Gilmour of Lundin and Montrave
Just before Christmas, six large, tin trunks, four battered suitcases, five bulging cardboard boxes and several armloads of plans, albums, maps and other odds and ends too large to fit into any of these were deposited in Special Collections: the papers of the Gilmours of Lundin and Montrave. Work has now begun in sorting through this material and it is proving to be a fascinating and surprisingly varied collection. In the main, it comprises papers of Allan Gilmour (d.1885), founding partner in the Glasgow timber and shipbuilding company of Pollock, Gilmour & Co and his son, John (1845-1920), created Baronet of Lundin and Montrave in 1897; grandson John (1876-1940), the 2nd baronet and great-grandson, John (1912-2007), the 3rd baronet.
Allan Gilmour's papers are of particular importance because they indicate how his business empire was built up and include his meticulously kept journals of trips to Russia, Finland and Scandinavia in 1844 to report on the shipping, milling and timber trades in these countries and to Canada in 1848 when the business was turning its focus to opening up the lumber trade in New Brunswick and Quebec. In 1872, he purchased the estate of Lundin in Fife and the collection includes much about its day-to-day running, the leasing of its farms and the development of Lundin Links as a golfing and holiday resort, particularly under Allan Gilmour's heir, John.
John acquired Montrave and there are detailed accounts of the huge sums he spent decorating and furnishing the mansion house there as well as building up his championship stud of Clydesdale horses. His papers show him to be a widely respected agricultural and field sports expert. Amongst his many astute investments, particularly in the developing railway companies, Sir John was heavily involved in the British Settlement of South Africa Ltd, an attempt to spread British (in the event, particularly Scottish) influence in that country after the Boer War and the collection includes much about the struggles of this organisation and its settlers.
John Gilmour, 2nd Bart was arguably the most outstanding member of the family. Like his father, he was a keen sportsman and master of the Fife Hunt. Also like his father, he became colonel of the Fife Light Horse (or Fife and Forfar Yeomanry as it became in 1903) and his distinguished service in this regiment in the Boer War and in Egypt in the First World War is well covered in letters, papers and splendid photographs within the collection. His political career in which he held several ministerial posts and became Secretary of State for Scotland is covered in the collection as is that of his son, the late Sir John who became chairman of the Conservative and Unionist Party in Scotland. Amongst his papers are reports and photographs taken in connection with a visit he paid to the Falkland Islands on the eve of the Argentine invasion.