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Note: See also http://www.thepeerage.com/p32722.htm#i327211
See more at RootsWeb "Maclarens, Birtwistles and Many Other Families" http://wc.rootsweb.ancestry.com/cgi-bin/igm.cgi?db=maclaren at http://wc.rootsweb.ancestry.com/cgi-bin/igm.cgi?op=GET&db=maclaren&id=I000009 or http://wc.rootsweb.ancestry.com/cgi-bin/igm.cgi?op=GET&db=maclaren&id=I000009
More information on this Maclaren family is at Family Tree Maker website "Descendents of Robert Maclaren 1776-1826 & Ralph de Birdtwisell 1160" at http://www.genealogy.com/ftm/m/a/c/Hamish-S-Maclaren/index.html
That web site has many of reports, obituaries, photographs, etc.
The most current version of this family tree file, in GEDCOM format, is at Maclarens, Birtwistles and Many Other Families at http://worldconnect.rootsweb.com/cgi-bin/igm.cgi?db=maclaren
http://www.thepeerage.com/p32722.htm#i327211
Dr Norman Maclaren 1880 to 1936.
Born 1880, Scotland
Died 22 june 1937, Glasgow, Scotland
Son of Robert Maclaren 1817-1889 and Mary Jane Findlay.
Husband of Margaret Garnet 1894-1989. Father of Patrica, Ian, Peter, & David
Worked at Glasgow University and had done work for the Royal Geographic Society on trips to such places as the McKenzie river Alaska, Borneo, and Tibet. Studied at Glasgow University and at the University of Heidelberg in Germany from where he recieved a Ph.D.
In the early 1900 Norman Maclaren had traveled through Alaska with a team of husky dogs and a Chinese cook, making the first map of large areas of Alaska, breaking an arm in a crevasse and setting it himself. He was a fellow of the Royal Geographic Society and the Linean Society.
Note from one of Norman Maclaren's sons, Ian G Maclaren's life story.
"During WW1 the family moved to Glasgow for a couple of years as Grandfather (Norman Maclaren) was asked to work at Glasgow University as lecturer of anatomy. Out of this job he became very interested in embryology and that became his life's work. He made ovens to grow the embryos and developed thermostats to keep the temperature constant in the ovens. The development of these thermostats which they then sold to other universities became one of Norman's "little firms" of which he had several. Robert Maclaren, one of his older brothers, (20 years older) put $20,000.00 into the firm and then subsidized it for years. He never got a penny out of it. Maclarens as such never made a lot of money until IGM took charge after WWII."
Deeshome was built by Norman Maclaren in approx. 1913, but he never liked it, and they moved to Cubreshaw, West Kilbride, after the WW I.
Obituary from the Glasgow Herald, 24th June 1937
"LOSS TO GLASGOW UNIVERSITY. DEATH OF LECTURER IN EMBRYOLOGY .
The death occurred on Tuesday at his home, Cubrieshaw, West Kilbride, of Dr Norman H. W. Maclaren who has been lecturer in embryology in the Anatomy Department of Glasgow University since the end of the war.
Dr Maclaren played an important part in embryological research in this country during recent years.
Dr Maclaren, who was about 55 years of age, belonged to Glasgow. While a student in Glasgow University he was attracted to biological science, and in his early manhood he occupied a post as demonstrator in the Department of Zoology at the University under the late Professor Young.
Later he studied extensively abroad and travelled in various parts of the world conducting biological research. At Jena (University of Jena, Thuringia, Germany) he worked as assistant to the famous Professor Ernst Haeckel (1834 1919), and also studied and worked in the marine biological station at Naples. He held the degree of Ph.D. of Heidelberg University.
As war service he joined the teaching staff of the Anatomy Department of Glasgow University and since the end of the war has been lecturer in embryology.
He was associated with Professor Thomas Hastie Bryce (18621946), who retired from the Chair of Anatomy 18 months ago, and took an important part with Professor Bryce in building up the collection of human and other mammalian embryos in the University. He also conducted important researches in the early stages of the development of several mammalian forms, reports of which were published in the proceedings of the Royal Society and elsewhere.
Dr Maclaren had an unrivalled knowledge of laboratory techniques and was of an inventive turn of mind.
An example of his inventive powers was provided by a thermostatic control which he produced during his work at the University. He and his brother, the late Mr Robert Maclaren, patented the control and formed a company to market the invention, which is now extensively used for many purposes. The early experimental models to the control were tried out in connection with the biological ovens in the Anatomy Department of the University.
Dr Maclaren is survived by his wife, three sons, and one daughter."
UNIVERSITY of GLASGOW
Dear Mr MacLaren
Dr Norman H. W. MacLaren
Thank you for your recent enquiry concerning information on Dr Norman MacLaren.
For this particular enquiry, the main source of information has been the Court Minutes of Glasgow University.
The Minutes for the academic 1916-1917 indicate that Dr MacLaren was appointed as a demonstrator in Anatomy at Queen Margaret College for one year on 1 October, 1916 with a salary of £100. In 1917-1918, his salary increased to £150. The following year, he resigned from Queen Margaret College, effective from 13 March 1919 on the grounds of ill-health. The Minutes for 1919-1920 indicate that Dr MacLaren was appointed to the Anatomy department as "Special Assistant in Embryology"; it was also indicated in this year that he should start the following academic year as "Lecturer III (temporary) (embryology) [sic]" at the rate of £300 per annum. He held this position until 1926 when he was appointed as "Lecturer II (temporary) (embryology) [sic]" at the rate of £450 per annum. He held this position until around 1937. Earlier, in June 1931, he was subject to the appointment of Lecturers as Members of the Several Faculties for the Academic Year 1931-32: in keeping with his position as lecturer in the Anatomy Department, his appointment was to the Faculty of Medicine.
The Court Minutes for March 1938 report that:
The Secretary submitted a letter, dated 3rd February, 1938, from Professor Blair, making application for a grant of £32 for the purchase of a Leitz microscope and fittings and a chemical balance, the property of the late Dr Maclaren.
The Committee agreed to recommend the purchase of these items.
THE ARCHIVES & BUSINESS RECORDS CENTRE
University Archives, University of Glasgow, Glasgow G12 8QQ
Direct Line: 0141-330 5516/6494 Fax: 0141-330 4158 E-Mail: ARCHIVES@@arts.gla.ac.uk
Business Records Centre, 13 Thurso Street, Glasgow G11 6PE
Telephone: 0141-330 5515/6079 E-Mail: BRC@@arts.gla.ac.uk
Yours sincerely
David Steel
Archive Assistant
STORIES
Stories we heard from our grandmother, Granny Mac, wife of Dr Norman Maclaren our grandfather.
The Husky.
While in Alaska/Canada on one occasion he came across a group of men who were getting ready to shoot a very fine looking husky. Dr Norman ask what was going on and was told the dog was uncontrollable, and had tried on several occasions to attack its owners.
Dr Norman agreed to buy it, but as soon as it was untied it attacked him and he had to knock it unconscious. He then tied the unconscious dog to a small tree by his tent and left a large bowl of food beside it.
In the morning he awoke to find the dog sleeping beside him in the tent. It had eaten the food, chewed its way through the tree to release the rope, and crawled into his tent. From then on the dog was incredible loyal and was a superbly skillful lead dog for his sled.
Royal Salute
On one occasion Dr Norman, while wearing his kilt, was in a small canoe (which he had become quite proficient at in his travels in Canada and Alaska) in the middle of the Firth of Clyde using a plum line (a knotted line with a weight a one end used by sailors to measures the depth of sea) to measure depths for a chart he was making of that section of the Clyde. The Royal Yacht of King George V(?) came up the Clyde and passed close to Dr Norman, at which point he stood up in the canoe and saluted the king with his paddle.
This got quite a bit of newspaper coverage and a day or two later Margaret Maclaren (his wife, aka Granny Mac) was at a "rather smart" cocktail party talking with a group of acquaintances and one asked if "anyone had heard about that crazy man in a kilt, in a small canoe, in the middle of the Clyde, standing to salute the king with his paddle." Granny Mac remarked "Yes, he is my husband."
Pearls
On one occasion Norman Maclaren went, with his wife (Granny Mac) into a jewelers shop in Glasgow to look at some pearls. The jeweler started talking about this wonderful article he had just read about pearls, and he went on and on about great it was. Granny Mac said she noticed a funny smile on Norman's face and when they left she asked him what that was about. He explained that he had written the article.
Family Reunion?
At one point while Norman Maclaren (Norrie) was in Alaska his brothers and sisters started to notice that no one had seen or heard from Norrie for a long time. So one of his brothers went off to look for him. At one point looking through the window of a local bar in some very remote place, he saw Norrie partying with the locals. Apparently Norrie had "gone native", so without even entering the building the brother turned round and returned to Scotland. He had the brief message passed around the family that "Norrie is still alive." And that was all that was said about it.
Norman Maclaren recounted a different version of the story. He had seen his brother approaching some way off, ridiculously over dressed, with huge amounts of equipment and provisions, plus quite an assortment of servants and guides. Seeing this incongruous group arriving, Norman hid until they had gone passed.
Norman Maclaren worked as assistant to the famous:
Ernst Heinrich Philipp August Haeckel (16 February 1834 9 August 1919[1]) was a German biologist, naturalist, philosopher, physician, professor, marine biologist, and artist who discovered, described and named thousands of new species, mapped a genealogical tree relating all life forms, and coined many terms in biology, including anthropogeny, ecology, phylum, phylogeny, stem cell, and Protista. Haeckel promoted and popularised Charles Darwin's work in Germany and developed the influential but no longer widely held recapitulation theory ("ontogeny recapitulates phylogeny") claiming that an individual organism's biological development, or ontogeny, parallels and summarises its species' evolutionary development, or phylogeny.
Studied at: University of Berlin, University of Würzburg, University of Jena (in Jena, Thuringia, Germany). Professor of zoology at the University of Jena, for 47 years, from 1862 to 1909.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ernst_Haeckel
&
Thomas Hastie Bryce
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Thomas_Hastie_Bryce
Prof Thomas Hastie Bryce LLD FRS FSA FRSE (18621946) was a Scottish anatomist, medical author and archaeologist. He was Regius Professor of Anatomy at Glasgow University 1909 to 1935 and also Curator of the Hunterian Museum in Glasgow. He is primarily remembered for his work on human embryology and comparative anatomy. His students referred to him as Tommy Bryce
FROM ANGELA ELLIOTT ABOUT THE MACLAREN RIVER & GLACIER.
"I received info from the University in Juneau to the effect that the Maclaren glacier and river were named for Norrie Maclaren, who had lead a party of gold prospectors up river. At a fork in the river the party split and Maclaren led the party up one arm, whilst his compatriot led a party up the other. Maclaren failed to find gold, but the other party were successful and the leader of that party named the river and glacier after Norrie Maclaren in recompense for his failure. "
Alaska Range and Maclaren River viewpoint
MP 37.0/98.0 (Found at http://www.ak.blm.gov/gdo/DenaliHwy/denali.html)
"You are now at an elevation of about 4,000 feet, just a short distance from the Maclaren Summit (4,086'), the second highest highway summit in Alaska. Stop and enjoy the panoramic view of the Alaska Range and the Maclaren River. Mt. Hayes (13,832') and the Maclaren River and Glacier are dominant features, but Aurora Peak, Mt. Shand and Mt. Geist may also be seen. The Maclaren River flows from the Maclaren Glacier south to the Susitna River and then into Cook Inlet just west of Anchorage.
Vegetation at this elevation is low-growing alpine tundra. Wildflowers bloom in abundance during the short Alaskan summer (June and July). Look for pikas, ground squirrels and ptarmigan"
ROBERT MACLAREN & COMPANY LTD. (later Maclaren Controls)
by Ian Garnet Maclaren 1962
Th every earliest predecessors of the firm Robert Maclaren & Company are a bit obscure but they appear to be centered around the Falkirk area where the original Maclarens were connected with Iron Foundry, and at the same time in the early 1800 Robert Maclaren inherited a firm of Iron Founders from his uncle, a Mr Liddel. However there seems to have been a bit of dirty work over the inheritance as Robert Maclaren was very young at the time, and eventually he brought an action against the Executors or Trustees of Mr Liddel from whom he won a substantial sum in damages. With this money he started a firm of his own.
The Robert Maclaren firm first appears on the registry as a business in 1845, and was at that time a firm of Iron Founders in Washington Street, off Argyle Street. Rumour has it that they made the mortars for the Crimean War. The business expanded till in 1860 it moved to its present site, which in those days, consisted of the area bounded by West Street, Kilbernie Street and the railway siding on the other side of the Express deliveries, they opened out to Stromness Street and up to the railway, which in those days was a canal. The iron was brought by barge along the canal to the works, and the main business was pipe making. The canal was filled in 1880.
Cast iron pipes of 1½" to 48" were made, as well as valves and water meters. The old man Robert Maclaren, or "Bobbie the Rogue", died about 1890. The firm continued to be known locally at the time as "Rabbie the Rogue". In 1905 it turned into a limited company. At that time a very large export business was done with India, Rumania, Japan and Italy. In 1912 a working agreement was arranged with Macfarlane Strang, and an interchange of Directors a staff took place between the two companies. The payroll was then about 800.
When war broke out in 1914 all supplies of iron stopped and demand for pipes dried up. However the firm went over to munitions and got a contract for eight million fuse stampings, among other things. Later in the war it teamed up with William Beardmore to make tank tracks.
After the war, in 1920, a subsidiary company was formed, called Eglinton Founders Limited, half of which was owned by Beardmore and half by Robert Maclaren & Company. Robert Maclaren & Company sold them half of the land which roughly consisted of all the present works and buildings up to our present fence.
Ingot molds were made here for casting steel ingots at Parkhead Forge, but eventually the early 1920s depression finished it and the company was liquidated in about 1926.
In the meantime Robert Maclaren & Company turned over to making brass bars and small quantities of pipes, but the situation had rather changed as all the plant had been cleared out during the war to manufacture munitions and the site was no longer a good one for heavy steel industries because of the difficulty of transport. The cost of re-equipping was too great, so all the remaining plant was sold and by 1925 no further casting or work took place, but a merchant business only in Cast Iron pipes was carried on until 1931.
In 1931, the old company was wound up, and a new company with the same name was formed on this site as the present company.
However, we must go back a bit, for in 1919 Dr Norman Maclaren had been controlling temperature for medical research work at Glasgow University, and Colonel Robert Maclaren (his brother) caught a cold in a train, so they got together and decided that the temperature in trains could, and should, be controlled. In 1920 Mr. Richmond joined the firm to investigated temperature control generally. He started off in the mess room of the old foundry, which is still standing by the railway in the Standard Oil Company's grounds. That was in November 1920, and in January 1921 Mr Eyles joined him. They started experimenting with mercury type thermostats run in conjunction with relays, and also spent some time getting the place fitted out as a workshop, until the plant consisted of one foot operated lathe, one mill and one drill were installed later and motorised.
The first five years were almost entirely experimental, causing a lot of headaches until most of the original ideas were scrapped and also the original idea of controlling the temperature in railway carriages had to be abandoned due to the extreme dirtiness of the steam.
At that time almost all the output was to universities on the same type of work as Dr Maclaren. The first recorded order on the books is for an incubator embedding oven and a hot plate for Baird & Tatlock on 1.5.23. Then there are one hundred and fifty orders for Glasgow, Belfast and other universities, and to Baird & Tatlock. Up to 24.1.25 all these were for laboratory equipment, etc., then we got an order for one hundred gas cooker controls from Falkirk Iron Company and thus became the pioneers of gas oven thermostats.
Our 201st order was from Wild Barfied for a furnace thermostat up to 900 degrees and was a slow break type. Our 202nd order , a month later, was from George Nobbs. This was the original firm which went bankrupt in 1934, owing us six hundred pounds, which we could ill afford in those days. However they did give their name to our instruments, because the thermostats for use in Boiler by Nobbs became Boiler Nobbs, or BN , similarly FN and SN followed on from Furnace Nobbs and Surface Nobbs. So on we plodded, and during 1926, apart from universities, etc., we got new customers such as Archibald Low, Carron, Wild-Barfield, Falkirk Iron Company, G.E.C. and by the end of 1926 we had two hundred and ninety six orders in six years, most of them in the last six months of 1926.
In 1927 we made six hundred and twenty five thermostats, and new customers included Clyde Fuel, Benham, Haden, and Hotpoint and the orders had changed to mainly thermostats and contactor switches, as opposed to laboratory equipment. The turnover for that year was three thousand three hundred pounds, and the loss is not stated. In 1928 we had seven hundred and twenty three instruments with a turnover of two thousand, seven hundred and twenty eight pounds. In 1929 we moved to the present office block and site as staff had increased to twelve. Five of these originals are still here i.e., Mr. Eyles, Mr. Gallacher, Mr. King, Mr. H. Harrison and Mr. H. Henderson. The layout was a M/C shop in the first floor were the Pre-production department now is, and test and assembly in the present top flat of the offices with the store in the drawing office, the office consisted of a large room on the ground floor.
In 1929 we made one thousand six hundred and sixty nine instruments and a turnover of four thousand and seventy seven pounds. So It was thought that the firm was on its feet and round the corner. Unfortunately however, we went round the corner slap into the great industrial depression when no one had any money to buy such new fangled ideas as thermostats.
So in 1930 we made one thousand six hundred instruments and our turnover was down to three thousand two hundred and thirty seven pounds. In 1931 only one thousand two hundred instruments and turnover was three thousand one hundred pounds.
In 1931 old Robert Maclaren & Company was wound up as already mention in the earlier part, and a new firm was started with its own capital and setup.
The new company , therefore had its own financial arrangements, and instead of a yearly loss of two to three thousand pounds being absorbed by the parent company, these now appeared in all their glory on the new company's books.
However things were starting to look up, and the loss of 1932 was about eight hundred pounds, with two thousand two hundred and forty eight instruments made and a turnover of three thousand two hundred and ninety pounds.
1933 showed the start of a real revival in trade, and we started getting going properly, with six thousand six hundred and one instruments made and a modest profit of two hundred pounds. We also started on magnetic snap action about this time or a bit earlier, but disaster soon overtook us again the shape of a patent case with Rheostatic Company. This dragged on for the next three years, in 1935 during the fair holiday, the result of the action was that we were forbidden to manufacture anymore thermostats with the magnetic snap action. This would have meant completely closing down the works. However, Mr. Richmond got to work and thought out a new non magnetic snap action, working away by himself in the empty works he perfected it by himself and modified it to suit the existing instruments so that when the works reopened, the mechanism was ready and patented and work proceeded right away, and the new action proved better than the magnetic type.
During this time the output had gradually increased, and the top flat was used for assembly, until in 1936 the turnover was about eighteen thousand pounds but the legal expenses of the litigation put the loss at about three thousand pounds a year. In 1936 Colonel Robert Maclaren died.
In 1937 the patent case was settled out of court, after we had lost the appeal, and a large sum was paid out in damages. Also in 1937 Dr Norman Maclaren died.
In 1938 we started to show a slight profit and thought about expanding, so that in 1939 we put up what was supposed to be a temporary M/C shop and moved the test into the first flat, and the dispatch into what had been the store. We also did up the offices a bit.
The war of course started and seventeen members of the firm were called up and in 1940 girls were engaged for the first time.
During the war we just jogged along. As we had no profits to show for the preceding three years, Excess Profits Tax took all the profits we made, until in 1945 the real rush started and expansion was necessary.
1945 was momentous, in that we paid our first dividend, which took about four hundred pounds, just twenty five years after the start of the business. In the middle of 1946 we moved the assembly and test into the new extension beside the machine shop, and made new offices and a drawing room on the first floor. These new offices were ready in 1947. Also Mr Bourne retired in that year after fourty five years with the firm. Mr. Warden joined us in 1950.
For the next few years we suffered the ups and downs of purchase tax and credit restrictions, but we gradually re-equipped the M/C shop and the last belt driven machine was disposed of in 1954.
In 1952 we started a separate Research and Development (R & D) in one of the offices under Mr. Adam. This moved in 1954 to the top flat, and in 1954 we took on R & D for Ferranti.
In 1956 we started building the new assembly shop and dispatch, and got into this in August 1956. Then followed a nine month period of reorganizing the shop generally with an enlarged test setup, new lighting, new service department, new layout for sub-assembly and increased tool room. So that all production was on one floor and a pre-production unit in the middle flat.
1958 was the next most important date in our history, in that a decision was made, then, to employ the Personnel Administration in an assignment to improve methods and institute a direct incentive scheme. This started at the end of 1958 and fortunately coincided with the increase in demand for our products, so that in the next two years we increased our production very considerably and felt the benefit of the re-organization in the terms of increased profits.
1960 and 61 were periods of consolidation, and in 1961 and 62, particularly, showed an increased activity in new designs and the decision to make our own capillary systems, which entailed building a small addition to the works and installing suitable machinery for this.
Ian Garnet Maclaren 1962
Improved Propelling Means for Aircraft
109.503
PATENT (image: Royal coat of arms) SPECIFICATION
Application date, Sept. 30 1916. No 13,918/16.
Complete Left, Mar, 30 1917
Complete Accepted, Sept 20 1917
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION
Improved Propelling Means for Aircraft
I, Norman Henry William Maclaren, Deaseholm, Troon, Ayrshire,
Scotland, Gentleman, do hereby declare the nature of the invention to be as
follows:
This invention relates to the propelling means for aeroplanes and other air
5 craft.
Under this invention the propellers are mounted in pairs instead of singly as
is usual: the propellers of each pair being mounted on a common axis and
being rotated in opposite directions.
The propellers may be of usual form and each pair consist of similar
10 propellers or propellers of varying sizes or types. The one propeller is prefer-
ably mounted on an internal shaft whilst the other is carried by a sleeve shaft
surrounding the said internal shaft the said shafts being connected with each
other through suitable reversing or driving gear.
If so desired three or more propellers may be adjacently arranges to rotate
15 about a common axisadjacent propellers being rotated in opposite directions.
Dated this 29th day of September, 1916
JOHNSONS
Chartered Patent Agents
41, St. Vincent Place, Glasgow, and
13 York Place, Edinburgh
COMPLETE SPECIFICATIONS
Improved Propelling Means for Aircraft
I, Norman Henry William Maclaren, Deaseholm, Troon, Ayrshire,
Scotland, Gentleman, do hereby declare the nature of the invention and in what
25 manner the same is to be performed, to be particularly described and ascertained
in and by the following statement:
This invention relates to the propelling means of aeroplanes and other air
Craft, of the type in which a pair of propellers are mounted on a common axis
and are caused to rotate in opposite directions.
30Under the present invention one of the propellers is driven by an engine shaft
[Price 6d] 2109,608
which carries a bevel pinion which drives a pair of bevel pinions which in turn
gear with and drive a bevel pinion secured on a sleeve member which encloses
the said engine shaft and carries the second propeller.
The propellers a, b may be of usual form and each pair consists of two
similar propellers. The one propeller a is mounted on an internal shaft c whilst5
the other is carried by a sleeve shaft d surrounding the said internal shaft
the said shafts being connected with each other through reversing or driving
gear comprising a bevel pinion f which is secured on the shaft c and drives a
pair of bevel pinions g, g which in turn gear with and drive a bevel pinion h
secured on the sleeve member d, and the said gear being enclosed within a box or10
casing c having bearings for the shafts c, d and for studs carrying the bevel
pinion g.
I am aware that it has been heretofore proposed to provide flying machines
with elevated vanes rotating in opposite directions about a vertical axis and
having a single bevel pinion for transmitting rotary motion from a bevel wheel15
on the driving shaft to another bevel wheel on a sleeve shaft, each of such shafts
carrying a pair of similar propellers. I am also aware that an arrangement of
four bevel pinions, as in my arrangement, has been heretofore proposed far a
special arrangement of propellers in which the leader discharges its air clear
of the following propeller.20
Having now particularly described and ascertained the nature of my said
Invention and in what manner the same is to be performed, I declare that what
I claim is:
Propelling means for an air craft consisting of two similar propellers constructed,
arranged and driven as heretofore described with reference to the drawing25
annexed.
Dated this 25th day of March 1917
JOHNSONS
Chartered Patent Agents
41, St. Vincent Place, Glasgow, and30 13 York Place, Edinburgh
Reference has been directed, in pursuance of Section 7, Sub-section 4, of the
Patents and Designs Act, 1907, to Specifications No. 12,514 of the 1900 and
No. 12,099 of the 1911.
__________________________________________
Redhill: Printed for His Majesty`s Stationery Office, by Love & Malcomson, Ltd. 1917
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