The following article was published by Eddie McRorie on 11th May 2025 on the Johnstone History Facebook page and is reproduced here with his kind permission.

Archibald Walker Finlayson, J.P.

Archibald Walker Finlayson was a linen thread manufacturer whose company operated factories in Johnstone, Renfrewshire, and in the USA.

He was born in October 1849, the eldest child of James Finlayson and his wife Rachel (née Watson). At the time, the family lived in Paisley. His father, James, was also a linen thread manufacturer and one of the first to introduce the mechanical spinning of flax.

In 1844, James, along with his brother Charles and C.H. Bousefield, established a business manufacturing linen thread. This enterprise continued in production until 1958 and eventually became part of the Linen Thread Company Ltd. The Johnstone factory became a major local employer, and Archibald was born into this successful family business.

Merchiston House
Details of Archibald’s early education are unknown. At the age of 21, he was living with his parents and siblings at the family home, Merchiston, in Johnstone, Renfrewshire—an impressive, turreted building that required seven servants to maintain. Later, this house became part of the estate of the Western Regional Hospital Board and was renamed Merchiston Hospital.

Archibald joined the family firm and, in 1880, was sent to Massachusetts, USA, to establish a linen thread mill. He travelled back and forth to America on several occasions. Eventually, the firm was incorporated into The Linen Thread Company Ltd.

He married Elizabeth MacAndrew and initially resided in Kilmacolm. However, following Elizabeth’s sudden death in 1891 at the age of just 35—after seven years of marriage—he moved to Spring Grove in Kilbarchan, where he lived with a coachman, a cook, and three maids.

In March 1891, Archibald W. Finlayson, as a local manufacturer and partner in Finlayson & Bousfield of Johnstone, wrote to the editor of the Paisley & Renfrewshire Gazette. He expressed concern over a proposed Bill to prohibit the employment of children under the age of 12. Finlayson argued that the half-time system encouraged habits of “industry, tidiness, and thrift” and fostered engagement with education. He worried that raising the minimum age would leave many children unsupervised and without structure. Despite his objections, by 1901, the minimum working age had been raised to 14.

Finlayson remained at Spring Grove until 1903, when his father James passed away. He then moved back to Merchiston.

Though he never became an MP, Finlayson represented West Renfrewshire on the County Council, served as a Justice of the Peace, and donated the Provost’s chain to Paisley.

He died of cardiac failure at Merchiston in November 1916, aged 67. A death notice and obituary appeared in the local press.

Cultural Contributions
Finlayson made notable contributions to the arts. He donated two paintings to Glasgow Museums. The object file for the 1903 donation includes a letter from him providing information about Sir Toby Belch and the Clown by Keeley Halswelle. Painted in 1862 at a cost of £40, the painting was exhibited at the Paisley Arts Institute Exhibition in 1896 and was purchased by Finlayson in 1901.

The second painting, September, Glen Falloch by A. Brownlie Docherty, was exhibited at the Glasgow Institute and the St. Louis National Institute in 1904. Finlayson purchased it in 1907 and later donated it to Glasgow City Council.

—Eddie McRorie

Archibald Finlayson

September, Glen Falloch by A. Brownlie Docherty

Sir Toby Belch and the Clown by Keeley Halswelle