John Aiken (1801-75),
a Glasgow wine and spirit merchant, purchased the Dalmoak estate in 1857 and
nearby Succoth in 1860. In 1866-69 he
employed Alexander Watt to built a large castellated mansion with a tall tower
and lavish interiors at Dalmoak. The
house passed to his son, James Aiken (1843-1928), a Glasgow lawyer, who died
unmarried and without issue. The house
was inhabited briefly by one of his trustees, James Cyril Mawdesley Aiken but
was leased by the Aiken Trust from about 1934 to a local farmer, Mr. Young, and after wartime use by the RAF was later sold to Alexandrina Reid Cousins (d. 1996), who began the process of restoration. Her grandson, John Szwed, restored the house as a
nursing home in 1990, partly so that she could remain in the house after she needed nursing care.
Dalmoak Castle, Renton, Dumbartonshire
Descent: John Aiken (1801-75); to son,
James Aiken (1843-1928); to Trustees, one of whom (James Cyril Mawdesley
Aiken), lived in the house; leased from c.1934 to Mr Young, farmer of Dalmoak Farm;
used by RAF during War as the headquarters of the Clydebank decoy system, then as flats for homeless families; then as cattle
stalling until sold 1964 to Alexandrina Reid Cousins (d. 1996); gifted to daughter, Constance Szwed-Cousins; gifted to son, John Szwed (d. 2004), who restored it as a nursing home; to brother, Michel Szwed-Cousins, who sold 2007 to Castle Glen Care & Nursing Home.
The Aikens of Dalmoak Castle
Aiken, John (1801-75), of Dalmoak Castle. Second son of James Aiken (1757-1820) and his wife Elizabeth, daughter of John Russell of Arns (Dumbartonshire); born at Wester Myvet, New Monkland, 29 January 1801. Wine and spirit merchant at Glasgow. He married, December 1841 at Barony, Glasgow, Janet (1820-69), younger daughter of John Belch of Drumoyne (Lanarks) and had issue:
(1) James Aiken (1843-1928) (q.v.);
(2) John Belch Aiken of Glasgow, writer to the signet, d.unm. 1904;
(3) Jane Taylor Aiken (d. in infancy);
(4) Jane Taylor Aiken, d. unmarried.
He purchased the Dalmoak estate, Renton (Dumbartonshire) in 1857 and nearby Succoth in 1860, and built Dalmoak House in 1866-69.
He died 24 November 1875, aged 74. He was buried in the Aiken Mausoleum at the Glasgow Necropolis.
Aiken, James (1843-1928), of Dalmoak Castle. Elder son of John Aiken (1801-75) and his wife Janet, dau of John Belch of Drumoyne (Lanarks); born 2 February 1843. Educated at Glasgow University (MA 1863); writer to the signet in the firm of Barton, Aiken & Co., Glasgow ; JP for Dumbartonshire. Unmarried.
He inherited the Dalmoak House estate from his father in 1875 and added to it by the purchase of Whiteleys, West Mains of Cardross and Ardochbeg in 1888. After his death the house is said to have been occupied by one of his trustees, James Cyril Mawdesley Aiken, until c.1934 when it was sold to a farmer, Mr. Young of Dalmoak Farm.
He died 24 September 1928, aged 85.
Sources
Burke's Landed Gentry, 1925, p.9; J. Gifford & F.A. Walker, The buildings of Scotland: Stirling and central Scotland, 2002, p. 355; notes on the house and Aiken family by Lairich Rig at http://www.geograph.org.uk/photo/2773622; J. Watson, 'Dalmoak House'. Architectural Heritage Society of Scotland Magazine, no. 34, Autumn 2013.
Location of archives
No significant archive is known to survive.
Revision
This post was first published, 31 July 2013, and was updated 28 September 2013 and 6 September 2019. I am most grateful to Michel Szwed-Cousins for corrections and additions.
Dalmoak Castle, Renton, Dumbartonshire
 |
| Dalmoak Castle. © Jeremy Watson |
A largely symmetrical castellated
mansion house with a tall tower, built by Alexander Watt in 1866-68 for John
Aiken of Glasgow (1801-75), a wine and spirit merchant; the house was known locally as 'the Brandy castle' as a result. The house
has lavish interiors, including a central hall with an imperial stair, a
drawing room with sumptuous ceiling plasterwork and scagliola columns, and a
more restrained dining room. The library formerly had castellated bookcases, which were removed when the house was converted into a nursing home in 1990, although some of them were moved to the drawing room. The three round-arched stained glass windows on the staircase, by William & James Ker of Glasgow, depict mythological characters, including the Red Hand of Ulster, no doubt an allusion to John Aiken's Ulster origins.
 |
| Dalmoak Castle: the staircase. © Jeremy Watson |
The Aikens of Dalmoak Castle
Aiken, John (1801-75), of Dalmoak Castle. Second son of James Aiken (1757-1820) and his wife Elizabeth, daughter of John Russell of Arns (Dumbartonshire); born at Wester Myvet, New Monkland, 29 January 1801. Wine and spirit merchant at Glasgow. He married, December 1841 at Barony, Glasgow, Janet (1820-69), younger daughter of John Belch of Drumoyne (Lanarks) and had issue:
(1) James Aiken (1843-1928) (q.v.);
(2) John Belch Aiken of Glasgow, writer to the signet, d.unm. 1904;
(3) Jane Taylor Aiken (d. in infancy);
(4) Jane Taylor Aiken, d. unmarried.
He purchased the Dalmoak estate, Renton (Dumbartonshire) in 1857 and nearby Succoth in 1860, and built Dalmoak House in 1866-69.
He died 24 November 1875, aged 74. He was buried in the Aiken Mausoleum at the Glasgow Necropolis.
Aiken, James (1843-1928), of Dalmoak Castle. Elder son of John Aiken (1801-75) and his wife Janet, dau of John Belch of Drumoyne (Lanarks); born 2 February 1843. Educated at Glasgow University (MA 1863); writer to the signet in the firm of Barton, Aiken & Co., Glasgow ; JP for Dumbartonshire. Unmarried.
He inherited the Dalmoak House estate from his father in 1875 and added to it by the purchase of Whiteleys, West Mains of Cardross and Ardochbeg in 1888. After his death the house is said to have been occupied by one of his trustees, James Cyril Mawdesley Aiken, until c.1934 when it was sold to a farmer, Mr. Young of Dalmoak Farm.
He died 24 September 1928, aged 85.
Sources
Burke's Landed Gentry, 1925, p.9; J. Gifford & F.A. Walker, The buildings of Scotland: Stirling and central Scotland, 2002, p. 355; notes on the house and Aiken family by Lairich Rig at http://www.geograph.org.uk/photo/2773622; J. Watson, 'Dalmoak House'. Architectural Heritage Society of Scotland Magazine, no. 34, Autumn 2013.
Location of archives
No significant archive is known to survive.
Revision
This post was first published, 31 July 2013, and was updated 28 September 2013 and 6 September 2019. I am most grateful to Michel Szwed-Cousins for corrections and additions.
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