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Former Carmelite Convent, Langside

PostPosted: Sat Mar 15, 2008 8:16 pm
by Des
I have been trying to get some history of this building which is now being developed into high cost (£500,000 each) flats. I have got a fair amount so far - buit in 1862, for Alexander Bannantyne Stewart (of the drapers, Stewart & McDonald, before House of Fraser on Buchanan Street). Alexander Bannantyne Stewart died in 1880 in London (not been able to find out how, he would have been 44) and the history of the building and indeed his surving wife and 8 children stops after his death until the Carmelites acquire the house in 1919 (it being vacant for several years).

Does anyone know anything of the circumstances of Stewart's death or what happened to his wife, children and the building between 1880 and 1919. The family also owned a substanial house on Rothesay.

Re: Former Carmelite Convent, Langside

PostPosted: Sat Mar 15, 2008 10:06 pm
by ramor69
Sorry to sound like a sceptic, but am I the only one who seems to think that a lot of these
"1st time posters" are only here to take what they can from this place, rather than putting
anything in. :?

Re: Former Carmelite Convent, Langside

PostPosted: Sat Mar 15, 2008 10:19 pm
by Des
ramor69 wrote:Sorry to sound like a sceptic, but am I the only one who seems to think that a lot of these
"1st time posters" are only here to take what they can from this place, rather than putting
anything in. :?


How nice and friendly of you! A welcome would have been appreciated more. In actual fact I did give quite a lot of information and discoverd this site in my quest for information. I also put in a lot of effort looking through this site to see if there were any topics before on this subject.

I have joined loads of forums on lots of different issues and this is the first time I have come across a welcome sush as this. Mostly people are intersted in the subject area and happy to share their knowledge (this is the idea isnt it). I thought the idea was also about getting people to join the forum and get involved. I have absolutley no doubt that everyone who joins the forum including yourself does so from at least a part self interest. There would seem to be little point otherwise. It is not really possible to contribute to the forum without at some point being a "1st time poster"

I'm hoping that I hear from some more friendly and informative members, but if not, nothing ventured, nothing gained.

Re: Former Carmelite Convent, Langside

PostPosted: Sat Mar 15, 2008 10:30 pm
by dazza
ramor69 wrote:Sorry to sound like a sceptic, but am I the only one who seems to think that a lot of these
"1st time posters" are only here to take what they can from this place, rather than putting
anything in. :?


And? If any information can be put forward then it is there as a permanent record for anyone else who might be searching. Then they in turn may be inclined to contribute something else. That's how it works.

Re: Former Carmelite Convent, Langside

PostPosted: Sun Mar 16, 2008 9:33 am
by onyirtodd
ramor69 wrote:Sorry to sound like a sceptic, but am I the only one who seems to think that a lot of these
"1st time posters" are only here to take what they can from this place, rather than putting
anything in. :?


That may well be the case but I don't find a problem in that.

I'm sure there are some members of HG who derive great pleasure from helping a newbie with a bit of research. If it leads the newbie on to becoming a contributor - all well and good. If not - we've all learned something new. Isn't that what a community is all about?

Re: Former Carmelite Convent, Langside

PostPosted: Sun Mar 16, 2008 10:08 am
by ninatoo
I am one member who does not have any local knowledge to contribute because I live in Australia, even though I was born in Glasgow. Nobody has ever accused me of have not been 'putting in'. In fact some of the questions we ask may be greatly valued after the fact because of the amount of information they generate. My "St Andrew's Square" thread is a good example of this. I have learned so much about my birthplace, and all of it has been from the kindness of people's hearts.

Welcome from me, and the others here Des, who will assuredly jump in and attempt to assist you. There are indeed some here that thrive on a good mystery, and I am sure they will jump in as soon as they have something to offer. WITHOUT, in my experience, asking for payment in kind in any way.

Nina

Re: Former Carmelite Convent, Langside

PostPosted: Sun Mar 16, 2008 3:58 pm
by Socceroo
Welcome Des. What's your particular interest in the building? Are you the Sales negotiator selling the £500k Flats? ::):

Re: Former Carmelite Convent, Langside

PostPosted: Sun Mar 16, 2008 5:18 pm
by Des
Thanks to you all for the welcome. I'm not selling the flats at the development :D I know someone who went to look at the flats early in their development and apparently the whole building is decidely spooky. Mind you any buiding this age which was empty and had been used as a convent would be spooky I reckon. Anyway, this intrigued me and led me to look into the history of the building, finding out the info I put in my first post. The house is pretty interesting because it was built especially for Bannantye Stewart and was designed to house his art collection as well as his family - it included an art gallery. I was just curious to know what happened to the house during the period he died up until the nuns bought it. I am also curious about how Alexander Bannatye Stewart died - there is mention of his death but not of how he died, leading me to suspect that it might have been suicide although this is not in keeping with what is said about his life.

If I find any information from other sources I will post it up for anyone who is interested.

Re: Former Carmelite Convent, Langside

PostPosted: Sun Mar 16, 2008 6:44 pm
by Socceroo
Any photo's of the former Convent Des? I am trying to place where it is.

Re: Former Carmelite Convent, Langside

PostPosted: Sun Mar 16, 2008 7:10 pm
by onyirtodd
Socceroo wrote:Any photo's of the former Convent Des? I am trying to place where it is.


Mansionhouse Rd.

Re: Former Carmelite Convent, Langside

PostPosted: Sun Mar 16, 2008 7:28 pm
by Des
yeah as said its on mansionhouse road, a fairly distinctive building with large gardens. I'll try and look out a photo that I found but unfortunately I haven't actually taken one myself.

Re: Former Carmelite Convent, Langside

PostPosted: Sun Mar 16, 2008 10:05 pm
by Des
Here is a link to a website of the Langside Heritage Trail that has a photo of the old convent (Rawcliffe House) and some info on the house too. It also has a lot of other interesting info.

http://www.glasgow.gov.uk/NR/rdonlyres/59DC0153-F3EC-4F75-885E-212B4C39CCDB/0/LangsideHeritageTrailLargePrintVersion.pdf

Re: Former Carmelite Convent, Langside

PostPosted: Mon Mar 17, 2008 9:11 am
by onyirtodd
cjroarty posted this here http://www.flickr.com/photos/cjroarty/s ... 456935121/ late last year.

Re: Former Carmelite Convent, Langside

PostPosted: Mon Mar 17, 2008 1:30 pm
by cjroarty
My wife's aunt lived there - the nuns have moved to a convent in Kirkintilloch now - and before they left we were given a tour of the building.

There were modifications made but none of them were particularly destructive so I reckon the flats will be pretty special when they come on the market.

Don't know much about the history of the building but I can do some digging around and see what I can pick up.

My only annoyance is that my picture taking abilities are so poor and the house was very dark so there weren't many pictures that were of much use.

Ciaran

Re: Former Carmelite Convent, Langside

PostPosted: Mon Mar 17, 2008 1:33 pm
by onyirtodd
The building in Kirky looks rather smart and is very convenient for Waterside Miners Welfare.