Building the Wilson Business

The next two generations of Wilsons, Alexander Wilson (1771 - 1849) and William Wilson (1800 - 1865) continued to build up the business along the banks of the Bannockburn, following the example of their father and grandfather in hard work and business shrewdness. In 1806 the business was in receipt of a grant to help finance the installation of spinning machinery. They also invested in land, William buying homes for his sons, Viewvale for William, who married Eliza Liddell in 1832, and Hillpark for John, who married Catherine McMiking in 1833. Each son also inherited a farm.

Picture shows Spittal's bridge in Bannockburn. The plaque has a pair of shears, symbol of the weavers.

The Wilsons built houses for their employees in The Brae (above) and continued to extend the range of tartans they were producing, most of them designed to order rather than based on historical material. Their designs were recorded in Wilson’s ‘Key Pattern’ books of 1819 and 1840.

This is one of them, the Gunn tartan of 1831. It was an early tartan originally named after Janet, Alexander's mother, but the pattern was reassigned to 'Gunn'. This happened with many of the early designs.

With demand so high, Wilsons produced additional tartans for many of the clans. Thus the Gunn tartan most commonly found in the shops today is shown above - it's called 'Gunn Ancient'.

Over the course of the 19th century, the link between the clan and the tartan that bore its name grew in the minds and hearts of the wearers of the kilt. In the year 1800, there were about 90 named tartans. Today there are over 2500.