Jordanhill

Jordanhill Scottish Gaelic:Cnoc Iòrdain Scots:Jordanhull
Jordanhill Location withinGlasgow
OS grid reference	NS538681
Council area	Glasgow City Council
Lieutenancy area	Glasgow
Country	Scotland
Sovereign state	United Kingdom
Post town	GLASGOW
Postcode district	G13
Dialling code	0141
Police	Scotland
Fire	Scottish
Ambulance	Scottish
UK Parliament	Glasgow West
Scottish Parliament	Glasgow Anniesland

Jordanhill(Scots:Jordanhull,Scottish Gaelic:Cnoc Iòrdain)is an affluentarea of theWest Endof the city ofGlasgow,Scotland.The area consists largely of terraced housing dating from the early to mid 20th century, with some detached and semi-detached homes and some modern apartments.

Jordanhill College of Educationand then theUniversity of Strathclyde faculty of educationwere formerly in the area and the associated school has a high reputation.

History

The area was previously part of theJordanhill Estatewithin the parish of Renfrew centred on Jordanhill House.

Jordanhill Estate:1546-1913

Early nineteenth century print of Jordanhill House, the seat of James Smith, Esq

Crawfords of Jordanhill

Jordanhill House, Renfrewshire, Scotland, about 1888 and following the improvements by James Smith of Jordanhill

In 1546 Lawrence Crawford ofKilbirniefounded a chaplainry atDrumry,and to sustain it endowed it with thefreeholdownership of land at Jordanhill, which then accumulated rent at a rate of £5 per annum. His sixth sonThomas Crawfordwas a soldier who led the 1571 capture ofDumbarton Castle,who had previously acquired the lands at Jordanhill from the chaplain of Drumry in 1562. There he built a house, possibly on or close to the foundations of an original hunting lodge. In the 18th century, one of his descendants also called Lawrence Crawford extended and refurbished the old house, and laid out the original garden scheme and associated orchards.

Houstons of Jordanhill

In 1750 the Crawford family sold the estate toTobacco LordsAlexander Houston, whose family was also forced to sell the estate in 1800 after his business got into trouble, toJames Smithof merchants Smith & Leitch.

Smiths of Jordanhill

James Smith of Jordanhill (1782-1867)

The third son of a Tobacco Lord from Craigend, James's two elder brothers having travelled toVirginiaandNorth Carolinain the 1760s had noted the growing civil uprising warning of the forthcomingAmerican War of Independence,and refocused their family's merchant business on trade with theWest Indies.By the early 19th century, and after the death of their father, all three sons could afford to retire. As third son, James had no access to the family's landed estate, and so bought Jordanhill for £14,000 in 1800. He then spent a further £4,000 extending and modernising the manor house.By 1809, the estate was sustained by its four associated farms ofWhiteinch,Windyedge,WoodendandAnniesland.Having married Mary Wilson that year (granddaughter ofAlexander Wilsonand niece ofPatrick Wilson), Smith improved access to the main house by gravelling the road to the Annieslandtoll road,which is now known as Crow Road. In 1821, with four children and a pregnant wife, after the purchase of Gartnavel farm he remodelled the existing house, and also built a stonepillarin direct line between his favourite window in the manor house library and the spire of Renfrew Parish Church. A keen leisure sailor, in 1827 Smith bought the Baths Hotel atHelensburgh.With seven children, after two of his daughters caughttuberculosis,the family relocated temporarily to Portugal and rented out the house for five years. After the death of both daughters, the family returned to the estate in 1846, but in 1847 Mrs. Smith died ofpneumonia.Comfortable but with less of a fortune, Smith devoted his remaining twenty years to church works and supporting his children in their endeavours.

After the death of his father in 1866, his sonArchibald Smithinherited the by now neglected Jordanhill estate. A qualifiedbarristerwho lived inLondonwith his wife and three children, he devoted his spare time to working on the problems of the deviation of thenavigational compassassociated with the newly developed iron ships. In 1862 he published patents and papers to solve these, which brought him the Gold Medal of theRoyal Society.Smith left most of the management of the estate to its staff, which generated £4,500 of income across its core 293-acre (119 ha) holding, of which £3,000 came from the quickly diminishingcoal minesandironstoneworkings leased on the former farmlands to the Monkland Iron and Steel Co.An 1872 government award of £2,000 for his compass research allowed him to replace the worst houses on the estate with new homes, today known as Compass Cottages in Anniesland Road. On his early death in 1872, to pay offdeath dutiesand the accrued debts of the estate, his wife sold of much of the estate's former farmlands for housing development north of theGlasgow, Yoker and Clydebank Railway.

Archibald Smith of Jordanhill, upon graduation at Trinity College, Cambridge (Senior Wrangler)

After his mother's death in 1913,James Parker Smithinherited the estate. Educated atWinchester CollegeandTrinity College, Cambridge,like his father he qualified as a barrister. After marriage to his cousin, he had devoted himself to politics, becomingLiberal UnionistMP forGlasgow Partickin 1890. In January 1900, Smith had been appointed assistant private secretary (unpaid) toJoseph Chamberlain,Secretary of State for the Colonies.After losing his seat in 1906, like his mother he began selling off more pieces of land four housing development, including the former Gartnavel farm to theRoyal Lunatic Asylum.Approached by the university which was looking for a site on which to establish a unified teacher training college, in 1913 Parker Smith agreed sale of the residual estate.

Following the death of Archibald Colin Hamilton Smith in Australia on 5 June 1971, the sixth generation of the family who died without issue, the Smith family papers dealing with the Jordanhill Estate were donated to the Glasgow City Archives at theMitchell Library.Many of the Smith family are buried in the graveyard surroundingRenfrew Parish Church.

On 25 June 2007,Lord Lyon King of Armsrecognized Michael Babington Smith, the grandson of Archibald Colin Hamilton Smith as successor to his grandfather as Representer of the House of Smith of Jordanhill and therefore, Michael Babington Smith of Jordanhill.

Later history

Before the twentieth century, Jordanhill was a poor area, similar to neighbouringKnightswood,with mining for coal at Skaterigg. The building of more affluent residences was coincidental with the expansion of Glasgow and the construction of a commuter railway (similar toBearsdenin the 1870s).

The site of the house was sold toJordanhill Teacher Training College,and is now the home of theStrathclyde University Faculty Of Education.The area consists largely of terraced housing dating from the early to mid 20th century, with some detached and semi-detached homes and some modern apartments.

Jordanhill,TempleandKnightswoodhave been linked to stories of theKnights Templar;but there is no evidence for their presence in this area. When asked, theLord Lyon King of Armsrebutted a proposal to include the Maltese cross of the Knights of St. John in the crest ofJordanhill College.Jordanhill may be related to the family name "Jardine".

Amenities

There are a number of parks in Jordanhill and the immediate vicinity, as well as large playing fields on the Jordanhill Campus. Jordanhill is directly adjacent toVictoria Park,one of the largest green spaces in Glasgow and home to theFossil Grove,an area of fossilized prehistoric tree stumps.

The area has excellent transport links.Jordanhill railway stationhas regular local train services to central Glasgow on theNorth ClydeandArgylelines, and regular bus services are provided byFirst Glasgow.TheClyde Tunnelis located nearby, giving road access to the south of the city.

There are twopubsin the area, both are situated on Crow Road, near the railway station.

This area used to be home to a branch ofThe Jolly Giant Toy Superstores,based on Crow Road.

Education

Jordanhill School

Jordanhill Schoolis located on Chamberlain Road at the foot of the hill on which Jordanhill College sits, and was formerly the College's training school. It is now a state comprehensive school.The school is unique in the Scottish state sector in that it contains both Primary and Secondary departments, providing education for children from 4 to 18, and in that it hasGrant Maintainedstatus and is independent fromlocal governmentcontrol. It had previously been an independent demonstration school for Jordanhill College. Private school theHigh School of Glasgowis also located in the Jordanhill vicinity.

Saint Thomas Aquinas Secondary Schoolis aCatholicsecondary school located on Mitre Road in the newer part of Jordanhill. It has several feeder primary schools, including Corpus Christi (Knightswood), Notre Dame (Dowanhill), St Pauls (Whiteinch), St. Peter's (Partick), St. Brendan's (Yoker), St. Patrick's in (Anderston), St. Clare's (Drumchapel) and St. Ninian's (Blairdardie).

Places of worship

There are two churches in Jordanhill, both located on Woodend Drive, off Crow Road:Jordanhill Parish Church(Church of Scotland) andAll Saints Church(Episcopalian). Both churches are used for a variety of community and social events, in addition to regular worship, and All Saints is also home to Westbourne Gardens Nursery School. The 72nd and 178th Glasgow Scouts are based in the area, as well as 130thand the 272nd GlasgowBoys' Brigades.

See also

• Hillhead Jordanhill RFC

External links

• Jordanhill School
• A Short History of Jordanhilldated 1931
• Historical notes on South Jordanhill
• 130th Glasgow Company, The Boys' Brigade
• Jordanhill Parish Church (Church of Scotland)
• All Saints Scottish Episcopal Church
• [1]
• Jordanhill Phoenix Rugby Football Club