Auchintoshan (or Auchentoshan) House in Mountblow, photographed in 1870 by Thomas Annan. The mansion was built in the 17th century and altered and added to by various proprietors over the years.
The lands of Auchentoshan were acquired in 1612 from James, Earl of Abercorn by Matthew Hamilton, the son of Glasgow's Lord Provost. William Cross, a Glasgow West Indies merchant, lived here from 1793 until 1839. In 1878 the house belonged to James Black of Black & Wingate of Kelvinhaugh.
One of the last occupants of Auchentoshan House was Sir Thomas Bell, Managing Director of John Brown & Co from 1909 to 1935. The mansion was destroyed by a German bombs during the Clydebank Blitz, in March 1941.
Reference: Sp Coll Dougan Add. 73
Glasgow University Library, Special Collections
Keywords:
air raids, Auchentoshan House, Auchintoshan House, bombing, Clydebank Blitz, country houses, John Brown & Co, Lord Provosts, mansions, West Indies merchants