ALEXANDRIA
For more about Alexandria use the FIND facility to the top right of this page.
You will find more on the Smolletts elsewhere on this website including the section for Renton. AlexSmollett had married Cecilian Renton after whom that village was named. He was a lieutenant-colonel in the army, and member of Parliament for the county of Dumbarton. He succeeded to the estates, but was killed in the same year at the battle of Alkmaer, in Holland. It is from him that the village of Alexandria derives its name. [Irving].
The National LIbrary of Scotland records a survey done in 1866 which states that Alexandria, in the parish of Bonhill in Dumbatronshire, was named after the local Member of Parliament, Lieutenant Alexander Smollet, who was born there and died in 1799 at the Battle of Alkmaar. It is situated in the Vale of Leven, on the west bank of the River Leven, and is contiguous with the village of Bonhill. The two are, to all intents and purposes, one town. In 1851 there were 3,781 inhabitants in Alexandria, and 2,327 in Bonhill. The town is surrounded by lush, scenic countryside, and is just over a mile away from Loch Lomond. [NLS].
The Vale of Leven was at one time a major industrial centre of world repute. Over a dozen textile related works were strung out along the length of the Leven from Balloch to Dalquhurn at Renton. Urbanisation soon followed and these became a string of villages which in turn merged into a conubation. Central though was Alexandria - The Heart of the Vale. As such it also saw dramatic social change and attitudes to factory workers. The Ewing Gilmour Institute which was to become the Masonic Lodge was established to educate girls, young ladies. Down Gilmour Street was another Ewing Gilmour Institute, this time for young men which became the Alexandria Library.
Alexandria is the largest town in the Vale of Leven, with a population of over 10,000, which is a bit ironic since it was the last town or village in the Vale to put in an appearance. Until the 1780's it was at most a road junction where stood an old oak tree and a grocers shop and house. At the road junction, the road which ran down the west side of Loch Lomond to Dumbarton Bridge was met by a short road running south-eastward to the River Leven crossing, which was initially a ford and then in the late 18th century a ferry and from 1836 a bridge. This junction was almost exactly where the Fountain now stands. {Vale of Leven History Project].
This overmarked extract from a 1914 map highlights just a few of the features of note in and around Alexandria. NLS © as ref below.
A = Argyll Motor Works; B= Christie Park with a bandstand; C = Lodge; D = Christie Park Primary School; E = Bowling Green; F = Gas Works; G = Lennox Iron Foundry; H x 2 = Gasometer; I - Alexandria Print Works (Croftengea); J = India Street and Alexander Street housing; K = Ewing Gilmour Institute (girl); L = Institute; M = Bank; N = Vale Empire Theatre: O = Picture Theatre. If you look closely you will also make out the Smollett Fountain at the intersection of Main Street and Bank Street.
Of these some have long since disappeared while others have changed. The Christie Park bandstand has sadly gone, but we have a war memorial nearby. The gas works and gasometers have gone as has the iron foundary. India Street's houses have survived if a little shorter, but their neightbouring houses opposite in lower Alexandria Street have gone. The Ewing Gilmour Institute became the Masonic Lodge.. The bank remains a bank albeit now the Bank of Scotland.
You can not only see rail lines serving the industries mainly along the east of the town where several hugged the Leven, but also tram lines along the Main Street.
The Smollett Fountain at the junction of Main Street and Banl Street to the right. [From a Vale of Leven History Facebook]
IRVING, JOSEPH. The Book of Dumbartonshire. W. and A.K. Johnston. Edinburgh and London. 1879.
NATIONAL LIBRARY OF SCOTLAND : MAPS : Dumbartonshire nXVIII.6
Revised: 1914, Published: 1919. https://maps.nls.uk/view/82874202
and the survey of Alexandria and Bonhill (surveyed in 1866) : This also covers Town Planning, Industry, Religious Life and Institutions https://maps.nls.uk/townplans/background/alexandria.html
VALE OF LEVEN HISTORY PROJECT : https://valeofleven.org.uk/alexandria.html
VALE OF LEVEN HISTORY FACEBOOK : https://www.facebook.com/photo/?fbid=903295876536829&set=a.135320266667731
