Christian Shaw in Edinburgh
Paisley's Enchanted Threads
While Christian Shaw will always be closely connected to Renfrewshire, she spent much of her later life in Edinburgh. The main reason for this would have been down to commerce and finance, as she sought to consolidate the early success of the Bargarran Thread Company.
Christian was based in an area called 'Silvermills', which is just at the nothern boundary of today's New Town. The area took its name from its original industrial purpose, namely, the refining of silver ore that had been discovered in Linlithgowshire in 1607. It was soon realised, however, that this venture would not be a profitable one, and it was quickly abandoned. However, being right next to the Water Of Leith, it would have been an ideal location for textile manufacturing.
