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Names
P0285 · Persoon · 1822 - 1884

Francis Mackison was born at Norrieston, Thornhill, in 1822, the son of William Mackison, farmer, and his wife Catherine Jenkins and younger brother of William Mackison, lawyer and later prison governor of Dundee Prison. He was educated at the parish school and then went to Glasgow University where he graduated with honours in civil engineering. He was then articled to James Leslie, Harbour Engineer at Dundee where his elder brother William Mackison senior was prison governor. While with Leslie he worked on the surveys for the original Dundee waterworks, experience which was to prove useful later. When Leslie moved to Edinburgh to commence independent practice, Mackison and several other assistants moved to Edinburgh with him.

In or about 1848 Mackison left Leslie's office to set up his own independent practice in Stirling as civil engineer and architect. His nephew William Mackison junior, born 1833 in Dundee, was articled to him in 1851. Initially Mackison lived in lodgings in Murray Place, but on 30 April 1855 he married Jessie McLachlan, then aged 28, in a Free Church ceremony in St Ninian's, and set up house at 23 King Street. A daughter, Mary Miller Mackison, was born on 5 May 1857, but Jessie developed an unspecified disease of the chest and died on 10 August.
At that date the family was living at 3 Allan Park and William Mackison junior was lodging with them.

In the following year William Mackison junior was taken into partnership. William Mackison senior left the prison service in 1862, the year of his marriage, and returned to Stirling as a photographer with a house at Allan Park. This seems not to have been a success as he was described as an 'architect's assistant,' presumably in the Mackison office, when he died at Maxwell Place on 2 May 1868. In the same year William Mackison junior withdrew from the partnership to
accept the post of burgh engineer in Dundee, a move whih may have been precipitated by the termination of his appointment as Master of Work, Burgh Surveyor and Town's Architect of Stirling. The census returns for 1861 show that the Stirling office was a relatively small practice with one adult assistant and two apprentices.

Two years before William Mackison junior's departure, on 31 July 1866, Francis Mackison married Margaret Glover in Kensington. The census returns show that she was born at Newton Stewart c. 1834 and that her widowed mother Margaret, who came north to live with them, was from Lancashire. The Lancashire connection was reflected in the name of the house built for them at Bridge of Allan, the Villa de Lancaster, and the middle name of the first of their two daughters, Margaret de Lancaster Mackison, born 2 June 1867. The second daughter, Catherine Violet Mackison, was born on 28 September 1869.

From 1868 onwards Francis Mackison practised alone. Despite his modest business premises he had an extensive practice in railway survey work. He designed many villas in Stirling and Bridge of Allan and numerous schools, particularly after the passing of the Education Act of 1872; and despite the practice's loss of office he continued to be responsible for Stirling Water Works and the sewage scheme for Bridge of Allan. He was a prominent volunteer, in 1859 joining the 1st Stirling Burgh Rifle Corps in which he was promoted to Captain; and when he raised both the men and the money for the 2nd Corps he was promoted to Major. He was elected Town Councillor for the Cowane Street Ward in 1878 but having been on the losing side in a major Council dispute in 1879, he lost his seat in the elections of the following year.

In the late 1870s Mackison had a Glasgow office but there is at present no record of any work there to which it could relate. In 1878 he and the local landowner, William Hunter Marshall W.S., promoted the Callander Hydropathic Company, incorporated in Glasgow on 5 September. For this project Mackison obtained the assistance of Peddie & Kinnear, but as early as January 1879 there were problems of unpaid calls for capital as a result of the failure of the City of Glasgow Bank in autumn the previous year. This resulted in the project being
drastically pared down when built in 1880-82. A hydroelectric plant was planned for it but it is unclear whether this was actually carried out.

Sometime during 1883 Mackison became seriously ill, his condition being aggravated if not actually caused by heavy trading losses at the Callander Hydropathic. He recuperated for a time on the continent with his family and returned to resume practice with his 'wonted activity,' the main business being an extension of the Stirling Water Works at Touch. But later in the year his health again deteriorated: although he continued to attend business up to 8 February 1884 he became ill, suffered a stroke on the 12th and died on the 13th. He was survived by his wife and three daughters.

C0468 · Instelling · 1900 - 1929

Bridge of Teith began as a secession church formed in 1740. Originally meeting at Thornhill, the seat of the congregation was moved to Bridge of Teith in 1743. The first minister was ordained in 1747 and shortly after, on the issue of the Breach over the Burgess Oath, the church allied to the Associate Synod (Burghers). When the Associate Synod united with the General Associate Synod in 1820 the church became part of the United Secession Church and then, from 1847, part of the United Presbyterian Church. Bridge of Teith Church was in the Presbytery of Stirling (which was for sometime the Presbytery of Stirling and Dunblane). It was dissolved in 1948.

Kincardine School Board
C0577 · Instelling · 1873 - 1919

The Education (Scotland) Act 1872 (35 & 36 Vict., c.62) created school boards in Scotland with a statutory duty to provide education for all children between the ages of 5 and 13. The boards had an elected membership made up of owners and occupiers of property of the value of £4 or over. They were responsible for the building and maintenance of schools, staffing and attendance of pupils. They were overseen by the Scotch Board of Education. The Education (Scotland) Act 1901 (64 Vict. and 1 Edw. VII, c.9) raised the school leaving age to 14. School boards were abolished by the Education (Scotland) Act 1918 (8 & 9 Geo. V, c.48) and replaced by education authorities and school management committees.

Blairdrummond School
C0074 · Instelling · c. 1850 - 1967

Blairdrummond School was built c. 1850. The school closed in 1967.

Bridge of Teith Kirk Session
C0212 · Instelling · 1929 - 1948

Bridge of Teith began as a secession church formed in 1740. Originally meeting at Thornhill, the seat of the congregation was moved to Bridge of Teith in 1743. The first minister was ordained in 1747 and shortly after, on the issue of the Breach over the Burgess Oath, the church allied to the Associate Synod (Burghers). When the Associate Synod united with the General Associate Synod in 1820 the church became part of the United Secession Church and then, from 1847, part of the United Presbyterian Church. Bridge of Teith Church was is in the Presbytery of Stirling (which was for sometime the Presbytery of Stirling and Dunblane). It was dissolved in 1948

Thornhill Mortcloth Society
C0440 · Instelling · 19th - 20th century

When a person died it was common for relatives of the deceased to hire a mortcloth from the church to cover the body or coffin during the funeral. The proceeds that the church received from these charges were often put towards providing poor relief. Thornhill Mortcloth Society was a society founded to provide funds for the upkeep of the cloths. The Society was also concerned with granting the transfer of lairs, the digging of graves and the upkeep of the cemetery in general. In 1923 the Society's two mortcloths were examined and ordered to be buried as they were no longer used for covering coffins as had been the custom

C0466 · Instelling · 1820 - 1847

When the Associate Synod united with the General Associate Synod in 1820 the church became part of the United Secession Church and then, from 1847, part of the United Presbyterian Church.

C0467 · Instelling · 1847 - 1900

Bridge of Teith began as a secession church formed in 1740. Originally meeting at Thornhill, the seat of the congregation was moved to Bridge of Teith in 1743. The first minister was ordained in 1747 and shortly after, on the issue of the Breach over the Burgess Oath, the church allied to the Associate Synod (Burghers). When the Associate Synod united with the General Associate Synod in 1820 the church became part of the United Secession Church and then, from 1847, part of the United Presbyterian Church. Bridge of Teith Church was in the Presbytery of Stirling (which was for sometime the Presbytery of Stirling and Dunblane). It was dissolved in 1948.

Braendam House
C0483 · Instelling · 18th century -

Braendam House is located in Thornhill, Stirling and was used as the main accommodation/residential facility for the Lilias Graham Trust, providing facilities for families during placements. The house can accommodate up to six families at any one time in self-contained units and includes two stand-alone properties and four self-contained flats.

Lilias Graham, for whom the Lilian Graham Trust is named, moved into Braendam House in 1972 after she inherited it from her Aunt. From here, she welcomed families from Glasgow and all over the country for holidays. She also set up the Braendam Link group, which provided a meeting point in Glasgow for families between visits to the house. In May 2006, the company changed its name from Braendam Family House to The Lilias Graham Trust.

The house is now permanently closed as of 2021.

The Lilias Graham Trust
C0484 · Instelling · 2006 -

The Lilias Graham Trust as it now stands was founded in 2006. Lilias Graham, for whom the charity is named after, devoted her whole life to working with those struggling to cope with troubled and poverty-stricken circumstances. For 20 years, her flat in the Gorbals district of Glasgow was a meeting point for local people seeking advice, groups for women, children playing, volunteers and trainee social workers on placements from the London School of Economics.

In 1972, Graham moved to Braendam House after she inherited it from her Aunt. From here, she welcomed families from Glasgow and all over the country for holidays. Braendam House later became the main facility for the charity. Graham also set up the Braendam Link group, which provided a meeting point in Glasgow for families between visits to the house. As retirement approached, Graham entrusted the house and grounds to ATD Fourth World (UK), an international charity committed to ‘putting an end to poverty and social exclusion’.

In May 2006, the company changed its name from Braendam Family House to The Lilias Graham Trust. The charity now provides modern and professional parenting capacity assessments for families, whilst staying true to Lilias Graham's legacy by assisting families who are affected by disruptive relationships, social exclusion and poverty.