James Caird & Co.

Plasterers

Caird Drive in Partick is named for master plasterer James Caird (c. 1828–1914), a native of Kirkcudbright, who was first a councillor, and then Provost of the independent Police Burgh of Partick from 1891 to 1898. 1

As a youth Caird joined the family plastering business, led by his uncle William Caird, which traded in the Garnethill area of Glasgow from the 1830s. 2 By 1846, the business was based in Hope Street, where in 1868 its cement store collapsed 'with a crash which startled the neighbourhood'. 3 By the early 1870s the business had moved to 82 Wellington Street. By the early 1890s it was trading as 'James Caird & Co.', cement-workers and merchants, modellers and pavement-layers. 4 It seems to have been taken over by George Rome around 1891–2.

By the time he became Provost, Caird resided in a large house, Collingwood, in Partickhill. As Provost, he was invited to lay the foundation stone for the council chambers for the neighbouring Burgh of Whiteinch in 1894. 5

Notes:

1: Obituaries, Scotsman, 13 November 1914, p. 4; Glasgow Herald, 13 November 1914, p. 1.

2: Census information, www.ancestry.co.uk [accessed 10 December 2011]; Glasgow Post Office Directory, 1833–4; 1838–9; 1841–2; 1846–7.

3: Scotsman, 3 March 1868, p. 2.

4: Glasgow Post Office Directory, 1870–80; 1890–1.

5: Scotsman, 26 September 1894, p. 6.

'Mackintosh Architecture' led by The Hunterian, University of Glasgow, funded by the Arts and Humanities Research Council; with additional support from The Monument Trust, The Pilgrim Trust, and the Paul Mellon Centre for Studies in British Art; and collaborative input from Historic Scotland and the Royal Commission on the Ancient and Historical Monuments of Scotland.