CELEBRATING YOUR PROJECTS
A Paisley project studying local families
The Disability Resource Centre (DRC) in Paisley provides services for physically disabled and sensory-impaired people living in Renfrewshire, promoting independent living through various activities. It recently joined up with another local organisation, Roar: Connections For Life, which encourages older people to enhance their wellbeing, to explore community history. It was a fulfilling and enriching experience for participants from the two groups who were involved in ‘Dynasty: Stewards, Coats & Clarks’, a very successful community history project that they’ve recently completed, and which was designed for their special requirements.
Under the guidance of their project leader, social historian Lil Brookes from Gatekeeper Art, they traced the history of three Paisley families and the buildings and locations associated with them. The project was delivered as part of the social programme for the Paisley Townscape Heritage and Conservation Area Regeneration Scheme (THCARS).
These families were powerful. The Stewards were originally the Fitzalans, Norman knights. Walter Fitzalan came to Scotland in 1140 and rose to become Steward (controller of the royal finances), an office that became hereditary. Indeed, with a slight change in spelling, they adopted it as their surname – Stewart. In 1315 Walter Stewart married Princess Marjorie, daughter of Robert the Bruce. In 1371 their son, born at Paisley Abbey, succeeded to the throne as Robert II – first king of the celebrated House of Stewart. Paisley was often known as ‘The Cradle of the Stewarts’.
In sharp contrast, the other two families had humble origins. James Clark (b1747) was a farmer’s son and James Coats (b1774) was a weaver. These two men became rich through the thread industry, which came to dominate the town’s economic life. They were pioneering entrepreneurs, perfecting the production of silk and cotton threads for sewing and embroidery. Thanks to them and others, Paisley became the world’s greatest centre for thread-production. The philanthropy and charity of the two families provided it with splendid public amenities – the town hall, library, museum, observatory, Thomas Coats Memorial Church and parks.
Participants in the project enjoyed weekly research sessions over eight months, exploring sources such as parish registers, maps and census records, and investigating published research on the long history of the town and its families. They visited historic sites, including Paisley’s abbey and the museum. The result of their efforts is an excellent website, including an interactive Story Map and information pages telling the histories and linking them to various locations in the town.
The group loved the work and were fascinated with the research. One participant commented: “This has been a wonderful experience, but we know we couldn’t have enjoyed it so much without the help and support of lots of people. We have found out so much about the ‘power’ families... and how much they are bound up in the place where we live today!” Visually impaired participants enjoyed the inclusive activities, such as a sensory quiz about the life of a medieval monastery like Paisley Abbey, using touch, smell, hearing and taste to explore the items that might have been kept in the monastery.
They also had the chance to hold and discover the texture of museum artefacts and experience the atmosphere, scale and acoustics of the abbey.
Lil told me: “I had the great pleasure to work with the two groups. It was more social history than straight family history research, but we used family trees extensively, online records at ScotlandsPeople and primary archive sources at Paisley Heritage Centre.”
Having explored the website in detail, and never having been to Paisley, I definitely have a new place to visit in the near future.
They were powerful. The Stewards were originally the Fitzalans, Norman knights