THE property of James Dunlop, Esq., is situated in that part of the Barony parish now erected into the parish of Shettleston, in the county of Lanark, and about three miles distant from the Cross of Glasgow.
It is near the village of Shettlestone, the ancient Schedinestun, and its name is probably derived from the circumstance of Rutherglen, to which the whole district of Glasgow belonged of old, levying toll or custom at the Cross of Shettleston ("Ad crucem de Schedinestun"), the Royal Burgh being prohibited by Alexander II., in 1236, from intruding itself further than this point into the Bishop's territory. (1)
Schedinestun was granted, in 1242, by Alexander II., to William, Bishop of Glasgow, and his successors, and Tollcross, doubtless, formed a portion of it.
This latter property was originally larger than it is now, Easter Camlachie, which was part of it, having been feued off early in last century, and what was anciently called the "Little Hill of Tollcross," which was afterwards known as Jeanfield, and is now the Eastern Necropolis, having also been feued in 1751 by James Corbet.
The Corbets were a family of great antiquity. Roger Corbet was one of the Barons of Scotland who swore fealty to King Edward I., of England, about 1296. Crawford, in his "Remarks on the Ragman Roll," says that he was of the family of Mackerston, and that a branch of the same house has "for several centuries past resided in Clydesdale, in the Regality of Glasgow." This was the family of "Tollcross."
At the beginning of the seventeenth century "Mr. James Corbet of Towcors" is mentioned in the Commissary Records of Glasgow. Waller Corbet of "Towcorse" was living in 1678, and is alluded to in connection with some of the religious difficulties of the time. (2) When Nisbet published his "System of Heraldry," in 1722, the armorial bearings of "Walter Corbet of Towcross" are given, and the family continued to hold the estate till the beginning of the present century, (3) when it was sold to James Dunlop, the eldest son of Colin Dunlop of Carmyle, and grandson of the second James Dunlop of Garnkirk. (4)
Colin Dunlop of Carmyle was born in 1706. He was the thirteenth child of the second James Dunlop of Garnkirk, by his wife Lilias, only daughter of Robert Campbell, of Northwoodside, merchant in Glasgow, by his first wife Katherine, second daughter of John Napier of Kilmahew, Dumbartonshire. (5)
Colin Dunlop was one of the founders of the commercial greatness of Glasgow. He established the firm of Colin Dunlop & Sons, one of the great Virginia houses. Along with his brother Robert of Househill, and a few of the principal merchants of Glasgow, he also originated, in 1750, the first Glasgow Bank, "The Ship." He was a Bailie in 1747 and 1761, Dean of Guild in 1759, and Provost in 1770. His town residence, which still exists, though sadly changed from its original appearance, was built about the middle of last century, and was the second of the new houses erected outside of the West Port, when, what is now Argyle Street, was widened and improved circa 1750. The first of these new buildings was Provost John Murdoch's mansion, afterwards the well-known "Buck's Head Inn." Colin Dunlop's house was next to it, and is now the oldest house in Argyle Street. It is the second building east from Dunlop Street, which was formed on his property and named after him. He died in 1777.
His son, James Dunlop, was born 1742. He acquired Garnkirk from the representatives of his uncle, the third James Dunlop, and added largely to his landed property by the purchase of estates in the neighbourhood of the old family place. Along with his father and brother John, of Rosebank, he carried on the Virginia business, and the great house of Colin Dunlop & Sons seemed established on the firmest footing and to be at the height of its prosperity when a sudden and most severe "monetary crisis" occurred in 1793, and the firm was obliged to succumb. Garnkirk and the other estates were then sold, James Dunlop retaining the superiority and minerals of Carmyle, which are still the property of his grandson.
After the great tobacco house thus came to a close James Dunlop engaged in the business of mining, and, as a coal master, worked the minerals upon Carmyle. He purchased, as already shown, about 1810, the house and part of the lands of Tollcross, and died there in 1816. He was succeeded by his eldest son, Colin Dunlop.
This well-known citizen of Glasgow was born in 1775. He was bred to the bar and passed advocate, but never practised. He purchased the Clyde Ironworks, and under his energetic management raised them to the high position they now hold. He was a keen Whig politician, and one of the great leaders of the Reform party in Glasgow.
In 1835, along with James Oswald, he was elected M.P. for the city. He died, unmarried, in 1837, and was succeeded by his nephew, James Dunlop, who is also proprietor of the Clyde Ironworks,
The estate of Tollcross has been considerably added to since it was purchased by the Dunlops. There has long been a mansion on the property. In 1710, Hamilton of Wishaw, when describing the Barony parish, says of "the Towcorse" that it is "a good and substantious house, with good gardens and inclosures."
The present handsome edifice was built, in 1848, from the designs of David Bryce, architect, Edinburgh.
THE DUNLOPS OF TOLLCROSS.
Colin Dunlop, thirteenth child of James Dunlop, second of Garnkirk (which see), married Martha Bogle, daughter of John Bogle of Hamilton Farm. Her mother was a daughter of George Murdoch, Provost of Glasgow in 1754. He had two sons and one daughter.
I. JAMES, who bought Garnkirk from his uncle's trustees (see Garnkirk), born 1742, married Marion Buchanan of the Drumpellier family, by whom he had four sons and three daughters. He died at Tollcross 1816, aged 74. (I.) Colin, his eldest son, born 1775, passed advocate in 1799. In 1835 elected M.P. for Glasgow, died unmarried in 1837, aged sixty-two. (II.) George, W.S., born 1777, married Isabella, daughter of William Simpson of Ogle, county of Forfar, and had three sons and two daughters, (I.) James Dunlop, now of Tollcross, married firstly Janet Donald (see Mountblow), and had issue one son, George James, and three daughters; secondly, Louisa Locke, widow of William Lawrence Colquhoun of Clathic. (2.) George, W.S., married Miss Spens, and has issue. (3.) William, parliamentary solicitor, married Miss Burney, no issue. (4.) Colin Robert of Quarter married first Helen M'Call, and had issue George and Colin; second, Anne Black, and had issue; third, Helen Hamilton. (1.) The eldest daughter is Isabella, unmarried; (2.) the second daughter died young. (III.) John, a merchant in London, born 1779, died 1830. He had two sons - James, settled in America; Donald, a barrister in London; and two daughters, who died unmarried. (IV.) James, of Lloyds, London, died a bachelor. (I.) The eldest daughter Lilias, born 1778, died at Tollcross 1818. (II.) Martha, died unmarried. (III.) Marion of Gogar Mount, died unmarried in 1868, aged 83 years.
II. JOHN, born 1744 (see Rosebank).
I. JANET, married 1773 Thomas Donald of Geilston (see Mountblow).
(1) Regist Glasgow, p. 114, &c.
(2) "Maxwells of Pollok."
(3) The last of the Corbets of Tollcross were, Major James Corbet and his brother Cuningham Corbet and their families.
Major Corbet was a distinguished officer. In a fine print representing the death of Major Pearson in an engagement in the Streets of St. Heliers, Jersey, he is one of the principal figures. He was the Colonel of the first regiment of Glasgow Volunteers, raised about the end of last century. He had two sons, James, and Gordon R.N., who died without issue.
James succeeded to the estate of Duchal, in Renfrewshire, as heir of entail, through the marriage of Jean Porterfield to his great-grandfather, James Corbet of Tollcross. This was after litigation with Sir Michael Stewart. He assumed the name of Porterfield, and married a niece of the Rev. Sir Henry Wellwood Moncrieff, D.D., Bart., and died without issue.
Cuningham Corbet, the Major's younger brother, was a well-known citizen of Glasgow. He was Colonel of the "Glasgow Armed Association," raised towards the close of last century. This corps was generally known as "The Ancients," or, from the obesity of some of its members, "The belligerent powers." He had several daughters, one of whom married the father of Cuningham Borthwick, now Lord Borthwick. He had also two sons, Ross, and Horatio, who died young.
Ross Corbet was a merchant in Greenock, and on the death of James Corbet Porterfield, his cousin, he assumed the name of Porterfield, but by arrangement the estate of Duchal passed to Sir Michael Stewart. Ross Corbet Porterfield died without issue.
(4) See Garnkirk.
(5) See Note at the end of this article.
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