The Oswalds of Scotstoun
The owners of South Jordanhill
William Walkinshaw’s eldest son John, who inherited the estate from his father, held Jacobite views and in 1715 he had to flee the country. As a result, under a recently passed Act, (for encouragement of loyal superiors, vassals, landlords and tenants in Scotland) the ninth Earl of Eglinton claimed and obtained the estate through a final decree from the Court of Session in 1719.
In 1729 Lord Eglinton conveyed Scotstoun estate to
his grandson Alexander the sixth Earl of Galloway. In 1750 the Earl sold the estate to William Crawfurd, a Glasgow
merchant who was the eldest son of Matthew Crawfurd of Balshagray. There is a footnote in the old document to
point out that these Crawfurds (with a “u”)
of Scotstoun and Balshagray were not related to the Crawfords (with an “o”) of Jordanhill who were
Crawfords of Kilbirnie. There is
some confusion about this in Jordanhill since the Crawfurd Theatre at the
College (Strathclyde University Campus) and Crawfurd House in Jordanhill School
are both spelt with the “u”. See the
history of the Smiths of Jordanhill at http://www.wsmclean.com/Smiths.htm
After the problems os the 1715 period had blown
over, John Walkinshaw reappeared from exile and tried to reclaim his former
estate, opposed obviously by Matthew Crawfurd. The matter was referred to arbitration and the estate was
conveyed to Matthew’s son William Crawfurd.
The Crawfurd family thus owned both Scotstoun and Balshagray estates.
In 1751 Scotstoun estate was sold to Richard and
Alexander Oswald, two brothers and Glasgow merchants. In 1759 they acquired Balshagray.
James Oswald was the son of a well-to-do Burgess of Kirkwall in Orkney, who came over to the mainland in the middle of the seventeenth century and settled in Wick. He had two sons, James and George who were both ministers. James was an Episcopal minister and George was a Presbyterian minister.
James (the Episcopalian minister, 1654 –1699) had
two sons Richard (1687 – 1766) and Alexander (1694 – 1763) who were rich
merchants and shipowners. The
brothers built themselves a grand mansion in the Stockwell area of Glasgow
called “Oswald’s Land with great cellars below to store tobacco and wines but
it was demolished around 1875 to make way for the new bridge being built for
the Union Railway Company. They
bought Scotstoun estate in 1751. They
were bachelors and died at Scotstoun House (which had been built by the above
mentioned William Walkinshaw). The
estate passed to George Oswald, their second cousin (the son of the
Presbyterian minister). See later.
Meanwhile, George Oswald, (not the George mentioned
in the lines above but the one referred to at the end of the paragraph earlier)
who was the Presbyterian minister of Dunnet had eleven children, the eldest son
being James.
This James Oswald (1703-1793) was a minister like
his father and succeeded him at the parish of Dunnet. He was a Doctor of Divinity and was the Moderator of the
General Assembly in 1765. He later
moved to Methven in Perthshire and stayed there as minister until he was aged
over eighty when he moved to Scotstoun.
He had a number of children, of whom his son George was to inherit
Scotstoun Estate from the two bachelor brothers Richard and Alexander as
explained earlier.
We now come to “George Oswald of Scotstoun”
(1735-1819) who inherited the estate in 1766.
He was a successful Glasgow tobacco merchant and was also a partner in
the famous Old Ship Bank. He was
Rector of Glasgow University in 1797
His son James Oswald of Scotstoun (1774-1822) a captain in the Royal
Navy inherited Scotstoun and when he died in 1822 (presumably unmarried) it
passed to his sister Elizabeth (1767-1864).
Just to complocate matters, there is another James
Oswald (1779 – 1835) who was well known in Glasgow. This James was the elder son of Alexander Oswald of Shieldhall
who was the brother of George Oswald of Scotstoun (see above). This James was MP
for Glasgow and inherited the estate of Auchincruive. According to reference book called “St Mungo’s Bells”
published in 1888, Oswald Street in Glasgow was named after the Alexander
Oswald of Shieldhall.
Elizabeth was known as “Old Miss Oswald” and was
born and died in Scotstoun House. By the age of 90 she had never seen a doctor
and she died aged 98.
On Elizabeth’s death, Scotstoun passed to the
grandson of her sister Katherine.
Katherine had married Robert Haldane of Airthrie so
became Mrs Haldane. They had one
married daughter, Mrs Haldane Gordon who had one son James Gordon Oswald. (Note how these families incorporated
maiden names and inheritance names into their own name).
James Gordon Oswald was the last owner of the estate
of farmlands and it was he who started to feu off the estate for housing at the
end of the 1800’s. He died at San
Remo, Italy in 1897, but his obituary in the Glasgow Herald concentrated on the
history of the family and said very little about the man himself. I have been unsuccessful in my research in
the Mitchell Library to find any worthwhile references to him. However in the history of Scotstoun
Churches there is a reference to the fact that he laid down a condition when
granting fueus for Scotstoun which stated that “the trafficking or selling spiritous
or fermented liquors is forever prohibited”.
In 1885 the Partick Municipal Authorities negotiated
with him to acquire the land for a public park which was subquently named
Victoria Park to commemorate Queen Victoria’s Jubilee and it was opened in great
style in July 1887 by Sir Andrew McLean , Provost of Partick.
Following his death in 1897, he was succeeded by his
son James William Gordon Oswald who cotinued to feu off the estate and his name
appears in many title deeds for South Jordanhill. I have been unable so far to find any information on this latest
Oswald, but in the book “The Claythorn Story” published by Claythorn Community
Council in 1990, there is a report that in 1910 he built the Anniesland
Mansions on the south side of Great Western Road and he died in 1938.
Unlike the Smiths of Jordanhill whose family (and
all its branches) was fully recorded in “Burke’s Landed Gentry”, there is no
entry for the Oswalds of Scotstoun.
There is however a full entry for the Oswalds of Auchincruive which
relates to another branch of the Oswald family mentioned briefly above.
See also web page at http://gdl.cdlr.strath.ac.uk/smihou/smihou087.htm
Drafted 11 April 2005, latest revision 27 May.
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