Tag: Ralston

Ralston (Baile Raghnaill in Scottish Gaelic) is a small, suburban settlement in Renfrewshire, Scotland, bordering onto the eastern edge of the town of Paisley. The district straddles the A761 (formerly the A737), the main dual-carriageway between Renfrewshire and the City of Glasgow.
The modern settlement of Ralston takes its name from the ancient feudal estates of Ralphistoun (Ralph’s settlement), named after the younger son of the Earl of Fife, to whom the lands were gifted in the early 12th century. The feudal estates included the lands of Auldtoun (now Oldhall), Hullhead, Barshaw, Whitehaugh, Byres, Honeybog, Pennilee, Maylee and Ralstonwood.
When the use of surnames was adopted in the Scottish Lowlands, the descendants of the Earl’s younger son named themselves ‘Ralston’ after the estates. The lands remained in the Ralston family until 1704 when they were sold by Gavin Ralston to John, Earl of Dundonald, who conferred them on his daughter, Lady Anne Cochrane, when she married…