IMAGES TAKEN NEAR TO
Glebe Park, DUMBARTON, G82 3HE

The church is located on Image, near the junction with St Andrew's Crescent.

A quiet residential area of Dumbarton.

A82 heading west

The picture was taken from a path that leads up into Bellsmyre. As the name suggests, Barloan Toll was located on the boundary of the burgh. When trams were running in Dumbarton (from 1907 to 1928), there was a branch line to Barloan Toll (now the site of the roundabout). The branch line left the main line at Church Place (beside Image) and followed Image, Strathleven Place, and Image [see "Dumbarton's Trams and Buses", A.W.Brotchie and R.L.Grieves, 1985]. Compare Image

This is a general view of the northern half of the cemetery; for another such view, see Image This area was not part of the cemetery as it was originally laid out; it was a later extension. This newer northern section has a very different feel about it; the large and varied monuments that are so prevalent in the older part of the cemetery are fascinating and often attractive, but they were of their time. Style and taste have changed, and such structures would be very much out of place here.

This is a general view of the newer northern half of the cemetery. For another such view, and for further comments, see Image This northern half of the cemetery contains a Image

In the distance, the upper part of a couple of the high flats in Bellsmyre can be seen, just left of centre; for those, see Image The street name preserves the name of a farm that was located near this spot, and which was recorded on the first-edition OS map (c.1860) as Aitkenbarr, and on some later maps as "Aitken Barr". In Roy's Military Survey of Scotland (1740s-50s), the same location is simply called "Barr". Further ahead, on the far side of Image, a continuation of this road is called Image

This structure is located beside the Image, at what was formerly the north-western corner of the cemetery (before the latter was extended). The memorial is 13 feet, 4 inches long, and stands 12 feet tall. The architect was John MacLeod, who was responsible for many of the memorials in this cemetery. It was carved by Mr Grassby, a Glasgow sculptor (presumably Charles Benham Grassby – he was also responsible for Image, which is located nearby, and for others; see, for example, Image). Two Provosts of Dumbarton, father and son, are commemorated here. The father, William Risk, was born at Kilmarnock. In Dundee, he traded in seeds; in 1810, he began carrying on the same trade in Dumbarton, but he soon branched out into the sale of wines and spirits. He was joined by his son in that business; the firm, William Risk and Son, continued trading until 1853. William Risk was elected Provost of Dumbarton in 1845. He died on the 7th of October, 1864, in his 80th year. His son, James Blair Risk was born and raised in Dumbarton. He became partner in a firm of drapers (France & Risk), and in his father's business, and he was also connected with the Dumbarton Brewery. Like his father, he was elected Provost of Dumbarton, and held that position from 1854 to 1860. He also served as a Justice of the Peace for the county. He did much travelling in his later years, and died in London, on the 29th of April, 1878. However, he is buried here in Dumbarton Cemetery. The central panel of the memorial bears the inscription "the burying ground of James Blair Risk of Meadowbank", and the top of the structure bears a JBR monogram, shown in Image Risk Street in Dumbarton is very probably named after William or James Blair Risk (or both): Image [For further biographical details, see Donald MacLeod's "The God's Acres of Dumbarton" (1888).]

This photograph shows the JBR monogram (for James Blair Risk) that appears at the top of Image; see that item for further information, and for a view of the whole structure.

"In memory of Robert Glassford Mitchell, Writer in Dumbarton, Procurator Fiscal of Dumbartonshire, died 21st September 1874 aged 55 years, and of Agnes Hodge his wife, died 6th December 1872, aged 54". "Writer", in this context, means solicitor. Also commemorated on the stone (which was sculpted by Milne and Wishart) are two sons; one of them died in Haiti; the other went on to become Procurator Fiscal of Dumbartonshire. Robert Glassford Mitchell was the only son of P.H.Mitchell (a Bailie in Dumbarton). He was admitted procurator in 1844, and appointed fiscal in 1854. His wife, Agnes Hodge, was from Paisley; they married in 1843. The couple had three sons and two daughters (see also Image). - - • - - The gravestone of P.H.Mitchell himself is one of the few memorials still present in the greatly-reduced kirkyard of Image, but its inscription has almost entirely flaked away. For this reason, I have not depicted the stone separately, but it is worth commenting on here. A metal plaque beside the flaked stone records that it commemorated Peter H. Mitchell, writer and bailie, who died on the 5th February 1863 (this is wrong – see below), aged 50, and his wife Grace Scott, who died in the 1830s. Peter was born in 1793, educated at the Burgh Grammar School, and was admitted in 1824 as procurator before the Sheriff Court in Dumbarton. He married twice; from his second marriage, he had one son, the above-mentioned R.G.Mitchell. Peter H. Mitchell died on 5th Feb 1843, aged 50. He was a bailie of the town for a number of years, and he was also active in social life, being secretary and a member of the Coul Club (a Glasgow club supposedly instituted c.1796 in honour of Old King Cole/Coul). He was also secretary and a member of Dumbarton's Midge Club and of the Salmon Club. The Midge Club (also referred to as the Glenhoulachan Club, or the Glenhoulachan Midge Club) was instituted in 1824, and its members were referred to as Midges. As Secretary of the Salmon Club, which was instituted in 1796, Peter H. Mitchell was succeeded by his son R.G.Mitchell; when R.G.Mitchell died in 1874, his son R.P.Mitchell (Peter's grandson) succeeded him as Secretary of the club. That position was therefore held by the members of one family for many decades. (Incidentally, Robert Glassford Mitchell was usually just referred to as "R G", and that is how his friends normally addressed him.) Some of the above biographical details for Peter H. Mitchell are from "The God's Acres of Dumbarton" (see the end-note); I have added information about the various clubs, whose names will be unfamiliar to many modern readers. Among other local clubs of a similar nature were the Lang Craigs Club (1770s) and the Hoasting Club.