Notes:

Robert Maclaren 1817-1889
Born 1817 Falkirk, Scotland
Died 2nd April, l889. Ardenshaw, 5 St Andrews Drive, Pollokshields,Glasgow.
(Record of death 1889 Kinning Park District, entry 175)
Son of Robert Maclaren (of Bainsford) 1778-1826 & Margaret Shaw 1779/81-1854
Husband of Mary Jane Findlay with whom he had nine children

Left about ?1.5M which he had made on steel futures and in RobertMaclaren & Co.
He was told that he shouldn't leave it all to his children, to which hereplied that if they had as much fun spending it as he had had making it,then they were welcome to it!


Obituary
In The Institute of Engineers & Shipbuilders in Scotland Vol. 32 p. 322
Mr. ROBERT MACLAREN was elected as a Member of the Institution in l859,and although not taking any active part in the work of the Institution,was well known amongst engineers as an iron founder, his works for themanufacture of castings for water supply, both pipes and specials,turning out large quantities of these, both for home and foreign orders.
Mr. Maclaren died at Glasgow on 2nd April, l889

Obituary
Robert Maclaren death notice listed in both the Glasgow Herald and SouthSuburban Press of 3rd and 6th April 1889.
This read as follows:

"At Ardenshaw, Pollokshields on the 2nd inSt Robert MacLaren of EglingtonFoundry. Friends will please accept this invitation."

His son Colonel Robert Maclaren 1860 to 1936 owned Robert Maclaren & CoLtd. Was Hon. Colonel of the Cameroneans and Chairman of the RoyalExchange in Glasgow for about 18 years.


See article (below) form "Industries of Glasgow" (published 1888) adescription of Robert Maclaren & Co., Iron Founder and Manufacturer ofpatent cast-iron pipes, Eglinton Iron Works, Port Eglinton. Among thegreatest of Glasgow's iron industries

See also History of ROBERT MACLAREN & COMPANY LTD. (later MaclarenControls) by Ian Garnet Maclaren 1962) in Notes of his son of Noman (Dr)Henry William Maclaren (1880-1936)


Article from "Industries of Glasgow" (published 1888) was a descriptionof Robert MacLaren & Co. indicating it was Robert senior and not his sonwho founded the firm in 1858.

Robert Maclaren & Co.,
Robert Maclaren & Co., Iron Founder and Manufacturer of patent cast-ironpipes, Eglinton Iron Works, Port Eglinton. Among the greatest ofGlasgow's iron industries stands that carried on at the above address byMessrs. Robert Maclaren &; Co., a firm whose name has become most closelyand creditably associated with the manufacture of all classes ofcast-iron pipes for gas, water, and sanitary purposes.

This eminent house was founded in 1858 by Mr. Robert Maclaren, who had athorough training in the important branch of iron founding to which hehas subsequently devoted his energies, and whose experience and knowledgehave been applied to the marked improvement of the class of goods he hasmade it his business to produce. The firm commenced operations at theirpresent fine premises, the Eglinton works, which have been enlarged andaltered from time to time to meet the requirements of an ever-growingtrade, which now cover no less an area than 26,000 square yards ofground, and employ from six to eight hundred hands, according to theamount of work in process of execution.

To describe in detail the many interesting phases and features of thisthoroughly typical establishment would carry us far beyond the limits ofthis necessarily concise sketch. It is, perhaps, sufficient to recordthat there is no department in the entire works in which the productivefacilities and capacity have not been brought up to the very best modernstandard; and in not a few instances there are manifested certainmethods, arrangements, and conveniences of an unique order, the outcomeand result of this firm's long and exhaustive experience applied to thebest and most effective purpose.

The mechanical and general equipment of the Eglinton Iron Works is beyondpraise. It represents the perfection of adequacy and efficiency that canonly be attained after years of labour and experiment, and illustratesthe laudably intelligent use Messrs. Maclaren and Co. have made of everyresource brought within their reach by the gradual and continuousdevelopment of the industry they control.

The situation of the works completes the sum total of theirrecommendation as an industrial centre, and the railway lines runningthrough them, coupled with their proximity to the river wharfage, affordevery desirable facility of transport and shipments. About three-fifthsof the area covered by the works is devoted to the purposes of yards, andconstitutes storage ground for many thousands of tons of cast-iron pipesof all kinds and sizes, complete and finished, and ready for shipment toany quarter of the globe.

The Mercantile Age, referring to Messrs. Maclaren and Co.'sestablishment, in a recent issue, says: '
Their works, as we have said,are replete with everything that science has dictated for the ablestconstruction of their specialties, and their reputation has long beenfirmly established with foreign Governments and corporations, as well asthose at home, and we are glad to bear this tribute of praise inacknowledgment of their untiring energy, excellent workmanship, andbusiness-like transactions." Messrs. Maclaren ~ Co. are among ourgreatest manufacturers of iron pipes. They are, in fact, specialists inthis most important industry, and their productions in gas andwater-pipes of every description have a reputation that is international.

The maintenance of that reputation and its consistent extension andenhancement now constitutes the industrial and commercial object of thefirm; and to this end there is no device or plan that skill, science, orexperience can suggest to facilitate the operations of the Eglinton Worksor improve the character of their unsurpassed productions that is not atonce adopted and actively employed by the house. Such a policy ofprogressive enterprise can have but one result, beneficial alike to thosepursuing it and to the world-wide public in whose interests it isdeveloped and adhered to. Messrs. Robert Maclaren & Co. control a tradeof universal range and immense magnitude: Their pipes for water and gassupply and for various sanitary uses are in demand among all civilisednations, and are shipped in ever-increasing quantities to every quarterof the globe.

Untiring energy, excellence of production, and straightforward commercialprinciples are the united causes of this satisfaction, effect; and thebusiness now centered at the Eglinton Works is a monument to thecharacteristic capacity and enterprise of a representative Glasgow firm,and a credit to the great national industry in which is a factor offirst-rate importance.

This article was found thanks to the efforts of
Jack Davis
Departmental Librarian
History and Glasgow Room
Enc.
If phoning or visiting please ask for Joan Mitchell
Direct phone 0141 287 2938: Fax 0141 287 2815
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More Maclaren info at
http://home.earthlink.net/~maclaren/
Called "Maclaren & Birtwistle Information" which has a link to the mainpage.
The family tree on FamilyTree Maker website "Robert Maclaren 1776-1826 &Ralph de Birdtwisell 1160" is at
http://www.familytreemaker.com/users/m/a/c/Hamish-S-Maclaren/
This has lots of reports, photos, etc..

see Robert Maclaren of Bainsford (1776-1826) for more information.

Robert married Mary Jane Finlay on 25 Aug 1859 in Glasgow, Scotland. Mary (daughter of John Finlay and Mary Adams) was born in 1841; died in 1900; was buried in Craigton Cemetary, Glasgow.. [Group Sheet] [Family Chart]

Notes:

Colonel Robert Maclaren 1860 to 1936.
Born 1860 Scotland
Died 1936. Scotland
Son of Robert Maclaren 1817-1889 and Mary Jane Findlay c1830
Husband of Marie Morier. Father of Ada.

He owned Robert Maclaren & Co Ltd. Was Honorary Colonel of the 8/9Cameroneans and Chairman of the Royal Exchange in Glasgow for about 18years.

History of ROBERT MACLAREN & COMPANY LTD. (later Maclaren Controls) byIan Garnet Maclaren 1962, see under Notes of his brother Norman (Dr)Henry William Maclaren (1880-1936)

For an article about Robert MacLaren & Co from "Industries of Glasgow"(published 1888) there is a description of "Robert MacLaren & Co, IronFounder and Manufacturer of patent cast-iron pipes, Eglinton Iron Works,Port Eglinton. Among the greatest of Glasgow's iron industries..." Seein Notes of his father Robert Maclaren (1917-1889)

Family/Spouse: Marie Morier. Marie was born about 1860 in UK; and died. [Group Sheet] [Family Chart]

Family/Spouse: William Sewart. William was born about 1860; and died. [Group Sheet] [Family Chart]

Family/Spouse: James Alexander Clarke. [Group Sheet] [Family Chart]

Family/Spouse: Clara Hillhouse. Clara (daughter of Archibald Hillhouse and Annie Adamson) was born in 1871; died in 1947. [Group Sheet] [Family Chart]

Family/Spouse: Daisy Stewart Ogilvie. Daisy was born about 1870; and died. [Group Sheet] [Family Chart]

Family/Spouse: Violet Garnet, Lady. [Group Sheet] [Family Chart]

Notes:

Andrew Maclaren 1870-1914
Born 1870 Scotland
Died 1914 UK
Son of Robert Maclaren 1817-1889 and Mary Jane Findlay 1830
Husband of Eva Friend. Father of Denholm, Owen, Brian, & Bruce.

Joined up as private with butler (and Rolls Royce) in 1914 died ofTyphoid in Camp in UK

Family/Spouse: Eva Friend. Eva was born in Australia. [Group Sheet] [Family Chart]

Notes:

Archibald Maclaren 1870 -1960
Born 1870 Scotland
Died 1969. Scotland
Son of Robert Maclaren 1817-1889 and Mary Jane Findlay 1830
Husband of Nina Higgins. Father of Colin & Una

Made a deal (which also involved British
government) to buy all the tungsten in Spain during WW1 that also
required him to buy all the oranges, big trouble with surplus at end
of war.
Was somewhat impatient and was jailed in France following
ramming the lock gates at St Lazur with his steam yacht because they
did not open fast enough. This was particularly unpopular as locks
rather important to French navy, It was how most of their ships got intothe Atlantic.

Family/Spouse: Nina Higgins. [Group Sheet] [Family Chart]

Notes:

Dr Norman Maclaren 1880 to 1936.
Born 1880, Scotland
Died 22 june 1937, Glasgow, Scotland
Son of Robert Maclaren 1817-1889 and Mary Jane Findlay.
Husband of Margaret Garnet 1894-1989. Father of Patrica, Ian, Peter, &David

Worked at Glasgow University and had done work for the Royal GeographicSociety on trips to such places as the McKenzie river Alaska, Borneo, andTibet. Studied at Glasgow University and at the University of Heidelbergin Germany from where he recieved a Ph.D.

In the early 1900 Norman Maclaren had traveled through Alaska with a teamof husky dogs and a Chinese cook, making the first map of large areas ofAlaska, breaking an arm in a crevasse and setting it himself. He was afellow of the Royal Geographic Society and the Linean Society.

Note from one of Norman Maclaren's sons, Ian G Maclaren's life story.
"During WW1 the family moved to Glasgow for a couple of years asGrandfather (Norman Maclaren) was asked to work at Glasgow University aslecturer of anatomy. Out of this job he became very interested inembryology and that became his life's work. He made ovens to grow theembryos and developed thermostats to keep the temperature constant in theovens. The development of these thermostats which they then sold to otheruniversities became one of Norman's "little firms" of which he hadseveral. Robert Maclaren, one of his older brothers, (20 years older)put $20,000.00 into the firm and then subsidized it for years. He nevergot a penny out of it. Maclarens as such never made a lot of money untilIGM took charge after WWII."

Deeshome was built by Norman Maclaren in approx. 1913, but he never likedit, and they moved to Cubreshaw, East Kilbride, after the WW I.

Obituary from the Glasgow Herald, 24th June 1937
"LOSS TO GLASGOW UNIVERSITY. DEATH OF LECTURER IN EMBRYOLOGY .
The death occurred on Tuesday at his home, Cubrieshaw, West Kilbride, ofDr Norman H. W. Maclaren who has been lecturer in embryology in theAnatomy Department of Glasgow University since the end of the war.

Dr Maclaren played an important part in embryological research in thiscountry during recent years.

Dr Maclaren, who was about 55 years of age, belonged to Glasgow. While astudent in Glasgow University he was attracted to biological science, andin his early manhood he occupied a post as demonstrator in the Departmentof Zoology at the University under the late Professor Young.

Later he studied extensively abroad and travelled in various parts of theworked conducting biological research. At Jena he worked as assistant tothe famous Professor Haeckel, and also studied and worked in the marinebiological station at Naples. He held the degree of Ph.D. of HeidelbergUniversity.

As war service he joined the teaching staff of the Anatomy Department ofGlasgow University and since the end of the war has been lecturer inembryology.

He was associated with Professor T.H. Bryce, who retired from the Chairof Anatomy 18 months ago, and took an important part with Professor Brycein building up the collection of human and other mammalian embryos in theUniversity. He also conducted important researches in the early stagesof the development of several mammalian forms, reports of which werepublished in the proceedings of the Royal Society and elsewhere.

Dr Maclaren had an unrivalled knowledge of laboratory techniques and wasof an inventive turn of mind.

An example of his inventive powers was provided by a thermostatic controlwhich he produced during his work at the University. He and his brother,the late Mr Robert Maclaren, patented the control and formed a company tomarket the invention, which is now extensively used for many purposes.The early experimental models to the control were tried out in connectionwith the biological ovens in the Anatomy Department of the University.

Dr Maclaren is survived by his wife, three sons, and one daughter."


From Angela Elliott about the Maclaren river & glacier.
"I received info from the University in Juneau to the effect that theMaclaren glacier and river were named for Norrie Maclaren, who had lead aparty of gold prospectors up river. At a fork in the river the partysplit and Maclaren led the party up one arm, whilst his compatriot led aparty up the other. Maclaren failed to find gold, but the other partywere successful and the leader of that party named the river and glacierafter Norrie Maclaren in recompense for his failure. "

Alaska Range and Maclaren River viewpoint
MP 37.0/98.0 (Found athttp://www.ak.blm.gov/gdo/DenaliHwy/denali.html)
"You are now at an elevation of about 4,000 feet, just a short distancefrom the Maclaren Summit (4,086'), the second highest highway summit inAlaska. Stop and enjoy the panoramic view of the Alaska Range and theMaclaren River. Mt. Hayes (13,832') and the Maclaren River and Glacierare dominant features, but Aurora Peak, Mt. Shand and Mt. Geist may alsobe seen. The Maclaren River flows from the Maclaren Glacier south to theSusitna River and then into Cook Inlet just west of Anchorage.
Vegetation at this elevation is low-growing alpine tundra. Wildflowersbloom in abundance during the short Alaskan summer (June and July). Lookfor pikas, ground squirrels and ptarmigan"


STORIES
Stories we heard from our grandmother, Granny Mac, wife of Dr NormanMaclaren our grandfather.

The Husky.
While in Alaska/Canada on one occasion he came across a group of men whowhere getting ready to shoot a very fine looking husky. Dr Norman askwhat was going on and was told the dog was uncontrollable, and had triedon several occasions to attack its owners.
Dr Norman agreed to buy it, but as soon as it was untied it attacked himand he had to knock it unconscious. He then tied the unconscious dog to asmall tree by his tent and left a large bowl of food beside it.

In the morning he awoke to find the dog sleeping beside him in the tent.It had eaten the food, chewed its way through the tree to release therope, and crawled into his tent. From then on the dog was incredibleloyal and was a superbly skillful lead dog for his sled.

Royal Salute
On one occasion Dr Norman, while wearing his kilt, was in a small canoe(which he had become quite proficient at in his travels in Canada andAlaska) in the middle of the Firth of Clyde using a plum line (a knottedline with a weight a one end used by sailors to measures the depth ofsea) to measure depths for a chart he was making of that section of theClyde. The Royal Yacht of King George V(?) came up the Clyde and passedclose to Dr Norman, at which point he stood up in the canoe and salutedthe king with his paddle.

This got quite a bit of newspaper coverage and a day or two laterMargaret Maclaren (Granny Mac) was at a "rather smart" cocktail partytalking with a group of acquaintances and one asked if "anyone had heardabout that crazy man in a kilt, in a small canoe, in the middle of theClyde, standing to salute the king with his paddle." Granny Mac remarked"Yes, he is my husband."

Pearls
On one occasion Norman Maclaren went, with his wife (Granny Mac) into ajewelers shop in Glasgow to look at some pearls. The jeweler startedtalking about this wonderful article he had just read about pearls, andhe went on and on about great it was. Granny Mac said she noticed a funnysmile on Norman's face and when they left she asked him what that wasabout. He explained that he had written the article.

Family Reunion?
At one point while Norman Maclaren (Norrie) was in Alaska his brothersand sisters started to notice that no one had seen or heard from Norriefor a long time. So one of his brothers went off to look for him. At onepoint looking through the window of a local bar in some very remoteplace, he saw Norrie partying with the locals. Apparently Norries had"gone native", so without even entering the building the brother turnedround and returned to Scotland. He had the brief message passed aroundthe family that "Norrie is still alive." And that was all that was saidabout it.

Norman Maclaren recounted a different version of the story. He had seenhis brother approaching some way off, ridiculously over dressed, withhuge amounts of equipment and provisions, plus quite an assortment ofservants and guides. Seeing this incongruous group arriving, Norman hiduntil they had gone passed.


ROBERT MACLAREN & COMPANY LTD. (later Maclaren Controls) by Ian GarnetMaclaren 1962

Th every earliest predecessors of the firm Robert Maclaren & Company area bit obscure but they appear to be centered around the Falkirk areawhere the original Maclarens were connected with Iron Foundry, and at thesame time in the early 1800 Robert Maclaren inherited a firm of IronFounders from his uncle, a Mr Liddel. However there seems to have been abit of dirty work over the inheritance as Robert Maclaren was very youngat the time, and eventually he brought an action against the Executors orTrustees of Mr Liddel from whom he won a substantial sum in damages. Withthis money he started a firm of his own.

The Robert Maclaren firm first appears on the registry as a business in1845, and was at that time a firm of Iron Founders in Washington Street,off Argyle Street. Rumour has it that they made the mortars for theCrimean War. The business expanded till in 1960 it moved to its presentsite, which in those days, consisted of the area bounded by West Street,Kilbernie Street and the railway siding on the other side of the Expressdeliveries, they opened out to Stromness Street and up to the railway,which in those days was a canal. The iron was brought by barge along thecanal to the works, and the main business was pipe making. The canal wasfilled in 1880.

Cast iron pipes of 1?" to 48" were made, as well as valves and watermeters. The old man Robert Maclaren, or "Bobbie the Rogue", died about1890. The firm continued to be known locally at the time as "Rabbie theRogue". In 1905 it turned into a limited company. At that time a verylarge export business was done with India, Rumania, Japan and Italy. In1912 a working agreement was arranged with Macfarlane Strang, and aninterchange of Directors a staff took place between the two companies.The payroll was then about 800.

When war broke out in 1914 all supplies of iron stopped and demand forpipes dried up. However the firm went over to munitions and got acontract for eight million fuse stampings, among other things. Later inthe war it teamed up with William Beardmore to make tank tracks.

After the war, in 1920, a subsidiary company was formed, called EglintonFounders Limited, half of which was owned by Beardmore and half by RobertMaclaren & Company. Robert Maclaren & Company sold them half of the landwhich roughly consisted of all the present works and buildings up to ourpresent fence.

Ingot molds were made here for casting steel ingots at Parkhead Forge,but eventually the early 1920s depression finished it and the company wasliquidated in about 1926.

In the meantime Robert Maclaren & Company turned over to making brassbars and small quantities of pipes, but the situation had rather changedas all the plant had been cleared out during the war to manufacturemunitions and the site was no longer a good one for heavy steelindustries because of the difficulty of transport. The cost ofre-equipping was too great, so all the remaining plant was sold and by1925 no further casting or work took place, but a merchant business onlyin Cast Iron pipes was carried on until 1931.

In 1931, the old company was wound up, and a new company with the samename was formed on this site as the present company.

However, we must go back a bit, for in 1919 Dr Norman Maclaren had beencontrolling temperature for medical research work at Glasgow University,and Colonel Robert Maclaren (his brother) caught a cold in a train, sothey got together and decided that the temperature in trains could, andshould, be controlled. In 1920 Mr. Richmond joined the firm toinvestigated temperature control generally. He started off in the messroom of the old foundry, which is still standing by the railway in theStandard Oil Company's grounds. That was in November 1920, and in January1921 Mr Eyles joined him. They started experimenting with mercury typethermostats run in conjunction with relays, and also spent some timegetting the place fitted out as a workshop, until the plant consisted ofone foot operated lathe, one mill and one drill were installed later andmotorised.

The first five years were almost entirely experimental, causing a lot ofheadaches until most of the original ideas were scrapped and also theoriginal idea of controlling the temperature in railway carriages had tobe abandoned due to the extreme dirtiness of the steam.

At that time almost all the output was to universities on the same typeof work as Dr Maclaren. The first recorded order on the books is for anincubator embedding oven and a hot plate for Baird & Tatlock on 1.5.23.Then there are one hundred and fifty orders for Glasgow, Belfast andother universities, and to Baird & Tatlock. Up to 24.1.25 all these werefor laboratory equipment, etc., then we got an order for one hundred gascooker controls from Falkirk Iron Company and thus became the pioneers ofgas oven thermostats.

Our 201st order was from Wild Barfied for a furnace thermostat up to 900degrees and was a slow break type. Our 202nd order , a month later, wasfrom George Nobbs. This was the original firm which went bankrupt in1934, owing us six hundred pounds, which we could ill afford in thosedays. However they did give their name to our instruments, because thethermostats for use in Boiler by Nobbs became Boiler Nobbs, or BN ,similarly FN and SN followed on from Furnace Nobbs and Surface Nobbs. Soon we plodded, and during 1926, apart from universities, etc., we got newcustomers such as Archibald Low, Carron, Wild-Barfield, Falkirk IronCompany, G.E.C. and by the end of 1926 we had two hundred and ninety sixorders in six years, most of them in the last six months of 1926.

In 1927 we made six hundred and twenty five thermostats, and newcustomers included Clyde Fuel, Benham, Haden, and Hotpoint and the ordershad changed to mainly thermostats and contactor switches, as opposed tolaboratory equipment. The turnover for that year was three thousand threehundred pounds, and the loss is not stated. In 1928 we had seven hundredand twenty three instruments with a turnover of two thousand, sevenhundred and twenty eight pounds. In 1929 we moved to the present officeblock and site as staff had increased to twelve. Five of these originalsare still here i.e., Mr. Eyles, Mr. Gallacher, Mr. King, Mr. H. Harrisonand Mr. H. Henderson. The layout was a M/C shop in the first floor werethe Pre-production department now is, and test and assembly in thepresent top flat of the offices with the store in the drawing office, theoffice consisted of a large room on the ground floor.

In 1929 we made one thousand six hundred and sixty nine instruments and aturnover of four thousand and seventy seven pounds. So It was thoughtthat the firm was on its feet and round the corner. Unfortunatelyhowever, we went round the corner slap into the great industrialdepression when no one had any money to buy such new fangled ideas asthermostats.

So in 1930 we made one thousand six hundred instruments and our turnoverwas down to three thousand two hundred and thirty seven pounds. In 1931only one thousand two hundred instruments and turnover was three thousandone hundred pounds.

In 1931 old Robert Maclaren & Company was wound up as already mention inthe earlier part, and a new firm was started with its own capital andsetup.

The new company , therefore had its own financial arrangements, andinstead of a yearly loss of two to three thousand pounds being absorbedby the parent company, these now appeared in all their glory on the newcompany's books.

However things were starting to look up, and the loss of 1932 was abouteight hundred pounds, with two thousand two hundred and forty eightinstruments made and a turnover of three thousand two hundred and ninetypounds.

1933 showed the start of a real revival in trade, and we started gettinggoing properly, with six thousand six hundred and one instruments madeand a modest profit of two hundred pounds. We also started on magneticsnap action about this time or a bit earlier, but disaster soon overtookus again the shape of a patent case with Rheostatic Company. This draggedon for the next three years, in 1935 during the fair holiday, the resultof the action was that we were forbidden to manufacture anymorethermostats with the magnetic snap action. This would have meantcompletely closing down the works. However, Mr. Richmond got to work andthought out a new non magnetic snap action, working away by himself inthe empty works he perfected it by himself and modified it to suit theexisting instruments so that when the works reopened, the mechanism wasready and patented and work proceeded right away, and the new actionproved better than the magnetic type.

During this time the output had gradually increased, and the top flat wasused for assembly, until in 1936 the turnover was about eighteen thousandpounds but the legal expenses of the litigation put the loss at aboutthree thousand pounds a year. In 1936 Colonel Robert Maclaren died.

In 1937 the patent case was settled out of court, after we had lost theappeal, and a large sum was paid out in damages. Also in 1937 Dr NormanMaclaren died.

In 1938 we started to show a slight profit and thought about expanding,so that in 1939 we put up what was supposed to be a temporary M/C shopand moved the test into the first flat, and the dispatch into what hadbeen the store. We also did up the offices a bit.

The war of course started and seventeen members of the firm were calledup and in 1940 girls were engaged for the first time.

During the war we just jogged along. As we had no profits to show for thepreceding three years, Excess Profits Tax took all the profits we made,until in 1945 the real rush started and expansion was necessary.

1945 was momentous, in that we paid our first dividend, which took aboutfour hundred pounds, just twenty five years after the start of thebusiness. In the middle of 1946 we moved the assembly and test into thenew extension beside the machine shop, and made new offices and a drawingroom on the first floor. These new offices were ready in 1947. Also MrBourne retired in that year after fourty five years with the firm. Mr.Warden joined us in 1950.

For the next few years we suffered the ups and downs of purchase tax andcredit restrictions, but we gradually re-equipped the M/C shop and thelast belt driven machine was disposed of in 1954.

In 1952 we started a separate Research and Development (R & D) in one ofthe offices under Mr. Adam. This moved in 1954 to the top flat, and in1954 we took on R & D for Ferranti.

In 1956 we started building the new assembly shop and dispatch, and gotinto this in August 1956. Then followed a nine month period ofreorganizing the shop generally with an enlarged test setup, newlighting, new service department, new layout for sub-assembly andincreased tool room. So that all production was on one floor and apre-production unit in the middle flat.

1958 was the next most important date in our history, in that a decisionwas made, then, to employ the Personnel Administration in an assignmentto improve methods and institute a direct incentive scheme. This startedat the end of 1958 and fortunately coincided with the increase in demandfor our products, so that in the next two years we increased ourproduction very considerably and felt the benefit of the re-organizationin the terms of increased profits.

1960 and 61 were periods of consolidation, and in 1961 and 62,particularly, showed an increased activity in new designs and thedecision to make our own capillary systems, which entailed building asmall addition to the works and installing suitable machinery for this.

Ian Garnet Maclaren 1962

Norman married Mary Margaret Garnet in 1912. Mary (daughter of FNU Garnet and Helena McLachlan) was born in 1894 in Lancashire, England; died in 1989 in Essex, England. [Group Sheet] [Family Chart]

Family/Spouse: Charles (of Allan) Munro. Charles was born about 1860 in UK; died about 1945. [Group Sheet] [Family Chart]

Family/Spouse: Jenner (Dr) Hoskins. [Group Sheet] [Family Chart]

Family/Spouse: George Gillan. [Group Sheet] [Family Chart]

Notes:

Fred Maclaren 1900 to 1980,
Born 1900, Scotland
Died 1980, Scotland

Son of John Maclaren 1868-1908 and Clara Hillhouse.
Husband of Casselle. Father of Jean.

Was an aerial observer at one of the British Army's last cavalry
charges at the Battle of Huj in Palestine in 1917.

He amongst other things had been a military advisor in Abyssinia andmilitary governor of some where in the middle east.


Note: The Times Letters to the Editor. 199?

From R D Bridgewater,March 26th 199?.
"...Following the third battle of Gaza, the Turkish withdrawal was being
covered by several batteries of their artillery, located on a
commanding ridge and supported by infantry and machine guns. Three
squadrons comprising units of both the Warwickshire Yeomanry and
Worcestershire Yeomanry charged these guns and their escorts, being
completely exposed over the last 1000 yards to the fire of the enemy
machine guns and rifles, and without any covering fire of their own.
Wavel wrote that: 'Eleven guns, four machine guns and about seventy
prisoners were taken, and a large number of the personnel of the
batteries- Germans and Austrians besides Turks- who all stood to their
guns to the last, were killed with the sword. The casualties of the
Yeomanry were, however, extremely high. Of twelve officers, three
squadron commanders were killed and six others wounded: of 158 men, 26
were killed and 40 wounded; of the 170 horses, 100 were killed."

From Major General J F W Friedberger March 27th.
" In the final volume of the recently completeed eight volume A
History of British Cavalry, the Marquis of Angelsy records the battle
which took place at Gerbze, east of Constantinople, on July 13th 1920.
Chanak nationalist has severed a link connecting General Ironsides
forces, who were occupying the Izmid Peninsular in the afermath of the
Versailles Peace Conference. The 20th Hussars, part of a battle group
with the 2/39th Royal Garwhal Rifles, artillery and engineers,
dislodged the enemy and relieved the position. Lord Anglesey writes:
There can be no shadow of doubt that the last proper charge launched
by a complete regiment of British cavalry against well-armed troops
took place in Turkey in 1920 during the Chanak crisis. An eye witness
recorded: "Over the crest of the ridge came the whole of the 20th
Hussars, two squadrons abreast in column of troops, with the third
squadron in depth, nearly three hundred men in all."

Family/Spouse: Iris Janet Gaselee. Iris was born in 1906; died in 1982. [Group Sheet] [Family Chart]

Notes:

In Memory of
ROBERT HILLHOUSE MACLAREN MC, OBE
Colonel
Royal Engineers
who died on
Tuesday, 20th May 1941.
Additional Information: Husband of K. V. Maclaren, of Winterbourne Earls.

Commemorative Information
Cemetery: TIDWORTH MILITARY CEMETERY, Wiltshire, United Kingdom
Grave Reference/
Panel Number: Sec. E. (Officers). Grave 57.

Debt of Honour Register
Commonwealth War Graves Commission web site at http://www.cwgc.org/
(2 Marlow Road, Maidenhead, Berkshire SL6 7DX, United Kingdom
Telephone: +44 1628 634221 Fax: +44 1628 771208)

General Works Troops RE (commander of an experimental station for secret weapons)
[On 20.05.1941 Col. Maclaren was in charge of a demonstration in the moors at Brendon Common, being watched by senior officers of the services and members of the government. Something went terribly wrong and realising that the weapon was about to explode near the watchers Col. Maclaren threw himself on it and was killed instantly, but saved the lives of all those around. His brother officers put up a memorial in honour of his astounding bravery and heroism.]

Family/Spouse: Kathleen C. Annan. Kathleen was born about 1910. [Group Sheet] [Family Chart]

Family/Spouse: Gladys (Gem) Emily Morgan Godbold. [Group Sheet] [Family Chart]

Notes:

Colin Shaw Maclaren 1898-1985

Born July 26, 1898, in Errogie, Scotland, near Loch Ness
Died 15 May 1985 at Booth Memorial Medical Center in Flushing, Queens
Son of James Maclaren 1870-1950 and Daisy Ogilvy c1870
Brother of Hamish, Heather (Helen?), and Patrick

OBITUARY in the New York Times. May 17, 1985, Friday
(Late City Final Edition. Section:D Page:20 Column:3 Desk:Metropolitan

COLIN MACLAREN, SCOT, SOLDIER AND REPORTER FOR THE TIMES

By WILLIAM G. BLAIR

Colin Shaw Maclaren, a Scottish Highlander whose career took him fromfighting Afghan tribesmen on British India's Northwest Frontier to 38years as a reporter for The New York Times, died Wednesday at the BoothMemorial Medical Center in Flushing, Queens. He was 86 years old andlived in Flushing.

He served as a police reporter, night rewriteman and obituary writer onThe Times from 1930 until he retired in 1968.

Mr. Maclaren, who remained a British subject throughout his
life, came to The Times in 1923, not as a reporter but as an advertisingsalesman, at the invitation of Adolph S. Ochs, then thenewspaper's publisher.

A year earlier, Mr. Maclaren, awaiting his discharge as a
captain in the British Army, had met Mr. Ochs at Shepheard's Hotel inCairo. Mr. Maclaren recounted years later that he had never heard of TheTimes until Mr. Ochs told him to ''come to New York and I'll give you ajob.

Served in Middle East

Until his encounter with the American publisher, Mr.
Maclaren had followed a military career, first as a second lieutenant inQueen Victoria's Own Corps of Guides, an infantry frontier force inIndia, and then as an infantry captain under Viscount Allenby againstTurkish forces in the Middle East during World War I.

After two years as an advertising salesman at The Times, he left toattend a summer session at the Columbia University School of Journalism.

Over the next three years, he worked as a writer, real-estate salesmanand supporting actor on Broadway. In 1929 he rejoined the Timesadvertising staff and in 1930 transferred to the local news staff as apolice reporter.

Mr. Maclaren was born July 26, 1898, in Errogie, Scotland, near Loch Ness.
His schooling in St Andrews, Scotland, was followed by
four years at Episcopal Trinity College in Glenalmond, Scotland. Aftercadet training at Wellington College in Madras, India, he wascommissioned in the British Indian Army in 1917.

There are no immediate survivors. A funeral service is to be held at 10A.M. tomorrow at the Walter B. Cooke funeral home at 80-20 RooseveltAvenue in Jackson Heights, Queens.

Family/Spouse: Palma. [Group Sheet] [Family Chart]

Notes:

Wrote: Sailor with Banjo. Entertainment in rhyme and song.
Victor Gollancz Ltd., 14 Henrietta St., Covent Garden. London. 1929

Song of the Brown sea rat:
Now we are rodent mariners,
As nobody needs to be told,
For there's no mistaking our nautical airs,
Our rolling eyes and bold.

*** With a pit-a-pat pat
and a chip, chip, chip,
'Tis the brown sea rat
That is the captain of the ship.

The Universal Tavern
I pray you all, you tiny things
That creep and crawl
And flit on wings
That flute and hium,
In satins drest;
Think not I come
But as your guest.
***Your wisdom's pearls,
Your dancing joys,
Like tiny girls,
Like tiny boys.

Family/Spouse: Jean Trimgham. [Group Sheet] [Family Chart]

Family/Spouse: Bregger. [Group Sheet] [Family Chart]

Family/Spouse: Hylton Waymouth. [Group Sheet] [Family Chart]

Helen married E H Flint in 1932. [Group Sheet] [Family Chart]

Notes:

Denholm Maclaren
Born
Died 1989
Son of Andrew Maclaren 1870-1914 & Eva Friend
Owned a night club in London that was famous for having
two tigers/panthers and orgies.

Notes:

1965 Owen Finlay Maclaren MBE, retired aeronautical designer and formertest pilot, design the prototype "baby buggy" - an aluminum pushchairwhich folds like an umbrella and weighs 6lbs.
A British patent application is filed on 20 July, 1965.

For more information on the Company, its products, and history go to
http://www.maclarenstrollers.com/

Maclaren Limited
Station Works
Long Buckby
Northampton, NN6 7PF
England
Phone 44 (0) 1327 842662
Fax 44 (0) 1327 842208
[Mac 14Febxx.FTW]


Below is part of an article in The Financial Times at
http://search.ft.com/search/article.html?id=030919008220&query=maclaren&vsc_
In an article called "Wheels of fortune" by John Gapper
FT.com site; Sep 19, 2003

"It was five miles from Long Buckby, at Owen Maclaren's 15th- centuryhouse in the village of Barby, where the first folding pushchair wasinvented. Maclaren was close to retirement from a remarkable career inaeronautical design and engineering. After studying at Cambridge, hebecame a pilot, and developed landing gear that allowed an aircraft totake off and land in a cross-wind. In 1942, he invented a sealing devicethat enabled a Spitfire to survive a bullet through the radiator, andafter the war he worked on anti-skid brakes for the aviation arm oftyre-maker Dunlop.

Maclaren became frustrated at Dunlop and, in the early 1960s, he set up acompany called Andrews Maclaren, with backing from his friend BillAndrews. Its main products were chrome-plated aircraft parts, but OwenMaclaren also developed a sideline in consumer goods inspired by thefolding mechanism of aircraft landing gear. His first consumer inventionwas a picnic chair called the Gadabout, which could be folded and carriedlike an umbrella. The Gadabout was a modest success but it had nothinglike the impact of Owen Maclaren's most famous and enduring invention.

Inspiration for the pushchair struck him after his daughter Janet marriedGeorge Hambleton, an executive for Pan American Airways. In the early1960s, Pan Am posted Hambleton first to Helsinki and then to Moscow.Anne, their first child, was born in 1962, followed by two boys. TheHambletons split their time between Moscow and London, forcing them totake their children on and off aircraft constantly. At the time, theperambulator was the main form of transport for babies, and the biggestBritish manufacturer was Silver Cross of West Yorkshire. These prams werevery hard to take on aircraft - or even to put in cars. "In those days,it was terrible travelling with children because of the prams. Mygrandfather saw my mother's suffering, and necessity was the mother ofinvention," says Anne Hambleton. When she was two, Owen Maclaren designeda 6lb aluminium pushchair that the Hambletons could stow easily on anaircraft. The pushchair had one X-shaped cross-frame at the back, andanother on the bottom. As the handles were squeezed together and pushedforward, the buggy folded into a column with wheels on one end andhandles on the other. Maclaren's design is largely unchanged todaybecause its combination of sturdiness, lightness and convenience is hardto beat.

Owen Maclaren set up a small production line in the stables at the rearof his house, and hired women from Barby to assemble the pushchairs outof aluminium tubes and stitch the fabric. It was not particularlyhigh-skilled work, but it meant jobs where there had been none before."There were 20 ladies from the village who would assemble them. Iremember running around in the courtyard, and playing with all the tubesand bits and pieces," says Anne, who now lives in Vermont.

As soon as the Maclaren folding pushchair started to hit stores such asSelfridges in London, orders poured in and the business thrived. "We hadour first child in 1971 when the Maclarens were becoming popular,"recalls James Dyson, inventor of the bagless vacuum cleaner. "The needfor it was completely obvious because you could not get on a plane with apram or the old pushchairs. Along came this thing, and it was amazing.You could fold it up and put it on the back floor of the car, or in theoverhead locker of an aircraft. As a concept for solving a designproblem, it was brilliant."

But Owen Maclaren was not primarily interested in making money from hispushchair. He took most satisfaction in having invented something usefulthat provided jobs in his local area: "It is a village industry and makesa lot of people happy," he said in an interview with his local newspaperin 1971. Mike McCulloch, Maclaren's general manager at Long Buckby, saysOwen Maclaren was always more of an engineer than a businessman. "He wasan inventor who came up with a fantastic innovation that revolutionised amarket, but I don't know how much of a business strategy he ever had."

For a long time, the company's co-operative spirit worked well enough."He had a lovely house in Barby and when we went round there formeetings, the cows would put their heads through the window," says oneformer manager. As production expanded, Maclaren took additional space tomake the pushchairs, first in Daventry and then at Long Buckby. Amongthose who worked with him, Owen Maclaren is remembered as an amiablefigure who would walk around chatting to workers. "He was extremelygenerous in a quiet way and there were no union problems while he wasalive," says George Hambleton. One former manager remembers Owen Maclarenshutting the factory at Long Buckby for the day of the Queen's SilverJubilee in 1977. "Mr Maclaren brought in crates of champagne for everyoneto drink. He was a smashing old man."

The Financial Times at
http://search.ft.com/search/article.html?id=030919008220&query=maclaren&vsc_
In an article called "Wheels of fortune" by John Gapper
by John Gapper is an associate editor of the FT

Family/Spouse: Marie Blacklock. [Group Sheet] [Family Chart]

Notes:

Bruce Maclaren
Born,
Died,
Son of Andrew Maclaren 1870-1914 & Eva Friend. Father of ?

Moved to South Africa and is a very successful horse trainer.

Family/Spouse: Alexandra Cobb. [Group Sheet] [Family Chart]

Family/Spouse: Robert (Bob) Love. [Group Sheet] [Family Chart]

Family/Spouse: Josephine. Josephine was born in Ireland. [Group Sheet] [Family Chart]

Patricia married Jack Compton in 1937. [Group Sheet] [Family Chart]

Patricia married Sir John Nightingale in 1947. John was born about 1910; died on 1 Oct 2002 in Witham, England. [Group Sheet] [Family Chart]

Notes:

For the History of ROBERT MACLAREN & COMPANY LTD.
(later Maclaren Controls) by I G Maclaren see that history in the Notesfor Norman Maclaren 1880 to 1936)

Article from "Industries of Glasgow" (published 1888) was a descriptionof Robert Maclaren & Co, Iron Founder and Manufacturer of patentcast-iron pipes, Eglinton Iron Works, Port Eglinton. Among the greatestof Glasgow's iron industries...... See notes under Robert Maclaren 1917

Contents:
Facts.
Obituary: Ian Garnet Maclaren DFC TD.
"Conglomerate Success". Scotland. "Britain's brightest businessmonthly". May 1969.

Facts
Ian Garnet Maclaren DFC TD (1914 - 1997)
Born 24th August 1915, Deeshome, Troon, Ayrshire, Scotland.
Died 16th February 1997, Gatehouse of Fleet, Kirkcudbrightshire, Scotland.
Son of Norman Maclaren 1880-1936 & Mary Margaret Garnet 1894-1989.
Husband of Annette Mary Birtwistle. Father of Robert, Hamish, Simon, &Susan.

Obituary: Ian Garnet Maclaren DFC TD.
Combined from obits submitted to , and much of which appeared in, TheHerald, Glasgow Thursday 6th March 1997. The Scotsman and The AmpleforthJournal

Ian Garnett Maclaren died at home in Gatehouse of Fleet on Sunday 16thFebruary at the age of 81.

Ian Maclaren had a varied life that spanned distinguished war service,international business success, and voluntary work. He was born in Troonin 1915 and was brought up in West Kilbride while his father was aProfessor at Glasgow University. He and his brother Peter learnt toenjoy golf fishing shooting and other country pursuits.

He was educated at Ampleforth (St Wilfreds 1925 - 32. Prep School in 1923and was a founder member of Wilfreds, and boasted that he was selectedfor the house cricket team when the house only had eleven members) andGlasgow University where his father had been a professor. He served asan engineering apprentice before joining the old established family firmof Robert Maclaren & Company which manufactured thermostats in Glasgow.

He claimed that his first memory was of being held by a nurse, at the age of two, in front of a window to look at an airplane. This was being flown by his cousin, Fred Maclaren, who had been an aerial observer at one of the British Army's last cavalry charges at the Battle of Huj in Palestine in 1917.

He joined the TA as a Gunner in 1938 and was mobilised in August 1939.Transferring to the RAF in 1941, flying Blenheim light bombers. During his tours he took part in all the early landings - in Dieppe, North Africa, Sicily, and Italy as the King noted when presenting his DFC.

He was awarded an immediate DFC for action during the final attempted German breakout at Kasserine Pass in Tunisia. By following a railway line under very low clouds in foul weather his was one of only a few aircraft that got through and carried out several attacks. On returning to base, where his gunner found that his own parachute had been shredded off his back by the intense AA fire, he rearmed his aircraft for a second sortie. Unfortunately this was thwarted by a malfunction ten minutes from target. For this action the squadron was signaled commendations by Monty and Air Marshall Tedder and received a visit from General Alexander to express his personal thanks.

Note. From 614 Squadron History
The Kasserine Pass break-through was assisted by 614's attacks on enemy
transports and both 'Monty' end Air Marshal Tedder signalledcommendations as
the Bisleys left the roads littered with useless Nazi vehicles. General
Alexander visited the squadron to give them his personal thanks

It was believed that he, with his navigator and gunner, who served together for exactly two years, were probably the last surviving intact Blenheim crew.

He was posted to Combined Opps for D-Day and ended the war commanding an air base in the Philippines which, after VJ-Day, was used for the evacuation of prisoners of war. He was one of the first to fly into Hong Kong after Japan's surrender.

His great aunt was the famous Abbess of Stanbrook on whose correspondence with George Bernard Shaw the successful West End Play 'The Best of Friends' with John Geilgud was based. He attributed his survival during the war to the prayers of Stanbrook Abbey.

In 1947 he married Annette Birtwistle whose four brothers had been at Ampleforth. They were married by her uncle, Fr Stephen Marwood.

On demobilisation he returned to the family company in Glasgow,eventually becoming managing director. He sold the company to the US conglomerate ITT in 1964 and became the CEO (manager) of its European Controls Division. This required him to spend much of his time on the Continent.

Having reached the rank of Wing Commander during the war he was asked to command 277 Field Regiment, Royal Artillery, the Greenock TA unit, in 1958. This he did for four years and had the distinction of commanding two different regiments when the Gunner Regiment was amalgamated with and rebadged as. 5/6 Battalion Argyll and Sutherland Highlanders. At that time the battalion held the World Pipe Band Championship. He enjoyed the confusion caused by his TD (Territorial Decoration) alongside his RAFwings and decoration.

Preferring to spend more time in Scotland he retired from business in 1975.
Having earlier chaired the building committee for the local Catholic church in Largs he became involved in the local community, helping to start a local branch of Age Concern, including instigating a day centre. He wrote the constitution for the local community council. His home and gardens were opened for many charitable functions.

He was the local representative for SSAFA. He stood unsuccessfully in the first Strathclyde Regional Council elections in 1973 before moving to New Galloway in 1975.

There he became treasurer of the local Conservative Party and was chairman and treasurer of the Galloway branch of the National Trust for Scotland. He co-founded the Thursday Lunch Club and the Easter Charity Reel Club.

He was a keen shot and enthusiastic angler and shared with his brothers a love of gardening. He enjoyed National Hunt racing and for a while had some success with horses in training. He was an enthusiastic painter and skier, an occasional golfer, and had taught himself to sail before the war.

He is remembered by his friends for his sense of humour and the dog which accompanied him on all his country pursuits. (and for the outstanding gardens that he left at his homes in Skelmorlie, Ayrshire and in New Galloway. Kirkcudbrightshire.

He is survived by his wife Annette, whom he married in 1947, three sons,and a daughter.



Additional bits:
In the early 1900 his father had travelled through Alaska with a team of husky dogs and a Chinese cook, making the first map of large areas of Alaska, breaking an arm in a crevasse and setting it himself. He was a fellow of the Royal Geographic Society and the Linean Society.

The following is taken from the business magazine "Scotland" in 1969,before he retired.

Scotland
Britain's brightest business monthly
May 1969
Conglomerate Success By John Fowler
GRANDFATHER Robert Maclaren, an impressive paterfamilias in his bristling whiskers, set up his foundry in the south side of Glasgow in 1844 and the business had been kept in the family ever since. But early in the 1960s grandson Ian Maclaren realised that the old story was coming to a close.
By this time the engineering side had been dropped and production was concentrated on thermostats and heating controls. The business was prosperous enough - in fact it was increasing satisfactorily - but,looking ahead, Ian Maclaren knew he could not be complacent.

The firm of Robert Maclaren, as it was still called, was very much a small fish in a pond which included big fellows like Honeywell and Elliott Automation. One by one small individual competitors were being swallowed by the giants, the mergers giving them the capital strength and the research facilities which Maclaren knew he needed if he was to keep in the swim. How much longer could his business remain on its own?

Nearing the end of a five-year plan, he was uncomfortably aware that a fresh injection of new capital was needed to provide new products,broaden the scope of the company, and bring new ideas into fruition. And capital on that scale, in a private company where all the shares were held by himself and his relatives. was not easy to come by.
Maclaren did not relish going public. since it might have meant lossof control of the firm and in the prevailing conditions would invite takeover. In the event he decided to go in for the takeover business himself. offering for a company in London which would have enabled him to establish a broader base.

The result was not what he had foreseen. His bid came to nothing, the company he wanted was ultimately linked with an American company and by this time it was clear that Maclaren's itself was in the market. 'That started the furore', says Maclaren wryly.
When the International Telephone and Telegraph Corporation of America showed interest, Maclaren and his fellow directors decided that it would make sense to tie up with a firm which operated in an allied field and which would back them with the strength of a world-wide organization. The ITT at that time was ninth on the list of the world's private-enterprise employers and moving up.

The offer could not fail to attract. ITT had started as a small company operating telephone services in Puerto Rico and Cuba, went into telecommunications manufacturing on an international scale with the purchase of the International Western Electric Company in the 1920s, and then in 1959 began a massive reorganisation and growth programme which greatly extended its size and diversified its interests. ITT is now big in a number of fields outside telecommunications and is in the insurance business, owns the Avis car rental outfit and the Sheraton chain of hotels.
lts subsidiary, General Controls of Glendale California,particularly attracted Maclaren's because this company specialised in the gas control ,. overlapping the interest Maclaren's had already built up in the central heating market.

So at the beginning of 1963 the firm of Robert Maclaren, later to be named appropriately Maclaren Controls, became a subsidiary of ITT, proudly cherished in ITT publicity literature as the oldest established company in the organisation. Even so, the Scottish company did not lose its identity. For one thing, lan Maclaren remained firmly in the chair, unlike other cases when, as he remarks, 'the owner is usually slung out'. Maclaren stayed on, and proof that ITT was satisfied with its new recruit came two years ago, when he was made head of the European Controls and Instrumentation Division of the parent. As such he is responsible not only for the Glasgow factory but for the Drager factory in Essen, Germany, a smaller factory in Holland, and sales organisations in most countries in Europe.

Nowadays he finds that only one third of his time is spent on Maclaren Controls business (he has just appointed a general manager in Glasgow to take the load off his shoulders) and that the remainder is devoted to the European side. Ian Maclaren has joined the jet men, the top men with suitcase and passport at the ready, and he reckons on spending at least two days in the average week on the Continent.

There was a forlorn moment when a phone call interrupted our talk as his secretary made arrangements for a lightning visit to Brussels, at the end of which he asked: 'Does my wife know I won't be home?'
She didn't.
Maclaren, 53. has spent all his working life with the firm apartfrom the war years, after which he became general manager and later managing director. His wartime career was distinguished, including the award of the DFC for harrying German night convoys from the air in North Africa. Having reached the rank of Wing Commander he then proceeded to become a TA Colonel in the Argylls after the war had finished.

Ian married Annette Mary Birtwistle on 31 Jul 1947 in Pleasington Priory, Nr Blackburn, Lancashire. Annette (daughter of James Astley Birtwistle and Mary Muriel Marwood) was born on 31 Jul 1921 in Pleasington Lodge, Nr. Blackburn, Lancashire, UK; died on 6 Mar 2006 in Dumfries Royal Infirmary, Kirkcudbrightshire, Scotland. [Group Sheet] [Family Chart]

Notes:

Peter Maclaren 1918-1995
Born 7 May 1918, Scotland
Died 11 November 1995, Castle Douglas,Kirkcudbrightshire, Scotland
Son of Norman Maclaren 1880-1936 & Mary Margaret Garnet 1894-1989
Husband of Jean Farrell. Father of David, Hugh, Anne, Shaun, & Charles

See also the autobiographical book by Peter Maclaren
"Grass Roots, 60 years of farming, fun and frustration."
Published by the author in association with SLP, Silver Link PublishingLtd., 1995
ISBN 1 85794 065 2
Silver Link Publishing Ltd., Unit 5,
Home Farm Close, Church Street, Wadenhoe, Peterborough PE8 5TE

Obituary in the
Ampleforth Journal
Norman Peter Maclaren
born May 1918, left St Wilfrid's House 1936, died 11 November 1995

Peter Maclaren came from a family of countrymen. His father had in theearly 1900s traveled through Alaska with a team of husky dogs and aChinese cook, making the first map of large areas of Alaska, breaking hisarm in a crevasse and setting it himself: he was a Fellow of the Royal Geographical Society and the Linnean Society, and a Professor at GlasgowUniversity. The family lived in farmland near the Ayrshire coast: Peter remembered watching Clydesdale horses going down to the shore after a storm of high tide to collect carts of seaweed to fertilize the potato crops. Here, at an early age, he learnt to shoot and fish, and to be about in the countryside. After Ampleforth, he gained knowledge offarming by both studying and practical experience. In 1936 he went tothe West of Scotland Agricultural college, in Glasgow, gaining in 1938 aNational Diploma in Agriculture at Leeds. Over the years form 1936 to1942, after his first job as a potato grower, he worked successively on farms near Castle Douglas, Fife, Shropshire and Wadhurst in Sussex: at Wadhurst, working with pigs and as a milkman, work began at 3 am.

From 1942 to 1947 Peter Maclaren was at the Ampleforth farms. Although not looking for another job, he was invited by Fr Paul Nevill to become manager of a new farm being taken over by Ampleforth, Park House Farm:this was one of several farms being run then by Ampleforth. Later, in 1943, he became manager of all Ampleforth farms, both in the valley andthree farms above Ampleforth on higher ground. Under wartime regulations he was allowed to slaughter one beast per week, and this had to be divided amongst over 800 ration cards and equally between each house, with house matrons bargaining for more. He lived at Park House Farm, in the shadow of the south side of the valley, a house without electricity or telephone. It was in this period, in February 1942, that he married Jean.

From 1947 to 1968 he worked with farms belonging to ICI: first in 1947 as farm manager of an ICI farm at Lea Head, Cheshire; then from 1952 to 1968 as manager of the Leaths, Castle Douglas in Kirkcudbrightshire. It was at Lea Hall that he became a friend of Dr Bob Hamilton of ICI: it was through him that Peter move to The Leaths. It was at the Leaths that great advances in grass management were put into practice, and that many walks and conferences were organised. He and Dr Hamilton established inthe 1960s that the proper management of grass was the cheapest form for livestock, and it is for this that Peter will be particularly remembered in the farming world. It was here that great advances in grass management were put into practice. An obituary in The Galloway News (30 November 1995) said: "To walk round a farm or garden, or to go out shooting with Peter, was a stimulating journey, for with his gift as a raconteur he was able to put over his great knowledge of the various grasses, weeds plants and animals". The Obituary added "the prosperity of farming in the UK,particularly in grassland management, so important in this part of Scotland owes much to Peter Maclaren".

From 1968, after leaving ICI, he ran a farm consultancy, advising farms from Caithness to Cornwall, and even in Iran and South Africa. Many farms benefited form the managers found for them by his advice. At his home at Brooklands near Dumfries, he and Jean developed what The Galloway News described as "one of the best gardens in Scotland", open to the public on charity days, on the last occasion in 1993 making 3,770 pounds in a day.In 1993 Peter and Jean moved about 25 miles west to a smaller, early 19th century house, The Brae in Castle Douglas- but the experience of moving exhausted him, and he spent time in hospital: after this his health declined. His friend Bill Atkinson (C31) journeyed from his Devonshire home via the Stonyhurst match at Ampleforth, but was unable to see him as he had returned to hospital, dying three days later.

Peter Maclaren wrote an autobiography Grass Roots- 60 years of farming, fun and frustration, published in June 1995. The Field (December 1995) described it as "a gem of a book": its reviewer wrote of how "in adelightful way he challanges the industries armchair critics", and added that perhaps these critics "might care to try what he has done with such skill all his life". In the forward to his book, the Duke of Buccleuch and Queensberry writes that there can be few who have combined theoretical and practical farming with good land management in many parts of the country, and, as The Galloway News adds, "go on to enthral his readers". He has also written with others a book on field sports which is due for publication in 1996.

He had five children: David, Hugh, Annie, Shaun and Charlie. His brother is Ian.

Peter married Jean Farrell in Feb 1941 in Edinburgh, Scotland. Jean (daughter of Charles Bennett Lawrence Farrell and Montie) was born on 15 Oct 1918 in UK; died in Mar 2009; was buried on 3 Apr 2009 in Dalbeattie, Kirkcudbrightshire, Scotland. [Group Sheet] [Family Chart]

David married Lady Edith Abney-Hastings in 1947. Edith (daughter of Reginald Mowbray Chichister Huddleston and Edith Maud (Countess of Loudoun) Abney-Hastings) was born on 19 Jan 1925; died in 2006. [Group Sheet] [Family Chart]

Family/Spouse: Allan Jenkins. [Group Sheet] [Family Chart]

Family/Spouse: Forbes. [Group Sheet] [Family Chart]

Family/Spouse: Kennard. [Group Sheet] [Family Chart]

Family/Spouse: Unknown. [Group Sheet] [Family Chart]

Jean married Kenneth Greer [Group Sheet] [Family Chart]

Family/Spouse: Harold Potter. [Group Sheet] [Family Chart]

Family/Spouse: John Hsuan. [Group Sheet] [Family Chart]

Family/Spouse: Anne Helen Pennington. [Group Sheet] [Family Chart]

Family/Spouse: Gay Adames. [Group Sheet] [Family Chart]

Family/Spouse: Aphra Vivien Macartney-Filgate. [Group Sheet] [Family Chart]

Family/Spouse: George Hambledon. [Group Sheet] [Family Chart]

Family/Spouse: Sally Munro. [Group Sheet] [Family Chart]

Robert married Rhoda Roxanna Sofia De Francia Neville [Group Sheet] [Family Chart]

Hamish married Kerry Lee McKaig [Group Sheet] [Family Chart]

Simon married Isobel Caroline Anne Alldridge [Group Sheet] [Family Chart]

Family/Spouse: Deanna Jo Lowell. [Group Sheet] [Family Chart]

Susan married Rudi Gonzaga [Group Sheet] [Family Chart]

Family/Spouse: Anna. [Group Sheet] [Family Chart]

Family/Spouse: Margo Saddler. [Group Sheet] [Family Chart]

Anne married John Maurice Armstrong Yerburgh [Group Sheet] [Family Chart]

Family/Spouse: Glenda. [Group Sheet] [Family Chart]

Family/Spouse: Vickkie Hatton-Jones. [Group Sheet] [Family Chart]

Family/Spouse: Anne Niven. [Group Sheet] [Family Chart]

Charles married Angela Wallace [Group Sheet] [Family Chart]

Roderick married Victoria Helena Elizabeth Glaysher [Group Sheet] [Family Chart]

Roderick married Kirsty Rowena Anabel McGrigor [Group Sheet] [Family Chart]

Family/Spouse: Timothy Knowles. [Group Sheet] [Family Chart]

Family/Spouse: Aziz Bousofiane. Aziz was born in Algeria. [Group Sheet] [Family Chart]

Family/Spouse: Penelope. [Group Sheet] [Family Chart]

Family/Spouse: Clare. [Group Sheet] [Family Chart]

Family/Spouse: Moraigh. [Group Sheet] [Family Chart]

Family/Spouse: Emy. [Group Sheet] [Family Chart]

Family/Spouse: Jeremy Burns. [Group Sheet] [Family Chart]

Family/Spouse: Elizabeth Cave. [Group Sheet] [Family Chart]

Family/Spouse: Clare. [Group Sheet] [Family Chart]

Family/Spouse: Stephen. [Group Sheet] [Family Chart]

Family/Spouse: Emma. [Group Sheet] [Family Chart]