Haircraigs, Paisley

[arthurk]

Please can anyone tell me whether Haircraigs in Paisley was a single dwelling or a larger area? I've found Haircraig's Cottage on an old map of Paisley, and mention of it in directories, but I'm not sure if the cottage is all that there was, or, if it was a district, if it would have been the area around the cottage or somewhere else in the town.

My interest in this is the diary of a distant relation from Paisley refers to visiting "old Mrs Wilson" at Haircraigs - this would probably have been some time around 1840-60. Apparently Mrs Wilson was an English lady, married to a Wilson from Paisley, and they had a grocer's shop there.

Thanks,

Arthur

[Currie]

Hello Arthur,

Glasgow Herald, Monday, February 4, 1856.
Sale of Carriagehill Works and Lands in the Abbey Parish of Paisley.
Included was “All and Whole these parts of the Lands of Haircraigs, and Houses thereon, lately occupied by John King”
http://i944.photobucket.com/albums/ad28 ... 7c5031.jpg

Haircraigs is mentioned in this description of Ward boundaries from 1833.
http://books.google.com.au/books?id=UKg ... gs&f=false

There’s a marriage notice in the Glasgow Herald, Friday, April 10, 1846 of an Alexander Mann to Margaret Wilson, daughter of late James Wilson, grocer, Paisley.

All the best,
Alan

[arthurk]

Many thanks for this - the Glasgow Herald extract seems to indicate that Haircraigs did consist of more than one cottage. So that may help me to find old Mrs Wilson in a census.

The marriage notice is also potentially very interesting. According to old directories etc, there seem to have been a lot of Wilsons in Paisley, and more than one James who was a grocer, but the person whose diary I mentioned was daughter of an Elizabeth Mann, and Mann seems to have been a much less common name there. So you've given me something to look into.

Thanks again,

Arthur