Allan Park Paton - remarkable Greenockian

Allan Park Paton was born in Greenock in 1818.  His father was John Paton,  a writer (lawyer) in Greenock and his mother was Margaret Park.  The family lived at East Blackhall Street. 

Allan had (at least) three brothers -

Robert Paton (1827-1869) - mariner.

Rev John Allan Hunter Paton (1831-1911) - minister at Duddingston.

James Fraser Paton (1832-1864) - doctor who died of typhus during an epidemic in Greenock.

His sister Mary Weir Paton (1830-) lived with her brother John at Duddingston.

Their father died in 1835 and their mother a few years later when the children were still very young.

In his youth Allan Park Paton travelled widely.  He studied law and had an office in Rue End Street, Greenock - he was also Land Factor for the Toward Estate, Dunoon.

 

In 1845 he published a book of poems which included "To My Native River".  Another poem about the local area was "The Road Round By Kennedy's Mill".   He published a second collection of poems in 1848.   He would later publish a novel entitled "The Web of Life".  He also wrote various pamphlets on literary subjects and was editor of the Hamnet edition of Shakespeare (Hamnet was the name of one of Shakespeare's sons).

In 1852 he was secretary of a bazaar which was held to raise funds for additions to the Watt Library.  In 1866 the Museum was added to the Library building.

Watt Library, Union Street, Greenock

In 1868 he became librarian at the Watt Library, a position he held until the end of 1894.  "During the period that he acted as librarian he did much to foster an appreciation of good literature in the community, and enriched the archives of the library with many interesting letters and autographs of men famous in the world of politics, literature, science and art". He corresponded with many of the great names in art and literature.

He lived in a house at the corner of Margaret Street and Brougham Street "Pmalder Cottage" (red lamp backwards).  The red lamp, a navigation aid once stood on the Esplanade at the corner of Margaret Street.

He was instrumental in raising money for the Galt Fountain on the Esplanade, just in front of his home.

He was greatly interested in the restoration of the Old West Kirk and was responsible for sourcing the beautiful stained glass windows from artists of the Pre-Raphaelite Brotherhood.

Burne-Jones window in the Old West Kirk

In 1864 aged 46 he married 24 year old Annabella Rodger, daughter of Alexander Rodger and Eliza Buchanan of Bagatelle, Eldon Street, Greenock.  Annabella was the granddaughter of Walter Washington Buchanan more information here.)  The couple had two children, James Fraser Paton born in 1865 and Ida born in 1866.  Annabella died at Bagatelle in June 1870 shortly after giving birth to a still-born son.  After her death, Allan lived with his two children near the Library on Union Street.  He continued working there until he retired in 1894 aged 76.  His son James Fraser Paton (1865-1928) was an artist and his daughter Ida (1866-1943) was a poet and artist.

Home Cottage, Esplanade, Greenock

Allan Park Paton died in 1905 at Home Cottage, Roseneath Street, Esplanade, Greenock and is buried in Greenock Cemetery.

Greenock Cemetery - the grave of Annabella Rodger and Allan Park Paton

It is impossible to quantify what this great man did in the interests of the literary and artistic heritage of Greenock.