Bellahouston Bequest Fund

THE HISTORY OF BELLAHOUSTON BEQUEST FUND

The valuable estate of Bellahouston and Dumbreck House in the parish of Govan was owned by Thomas Rowan. When he died in 1824 he left the estate to his nephew by marriage, Moses Steven of Polmadie. Mr Steven was a merchant in Glasgow, of the firm Buchanan Steven & Co. He changed the name of the house to Bellahouston House and acquired further lands, expanding the Bellahouston estate to 400 acres. Streets were formed and villas and country houses were built within the estate by wealthy Glasgow merchants.

Moses Steven died in 1871 and was succeeded by his sisters Elizabeth and Grace Steven. He had expressed the wish that his fortune should go to Glasgow.  That same year the sisters established the Bellahouston Trust and, in conformity with their brother’s wishes, dedicated the property at Bellahouston for charitable, religious and educational purposes within the city.

The Bellahouston Bequest Fund became operational on the death of Miss Elizabeth Steven in 1892. The terms were stipulated in a Trust Disposition and Deed of Settlement dated 25 August 1871 which is recorded for preservation on 14 June 1888. Grants could be made for 5 purposes. The Trustees could make grants to institutions. A bursary called the Bellahouston Scholarship was to provide assistance to students at the University of Glasgow.

The fund was to help found and endow those educational institutions which give technical and scientific instruction. The fund was to finance the construction of places of worship used by Protestant Evangelical denominations. The fund is restricted to making donations to recipients within five miles of the Glasgow Parliamentary boundaries.

The Glasgow Herald stated in an article dated 28 March 1892 “Miss Steven of Bellahouston came very little before the public. She would give large sums to objects she approved, but she took no part in their management; she outlived most of her friends (never numerous), and she made no new ones; she was the last of her own family and was practically without kith or kin.”