Lesmahagow Community Council

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VILLAGE 'HEROES'

Below are some of the famous people linked to our village as researched by Granny Jacksons www.grannyjacksons.co.uk, and taken from labels on their sweetie jars.

Born at Dalmuir, John Baird trained as an architect in Glasgow and took over the running of his employer’s company in 1818.

His early Glasgow work included the design for the Greyfriars United Presbyterian Church in North Albion Street. Birkwood Castle is among his more important country mansions designed in late Tudor style.

Baird's style adhered to modifications of Greek and Roman architecture, with only an occasional divergence towards the Tudor and early British Renaissance styles. He died at

home in December 1859, and was survived by a widow and two daughters.

Andrew Barr was born in Lesmahagow, Scotland, on 12 July 1855 and died at Bendering, Western Australia on 9 February 1939.

Barr was a prosperous farmer in South Australia (where he invented a disc plough and a flying machine) but was forced off the land by the Depression of the 1890s and came to Western Australia in 1897. He and his 2 eldest sons were sandalwooders and the pioneers in what became the Bruce Rock district of the Western Australia wheatbelt.

Barr and his family were the pioneers of the Mindebooka district in 1902, where Andrew Barr lived until 1933.

You can find out more about Andrew Barr's life by following this link

Alexander Muir was born at Lesmahagow, Lanarkshire, Scotland, in 1830. His family emigrated to Canada when he was five years old and he spent his childhood in Scarborough Township. He attended Queens University at Kingston from which he graduated in 1851.

In 1867 Muir composed 'The Maple Leaf Forever', not only writing the words but the music also. Writing songs was a hobby for Muir and when he was a youth he penned his first poem and set it to music. A visiting Scottish minister, Reverend Dr. Norman McLeod, heard him sing it and said "Laddie, ye'll be well kenned before ye dee."

Billy Boyd (born 28 August 1968 in Glasgow) is a Scottish actor and musician most widely known for playing the character Peregrin "Pippin" Took in the film adaptation of The Lord of

the Rings.

As well as being a screen actor, he also appears on the stage. Most recently, San Diego and The Ballad Of Crazy Paola.

He is also an accomplished musician, singing and also playing the guitar, bass, and drums. Currently, he is the lead singer and co-songwriter in the band, Beecake.

David I was a 12th century ruler who was King of the Scots (1124–1153). The youngest son of Máel Coluim mac Donnchada and Margaret, David spent most of his childhood in Scotland, but was exiled to England in 1093.

David I granted a church and lands to the Tironensian monks in 1144. He also granted the right of sanctuary, violated in 1335 when the church was burned, with villagers inside, by John Eltham, brother of Edward I.

The present Parish Church was built in 1803 and the apse added in the 1890s. Pipe organ 1889. The bell is dated 1625.

MOSMAN, ARCHIBALD, merchant and pastoralist, was born on 15 October 1799, in Auchtyfardle, near Lesmahagow. His father was convener of the County of Lanark and his eldest brother Hugh, became deputy-lieutenant of Lanark.

After spending some time growing sugar in the West Indies, Archibald and his twin brother George, arrived in Sydney on 24 August 1828 where they established a warehouse in George

Street.

He married on 31 December 1847 and had 11 children of the marriage. Mosman died on 29 January 1863 at Byron Lodge, Randwick, Australia.

Sir William Wallace was a knight and Scottish patriot who led a resistance against the English occupation of Scotland during the Wars of Scottish Independence.

In 1296 Wallace and a group of men headed south, eventually ending up in Lesmahagow.

He spent Christmas at Gilbank, the estate of Patrick Auchinleck, a kinsmen of Wallace on his mother's side.

For ‘sport’ Wallace would slip into the nearby town Lanark and kill any English soldier he saw. It was during this time in Lanark that William fell in love with the 18 year old Marion Braidfute.

Upcoming Events

11/3 Male Voice Choir Show 12/3 Male Voice Choir Show 25/3 LCC Meeting 12/4 Aileen Campbell MSP Surgery 29/4 LCC Meeting