service records belvidere house

niall · Post by **niall** » Fri Feb 20, 2009 9:34 pm

Does anyone know if records of service (employment) would still exist for Belvidere House.? circa 1812

LesleyB · Post by **LesleyB** » Fri Feb 20, 2009 10:01 pm

Hi Niall
Sorry to be dense, but what type of work would be done there and where is Belvidere House about 1812? Is it the one in Glasgow (quick Google!) you mean?
http://www.theglasgowstory.com/image.php?inum=TGSB00239

Best wishes
Lesley

niall · Post by **niall** » Sat Feb 21, 2009 10:16 am

Hi Lesley
Apologies, yes the one in Glasgow and I believed that large houses kept records of staff in service to them.
Whilst on the subject of record keeping, do you know if customs & excise records of employment exist for Glasgow for circa 1780?
Apologies once again.
niall

LesleyB · Post by **LesleyB** » Sat Feb 21, 2009 10:48 am

Hi Niall
The sort of place any records for Belvidere House might be are Glasgow University Archive Services or the Mitchell Library. You can search the GUAS catalogue online.
http://cheshire.cent.gla.ac.uk/ead/search.html

The only mention I can see in the NAS catalogue, concerns a Belvidere House in Aberdeen...
http://www.nas.gov.uk/onlineCatalogue/

It might be worth contacting the Mitcehll to ask if they have anything. Big houses did often keep records, I think, but they may not exist now... they might even have become part of Council Records or Health Reocrds going from what it says on the webpage (link in previous post) It would also be worth searchig under the name of the owner at the time.

In 1760 John McCall, a tobacco merchant and the owner of the famous "Black House" on Argyle Street, consolidated several lots of land in the Parkhead area that lay between London Road and the River Clyde. He built the mansion in the photograph and called it Belvidere. McCall died here in 1790 and the property was sold the following year to his son-in-law Robert McNair.

McNair was the grandson of Robert McNair, one of the merchants who helped establish the Easter Sugar House in the Gallowgate. McNair lived in Belvidere until about 1813 and sold the property on to Mungo Nutter Campbell, a West Indies merchant and Lord Provost in 1824.

Belvidere was sold to the Town Council in 1870

And there is more info about the property here:
http://gdl.cdlr.strath.ac.uk/smihou/smihou011.htm

do you know if customs & excise records of employment exist for Glasgow for circa 1780

My guess would be that they may be at NAS, but I'd also check with the Mitchell or GUAS, and check the NAS catalogues and work from there, but someone else may know better. The article below suggests that some may be with Glasgow City Council Archives, and those, I believe, are at the Mitchell.
There is an article about customs records here:
http://www.nas.gov.uk/guides/customs.asp

Customs staff records after 1707
The names and salaries of customs officers (excluding junior clerks and crews of cutters) who were employed at headquarters and at each Scottish port between 1715 and 1822 are recorded quarterly in the Scottish Customs establishment books (NAS ref. CE3). Separate establishment books record the names and salaries of customs officers employed in the collection of salt duty at headquarters and at various Scottish ports between 1714 and 1798 (NAS ref. CE12). The letter books of the Board and of the local customs out ports can provide further information not only about revenue officers and their families, but also about persons in other occupations such as merchants, tobacconists, mariners, ship owners, farmers and fish curers. As these names are not indexed staff at the NAS cannot search them on behalf of enquirers.

Unfortunately most of the official staff (and other) records of the Scottish Excise were lost in a fire in the 19th century. To try and fill this gap, Mr J F Mitchell compiled information about excise officers between 1707 and 1830 from the surviving records held in the National Archives of Scotland and from other sources. The result was his biographical card index, which can be consulted in the NAS's West Search Room on microfilm (NAS ref. RH4/6/1-2). NAS also holds a list of all excise officers in 1743 (NAS ref. GD1/54/10). The Scottish Excise registers of appointments and removals, 1813-1829, are held by the NAS and contain excerpts from Board minutes concerning staff appointments, dismissals and removals (NAS ref. CE13). The Scottish Excise establishment minute books contain staff details for the period of the subordinate Scottish board between 1824 and 1830 (NAS ref. CE16). The records also include a list of all officers in 1794, noting the age of the officer and the number of his family (NAS ref. CE6/19).

There is more on the web page (link given above) which may be of interest.

Best wishes
Lesley