Austin & McAslan, Seed Merchants, Glasgow, was originally established in 1717 by John McAslan. He was succeeded by his son Alexander McAslan and John Austin, trading as Austin & McAslan. They also owned the Little Govan Nursery in Glasgow. In 1860, the business passed from their descendants to James Hunter. The company is still in business.
[From
Transactions of the Horticultural Society of London, Vol. 6, 1826, Annex ] July 27th, 1824. To Mr. Robert Austin, C. M. H. S. the Silver Medal, for his attention to the Cultivation of Double Scotch Roses, the whole collection of which, raised by him, has been presented to the Garden of the Society.
[From
Transactions of the Horticultural Society of London, Vol. 7, 1830, Annex ] List of Books and other Articles presented to the Library of the Horticultural Society, from May 1, 1827, to May 1, 1828, with the names of the donors.....
Mr. Robert Austen, C.M.H.S. Forty five drawings of various Double Scotch Roses.
[From
Modern Roses II, p. 14:] Austin & McAslan, 91-95 Mitchell Street,
Glasgow, Scotland.
[From "Dictionary of British and Irish Botanists and Horticulturalists", by Ray Desmond, 1994, p. 27ff:]
- James Austin: Employed by Ronalds's nursery at Brentford and Royal Gardens, Kew. Returned to A & McA nursery, glasgow about 1800; admitted as partner, 1812.
Gdnrs Chron. 1917 ii 147-48
- Hugh Austin (ca. 1849 - 1894 Cathcart, Glasgow) Partner in Austin & McAslan
J. Hort. Cottage Gdnr. v. 29, 1894;
Gdnrs. Chron. 1894 ii 21.
- William Austin (1850s-1870s) Nurseryman at Partick, Glasgow in firm of Brown and Austin. Partner in A & McA, 1859.
Gdnrs. Chron. 1917 ii 147-48
[From "A Short Transatlantic Heritage of Scots Roses", by Peter D. A. Boyd, 2015, p. 10:] Robert Austin (1754-1830)...was responsible for raising about 300 cultivars of 'Double Scotch Roses' between about 1815...and 1826. He published a list with abbreviated descriptions in c. 1825...donated large collections of his coloured Double Scots Roses to the Royal Botanic Garden Edinburgh...the Royal Botanic Garden Kew....and the gardens of the Horticultural Society of London (
Transactions of the Horticulrtural Society Vol. VI, 1826)...
[From
Horticultural Strathbungo:] The nursery business was started by John McAslan in 1717 ...when he rented ground behind the old Hutcheson Hospital on Trongate, and latterly built a mansion and new nursery at The Hill, south of Dobbies Loan..... He was joined by his brother Duncan, and succeeded by his wife, and then Duncan’s son, another John....The foreman Robert Austin, of Milngavie, who trained in London, became a partner in 1782, and married into the family in 1786. The nursery moved to Little Govan in 1798.....In 1803 John McAslan retired, and his son Alexander partnered with Robert Austin, the name changing to Austin & McAslan. Robert’s younger brother James trained at Kew, before joining the firm....In 1828 the nursery moved again, to Coplawhill, immediately to the north of Strathbungo village.....maps from the 1850s show a large nursery extending almost from Nithsdale Road (opposite the old Strathbungo Parish Church) to Albert Drive, and on the other side of Pollokshaws Road, to Butterbiggins and Langside Roads. The firm grew forest-trees, fruit-trees, shrubs, greenhouse plants and roses from Coplawhill. Robert Austin was noted for his promotion of the double scotch roses, then very popular....In 1888 the business was still in family hands in Hugh Austin, partnered since 1860 by James Hunter, who was succeeded by his son Alexander Neilston Hunter. A celebratory dinner was held in Glasgow in 1917 to mark the firm’s bicentennial. The company continued in business in Glasgow until the 1960s when it moved to Edinburgh, then disappeared.
