Braemar, 109 Glaisnock Street, Cumnock formerly Herdston Cottage

 Braemar, formerly Herdston Cottage, 109 Glaisnock Street, Cumnock

Braemar formerly Herdston Cottage
     

    Herdston Cottage was situated on the east side of Glaisnock Street a few yard from Pottery Row which was a row of six single story cottages adjacent to the Pottery and roughly opposite the Town Hall. These cottages were constructed to house the Pottery workers. In 1852 James McGavin Nicol was appointed the manager of the Cumnock Pottery & Tile Co. and four years later became the new proprietor. He also made bricks and drainage tiles. 

    By 1871 the Nicol family had moved into Herdston Cottage. James died there in 1885, followed by his wife Annie in 1906. Their son William, a coalmaster, continued to live there with his wife Mary Brydon Nicol. When William died in 1927 he left the cottage in Trust to his wife Mary Brydon Nicol liferentrix and three other Trustees - Alexander F Borland, ironmonger, Cumnock, John Strathdee Nicol, Kent and John T Torrance, Carnwath. Mary Brydon Nicol died in Herdston Cottage in 1938.

    In 1934 the slum clearances in Cumnock had begun. Herdston's Field, which lay behind Herdston Cottage, had been acquired by compulsory purchase from the Marquess of Bute and work had begun building a large scheme of houses. 

    After Mary B. Nicol's death the cottage was purchased by Herbert William Morton and renamed Braemar. Herbert had married Jeanie McGrady in 1922 at the Hotel Royal, Cumnock. Jeanie's family were shoemakers who lived in Breezyhill in Glaisnock Street. Herbert became the proprietor of the Cumnock and Auchinleck Picture Houses. He was the Director of the Ayrshire Bowling Association and a Scottish International team bowler having represented, along with three others, the Scottish team in the 1954 British Empire & Commonwealth Games in Vancouver, Canada. Their eldest daughter, Jean, married Don Ward who later took over the business.

Sources:

Valuation Rolls, Scotlands People

Scottish Censuses 

Cumnock History Group Website

Cumnock Connections Tree

Ayrshire Archaeological and Natural History Society - The Cumnock Pottery, Gerald Quail

Ardossan & Saltcoalts Herald 4/3/1892