Details

Name

Archibald McLellan

Brief Biography

1795-1854, Scottish

Occupation

Coach builder, Glasgow councillor and Bailie

Description

Archibald McLellan’s contribution to Glasgow’s political life and the Arts cannot be overstated. He was the son of Archibald McLellan, a coach builder and his wife Christian Shillinglaw. No record of his birth has been discovered, he died in 1854, his death registration document records his age as 59. Archibald senior became a Burgess and Guild Brother of Glasgow in 1782. He was a hammerman and served an apprenticeship with coach and harness makers Archibald Bogle and John Edmiston. In 1814 Archibald junior joined with his father, Archibald McLellan and Son at 24 Miller Street. Archibald senior died in 1831.
Archibald junior matriculated at Glasgow University in 1808. His education was extensive and classical, the basis for his interest in art and literature in later life. He also had acquired the skills to join his father in coachbuilding as a heraldic draughtsman.
On the 26th of August 1813 he became a Burgess and Guild Brother of Glasgow. The following day he became hammerman number 822, described as a coachmaker. In 1819 he was Collector of the Incorporation of Hammerman and in 1821 he became their Deacon. Prior to the Burgh Reform Act (Scotland) of 1833 members of the Trades and Merchants Houses could be nominated by these organisations to become Glasgow councillors. McLellan was nominated in 1822. He became a magistrate of Glasgow in 1827.
He was a multifaceted individual. In addition to running the coach business and advancing the interests of the city through the council and the Trades House he also had a passionate interest in art, literature and music.
In 1825 he became a member of the Glasgow Dilettanti Society formed in February of that year. Its membership had a range of artists but also included those individuals possessing artistic taste and knowledge. In 1834 he was the society’s president. He was also the first president of the Glasgow Fine Arts Association in its foundation year of 1853.
He became deacon convener of the Trades House in 1831 and 1832. The following year saw the introduction of the Reform Act which initially prohibited the Trades and Merchant Houses from nominating councillors. McLellan was instrumental in maintaining the right to do so. He was again elected deacon convener of the Trades House in 1834.
His art collection included paintings, sculptures, and books. In 1838 he lived at 3 Dalhousie Street in the Barony parish. This address according to Dr. Wangen, director of the Royal Gallery of Pictures in Berlin who visited Glasgow around 1852 housed a significant collection of paintings from the 17th century Dutch and Flemish schools and others. He described the house as being overfilled with paintings and commented on over sixty of them in the rooms there. McLellan also had a country domicile at Mugdock Castle, leasing the castle from around 1836 from the Marquis of Montrose family, the Grahams. He had a great interest in the architecture of Glasgow undertaking new buildings culminating in the galleries building in Sauchiehall Street named after him. He wrote ‘Essay on the Cathedral Church of Glasgow ‘ published in 1833 lamenting the state of the cathedral. It was ‘renovated and became the pride and ornament of the land.’ Proposing a new western approach to the cathedral he purchased land to achieve this which was given to the city council, the Merchant’s House carried out the required improvements.
He died at Mugdock Castle on the 22nd October 1854 and is buried in the necropolis. The Glasgow Herald described him as an orator and debater who was unrivalled, also someone who could be over emphatic. He was also described as kind-hearted. However, one capability escaped him, that of keeping control of his finances. His intention to leave his art works and other property to Glasgow could not be complied with. The city purchased those works and the Sauchiehall Street galleries for £44,500 from his more