Tourism

FAMOUS PEOPLE

Trade and Industry

JOHNNIE WALKER (1805 - 1857)

In 1820, John Walker gave up farming and bought a grocery business in Kilmarnock. His brand of whisky, Walker's Kilmarnock Whisky, thrived and became world famous. Kilmarnock is still the centre of Johnnie Walker Whisky blending and bottling.

The business was developed by Johnnie Walker's grandson, Sir Alexander Walker, whose office still stands in John Finnie Street, Kilmarnock.

DAVID DALE (1739 - 1806)

Dale, who was born in Stewarton, founded model industrial communities at Catrine and at New Lanark (which is easily accessible from East Ayrshire.)

The Catrine Mill was destroyed by fire but the Voes, a series of ponds where river water was dammed and released to power the great mill wheels, have been renovated.

Dale was the father-in-law of Robert Owen who founded New Harmony, Indiana.

Alexander (Sandy) Allan (1780 - 1854)

Captain Sandy Allan was born in 1780 on Fairlie Estate, Dundonald - 1½ miles west of the village of Gatehead. Sandy's father, James Allan, was employed as a carpenter on the Estate and with his wife, Jean Broun, had 7 children - Sandy was the 3rd. James Allan died c1792 and Jean had to vacate the Estate house and move into a cottage at Old Rome. Sandy was apprenticed to a shoemaker in Kilmarnock; he worked 10 hours per day, except on Sundays, and walked the 6-mile return journey every day. In 1800, when he was employed as a journeyman shoemaker near Galston, Sandy gave up the trade and moved to Saltcoats, intent on learning to be a ship's carpenter. Sandy began to learn this new trade but gave it up to go to sea on a local coaster. He must have shown an aptitude for seamanship as he was soon sailing as Mate to Captain Wilson of Saltcoats. Before 1854, no certificates of competence were required for positions of authority at sea and within a few years Captain Sandy Allan had served as Master and part owner of several small ships trading out of Saltcoats.

During the Peninsular war the 175 ton brigantine Hero, with Captain Allan as Master, was chartered by the government to transport troops and goods to the Continent to supply Wellington' army. Captain Allan relied on the daring and seamanship of himself and his crew to avoid detection by the French warships that patrolled the Bay of Biscay. Capture would have entailed the loss of his ship and detention for the duration of the war. By 1814, Sandy Allan had established a wide reputation as an excellent mariner and a shrewd businessman.

A new ship was needed and on the 5th June 1819, the Jean sailed from Greenock for Quebec with Captain Sandy Allan as master. It was Sandy's first trip across the Atlantic Ocean. Within a few years the name of the Allan family was to be synonymous with North Atlantic shipping and it remained so for over 100 years. The pace at which he had new ships built and introduced to the North Atlantic route shows the rate at which Sandy Allan's business mushroomed. The Favourite built in 1825, was followed by the Canada (1831); Brilliant (1834); Thistle and Glasgow ((1836); a second Favourite (1839); Blonde, Brunette and Thalia (1840); Caledonia (1841); and Albion, Britannia and Polly (1845). From the first Favourite in 1825, 13 ships were built and brought into service in 20 years.

Under the direction of Sandy, the Allan line progressed from wooden sailing ships to iron-built steamships, from a one-man operator to a leading transatlantic company. The Allan Line continued to expand throughout the second half of the 19th century until by 1884 it was the 7th largest shipping line in the world and the largest privately owned. Captain Allan made his last trip as a ship's master in 1839, when he brought his new sailing ship Favourite (the second of that name) across the Atlantic from Montreal to Greenock. It was 20 years since his first Atlantic voyage in the Jean and he was almost 60 years of age. He went into semi-retirement but still took an active interest in affairs of the company. Early in 1854, his sons raised the finance to build their first steamship but when the proposal to build it was voted on, Sandy abstained; he remembered fondly the days of sail and he regretted that they would soon be gone.

Sandy Allan died on the 18th March, 1854, aged 74 years, in his home at 16 Newton Place, Glasgow, to which he had moved a few years earlier. In his progress from shoemaker to seaman, ship's mate to shipping magnate, he had made his fortune and established a dynasty. At the same time, he had done a great deal for Scotland's commercial interests and for the Clyde as a shipping centre. The Clyde's world-wide reputation for shipbuilding was established on the requirements of men like Sandy Allan.

The Allan Line

Although Alexander Allan began his shipping days in 1819, it would be many years before his sons would form a major shipping company. In 1840 the Cunard Company was founded followed in 1852 by the Allan Line. Sailing from Glasgow and Liverpool, the ships of the Allan Line probably carried more immigrants to Canada than any other line.

A few of the old wooden sailing ships of the Allan Line were used by some of the early emigration schemes. The St. Lawrence was built in 1852 with a capacity of 578 tons and the Ottawa, built in 1851, had a capacity of 492 tons. These ships, however, soon gave way to the new, larger, iron steamships.

Mr. Buchanan, the Chief Immigration Agent at Quebec, reported in 1860:-

Mr. Allan states that his charge for adults is £7 7s sterling. When we consider the shortness of the passage, the generous dietary, the unlimited supply of water, the protection afforded by the better description of these ships, from sickness, from ill-usage, and from the want of cooking accommodation, it is almost impossible to conceive how there can be any room for competition.

Mr. Buchanan stated in his report of 1862 that the average length of passage by steamers was 18 days from Glasgow. By 1863 about 45% of the emigrants were arriving in Canada by steamship. That number increased to 81% in 1867 and by 1870 was almost at 100%. The voyage was now taking about 17 days and the old sailing ship, with the independent master, was all but gone.

The Allan Line was taken over by the Canadian Pacific in 1909 - so from 1852 to 1909 the familiar red, white and black funnels of the Allan Line ferried many hundreds of people over to Canada.

ALEXANDER MORTON (1844-1924)

Alexander Morton was born in a weaver's cottage in Ranoldcoup Road, Darvel on the 9 th of February 1844. One of his forebears was John Morton, a blacksmith, who fought at the Battle of Drumclog. His father Gavin (Guy) Morton was a weaver and a woodman on the Lanfine Estate. Alexander was only 6 when his father died leaving a widow with 2 sons and 3 daughters. Alexander helped with harvest from age 8 and finished school at age 9 – when he went herding on a moorland farm at Muirkirk. When he was 12 he came home to learn the weaving trade. By the age of 15 he had saved £16 and used it to buy a loom.

He married Jeanie Wiseman when he was 19 and she was 18 and they set up home in a “but and ben” at No. 104 West Main Street. 4 years later, after the death of his brother-in-law, Alexander took over his business as a middleman or “wee cork” between the Darvel weavers and the Glasgow merchants. At this time the curtains were sold to the merchants unbleached and undressed. Alexander decided to cut out the middleman by dressing the goods himself and marketing them directly to the shops. During the next 2 years he crossed the border into England and came back with orders from as far afield as London. During this time he purchased the best designs of a Glasgow firm who went out of business.

In 1874 he saw a new weaving machine which cost £1,050. On his return to Darvel he called a meeting of weavers and agents proposing to co-operate in the establishment of a new lace industry – but they declined to risk their savings in the venture. With a few partners he raised the money for the deposit on the new machine and placed an order for it. His first curtain featured a brand new French design. The curtains proved so popular that the firm found it impossible to supply the demand and within a year more lace machines were brought into production. The firm flourished with new ideas like weaving of plain chenille curtains, which eventually employed another 150 people. The firm eventually opened factories in Carlisle and Ireland.

Mr and Mrs Alexander Morton celebrated their diamond wedding in August 1923, Alexander sadly dying in the December of that year in Ireland. His remains were brought home to Darvel and were interred in Darvel Old Cemetery on New Years Day 1924. On Saturday 12 th November 1927 the memorial to Alexander Morton – erected by public subscription was unveiled in the presence of a large number of people. The memorial is near Alexander's house at Gowanbank.

THOMAS KENNEDY (c1797-1874)

The Kilmarnock Standard of 12th September 1874 included the following obituary:

Our obituary this day contains the intimation of the death at the ripe age of 77 of one whose enterprising genius has been the means of adding to the industries of the town an important branch of manufacture which enriches those engaged in it and gives employment to numerous skilled workers. This event, therefore, in association with important benefits, is entitled to public sympathy. Although not a native of Kilmarnock , the deceased has been so long an inhabitant of it, and has occupied so prominent a position amongst us, that he was very widely known. He was connected by marriage with some of the most respectable families in the town, and has filled with ability several offices, ecclesiastical and civil. Mr Kennedy was a native of Argyleshire, but settled here fifty years ago as a watch and clockmaker. This trade he had learned in his own county, where he began business for himself, but not meeting with sufficient encouragement he came to Kilmarnock and was for some time employed by the late Mr George Thomson, watchmaker and jeweller. Having married the daughter of Mr John Hunter, saddler, he again began business on his own account, and added to it the trade of gun-making, for which he acquired a great reputation, and through the influence of Mr Wallace of Kelly he received the honorary appointment of gunmaker to Prince Albert.

Mr Kennedy's place of business in Portland Street was well known to visitors to Kilmarnock , and the “Albert Arms” and the “Gold Gun” were never-failing objects of attraction. The rifles of his manufacture were held in high estimation both in this country and in India , where a ready market was found for them and high prices obtained. Not content with his success as a gun manufacturer, and emulous of higher honours, he devoted his attention to another matter, which was still a desideratum – the construction of a water meter of perfect accuracy. In this he was completely successful, and the patented mechanism Kennedy's Water Meter, is used largely in this country, on the Continent and in America . It has been the means of enriching many in connection with it and directly, as well as indirectly, materially benefits Kilmarnock . Although the late Mr Kennedy has obtained chief credit of the invention, yet it is well known that Mr John Cameron, watchmaker here, had no mean share in the perfecting of the meter. Mr Kennedy was twice married, and leaves a young widow and several of a family, whom his success in business has well provided for. The remains will be interred in the High Church Burying Ground today.

Kennedy Patent Water Meter Co Ltd was formed in 1863 from a syndicate of four partners and marketed the water meter patented by Thomas Kennedy, senior, and a local clockmaker. In 1865 the Glenfield Co Ltd was formed to supply castings and undertake general foundry work. The two companies shared a site in Kilmarnock, East Ayrshire, Scotland , the derelict printworks from which Glenfield took its name. In 1899 the two companies merged to form Glenfield & Kennedy Ltd. The major growth period was between 1871 and 1904, under the direction of Thomas Kennedy (nephew of Thomas Kennedy, senior). ‘The Glen' became an important hydraulic engineering concern in Britain , with substantial export orders to most parts of the world. It had several subsidiary companies, including:

Alley & MacLellan Ltd, founded in 1875 in Bridgeton, Glasgow, Scotland, manufactured valves and later compressors, vacuum pumps and steam engines. It was incorporated in 1902 and was acquired by Glenfield & Kennedy Ltd in the 1940s.

British Pitometer Co Ltd, incorporated in 1921 in Kilmarnock by Glenfield & Kennedy Ltd.

Hydrautomat Ltd, later Hydrautomat (1931) Ltd, incorporated in 1924 in London by Glenfield & Kennedy Ltd. Went into voluntary liquidation and reformed in 1931.

Compagnie Francaise d'appareils Glenfield & Kennedy, Paris , France , ceased trading in 1912.

SIR JOHN LATTA (1867-1946)

John Latta was born on 9 th May 1867, the son of William Latta J.P. and Margaret Allan, of Darmalloch Farm, Old Cumnock, Ayrshire. He had his early schooling in Cumnock before proceeding to Ayr Academy and then to the Greenock firm of Craig and Scott. John, who was the chairman of Lawther, Latta & Co. Ltd., ship owners and merchants, at his death, first went into the shipping industry in 1883 and soon afterwards introduced steamships into the nitrate trade. As chairman of the Nitrate Producers' Steamship Company, he managed his own fleet. He was an individualist, always deplored State concern with merchants shipping, and was a strong believer in free trade.

In 1896, John Latta married Ada May, daughter of the late J. Y. Short, of Ashbrooke Hall, Sunderland . Thus he formed an alliance with the family of shipbuilders, Short Brothers Ltd., Sunderland , who built most of the large cargo carriers with which the steamship company engaged in general trading. In November 1904, he was one of the British ship owners presented to King Edward VII in recognition of their services to their country. The company's fleet was also of the utmost importance in the wars of 1914-18 and 1939-45, and at the end of the First World War his services were recognised by his being created a baronet. Sir John Latta, 1st Bart, of Portman Square , was knighted on 9 February 1920.