William Stirling (1717-1777) was a Glasgow-based merchant who set up his own cloth-printing company in c.1750 with his sons, becoming the first importer of Indian printed fabrics. William married Mary Buchanan in 1747 and had three sons, Andrew (c.1750-1823), John (1751-1811) and James (1760-1820). Andrew bought the Drumpellier estate from his mother’s brother in 1777 and left William Stirling & Sons in 1792 to set up his own company Stirling, Hunter and Co. in London.

In 1789, William Stirling & Sons tried to sell their dwellings and warehouses situated to the west of the High Street in Glasgow. The sale was unsuccessful, and the brothers decided to redevelop the land speculatively with a new street or square instead. In March 1791, the Adam office’s Edinburgh Clerk of Works, John Paterson, encountered the Stirling brothers, James and Andrew, whilst on a journey from Glasgow. Paterson was already well acquainted with Andrew and visited his premises at Drumpellier to discuss potential Adam office projects in Glasgow, including the proposed new street or square. The correspondence between Paterson and Robert Adam reveals the great lengths that Paterson went to of convincing both the Stirling brothers and Adam that this would be a successful prospect.

Robert Adam met with Andrew at his premises in Drumpellier on 18 September 1791, having already visited Glasgow. However, Robert died in March 1792, and it is not clear if some of the surviving drawings were to his designs or later designs by his younger brother James Adam. Most of the drawings are signed from the Adam office in Albemarle Street, October 1792 and are attributed to James.

An advertisement was published in the Glasgow Mercury in November 1792 for a ‘new street and square’ to be sold on 3 January 1793, and to be built to a uniform plan corresponding to a set of ‘beautiful elevations by Mr Adams’, with the internal plans by Adam also. The square was executed between 1794 and 1804, however, historic maps show that the square was more of a poorly executed rectangle and did not match the Adam office proposals.

The square has been eradicated through later development, as have most of the streets, and Stirling Street has been renamed Blackfriars Street. There is one surviving building on the north side of Blackfriars Street which is thought to have been influenced by the Adam’s designs.

Literature: National Library Scotland: MSS.19992-19993, Letters from John Paterson to Robert Adam, 1790-91; D. Robertson, Glasgow, Past and Present, Volume 3, 1884, pp. 374-7; A.T. Bolton, The Architecture of Robert and James Adam, Volume II, Index, 1922, p. 14; A. Rowan, 'After the Adelphi: Forgotten Year sin the Adam Brothers’ Practice', Journal of the Royal Society of Arts, volume 122, September 1974, pp. 659-710; M. Sanderson, 'Robert Adam’s Last Visit to Scotland 1791', Architectural History, Volume 25, 1982, pp. 35-46; Williamson, E (et. al) The Buildings of Scotland: Glasgow, 1990, p. 173; D. King, The Complete Works of Robert & James Adam and Unbuilt Adam, Volume 1, 2001, pp. 381, 394, Volume 2, pp. 68, 77; Mosley, Charles (ed.), Burke's Peerage, Baronetage & Knightage, 2003, p. 3745; A. Rowan, Vaulting Ambition: The Adam Brothers, Contractors to the Metropolis in the reign of George III, 2007, p. 73

With thanks to the Arts Society Fund and the Art Fund’s Jonathan Ruffer Curatorial Grant which enabled archival visits in Edinburgh to support research for this scheme.

Louisa Catt, 2023