Ninian Bannatyne Stewart

Ninian Bannatyne Stewart (1865–1929) was the eldest child of Alexander Bannatyne Stewart (1836–1880) and Fanny Stewart, née Stevenson. Alexander was a warehouseman and partner in the successful family drapery business Stewart & McDonald, which been founded by his father, Robertson Buchanan Stewart and John McDonald in 1826. 1 Alexander's family lived at Ascog Hall, on Bute, where John Honeyman carried out alterations in 1862, and at Rawcliffe, Langside, designed by John Burnet Senior in around 1862. 2

Ninian followed his father into the family business, and by 1887 was described in the Glasgow Post Office Directory as 'of Stewart & McDonald', suggesting he had been made a partner. 3 In the 1911 census, he was described as 'director' of the firm, which had become a limited company in 1900. He held this position until his apparent retirement around 1918. 4

In 1913, a separate retail firm, McDonald's Ltd, was formed from wholesalers Stewart & McDonald Ltd; in the 1950s, it became a subsidiary of the House of Fraser and was merged with furniture makers and retailers, Wylie & Lochhead in the 1960s. Stewart & McDonald Ltd was merged with J. & W. Campbell in 1922 following financial losses. Stewart & McDonald Ltd had branches across Great Britain and Ireland, in Canada, Australia, New Zealand and South Africa. At various times their factories were located in Leeds and Strabane. 5

In 1889, Ninian Stewart married his first cousin, Maria Amelia Stewart, eldest daughter of his father's elder brother, Ninian Bannatyne Stewart Senior, by then retired from his position as a partner in the family firm and living in Torquay, Devon. Three years later, Ninian and Maria were living at Park Circus, one of the most exclusive addresses in Glasgow, and had commissioned John Honeyman & Keppie to extend considerably their Clyde-coast house, Dunloe. It was located adjacent to Maria's parents' other house, Ardvar, designed by Honeyman in 1879. John Honeyman & Keppie carried out modest alterations at Ardvar concurrent with the work at Dunloe. By 1911, Ninian and Maria had three children: Ninian Bannatyne Stewart III, born c. 1892; Fanny, born c. 1894; and Richard, born 1901. 6

Ninian Bannatyne Stewart III lived at Dunloe until his death in 1966. 7