Dunlops of that Ilk, Chiefs of the Name

Alexander Dunlop, 16th of that Ilk, b1645 son of James, Family head 1670-1683. Another champion of Presbyterianism. The accounts of the Dunlop family in Burke's Peerage and Baronetage (16th ed.) and in J. G. Dunlop's The Dunlops of Dunlop (1939), give some detail of the early Carolina colonist, Alexander Dunlop's life to 1685. Following his arrest in 1683 and indictment in the following year for suspicion of being concerned with Bothwell Brig Covenanters, Dunlop emigrated to South Carolina, where the Lords Proprietor appointed him sheriff of Port Royal County in 1685. In Carolina he became associated with two politically powerful men, Henry Erskine, 3rd Baron Cardross, and William Dunlop, a relative and local militia commander, both of whom had arrived in 1684. It appears that Alexander Dunlop returned to Scotland by early 1686, probably with the intention of returning to Port Royal, given that he had accepted money and goods from the wives of Cardross and William Dunlop to deliver in Carolina. Dunlop, however, sailed first to Antigua, shipping goods from there to Port Royal by way of his servant Thomas Steel, and then returned to Scotland. There is no firm evidence that Dunlop ever returned to Carolina, and both Cardross and William Dunlop returned to England after 1688 and the accession of William III. Alexander married Antonia Brown of Fordal, daughter of Major General Sir John Brown of Fordal and Mary(or Marion) Scott of Rossie. 

Sir John Dunlop, 17th of that Ilk, b1670-d1706 son of Alexander, 1684-1706.  When his father was indicted in 1683 and emigrated to America, he secured the lands that were settled upon him by Alexander. and reacquired the lands that the Earl of Dundonald had secured from James the 15th Dunlop of that Ilk. Those Estates were raised into the Barony of Dunlop. John died without heir, having subscribed to the scheme at Darien, Panama, to the sum of 500 L around 1706.

Lieutenant Colonel Sir Francis Dunlop, 18th of that Ilk, b1683-d1748  brother of John, 1706-1748. Francis was one of the peers and gentlemen of Scotland deputed in 1707 ( following the Act of Union of Scotland with England to form the "United Kingdom of Great Britain", and following the adjournment, in 1707, of the Parliament of Scotland [until 1998]) to witness the deposition and walling up, in the Crown Room of Edinburgh Castle, the Honours of Scotland (i.e. the Crown and Sceptre of Scotland. Francis married (1)Susannah Leckie of Newlands (mother of his eldest son and successor, John) daughter of John Leckie of Newlands (Fifeshire) and Mary Anderson of Dowhill; and (2) Magdalene Kinlock of Gilmourton.

John Dunlop, 19th of that Ilk, b1707-1784 (son of Francis), 1748-1784. John was deputized by the County of Ayr to assist the Duke of Cumberland against Bonnie Prince Charlie in 1745-6. John married Frances Anna Wallace, future friend and patron  of the Immortal Robbie Burns. The daughter of Sir Thomas Wallace of Craigie, 5th Bt. and Eleanor Agnew of Lochryan, Frances was descended from Sir Adam (some say Richard) Wallace, Chief of Clan Wallace, eldest brother of Sir Malcolm Wallace, who was the father of Sir William Wallace, Guardian of Scotland and the now Immortal hero of "Braveheart" fame. Her son Thomas Dunlop took the name Dunlop-Wallace and the lands of Craigie when his grandfather Sir Thomas Wallace died without male heir. Her other sons carried the blood of many kings through her lineage. The Chieftainship of Dunlop was taken up by many of her and John's offspring and is held today by them. Both Wallace-Dunlops and Dunlop-Wallaces lines still exist today. Anthony Wallace Dunlop.

Brigadier-General Sir Andrew Wallace Dunlop, 20th of that Ilk, b1756-1804 (son of John), 1784-August 24, 1804. Born 19th December 1756.  He was gazetted ensign at the age of 17 in 1773 in the 88th Foot, and on the 8th January 1778 he was promoted Captain in the 82nd in Hamilton's regiment. He attained the rank of Major in six years. He saw action at Penobscot in the summer of 1779, rescuing a regiment. He raised the Ayr Fencible Calvary.  He was Colonel of the 21rst Light Dragoons in 1798. On 25th July 1803 Andrew served as a Brigadier-General, and then died in command of the island of Antigua, British West Indies on August 24, 1804. He died unmarried and without children. He was a correspondent of Robert Burns, receiving a letter on May 31rst, 1788 about Burns' marriage. 

Lieutenant-General Sir James Wallace Dunlop, 21st of that Ilk, b1759-1832 (brother to Andrew), Family Head 1804-1832. . He served with his brother in Hamilton's Regiment in America during the American Revolution, having been gazetted as an ensign on 11th January 1778. In 1779 he became a lieutenant and was captured by the Americans after a shipwreck off New York where four-fifths of the ship's company drowned. After being exchanged, he volunteered for duty in Virginia with the 80th Foot. In North Carolina he commanded a troop of mounted infantry under Major Craig. After Cornwallis's surrender in 1781, he served with the 52nd Foot in Halifax until peace in 1783. In 1787 he recruited for the East India Company. He gazetted a senior Captain and sailed for Bombay. He became Military Secretary to the Governor. He commanded an assaulting column at the siege of Seringapatam, India. Returning to Britain, he attained the rank of Major General under Wellington (Fifth Division) during the Peninsular War of 1808-1814. (2nd Brigade: commanded by Major General Dunlop: 1st/4th Foot, 2nd/30th Foot, 2nd/44th Foot, Co Brunswick Oels) and was present at Waterloo.  He completely rebuilt Dunlop House in 1835. In 1815 he was elected a MP for the Stewartry of Kirkcudbright, and was created a Baronet. James was born at Dunlop House on June 19th, 1759 and died on March 30th 1832 at Colvend, Southwick, Kincardineshire, Scotland. He married Julia Baillie on 20 July 1802, the daughter of Hugh Baillie of Moncton. They had three sons: John, Hugh, and Andrew.

Major Arthur Wallace Dunlop, 27th of that Ilk, b1866-1937 (Brother to Keith) Family head from  1910-1937 (Line reverts to second son of Lucy Dowson and Robert Henry Wallace Dunlop.) Arthur was born 1 January 1866 at Lakefield, near Inverness, Scotland and died 15 February 1937 at Guildford, Surrey, England. He was gazetted to the Essex Regiment on 30th January 1886 and then joined the India Staff Corps. His regiment was the 23rd Bengal Native Infantry afterwards the 23rd Sikh Pioneers and formerly the 1st Punjab Infantry. In 1896 he served temporarily with the 34th Pioneers holding the rank of Wing Officer.  He ws promoted to Captain on 30th November 1897. Capt Dunlop was an extraordinary good shot and held many records. On March 15, 1910, he retired from the military. His battle honors were many: Chrital Relief Column that left Jhelum in 1895; Tibet expedition of 1903-4 under Sir Younghusband; Niani on the 26t June 1904 and took part in operations about Gyantse, May-July 1904. He marched to Lhasa  in July-August 1904. When a European correspondent was attacked, Major Dunlop rushed up with a rifle , shot the assailant dead, but lost two fingers in the fray. He saw more service in North-West Frontier in 1908 and was awarded seven medals in all. In WWI he served with the 47th Sikhs in France and from 1915-16 was staff Captain, Woolwich Defenses. He died in a nursing home on the 15th February 1937; he was then residing with his wife and family at Dunsfold in Surrey.

He married Barbara Britton of New York, USA. They had three sons, Roy Neil (b 19 Dec 1922), Keith Stuart (b 30 May 1924) and Ian (b 22 March 1929).

Keith Stuart Wallace Dunlop, 29th of that Ilk b1924-2006

Family Head 1989-2006; second son of Arthur (27th) (Brother to Roy Neil). Keith had a son, James, and two daughters, Phillipa and Alex. They reside in Devon, England.  Keith is shown here with his lovely wife, Elizabeth. He was a technical author, and wrote instruction manuals for various bits of heavy engineering equipment, submarines, and nuclear power stations. He was a WWII vet, serving in Burma.

Keith Stuart Wallace Dunlop passed on May 20, 2006.  The following eulogy was given by his son James at his service in May. Many thanks to Alex Dunlop, his daughter, for allowing us this glimpse into this outstanding Dunlop's very interesting life.

Pa’s Eulogy (by James Dunlop)

"Pa combined the manners and civilization of his 19th century father with a love of technology. His father, born in January 1866, was living a relaxed life with a third of the year in London, a third of the year abroad, and a third of the year in Devon where he fished.

It was in Devon that Pa was born in 1924, and where he went to prep school. His teachers found a very independent child as, at home, his Father's attitude to children was that they were to be “considered as retired Colonels, until proven otherwise”.

When the Wall Street crash interrupted family finances, they moved to Looe in Cornwall where home was an old railway wagon that played host to the family of five and a housemaid, their one remaining retainer. Their mother was horrified by the change in circumstances, but Pa, Roy, and Ian loved their time there, albeit that living conditions were remembered by Pa as being 'rather matey'.

Later they moved to Peaslake in Surrey, a sleepy area that Pa and Roy tried to liven up. On one occasion they and a friend hoped to produce some dramatic effect one midnight by galloping down the high street on horses, firing revolvers in the air. Sadly no one seemed to notice.

Pa found greater fun at Corpus Christi, Oxford, where he and his friends regularly missed the college curfew thereby found themselves locked out of their rooms and forced to call on the Salvation Army for a bed or risk being impaled as they climbed over the college railings. The Salvation Army lost several customers, and his undergraduate friends suffered fewer injuries after Pa created an illicit copy of the college gate key from an imprint secured in an elaborate operation to distract the porters from the lodge. An operation that was only just successful as Pa encountered a returning, but happily still unsuspecting, porter while making his getaway.

Pa's time at Oxford was interrupted by the war. Time with Slim's 14th army in Burma left him with a lack of enthusiasm for the Japanese. A similar disregard was held for the Royal Artillery which at one time decided to shell Pa and his train of Mules carrying radio equipment. Pa was lucky to survive that attack, and as the sole survivor used the one remaining No17 radio to send his views back to base camp. His analysis was not appreciated, and resulted in him being placed under open arrest which lasted the 2 ½ years of the rest of the war.

Burma, while ghastly in so many ways, did have one good side for Pa. He got on very well with a girl from the Karen hill tribes. Unfortunately, the girl was a princess, and a match with a local Prince had been planned for her. The prince who was allied to the British, arranged for Pa to be posted to another part of Burma in order that the arranged union could proceed as planned. It says a lot about Pa that instead of going along with the plans laid out for her, this girl instead walked through several hundred miles of jungle to be reunited with him. The birthday present that she brought him: a pack of six crisp new cotton handkerchiefs, was treasured for decades.

Against the odds, Pa survived the war. Very thin and hungry, but with a single injury. He fell into the only ornamental goldfish pond in Burma and cut his ear so badly that it almost fell off. In search of treatment he walked six miles and was finally operated on by an army doctor who had drink taken. The highly erratic stitching was visible on Pa's left ear for another 60 years.

After the War, Pa lived in London and occasionally paid lip service to the 20th century idea that a chap should work for a living. This notion, alien to his own father, was never really embraced by Pa or Arthur's other sons. At one point, employment having come to an end, Pa was looking at his outgoings. Prominent among them was his cleaner. Rather than loose her, Pa took a job washing dishes. The job paid Pa 1 shilling an hour, and allowed him to keep on the cleaner whom he paid 2 shillings an hour.

Post war London involved occasional encounters with unreasonable policemen who failed to distinguish between high spirits and “Drunk & Disorderly”, and magistrates who could be more understanding about such situations.

One of Pa's favourite sayings was “a good turn never goes unpunished”. This view of the world may have been affected by his own poor luck. I remember him telling me of an occasion when his then car, a Rolls Royce, burst into flames while he was driving it through the countryside. A passing farmer saw Pa's situation and smothered the fire by tipping over the car a trailer-load of earth. Pa was hugely disappointed. The Rolls was in poor condition, and had been fully insured against fire.

When he was 30, Pa lost his left arm; an accident which he never allowed to limit his life. He remained an enthusiastic motorist, not only ignoring the technical legal requirement that he drive a modified car, but also eschewing the soft option of automatic transmission. After all, as he could steer very well with his right knee, it was a simple matter to depress the clutch with his left foot while using his arm to change gear.

At the early age of 43, he met my mother, Elizabeth. Within a month they were engaged, and rapidly married. His half-brother Peter has remarked on the increased happiness and contentment of Pa's life after this time. He had certainly found a very loving individual who understood him and provided a wonderful balance for Pa, having complimentary attributes.

He was the sort of father that all boys want; relaxed and accepting about the risks that boys want to take. In a few things, like climbing trees, he would just let us get on with it (I say 'us' as, while Alex and Phil were both girls, they were not greatly limited by the fact). In most, he provided advice and coaching. He taught us to drive on farm tracks, and began instructing us at a size when we had to choose between touching the pedals and looking out of the windscreen.

He was a good shot, and shot standing up rather than prone, which was no mean feat with only one arm. His scientific inclinations meant that he could give great advice when I was making fireworks, although many of the ingredients that he recommended, and which he had used during his thirties childhood, had, to the great relief of my mother, become unavailable by the seventies. The lack of a key component also plagued our few fishing trips. After one particularly energetic outing which involved gazelle-like leaps between rocks in the fast-flowing Dordogne, but produced no actual fish, Pa observed that his only really successful fishing had been during the war when the use of a grenade had made the fish slightly more co operative. Lacking a ready supply of grenades, we removed Fishing from the agenda of future holidays.

Pa was very stoical, and could be slightly puritanical. One of the first things we were told as children was that “The worse a medicine tastes, the more good it does you”; his view being that modern sweet-tasting medicines were designed for hypochondriacs who didn't really need treatment. Even quite recently, I recall being told Pa's complaint that what the GP had prescribed “Tastes far too nice. It can't be doing me any good”.

Looking through newspaper clippings from the 1950s, it is easy to see why his mother's morning newspapers were vetted by their stepfather. Any unsuitable news items were removed. The offending items were not caused by Pa, but his keen seafaring and occasionally cigarette smuggling and gun running older brother Roy who was usually cited as “Ex-public schoolboy and man-about-Mayfair Roy Wallace-Dunlop”. Pa was very close to Roy when they were growing up, but was far less flamboyant and more patient. As a children, when learning about gardening, they were both given a seed to plant. Pa did very little to nourish his, but the benign neglect was more effective than Roy's more hands-on approach which involved digging the seed up every 3 days to see how it was progressing. As a father, Pa was anything but neglectful, but did show a great patience and kind persistence when dealing with his children – a patience which I no doubt tested on many occasions.

Pa's low-key approach to life, and the contrast with Roy can also be seen in their differing approach to the Dunlop family history. When Roy was head of the family, his title of the 28th Dunlop of that Ilk seems to have been interpreted expansively by him as, on his death, we received various affectionate stories about 'Lord Dunlop' from those he had known in central America. When Pa became the 29th Dunlop of Dunlop, he did not mention it, let alone trade on it.

I know little of Pa's work life as he did not talk about it much at home. He was a technical author, and wrote instruction manuals for various bits of heavy engineering equipment, submarines, nuclear power stations, and the like. The one explanation I recall him giving was that if a nuclear power station was about to go wrong, we had to hope that the staff would open his book of words and follow the instructions therein, instead of getting into their cars and leaving as quickly as possible, which might be a more natural response to impending disaster. The lack of a 'British Chernobyl' suggests he may have been successful in keeping the attention of the key staff at difficult moments.

It was always wonderful when Pa was on one's side. When my mother was taking a dim view of her children fare evading, Pa reasoned “The railway is publicly owned, which we are told means that we all own it. And what's the world coming to if a chap can't make the odd trip on his own railway”.

After twenty five years living first in Yorkshire, and then in the Bristol area, Ma and Pa returned to Devon. Pynda was just right for Pa, with its acres of outbuildings in which he could keep his cars, set up tools, and gardening equipment, and store a myriad of things which 'could be useful one day'.

Pa's inclination was towards vast understatement. He occasionally talked of discouraging something, such as an unwanted plant in the garden, or a Japanese soldier. It was several years before I realized that by 'discourage' Pa meant 'kill'.

Pa never complained, and would almost always say that he was very well when asked. In 2004, after two years of breathlessness and getting an average of under 3 hours sleep a night, and then being rushed to hospital with pneumonia, he would occasionally admit to feeling “rather moderate”. His uncomplaining description the next morning of a night in which the Doctor had expected him to die, and had not been far from the mark.

Pa was not always the easiest person to treat. Early in his suffering from lack of sleep and breathlessness, it was suggested to Pa that he should take pure Oxygen. Eventually he did, but only after we overcame his initial response of “That would be cheating”.

Pa was a keen bee keeper, or at least he was keen on honey and happy to mess around with a few bees to get it. Unfortunately the Verona virus killed off Pa's bees shortly after arrival in Devon – perhaps a blessing in disguise as he seldom bothered with much protective clothing. As a child I wondered how Pa avoided getting stung by his bees. In later life I discovered that he did not avoid it. He was stung but ignored the fact. If pressed, he would probably have said that use of the usual bee-keepers' protections was cheating.

Significant among the joys of being in Devon was the wonderful local pub, the Duke of York in Iddersleigh. Pa did not get to the Duke daily, or even every week, but Jamie, the landlord, has created an institution whose very existence is a tonic. Rather as Sir Humphrey said of the opera at Covent Garden: 'one may seldom have the time to go, but it is essential to civilisation that it exists'.

Let us now go to the Duke for a drink, and to remember Pa. As Pa observed, the pub's location, next to the Church, makes it very convenient for those who thirst after righteousness."

Dunlops and Dunlaps shall toast this lad around the world as we , in all the lands where Dunlops live, go to our own "Duke's" and remember our 29th Chief of the Name.

Here's to "Keefie", from all of us!

Rest in Peace, Keith Stuart Wallace Dunlop, 29th of that Ilk

Thomas Dunlop Shipbuilder, Businessman. (Descended from the Dunlops of Gankirk, founded by John, 3rd son of James, 13th of that Ilk.)  In 1851, at the age of twenty, Thomas commenced business on his own account as a provision merchant at 231 Cowcaddens Road, Glasgow. The business seems to have done well, and within a few years he had progressed to being a grain merchant, and was operating from larger premises at 249 Argyle Street. That business grew too, and he began importing flour as well as buying and selling grain in the domestic market. That led, in 1868, to the acquisition in partnership with a friend, of his first ship, the wooden baroque Wye, of 334 tons. The partners initially lost money on the Wye, but gained valuable experience and, by the time she was sold in 1872, they had three other baroques, and Thomas was firmly established as a ship owner and manager. His sailing ships became the Clan Line of sailing ships; the first vessel to be launched with the Clan name being the Clan Macleod, in 1874. That vessel is today (September 2001) owned by the Sydney Heritage Fleet of Australia, and is still sailing in great majesty, but as the James Craig, the name given her in 1905 after being sold to J.J. Craig of New Zealand in 1900 and entering the trans-Tasman trade in 1901.

Thomas's son Sir Thomas Dunlop of Glasgow was created a baronet in 1916. Sir Thomas was Lord Provost and Lord Lieutenant of Glasgow from 1914-1917, and was decorated by several countries. Thomas's daughter Annie Jack Dunlop married into the Galbraiths. 

His grandson, Sir Thomas (1881-1957) (2nd Bt) and Great Grandson Sir Thomas (1912-1990) (3rd Bt) carried on in the shipbuilding business until the early 1980's, according to the company's centenary publication. (submitted by Geoffrey Winter). Sir Thomas Dunlop (4th Bt) still lives near Glasgow today, and holds these Arms.

Sir Thomas Dunlop, Baronet, G.BE, DL. Lord Provost of Glasgow, Lord Lieutenant of the County and City of Glasgow 1914-1917. Born 2 august 1855, created a Baronet 6 July 1916, married Dorothy Mitchell of East Lothian, died 29 January 1938.

Sir Thomas Dunlop, 2nd Baronet, born 17 November 1881, served on HM Consular Service 1919-1939, married Mary Beckett of Glasgow, died 8 March 1963.

Sir Thomas Dunlop, 3rd Baronet, Major of the Royal Signal Corps, served in WWII, born 11 April 1912, married Adda Mary Allison Smith of Lanarkshire, died 18 August 1999.

Sir Thomas Dunlop, 4th and current Baronet, b 22 April 1951, educated at Rugby and Aberdeen University (BSc.),  m 1984 to Eileen, elder daughter of Alexander Henry Stevenson, of Hurlford, Ayrshire.

Sources: Dunlops of Glasgow,  John M Dunlop

When the Galbraith chiefs first appear on record in the 12th Century, they were intermarried with the greatest family among the local Gaels, and held lands north of Dunbarton, former capital of the Kingdom of Strathclyde. It is widely held that the Galbraiths may have been remote cadets of the royal House of Strathclyde. This line started with Gilchrist, also named the Britonï, who was the first recorded Chief of the Galbraiths in 1193, who were known as the Clann-a-Bhreatannich or Children of the Britons. Ten generations of Galbraiths directly descended from the 11th Chief, Andrew Galbraith of Culcreuch produces William Brodie Galbraith, of Overton, Renfrewshire, JP and Chartered accountant in Glasgow, born 18 October 1855, educated Glasgow Academy, married to Annie Jack Dunlop, 2nd daughter of Thomas Dunlop, shipbuilder, of the Dunlops of Woodburn and sister to Sir Thomas Dunlop, Ist BT...(submitted by Robert Dunlop, great-grandson of Thomas Dunlop). Their second son was:

 Baron Thomas Dunlop Galbraith, PC, First Baron Strathclyde, Commander Royal Navy, MP for Glasgow 1940-1955; Under-Secretary of State for Scotland, May-July 1945, 1951-1955; Minister of State, Scottish Office 1955-1958. Served in WWI on HMS Audacious and Queen Elizabeth, and in WWII on Staff of Commander-in-Chief Coast of Scotland. Created Baron of Strathclyde, of Barskimming County, Ayr, in peerage of United Kingdom on 4 May 1955. Born 20 March 1891, married Ida Jean Galloway of Ayrshire, died 1985.

 Sir Thomas Galloway Dunlop Galbraith MP for Glasgow 1948; Scottish Unionist Whip 1950-1957; Lord Commander of the Treasury 1951-1954;Comptroller of HM Household 1954-1955; Treasurer of HM Household 1955-1957; Civil Lord of the Admiralty 1957-1959; Under-Secretary of State for Scotland 1959-1962; Minister of Transport 1963-1964. Served in WWII as Lieutenant RNVR, Member of the Queen�s Bodyguard for Scotland (Royal Company of Archers). Born on 10 march 1917, married 11 April 1956 to Simone du Roy de Blicquy of Belgium, died without title 2 January 1982.

 Baron Thomas Galloway Dunlop du Roy de Blicquy Galbraith, 2nd (current) Baron Strathclyde, of Ayrshire, Under-Secretary of Employment, Minister of Tourism 1989-1990; Minister of Scottish Office (agriculture) 1990-1992; Minister of Environment 1992-1993; Minister of Department of Trade and Industry 1993-1994; Governor Chief Whip House of Lords 1994-1997; Conservative Chief Whip 1997-1998; Conservative Leader House of Lords from 1998. Opposition Leader of Conservative party 2003. Captain HM BodyGuard of Honorable Corps of Gentlemen at Arms. Born 22 February 1960, succeeding his grandfather, married to Jane Skinner of Herts.