It would appear that the original Mar Lodge was built around 1817. The building was a private house until 1902, latterly belonging to Commissary General Thomas Alfred Grimaldi Satchwell. After his death it was converted to a Soldiers’ Home, being leased for that purpose from General Satchwell’s executors.
In 1905, the property was bought by the Craig family and remained with them until they sold it to Stirling Town Council in 1942 for £500. The Council Public Assistance Committee minutes of 6th April 1942 record the Council’s decision to purchase the property.
The minutes of 2nd November 1942 record the decision to use the house as accommodation for ‘destitute children’.
There were sitting tenants in the property when it was bought by the Council and it took until November 1943 to re-house these people. Then the renovation work began.
There were interviews for the post of Matron in November 1945, and Miss Margaret Newlands of Dundee took up the post on the 3rd January 1946. She boarded at the Home along with the Nursery Nurse. Other staff employed there were a Nursery Helper, a Cook, a Housemaid and a Cleaner. The Home could accommodate 15 children. The first resident was admitted on the 25th February 1946.
The plans give an interesting insight into the lives of the children who were placed there. The names of these children are all given in the records of Mar Lodge Children’s Home, which are held at the Council Archives dating from between 1946 and 1955.
