 1779/81- 1854
Husband of Mary Jane Findlay with whom he had nine children
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It had been suggested that he left about £1.5M, which he had made on steel futures and in Robert Maclaren & Co. This has never been verified. Another figure of about half a million has been suggested as more likely, again never verified, but probably closer. Either way one story has it that he was told that he shouldn't leave it all to his children, to which he replied that if they had as much fun spending it as he had had making it, then they were welcome to it! They all did seem to live rather well.
Rumor has it that he was sometimes referred to as "Robert the Rogue".
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Obituary
In The Institute of Engineers & Shipbuilders in Scotland Vol. 32 p. 322
Mr. ROBERT MACLAREN was elected as a Member of the Institution in 1859, and although not taking any active part in the work of the Institution, was well known amongst engineers as an iron founder, his works for the manufacture of castings for water supply, both pipes and specials, turning out large quantities of these, both for home and foreign orders.
Mr. Maclaren died at Glasgow on 2nd April, 1889
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Obituary
Robert Maclaren death notice listed in both the Glasgow Herald and South Suburban Press of 3rd and 6th April 1889.
This read as follows:
"At Ardenshaw, Pollokshields on the 2nd inSt Robert MacLaren of Eglington Foundry. Friends will please accept this invitation."
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His son Colonel Robert Maclaren 1860 to 1936 owned Robert Maclaren & Co Ltd. Was Hon. Colonel of the Cameroneans and Chairman of the Royal Exchange in Glasgow for about 18 years.
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See article (below) form "Industries of Glasgow" (published 1888) a description of Robert Maclaren & Co., Iron Founder and Manufacturer of patent cast-iron pipes, Eglinton Iron Works, Port Eglinton. Among the greatest of Glasgow's iron industries
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See also History of ROBERT MACLAREN & COMPANY LTD. (later Maclaren Controls) by Ian Garnet Maclaren 1962) in Notes of his son of Noman (Dr) Henry William Maclaren (1880-1936)
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"Mr. ROBERT MACLAREN was elected as a Member of the Institution in 1859, and although not taking any active part in the work of the Institution, was well known amongst engineers as an iron founder, his works for the manufacture of castings for water supply, both pipes and specials, turning out large quantities of these, both for home and foreign orders.
Mr. Maclaren died at Glasgow on 2nd April, 1889."
The Institute of Engineers & Shipbuilders in Scotland Vol. 32 p. 322
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Article from "Industries of Glasgow" (published 1888) was a description of Robert MacLaren & Co. indicating it was Robert senior and not his son who founded the firm in 1858.
Robert Maclaren & Co.,
Robert Maclaren & Co., Iron Founder and Manufacturer of patent cast-iron pipes, Eglinton Iron Works, Port Eglinton. Among the greatest of Glasgow's iron industries stands that carried on at the above address by Messrs. Robert Maclaren &; Co., a firm whose name has become most closely and creditably associated with the manufacture of all classes of cast-iron pipes for gas, water, and sanitary purposes.
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This eminent house was founded in 1858 by Mr. Robert Maclaren, who had a thorough training in the important branch of iron founding to which he has subsequently devoted his energies, and whose experience and knowledge have been applied to the marked improvement of the class of goods he has made it his business to produce. The firm commenced operations at their present fine premises, the Eglinton works, which have been enlarged and altered from time to time to meet the requirements of an ever-growing trade, which now cover no less an area than 26,000 square yards of ground, and employ from six to eight hundred hands, according to the amount of work in process of execution.
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To describe in detail the many interesting phases and features of this thoroughly typical establishment would carry us far beyond the limits of this necessarily concise sketch. It is, perhaps, sufficient to record that there is no department in the entire works in which the productive facilities and capacity have not been brought up to the very best modern standard; and in not a few instances there are manifested certain methods, arrangements, and conveniences of an unique order, the outcome and result of this firm's long and exhaustive experience applied to the best and most effective purpose.
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The mechanical and general equipment of the Eglinton Iron Works is beyond praise. It represents the perfection of adequacy and efficiency that can only be attained after years of labour and experiment, and illustrates the laudably intelligent use Messrs. Maclaren and Co. have made of every resource brought within their reach by the gradual and continuous development of the industry they control.
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The situation of the works completes the sum total of their recommendation as an industrial centre, and the railway lines running through them, coupled with their proximity to the river wharfage, afford every desirable facility of transport and shipments. About three-fifths of the area covered by the works is devoted to the purposes of yards, and constitutes storage ground for many thousands of tons of cast-iron pipes of all kinds and sizes, complete and finished, and ready for shipment to any quarter of the globe.
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The Mercantile Age, referring to Messrs. Maclaren and Co.'s establishment, in a recent issue, says: '`Their works, as we have said, are replete with everything that science has dictated for the ablest construction of their specialties, and their reputation has long been firmly established with foreign Governments and corporations, as well as those at home, and we are glad to bear this tribute of praise in acknowledgment of their untiring energy, excellent workmanship, and business-like transactions." Messrs. Maclaren ~ Co. are among our greatest manufacturers of iron pipes. They are, in fact, specialists in this most important industry, and their productions in gas and water-pipes of every description have a reputation that is international.
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The maintenance of that reputation and its consistent extension and enhancement now constitutes the industrial and commercial object of the firm; and to this end there is no device or plan that skill, science, or experience can suggest to facilitate the operations of the Eglinton Works or improve the character of their unsurpassed productions that is not at once adopted and actively employed by the house. Such a policy of progressive enterprise can have but one result, beneficial alike to those pursuing it and to the world-wide public in whose interests it is developed and adhered to. Messrs. Robert Maclaren & Co. control a trade of universal range and immense magnitude: Their pipes for water and gas supply and for various sanitary uses are in demand among all civilised nations, and are shipped in ever-increasing quantities to every quarter of the globe.
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Untiring energy, excellence of production, and straightforward commercial principles are the united causes of this satisfaction, effect; and the business now centered at the Eglinton Works is a monument to the characteristic capacity and enterprise of a representative Glasgow firm, and a credit to the great national industry in which is a factor of first-rate importance.
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This article was found thanks to the efforts of
Jack Davis
Departmental Librarian
History and Glasgow Room
Enc.
If phoning or visiting please ask for Joan Mitchell
Direct phone 0141 287 2938: Fax 0141 287 2815
The Library Association/TC Farries. Public Relations & Publicity Awards. Sponsorship & Partnership Funding
:995. ~
Libraries and Archives
Our ref: HG/1046/A Your ref
Director:Libraries and Archives
Andrew Miller MA FLA
Glasgow City Council
The Mitchell Library
North Street
Glasgow G3 7DN
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See also his father Robert Maclaren of Bainsford (1776-1826) for more information.
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Robert Maclaren
Successor to Andrew Liddell and Co
http://www.gracesguide.co.uk/File:Im1847SLCD-Macl.jpg
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Robert Maclaren & Co., Eglinton Foundry 1901
LOCAL INDUSTRIES OF GLASGOW and the West of Scotland
EDITED BY ANGUS MCLEAN, B.Sc.
Principal of the Paisley Technical School
Published by the Local Committee for the Meeting of the British Association
Glasgow 1901
Pages 80-82.
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Local Industries of Glasgow and the West of Scotland http://www.scottishcorpus.ac.uk/cmsw/search/document.php?documentid=44
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PIPEFOUNDING AND HYDRAULIC APPLIANCES.
Messrs. Robert Maclaren & Co., Eglinton Foundry, Canal Street, Port Eglinton.—The growth of cities and burghs in the nineteenth century has caused sanitation to advance by leaps and bounds. Sanitary experts are no longer content with wells which are liable to pollution, but insist that every dwelling should be provided with a supply of water, the purity of which is beyond suspicion. The increased wealth of our communities has called for more light and better light, and has led to a great development of gas and electric lighting works. These are some of the factors which have caused the manufacture of cast- iron pipes to become a special industry, and to be carried out on an enormous scale.
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Glasgow has for half a century been a centre of this industry, and its present capacity is about 200,000 tons per annum. There are' four large firms engaged in making large and small pipes, and about half a dozen firms engaged in making small pipes only. One of the large
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MECHANICAL ENGINEERING. 81
firms is that of Messrs. Robert Maclaren & Co., Eglinton Foundry. It began work about fifty years ago, and is now producing 30,000 tons of pipes annually for water, gas, or electric purposes. Visiting the foundry, the visitor is first shown the power station, which consists of three large 180 I.H.P. gas engines, each driving a dynamo and a set of hydraulic pumps. Two of the engines are by Messrs. Tangyes, and one by Messrs. Crossley Brothers. The engines are supplied with gas by a range of five gas generators, two of which supply gas for heating purposes. The dynamos are coupled to the switchboard, and the power is distributed through Kelvin ammeters to the various parts of the foundry through concentric cables. These cables supply light or power as may be desired at any point. The hydraulic pumps connect with an accumulator, and have an automatic belt shifter.
Passing from the power station, we find the cupolas, which are two in number, capable of 150 tons per day, and run on alternate days. The blast is supplied by a 50 H.P. motor, driving a set of Root's blowers. Next we come to the loam mills, which grind the core-making materials. In the department for large pipes we first see the special core-making machinery and collapsing bars which are used, then the large ovens into which the cores roll continuously. Next we come to the casting platform. Opposite us are the mould drying ovens, behind us a massive 10-ton hydraulic crane, while beneath us is an arrangement of chains and pulleys and an electric winch for shifting the heavy moulds. Passing to the other side of the mould stoves, we observe the process of making the mould. The turned iron patterns are suspended on powerful hydraulic cranes, with auxiliary cranes to carry the lighter bend pieces, and hydraulic rams below to carry the socket patterns. Alongside is a Jacob's ladder for lifting the sand, driven by a small motor.
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Passing out to the yard, we see the moulding boxes opened by special cranes, and the sand fall into the pit, while the pipe is placed by another crane on the fettlers rail, where the core sand is removed and any fins chipped off. The pipe is next placed on a special electric driven lathe, where 10 inches to 12 inches of bend are cut off. To ensure absolute solidity the casting is next placed in a powerful hydraulic testing machine filled with water at a low pressure, and then a small quantity of high pressure water is admitted until the test pressure is reached, when the pipe is hammered all over. It is next weighed and stamped, and coated with Dr. Angus Smith's composition, and, if required, turned and bored in a special lathe.
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The process of manufacture of small sizes is generally similar to that above described, although some of the details differ. The section of the foundry set apart for the manufacture of the usual connecting tees and bend pipes is equipped with a 20-ton electric travelling crane. The firm have made a speciality of reducing these branch and bend pipes to standard dimensions, and now find that engineers, who formerly specified their own dimensions for these castings, gladly accept the founders' standards. Vexatious delays in producing these castings are thus prevented, and the founders are enabled to employ economical plant and manufacture in a sensible fashion.
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Before leaving the works it is quite worth the visitor's trouble to visit the shipping department. Here many thousand tons are usually in stock, indeed, quite an extensive waterworks can be furnished from stock. T
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82 MECHANICAL ENGINEERING.
loading and stacking arrangements are worthy of notice, an iron shed, with a 5-ton electric travelling crane, running 200 feet per minute, spans the ends of all the pipe stacks, and a railway siding and a roadway, so that castings can be stored and shipped at the minimum risk and expense.
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From pages 80-82.
LOCAL INDUSTRIES OF GLASGOW and the West of Scotland
EDITED BY
ANGUS MCLEAN, B.Sc.
Principal of the Paisley Technical School
Published by the
Local Committee for the Meeting of the British Association
Glasgow 1901
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Found at http://books.google.com/books?id=AdsCAAAAMAAJ&pg=RA1-PA81&lpg=RA1-PA81&dq=%22robert+maclaren%22&source=web&ots=Jh_D_hGPfV&sig=pwLjT6r174M7l_LqEPd63LcV8r8#PPP8,M1
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Local Industries of Glasgow and the West of Scotland http://www.scottishcorpus.ac.uk/cmsw/search/document.php?documentid=44
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Robert Maclaren, (Successor to Andrew Liddell and Co), Manufacturer of Patent Welded of Iron Tubes,for Gas, Water or Steam.. Core Bars for Ironfounders, Xrewing tackle, to suit all threads and sizes or tubes, Brass & Iron Stop=cocks and Fittings: Manufactory and Warehouse, Glode Foundry, Wasington Street, Glasgow.
http://www.gracesguide.co.uk/File:Im1847SLCD-Macl.jpg
From New Grace's Guide -The Best of British Engineering 1750-1960s. Is the most comprehensive source of information on the engineering industry in Britain from the start of the Industrial Revolution to the 1960s.
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Robert Maclaren & Co. Glasgow and Greenock Water Trustees 1872
Engineering, Volume 14
6 Sept 1872
Office for Advertisements and Publication, 1872 - Engineering
Page 179
NOTES FROM THE NORTH
Glasgow, Wednesday
Effect of the High Prices of Iron.—When the Greenock Water Trustees agreed some time ago to relay the Gourock road with new water pipes at the same time as the Greenock and Gourock tramways were to be laid, they resolved to take estimates for the pipes, and on the 21st June the Works Committee agreed to accept the offer of Messrs. Robert Maclaren and Co., Glasgow. It was soon deemed prudent, however, to defer making the final arrangement, and the offer was only accepted provisionally. The subject was reopened last week, but Messrs. Maclaren and Co. declined to execute the work at the low quotations named in their former offer, and stated that the rise of prices in the interim had been equal to 34s. per ton. Their offer, subject to an advance of 25s. 6d. per ton, was accepted by the Trust.
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The British Trade Journal, Volume 31
Benn Brothers, 1893 - Great Britain
October 1 1893. Page 487
TRADE IN GLASGOW
From our Correspondent
The cast-iron water-pipe industry is also improving. Messrs. Robert Maclaren & Co., of Glasgow, are to supply 8000 tons more, or 20,000 in all, to the Lanark County Council for the supply of water to a number of villages hitherto without any proper water supply. In addition, considerable quantities of these pipes are again finding their way to the Argentine, where for a long time scarcely a ton was shipped.
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Robert MacLaren Junior (c. 1860–1936) later took over the running of the firm and was also involved in Glasgow business life at a high level, serving as a a director of Glasgow Chamber of Commerce and as chairman of the Glasgow Royal Exchange for 18 years.
http://www.mackintosh-architecture.gla.ac.uk/catalogue/name/?nid=McLaRobCo
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Robert McLaren & Co.
Client
http://www.mackintosh-architecture.gla.ac.uk/catalogue/name/?nid=McLaRobCo
Robert Maclaren & Co. operated the Eglinton Foundry on the south side of the river Clyde for over 70 years. Robert Maclaren (1817–1889), son of a manager at Carron Ironworks, Falkirk, established his own firm when taking over his uncle's 'patent gas-tube and lap-welded' pipe company, Andrew Liddell & Co., of the Globe Foundry in Washington Street, in 1844. 1 Around twelve years later, the firm relocated to Eglinton Foundry, where business continued until 1931. 2
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By 1888, the works covered an area of 26,000 square yards and employed between 600 and 800 men. Sixty per cent of the premises were given over to the storage of 'many thousands of tons of cast-iron pipes ... ready for shipment'. 3 By 1901, the Foundry was 'producing 30,000 tons of pipes annually for water, gas or electric purposes'. This growth in the manufacture of cast-iron pipes was attributed to increasing standards in domestic sanitation and power-supplies. The Foundry's production process and mould-drying ovens were semi-automated with hydraulic, gas and electric-power, and it had its own dedicated railway sidings and a five-ton travelling crane. The firm was innovative and introduced standardised pipe dimensions, which were subsequently adopted industry-wide. 4
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Robert MacLaren Junior (c. 1860–1936) later took over the running of the firm and was also involved in Glasgow business life at a high level, serving as a a director of Glasgow Chamber of Commerce and as chairman of the Glasgow Royal Exchange for 18 years. 5
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The firm supplied pipes to Liverpool Council (1889), for Edinburgh's first electric street-lighting scheme (1893–4), and Glasgow's municipal water-supply (1898; controversially beating a possibly-lower American tender). 6 In the 1900s, it exported to Brazil, India, Argentina and to various Chilean coppermines. 7 During the First World War, the Foundry produced 'eight million fuse stampings' and worked with William Beardmore, of Parkhead Forge, to construct tanks. In the 1920s, a subsidiary firm, Eglinton Founders Ltd, was established with Beardmore as co-partner. Also in the 1920s, Robert Maclaren & Co. produced thermostats and temperature controls. In 1931, the firm was wound up; shortly afterwards a new firm was established under the same name with new investment. 8
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Notes:
1: John Henderson, Great Founders of Falkirk and Glasgow, www.electricscotland.com/poetry/henderson/, pdf file, pp. 4–6 [accessed 21 March 2013]; 'Memoirs: Andrew Liddell 1786–1855', Proceedings of the Institution of Civil Engineers, 15, 1855–6, pp. 102–3; Glasgow Post Office Directory, 1844–5, p. 151; 1845–6, p. 193; 1846–7, p. 158; Belfast News-Letter, 11 August 1846, p. 3.
2: Glasgow Herald, 17 October 1856, p. 7; Glasgow Post Office Directory, 1857–8, p. 177.
3: Glasgow of Today: Metropolis of the North, London: Historical Publishing Co., 1888, p. 119; Henry Dyer, 'Mechanical Engineering', in Angus McLean, ed., Local Industries of Glasgow, Glasgow: British Association, 1901, pp. 80–2.
4: Henry Dyer, 'Mechanical Engineering' in Angus McLean, ed., Local Industries of Glasgow, Glasgow: British Association, 1901, pp. 81–2.
5: Scotsman, 6 May 1936, p. 12; 'I. G. MacLaren, Robert MacLaren & Company, Ltd,' 1962, quoted in John Henderson, Great Founders of Falkirk and Glasgow, www.electricscotland.com/poetry/henderson/, pdf file, pp. 13–14 [accessed 21 March 2013].
6: Liverpool Mercury, 6 June 1889, p. 3; Scotsman, 10 April 1895, p. 9; 16 September 1898, p. 7.
7: Scotsman, 26 Jun 1907, p. 12.
8: Scotsman, 19 July 1934, p. 5; 6 May 1936, p. 12; 'I. G. MacLaren, Robert MacLaren & Company, Ltd,' 1962, quoted in John Henderson, Great Founders of Falkirk and Glasgow, www.electricscotland.com/poetry/henderson/, pdf file, pp. 13–14 [accessed 21 March 2013].
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See also M205 Additions to the Eglinton Foundry at http://www.mackintosh-architecture.gla.ac.uk/catalogue/pdf/M205.pdf
According to sales particulars published in 1854, the Eglinton Foundry had been established within the previous three years and was specially equipped for the manufacture of cast-iron pipes. 1 By 1857, it had been taken over by Robert Maclaren & Co., formerly of the Globe Foundry, Washington Street. 2 Under Maclaren's it grew into one of the largest pipe-manufacturing operations in Glasgow, and by 1888 it was said to employ between 600 and 800 men. By 1901, it was producing 30,000 tons of water and gas pipes annually, with a major export trade. 3
Various buildings were spread across the seven-acre site: pig iron was kept molten in a number of 'cupolas', or furnaces; casting took place in 'pits' (the word seems to have denoted not just the excavated hollow where the molten metal was poured, but also the surrounding walls and roof ); and sheds and other structures were used for machining, testing and storing the finished pipes. 4 Situated in the industrial district of Tradeston, the foundry was surrounded by railway lines, which facilitated the delivery of raw materials and the distribution of finished goods.
Honeyman, Keppie & Mackintosh were responsible for several additions between 1902 and 1905, but due to later demolition and redevelopment, and a lack of drawings, it is difficult to know what these buildings looked like and where on the site they were located. The architects' job books record that their first, unspecified addition was built and paid for between 1902 and 1903. Then, between 1903 and 1904, they raised the foundry roof and designed a new Blower House (electric blowers were used to maintain the temperature of the cupolas). Finally, in 1904–5, they added a new Foundry Pit. It seems not all these works needed the approval of the Glasgow Dean of Guild Court. Only two petitions were submitted to the Court. The first, granted on 24 April 1902, was for athree-storey building on the N. side of Crawford Street (now renamed Kilbirnie Street), 336,000 cubic feet (9514.5 cubic m) in size. The second, granted on 30 July 1903, was for a four-storey building of 53,055 cubic feet (1502.35 cubic m). 5 The Court's record of inspections made while the second building was under construction describes it as 'new offices'. 6
The drawings submitted to the Court are missing (2011), and the only surviving drawing relating to Honeyman Keppie & Mackintosh's additions is a tracing made in the 1930s by Ronald Harrison from a sheet dated April 1902. 7 Its style is consistent with its being based on an original drawing by Mackintosh. It identifies the first phase of the firm's work as a Machine Shop. A three-storey block attached to its W. end may have been intended for offices.
The three-storey block has been demolished, except for part of the wall facing the street, but photographs taken in the 1980s record its appearance. It was of brick with a roughcast finish. Unlike The Hill House, the roughcast was not carried over the tops of the gables and parapets. Instead, the wall head was protected by a simple stone coping.
The Machine Shop appears to be the only one of Honeyman Keppie & Mackintosh's buildings to survive. Although altered both externally and internally, it is immediately recognisable from Harrison's drawing. It is a lofty brick-built shed, 140 feet (42.7 m) long and 45 feet (13.7 m) wide, where sections of pipe were machined to achieve an air-tight or water-tight fit.
The interior was illustrated in an account of the foundry published c. 1910, in which its state-of-the-art equipment was also described: 'the lathes, drills, boring, milling, cutting machines and other tools of precision are the very latest word in engineering science materialised and installed, whilst overhead are electric- power cranes which lift and transport huge weights with the ease of a Titan'. 8
The Shop consists of a main hall with a narrower aisle along the N. side. The hall, now horizontally subdivided, was originally a single space, the same height as the adjoining three-storey office block. The aisle is lower, and divided into two floors. The asymmetry is reflected in the roof, the N. slope of which is more steeply pitched towards the ridge, shallower towards the eaves. This slope was originally largely glazed, and the different pitches were presumably designed to light the main hall and the upper floor of the aisle in different ways. The lightweight steel roof trusses are supported on steel-lattice stanchions, which originally also carried hoisting equipment.
The asymmetrical roof gives the cliff-like E. gable an unusual silhouette. Its strangeness brings Mackintosh to mind, as does the attention to detail in the way the coping snakes over the rounded apex and softens the change of pitch on the N. slope into a slight curve. However, although Mackintosh used asymmetrical gables in a number of buildings, including the original designs for the Glasgow School of Art, there is no exact parallel for the Machine Shop gable elsewhere in his work.
The N. elevation facing the yard was originally clad in corrugated iron, with large, gridded windows (an industrial equivalent of the N.-facing studio windows at the Glasgow School of Art). A later building now abuts this side.
No trace survives of Honeyman Keppie & Mackintosh's Blower House or Foundry Pit, but photographs suggest they were probably utilitarian.
A report on the condition of the former Eglinton Foundry was produced as part of the Mackintosh Buildings Survey, led by the Charles Rennie Mackintosh Society and carried out between 2015 and 2016. 9
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It then goes on to include numerous photographs and descriptions of the work, contractors, Job Book, etc.
Bibliography
Published
Angus McLean, ed., Local Industries of Glasgow and the West of Scotland, Glasgow: Local Committee for the Meeting of the British Association, 1901, pp. 80–2
J. G. Ketchen, The Manufacture of Cast Iron Pipes: Robert Maclaren & Co., Ltd., Glasgow, reprinted from The Gentleman's Journal and Gentlewoman's Court Review, no date
Unpublished
Glasgow City Archives Collection: Glasgow Dean of Guild Court, Register of Inspections, D-OPW 25/60, pp. 64, 82
Notes:
1: Glasgow Herald, 27 November 1854, p. 3.
2: Glasgow Post Office Directory, 1857–8.
3: Glasgow of To-Day, London: Historical Publishing Company, 1888, p. 119. Angus McLean, ed., Local Industries of Glasgow and the West of Scotland, Glasgow: Local Committee for the Meeting of the British Association, 1901, pp. 80–2.
4: Engineering Review, 20 December 1894, Supplement, p. 11. J. G. Ketchen, The Manufacture of Cast Iron Pipes: Robert Maclaren & Co., Ltd., Glasgow, reprinted from The Gentleman's Journal and Gentlewoman's Court Review, no date.
5: Glasgow City Archives Collection: Glasgow Dean of Guild Court Proceedings, D-OPW 19/19, p. 46; D-OPW 19/20, p. 33.
6: Glasgow City Archives Collection: Glasgow Dean of Guild Court, Register of Inspections, D-OPW 25/60, p. 82.
7: The Hunterian, University of Glasgow: GLAHA 52340 (M205-001).
8: J. G. Ketchen, The Manufacture of Cast Iron Pipes: Robert Maclaren & Co., Ltd., Glasgow, reprinted from The Gentleman's Journal and Gentlewoman's Court Review, no date, pp. 14–15.
9: A copy of the report (MBS31) is held by the Charles Rennie Mackintosh Society, Mackintosh Queen's Cross, 870 Garscube Road, Glasgow G20 7EL. The Mackintosh Buildings Survey was funded by The Monument Trust.
Also at
https://www.mackintosh-architecture.gla.ac.uk/catalogue/names/display/?rs=12&nid=GranJ&xml=des
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Robert Maclaren Census 1871, 1881 & Probate
1871 Scotland Census
Name Robert Mclaren
Age 50
Estimated Birth Year abt 1821
Relationship Head
Spouse's Name Mary J Mclaren
Gender Male
Where born Felkirk, Stirling
Registration Number 646/2
Registration district Park
Civil parish Govan
County Lanarkshire
Address St Andrews Rd. Ardenshaw
Occupation Iron Founder Employing About 250 Men
ED1
Household schedule number 29
Line 5
Roll CSSCT1871_144
.....
Household Members
Name Age
Name Robert Mclaren Age 50
Name Mary J Mclaren Age 30
Name Robert Mclaren Age 10
Name Ada Mclaren Age 9
Name Maggie Mclaren Age 7
Name Joanna Mclaren Age 4
Name John Mclaren Age 2
Name James Mclaren Age 1
Name Elisabeth Mcara Age 25
Name Mary Mcara Age 21
Name Elizabeth Cramb Age 26
Author: Ancestry.com
Publisher: Online publication - Provo, UT, USA: Ancestry.com Operations Inc, 2007.Original data - Scotland. 1871 Scotland Census. Reels 1-191. General Register Office for Scotland, Edinburgh, Scotland.Original data: Scotland. 1871 Scotland Census. Reels 1-191. General
https://www.ancestry.com/discoveryui-content/view/4335205:1104
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Robert Maclaren
in the 1881 Scotland Census
Detail Source
Name: Robert Maclaren
Age: 64
Estimated Birth Year: abt 1817
Relationship: Head
Spouse's Name: Mary Anne Maclaren
Gender: Male
Where born: Falkirk, Stirlingshire
Registration Number: 644/14
Registration district: Kinning Park
Civil parish: Glasgow Kinning Park
County: Lanarkshire
Address: St Andrews Rd ''Ardenshaw''
Occupation: Ironfounder Employg 302 Men & 7 Boys.
ED: 40
Household schedule number: 27
Line: 1
Roll: cssct1881_251
Household Members (Name) Age Relationship
Robert Maclaren 64 Head
Mary Anne Maclaren 39 Wife
Robert MacLaren 20 Son
Margt Shaw MacLaren 17 Daughter
Ivan MacLaren (Joan) 14 Daughter
Andrew MacLaren 9 Son
Archie MacLaren 6 Son
Norman MacLaren 1 Son
Sarah Brownlie 30 Servant
Jeannie Anderson 26 Servant
Jane Boyd 26 Servant
Janet Murray 19 Servant
https://www.ancestry.com/discoveryui-content/view/2292313:1119
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Robert Mclaren
in the 1861 Scotland Census
Name: Robert Mclaren
Age: 41
Estimated Birth Year: abt 1820
Relationship: Head
Spouse's Name: Mary Mclaren
Gender: Male
Where born: Falkirk, Stirlingshire
Registration Number: 644/9
Registration district: Tradeston
Civil parish: Glasgow Govan
County: Lanarkshire
Address: 13 Cumberland
Occupation: Iron Founder Employing 156 Men & Boys
ED: 25
Household schedule number: 19
Line: 12
Roll: CSSCT1861_110
Household Members Age Relationship
Robert Mclaren 41 Head
Mary Mclaren 20 Wife
Robert Mclaren 8 Mo Son
James Mclaren 52 Visitor
Jannet Henderson 29 Servant
Jane Hamilton 21 Servant
https://www.ancestry.com/discoveryui-content/view/1083580:1080
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Dwelling: St Andrews Rd, Ardenshaw
1881 Census Place: Govan, Lanark, Scotland
Source: FHL Film 0203682 GRO Ref Volume 644-14 EnumDist 40 Page 8
Marr Age Sex Birthplace
Robert MACLAREN M 64 M Falkirk, Stirling, Scotland. Rel:Head. Occ: Iron Founder Employg 302 Men & 7 Boys
Mary Anne MACLAREN M 39 F Glasgow, Lanark, Scotland Rel: Wife
Robert MACLAREN U 20 M Glasgow, Lanark, Scotland. Rel: Son Occ: Iron Founder
Margt.Shaw MACLAREN U 17 F Glasgow, Lanark, Scotland. Rel: Daur
Ivan (Joan) MACLAREN U 14 F Pollokshields, Renfrew, Scotland. Rel: Daur. Occ: Scholar
Andrew MACLAREN U 9 M Pollokshields, Renfrew, Scotland. Rel: Son. Occ: Scholar
Archie MACLAREN U 6 M Pollokshields, Renfrew, Scotland. Rel: Son. Occ: Scholar
Norman MACLAREN U 1 M Pollokshields, Renfrew, Scotland. Rel: Son
Sarah BROWNLIE U 30 F Glasgow, Lanark, Scotland. Rel:Servt. Occ: Domestic Servant
Jeannie ANDERSON U 26 F Glasgow, Lanark, Scotland. Rel: Servt. Occ:Domestic Servant
Jane BOYD U 26 F Milngavie, Stirling, Scotland. Rel: Servt. Occ: Domestic Servant
Janet MURRAY U 19 F Airdrie, Lanark, Scotland. Rel: Servt. Occ: Domestic Servant
(It looks like they misread Joan for Ivan)
++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
Robert Maclaren in the 1881 Scotland Census
Name: Robert Maclaren
Age: 64
Estimated birth year: abt 1817
Relationship: Head
Spouse's name: Mary Anne Maclaren
Gender: Male
Where born: Falkirk, Stirlingshire
Registration Number: 644/14
Registration district: Kinning Park
Civil Parish: Glasgow Kinning Park
County: Lanarkshire
Address: St Andrews Rd ''Ardenshaw''
Occupation: Ironfounder Employg 302 Men & 7 Boys.
ED: 40
Household schedule number: 27
Line: 1
Roll: cssct1881_251
.....
Household Members:
Name Age
Robert Maclaren 64
Mary Anne Maclaren 39
Robert MacLaren 20
Margt Shaw MacLaren 17
Ivan (Joan) MacLaren 14
Andrew MacLaren 9
Archie MacLaren 6
Norman MacLaren 1
Sarah Brownlie 30
Jeannie Anderson 26
Jane Boyd 26
Janet Murray 19
(Looks like they misread Joan for Ivan)
.....
Source Citation
Parish: Glasgow Kinning Park; ED: 40; Page: 8; Line: 1; Roll: cssct1881_251
Source Information
Ancestry.com. 1881 Scotland Census [database on-line]. Provo, UT, USA: Ancestry.com Operations Inc, 2007.
Original data: Scotland. 1881 Scotland Census. Reels 1-338. General Register Office for Scotland, Edinburgh, Scotland.
Description
The 1881 Census for Scotland was taken on the night of 3/4 April 1881. The following information was requested: place, name, relationship to head of family, marital status, age, gender, profession, birthplace, and whether blind, deaf, and dumb. Learn more...
https://www.ancestry.com/discoveryui-content/view/2292313:1119
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Probate
England & Wales, National Probate Calendar (Index of Wills and Administrations), 1858-1995 for Robert Maclaren
1889 Ma Vius-Nye
MACLAREN Robert. 24 May. The Confirmation of the Commissariot of Renfew dated 6 May 1889 of Mary Jane Finlay or Maclaren the Relicy (so long as she remain Widow) Robert Maclaren the Son, John Finlay Maclaren, James Shaw Maclaren Andrew Maclaren, Archibald Maclaren and Norman Henry Maclaren the sons and William Lochore Brown Writer in Glasgow William Kennedy of St Margaret’s Newark-drive Pollokshields Alexander Moffat Ship Owner Glasgow and William Stewart Timber Merchant Glasgow as Executors Nominate of Robert Maclaren Ironfounder in Glasgow and residing at Ardenshaw Pollokshields who dies at Pollokshields 2 April 1889. Sealed
https://www.ancestry.com/discoveryui-content/view/3323891:1904?_phsrc=Nvh1&_phstart=successSource&gsfn=Robert&gsln=Maclaren&ml_rpos=7&queryId=feba3bfbd87250f64c31499104e5ae46
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Robert Maclaren
in the Scotland, Select Marriages, 1561-1910
Name: Robert Maclaren
Gender: Male
Marriage Date: 15 Aug 1859
Marriage Place: Glasgow, Lanarkshire, Scotland, United Kingdom
Spouse:
Mary Jane Finlay
FHL Film Number: 280237
https://www.ancestry.com/discoveryui-content/view/1599978:60144
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Ancestorium Family Tree Collaboration
1817 - 1889 (72 years)
