Kelvingrove museum

What's in a name?

Rosie Spooner
Kelvingrove Park was created in 1852 on land purchased by the Glasgow Corporation, precursor to Glasgow City Council. The park encompassed land that since the late-eighteenth century had been owned by some of Glasgow’s wealthiest families and used as their private landed estates. During the Georgian period, which lasted from 1714 to 1837, this area of what is now the West End was outside of Glasgow’s city boundaries and was largely open and undeveloped land, making it an apt location for the country retreats of Glasgow’s mercantile elite. “Kelvingrove” was the title given to one of these estates by its first owner, Patrick Colquhoun (1745-1820), who built a large mansion on the banks of the River Kelvin. Reputably the work of the renowned Scottish architect and designer Robert Adam (1728-1792), Kelvingrove Mansion was located on what is now the skate park and sat within 12 acres of gardens and woodlands.
The name coined by Colquhoun has endured. It was handed down as the estate was transferred from one private owner to the next before ultimately coming into the possession of municipal authorities 70 years after its creation. Reflected in the name chosen for the 85-acre park laid out in 1852 and the museum and art gallery that sits within it, which opened 50 years later, both the name Kelvingrove and the area of land that it denotes are direct links between Georgian Glasgow and the contemporary cityscape.
As current protests in cities in the UK and USA attest, action is being taken to focus attention on the complex histories embedded in the built environment and the public spaces that surround us and critical attention is being given to the politics of naming and commemoration, particularly as regards the history of slavery, colonialism, imperialism and empire and the ongoing legacies of these systems. It is therefore pertinent to reflect on the historical context around the etymology of the word “Kelvingrove” and ask questions of the person who established the Georgian estate that has given its name to two of Glasgow’s most recognised and loved landmarks.
Patrick Colquhoun was a merchant, magistrate and lobbyist. Following his father’s death in ca.1760, he was sent to Virginia by his family where he gained early exposure to the workings of trans-Atlantic trade and commerce. Upon returning to Scotland six years later, Colquhoun became involved in a number of business ventures, likely capitalising on his new network of contacts on the other side of the Atlantic. He traded in linen, which was commonly used to cloth enslaved people on plantations in the Americas and the Caribbean; transported convicts from Scotland to penal colonies in British North America; and was a co-partner in the firm Colquhoun & Ritchie, which traded with Jamaica and Antigua. The name coined by Colquhoun has endured. It was handed down as the estate was transferred from one private owner to the next before ultimately coming into the possession of municipal authorities 70 years after its creation. Reflected in the name chosen for the 85-acre park laid out in 1852 and the museum and art gallery that sits within it, which opened 50 years later, both the name Kelvingrove and the area of land that it denotes are direct links between Georgian Glasgow and the contemporary cityscape.
In 1778 Colquhoun was among the 14 local businessmen who contributed funds to raise a Glasgow regiment to fight against revolutionary forces during the American War of Independence. Partly in response to the negative impact on trade caused by the conflict and the subsequent loss of the Thirteen Colonies, Colquhoun established the Glasgow Chamber of Commerce in 1783, an organisation dedicated to representing the city’s business interests and lobbying governments to enact favourable tariffs, lower taxes and combat theft and smuggling. Colquhoun became the Chamber’s first Chair while simultaneously serving as Lord Provost (1782-84) and, later, Treasurer of Glasgow.
It was at this time that Colquhoun purchased the land that would become Kelvingrove estate and commissioned construction of a neo-classical mansion on the site. He was financially able to do this because of the significant wealth he had accrued through his various mercantile pursuits and interests, which were reliant upon trans-Atlantic imperial trade networks and dependent on the institution of chattel slavery. Colquhoun derived his fortune from trans-Atlantic slavery and its commerce.
In late-1780s, Colquhoun moved to London with the intention of developing his career as a lobbyist. He advocated on behalf of West India merchants and plantation owners, which led to him playing a key role in establishing the Thames River police, one of Britain’s earliest police forces, which began operations in 1798 with Colquhoun as its first Superintendent Magistrate. Colquhoun was involved in the practical work of commerce and policing and also wrote texts outlining theories and justifications for both, including Treatise on the Police of the Metropolis (1798) and A Treatise on the Wealth, Power and Resources of the British Empire in Every Quarter of the World (1814). An excerpt from the memorial plaque in St Margaret’s Church Westminster where Colquhoun was buried reads: “He was author of the treatises on the policing of the metropolis and river Thames, on the wealth, power, and resources of the Empire, and of numerous other important works on criminal jurisprudence, political economy, and on the commerce and manufactures of Great Britain.” Colquhoun was not only deeply involved in the practical work of colonialism, but he was also deeply invested in imperialist thinking and ideology.
The park that we know today contains little to no remaining physical traces of Colquhoun’s Kelvingrove estate. There is nothing inside the park that explains its history, which points to a crucial period in Glasgow’s past, a time when the city and a section of its residents grew phenomenally wealthy and politically powerful through their involvement in imperial trade and commerce, which relied on the deliberate and systematic enslavement of Black and Indigenous people. Although currently there is nothing in the landscape of Kelvingrove Park that acknowledges this past, language offers us a constant reminder.
Rosie Spooner bio pic

Rosie Spooner

Rosie Spooner is a Lecturer in the School of Humanities at the University of Glasgow. Her teaching and research interests concern the visual and material culture of empire from the 18th to the 20th century, as well as contemporary after-effects of British colonialism and imperialism. She focuses particularly on issues around the presentation of difficult heritage, the interpretation of history and the politics of display at work in museums, galleries and other cultural heritage sites.

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