20 Stirling Street, Glasgow. Now Blackfriar Street. Demolished.
The King’s Head Inn was situated on this Street.
The first listing for the King’s Head Inn was in 1828 the landlord was Mr James McKerracher, a Vintner and Stabler at 20 Stirling Street. However he is mentioned in 1824 as a Vintner & Stabler at 32 Stirling Street. The following year his business was at 20 Stirling Street.
James continued as landlord of the King’s Head Inn until 1831, he then went on to run the White Hart Inn at 4 Dunlop Street.
Next to run the King’s Head Inn in 1833 was a lady called Mrs D Cameron, she also ran the stabling and carrier quarter. The following year Alexander McPhail was running the King’s Head Inn. Alexander continued as Landlord until his death in 1846, his wife then took over the running of the Inn until 1851.
The Inn was then taken over by John Drummond later on in the same year. John was not just the new landlord by was also a Police Dung contractor, letting out the back of the premises for several carrier quarter’s. The last listing of the King’s Head Inn was in 1857 still run by John Drummond, the following year he is found running his Police Dung Contractor, Stables and Offices at 6 North Wallace Street, he was then living at 10 Canning Place in the east end of the city. The old building of the King’s Head Inn was demolished around 1899.
Thanks to David A Stevenson
Do you know anything about this old Inn? If so please leave a comment.
END.
hi there,
I’ve come across your site a few times over the past few years – splendid venture 🙂 – however, I came
across your page on “King’s Head Inn” recently, and feel compelled to offer significant corrections:
1: the building featured in the two b&w photos was *not* the King’s Head Inn … it was and is no.18
(originally 18&16), now the splendidly restored Babbity Bowster pub. These photos also show up
on the Virtual Mitchell site, dated 1913 and correctly identified as being, at the time, the premises of
John Hedderwick & Co. (who seem to have occupied 16/18 for about 100 yrs – 1820s-1920s). I have thus far found no picture or image of the *actual* original King’s Head Inn – there may be one lurking somewhere, but who knows?
2: the street number for the King’s Head Inn was 20, not 12. The King’s Head Inn was to the left of BB’s in your photo … what can be seen in the picture is the vennel end of a warehouse (now converted to flats) built by Thomas Russell, fruit broker, around 1900. The former King’s Head Inn was demolished at that time to accommodate the new building – by then it had become a Lodging House!
3: the 1787 date is puzzling – according to “Central Glasgow” (McKean, Walker & Walker), “Stirling’s
Street and Square [were] planned by John Stirling, in 1792, on the large plot of land behind his family’s High Street Tenement”. It is currently unclear to me when specific buildings appeared.
4: John Drummond seems to have been the fourth and last landlord of the King’s Head Inn, between
1851 and 1858 – and was listed as a Police dung contractor, not “dundeon”.
I discovered all this through investigating the history of the Babbity Bowster building, initially trawling through the old Glasgow Post Office Directories (accessible online up to 1911-12).
While they can not be 100% relied on, they have proved invaluable in giving a broad overview of things.
Hopefully the following summary will be useful and interesting:
The King’s Head Inn shows up, named, in the 1857 1:500 Glasgow “Town Plan” [Glasgow 1857 VI.11.12],
and first shows up in the Glasgow PO Directories, in the General listings, at 20 Stirling St, in 1825:
1825, 1826, 1828: M’Kerracher, James, vintner and stabler, 20 Stirling st
1828-29 – 1831-32: M’KERRACHER, Js. Kings Head Inn, 20 Stirling st
[Nothing found so far in 1832-33]
1833-34: Cameron, Mrs. D. carriers’ quarters, 20 Stirling street
1834-35 – 1843-44: M’PHAIL, Alexander, King’s head inn, 20 Stirling street
# 1844-45 ONWARDS GIVES Street LISTINGS]
1844-45 – 1846-47 20 M’Phail, Alex. King’s Head Tavern
1847-48 – 1850-51 20 M’Phail, Mrs. Alex., King’s Head tavern
# Note: McKerracher, Cameron & McPhail also all appear in listings under Carriers’ Quarters and Stage
Coaches – there were stables in the yard behind no.20
1851-52 – 1857-58: 20 Drummond, J., King’s Head inn.
# Note: Drummond is *not* listed under Carriers’ Quarters or Stage Coaches, but others are listed at Stirling St, suggesting he was giving others the use of the yard/stables. He subsequently moves to N. Wallace St., but his business thereafter seems to be exclusively “dung contractor”, “contractor”, etc.
This seems to be the end of no.20 as any kind of “inn” – and the last listing for “King’s Head Inn”.
During the 1860s no.20 seems to have been occupied by an Andrew McMath, shoemaker, and by the mid-1870s it is being listed in Valuation Rolls as a Lodging House (as were, by then, nos. 34 and 14).
Finally, as already indicated, it was demolished around 1900.
Hope this has been useful, do let me know if I can be of further help.
David A Stevenson dastevenson46@gmail.com mon09sep19