Liddells Plean house continued

Sorry I left you in the dark...Continue

So Andrew Liddell (1789 to 1854) was the Senior partner in Andrew Liddell and Co,Iron works Glasgow and retired at age 44 giving his nephew the business.

He proceeded to pastor a church having purchased a building for the congregation in Brown Street( Glasgow?) to use.

There was a will dated 15 November 1848 and a codicil ( Change to will) dated 26 August 1851 written at Plean House Stirling shire. Some one else has researched the census for 1851 but could not find Liddells at the Plean house for that date. Research as to other properties has not resulted in finding them on census day.
 We assume he had several properties.



The Plean estate was owned by the Earl of Dunmore.
 Robert Haldane (Airthrey Estate) bought it from the Earl.
1799 Robert Haldane sold off the Plean estate to pay off debts (funding divinity students)
1800 Francis Simpson, Clerk, Carron Iron Works owns the estate.
1819 He commissions Plean House on the estate
1831 Trustees -William Asylum own the house and estate with Various tenants till the end of the century 
1901 Plean Colliery co. own the house with Coal master William Thorneycroft in residence
1922 Thorneycroft buys the house from the Coal Company. 

So I am left with Andrew Liddell renting around late 1840's and certainly in 1851 the time of the will alteration.

Currently the Plean house is owned by Stirling Council it sits well fenced with in the (Plean) Country park. An Interesting wee review from a wonder what happened. 

Liddell, Plean House,...Haldanes...Scotch Baptist and ironworks!!

As I was carrying out a little research a few weeks ago I came across a few bits of interest to pass on to you budding historians. 



I was reading the paper:

The Scotch Baptist Tradition in Great Britain by D.B Murray 

For now all you need to know is that Scotch Baptists were a group of belivers coming from various backgrounds but are not directly linked to Scottish Baptists of today. ( More on that another time)

So Murray mentions a letter by John Cowan an elder in Galashiels who on 11 December 1848 wrote to James Everson.
 He was congratulating Everson for his pamphlet "Reasons for being a Scotch Baptist".

I continued to explain about his workload which although busy was nothing like Eversons.  He contues to say that He visited Mr and Mrs Liddell at Plean House. He continued to Stirling and on to Glasgow in the following days.

Now having lived near Plean I wondered about the "Liddells".

Who were they what did they do etc.

Here is what I discovered.

Andrew Liddell

The visit was to Andrew (B 1789- 1854) and Margaret Liddell, Andrew son of Andrew (B 1736) a school teacher in Bainsford who became a clerk at the Iron works, Falkirk. Margaret was married previously, with children and had a son Robert Mclaren.  I will talk about Andrew Liddell (1789). 

Andrew was married to Janet Goodsir in 1820 and in 1829 on the 2 Novemebr he married Jessie Peddie. Interestingly enough there was a ante-nuptial contract which implies he had assets. So to have a will ( 19/6/1855 at the National Archives Kew) he must have had a measure of wealth.

Andrew as a young person was an assitant to father andrew at the iron works.
At 18 Andrew moves to work in the foundry at Edinburgh and then Leith. It was is wish to be surgeon but things took a different turn. He moves to Glasgow to become a partner in an iron foundry business around 1814/15. His Brother Robert Maclaren advancing funds to contribute to the capital after a retiring partner left.  

Andrew now the main person in the foundry works on till retirement at age 44 gives the business to his nephew (Maclaren) which stage he becomes a Pastor at a Church in Brown street which he had purchased for the use of the congregation.He was a member of the Scottish Baptist Connexion, but he also had interests in Mechanics, Science, Philosphical Society, Arts, Patents Philanthroic work with the likes of the homeless destressed and temperance work. He was also a magistrate. He died in Novemeber 1854 at Bardowie House Baldernock. 

 Now having lived in Plean house, remember Cowan letter what happened?

Plean House picture on Hiveminer.com

Plean House

 Come back tomorrow.....