The Glasgow housebuilder who gave city a park for free

Green spaces of all types and sizes are spread across Glasgow and each has its own story to tell.

King’s Park is one such space, situated on the southern edge of the city and often overshadowed by its larger near-neighbours, Linn and Queen’s Park.

Yet although the area was only established as a district in its own right during the inter-war period, King’s Park itself has a long, rich history.

King's Park c 1931 (Image: Glasgow City Archives)

The earliest mentions of the lands that would become King's Park date back to a royal confirmation in 1372, granting Sir John Maxwell a charter of Aikenhead.

The Maxwell family held the estate until the early 17th century, when it was acquired by James Hamilton, a Glasgow merchant and provost.

Hamilton's son, Robert, received a substantial sum upon his father's death in 1633 which was intended for the construction of a new house at Aikenhead.

King's Park (Image: Glasgow City Archives)

The estate then passed to Robert’s son James, an intriguing figure who suffered religious persecution on account of being a Covenanter, was imprisoned, and later became a Member of Parliament. James still found time to have a remarkable thirty children with three different wives - the first twenty of whom were daughters - before he finally bore a male heir to continue his lineage.

Later, the estate and its mansion house were purchased by John Gordon, a leading Glasgow West India merchant.

Gordon’s wealth was derived from the slave trade: importing sugar grown by enslaved people in Jamaica, then diversifying into cotton manufacture.

He was also the first chairman of the Glasgow West India Association (a pro-slavery lobbying group, whose records are held at the City Archives) and, as Glasgow City Council’s 2022 slavery audit noted, “possessed one of the largest slavery-derived fortunes amongst his peers”.

Upon his death in 1828, this fortune stood at more than £118,000 which placed him comfortably among the British super-rich. The equivalent value today, compared to average earnings, would be more than £110 million.

With this wealth, Gordon substantially improved the mansion that was built shortly before he purchased the estate. He employed the renowned Glasgow architect David Hamilton to add wings to the existing Aikenhead House in 1823, turning it into his magnificent country residence.

Aikenhead House (Image: Glasgow City Archives)

The estate sat outside of the city for a further century, until a boundary extension of 1925 brought it into the enlarged “Greater Glasgow”.

This was the catalyst for major change for both the green space and the surrounding area. In 1929 a large portion of land was purchased by Mactaggart and Mickel, the firm of house builders, and it was developed as a residential suburb.

As for the park itself, the 68-acre site including the mansion was gifted to the city by John Mactaggart, “for the purpose of being used for all time as a public park only, to be known as ‘King’s Park’.”

Sir John Mactaggart (Image: Glasgow City Archives)

The new park was formally opened in May 1931 and for some time the Glasgow Corporation debated how it should be used.

It received various suggestions, including requests from cricket clubs, athletics associations and a local group that wanted “the erection of a hut for old men in King’s Park”. The committee initially turned this last request down, until Mactaggart himself intervened and offered to build the shelter.

Mactaggart was clearly fond of the area and, when he was created a hereditary baronet in 1938, included it in his sobriquet, becoming “Sir John Mactaggart of King’s Park”.

Aikenhead House was initially transformed into a costume museum and contained a popular tearoom. Later, in the 1980s, the mansion was converted into flats – the first time a building in a Glasgow park was turned into private housing.

The A-listed mansion is not the park’s only site of historic significance. It contains no fewer than five listed structures: Aikenhead House, the B-listed entrance gates, stable and sundial, and the C-listed walled garden.

King’s Park holds a captivating past that dates back to the 14th century and visitors today can connect with both nature and another part of the city’s remarkable heritage.