1 BURRELL was born in 1861 on Scotia Street in the Blythswood area of Glasgow, part of a shipping family. At the age of 14, he started work alongside his father and 10 years later took over control of the business with his older brother, George. Even from a young age, he had a sharp business mind and thanks to some shrewd investment, he could partly retire by the age of 40.

2 He continued to build up his fortune and retired properly in his 50s to concentrate on collecting art and antiques from around the world. He had been buying different pieces since his teenage years, including sculptures and tapestries . In 1927, he was knighted for services to art.

3 In 1944, Burrell and his wife Constance gave their collection of around 9000 objects to Glasgow, along with money to build a gallery to house them. He was keen for it to be in a rural location within easy reach of the city centre. When Pollok Country Park was donated to the city by Mrs Anne Maxwell Macdonald in 1966, it was the perfect solution.

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4 The Burrell Collection opened to the public in October 1983 and has since become one of the city’s most loved visitor attractions, bringing in tourists from around the world. It is currently undergoing a £66m refurbishment and will open again in spring 2021.

5 Sir William Burrell died on March 29, 1958, age 96, at Hutton Castle in Berwickshire. He is buried in Largs Cemetery, beside Constance who died in 1961. The couple had a holiday home in Nelson Street. A recent book published about the couple’s daughter Marion, reveals the depth of her troubled relationship with her parents and the bitter estrangement that meant she would never inherit her father’s treasures. The Collector’s Daughter: The Untold Burrell Story, was written by Sue Stephen, Marion’s god-daughter.