Streetname related question

[Vendee]

A bit of an odd one but this is related to where I grew up and not my own family tree. I grew up in the Govanhill area of Glasgow. I lived in Daisy street and a couple of streets down there was Annette street. The story that is widely told is that these two streets were named after a prominent industrialist's daughters. The only problem is that there is no evidence behind this story.

The industrialist was William Dixon and in fact there was three generations of them:- William Dixon 1753-1822, his son William Dixon 1788-1859 and his son William Smith Dixon 1824-1880. The Dixons were really big in the area, owning collieries and iron works. They had a reputation of looking after their workers and were well respected. In Govanhill we have the Dixon Halls, Dixon avenue and Dixon road. There are also three further streets named after his ironwork factories outside the city. So its not unreasonable that Daisy and Annette streets are connected to the Dixons. These streets appear on the maps about 1880-85, just after William Smith Dixon's death. William Smith Dixon had no children but he had a wife and an unmarried sister. His wife's maiden name was Napier and was apparently out of Singapore. So it would be nice to find out if the wife and sister were Daisy and Annette.

Thanks in advance for any help. 

[David Nicoll]

Hi,

    As can be seen from a quick SP index lookup, Willian Smith Dixon’s wife was Catherine Ann Napier.
    She was the daughter of late David Skene Napier, Singapore at her marriage in 1851, various notices in papers.
    David Skene Napier was one of Macvey Napiers son’s.
    If they did not have children, perhaps the children’s names they would have chosen?
    David Skene Napier married Ann Margaret Dixon.
    Not sure that it gets you much further with street names.

[mckha489]

I think Daisy is often a ‘Nick name’ of some one called Margaret/Marguerite as in Marguerite Daisy

[Vendee]

Thank you both for your help. David, I had to read your post several times. You are saying that David Skeene Napier married someone called Dixon and their daughter also went on to marry someone called Dixon. Its a big coincidence but I guess sometimes these things can happen.

The Margaret/Daisy link is helpful. I wonder if the "Ann" in Catherine Ann Napier might be a contraction of Annette? Certainly something to think about. Thanks again.

[AlanBoyd]

But if this were true, why would the two streets be separated by Garturk Street?

You may have to look further afield: in the town where I grew up the local industrialist ran out of relatives names and started on the names of his racehorses. I was born in one of those streets.

[AlanBoyd]

Daisy Street first appears in the Valuation Rolls in 1875. At that time the entry under “Proprietor” is Joseph Turnbull and Miss Adam.

What is the evidence that the streets were built by Dixon?

The first newspaper reference that I can see to Daisy Street (“off Cathcart Road”) is in 1872.

[RJ_Paton]

According to the author Aileen Smart in her book Villages of Glasgow (South of the Clyde) a number of streets in the area were named after connections to the Dixon family. Daisy Street, Annette Street Calder Street Hickman Street and Morgan Street (now Morgan Mews). Not all of these were direct connections - Calder Street after the Dixon estates in Lanarkshire, Hickman & Morgan Street after a relation (Mrs Hickman Morgan).
Given that the Dixon family owned the land and were the feudal superiors to the builders this would be perfectly normal.

Dixon Halls were originally built on land gifted by William Dixon for the purpose of joint Burgh Halls between Govanhill and Crosshill - built straddling the boundary between Lanarkshire and Renfrewshire both Burghs had separate entrances in their respective Counties.

One of my main lines hailed from the "original Govanhill" - Fireworks Village - Colliery Houses built by the Dixons and strictly regulated by them - in favour of the Dixons not the Colliers.

[RJ_Paton]

What is the evidence that the streets were built by Dixon?

The Dixons did not build the Houses but feued the land to the builders for the purpose of building the tenements. There is some anecdotal evidence that they had some element of control re the standard of the buildings but no definitive proof. Although the fact that these buildings are considered Classics of the genre may be some testament to the building quality.

The history of Govanhill is quite complex originally there was Fireworks Village - a small Colliery Village built by the Dixons but when the Coal started running out around the 1860's the area went downhill. Several reports referred to it as "No Mans Land" as it was too small to achieve Burgh Status unlike neighbouring Crosshill. The Dixons are credited with the explosion in growth of the area as the landowners they took the decison to feu out the land for building purposes - this helped it achieve Burgh Status in its own right but by 1891 Glasgow succeeded in annexing the areas.

[AlanBoyd]

Thanks for the information about the Aileen Smart book. It is available to view at archive.org if you register (for free). Here is the relevant passage:

Several new streets were named after persons and places connected with the Dixon family: Calder Street after Dixon's Lanarkshire estate; Belleisle Street after the estate of William Smith Dixon near Ayr; Annette Street and Daisy Street after his daughters; Hickman Street and Morgan Street after a member of the family, Mrs Hickman Morgan. Allison Street is thought to be associated with Sir Archibald Allison, Sheriff-Principal of Lanarkshire.