The Carrick Gazette reports that South Ayrshire Council has confirmed that Girvan will be able to access a new Mcmaster Trust Fund.
At their July 2011 meeting, Community Council members heard that an account of £34,000 is available to the town to help with the repair and maintenance of Stumpy Tower and the surrounding area - the former site of the Mcmaster Hall. The original fund was endowed by Mr John Mcmaster who was born in 1841 in Kirkoswald and was a successful banker in Canterbury.
Mr Mcmaster believed his success was down to his education in Girvan and he provided a substantial endowment to build a new a town hall in the early 1900s. There were also funds set aside for boys attending Girvan High School to further their education.
South Ayrshire Council officials have confirmed that there were three funds set up by John Mcmaster. His educational fund (currently worth £217,000) was originally intended to help boys attending Girvan High School go to university. The revised scheme approved by the Council will help support fifth or sixth year pupils at Girvan Academy, who want to attend any university in Scotland. Bursaries can be awarded to up to five pupils each year.
Mcmaster's bequests funded the construction of the Mcmaster Hall, Girvan, which was destroyed by fire in 1939, with the loss of some of the burgh's art collection displayed within the building. Today. only the Stumpy Tower remains.
The Council has been u reviewing the trusts it administers and decided to merge the two Mcmaster bequests to form a new Mcmaster Fund.
This news item is based on a article published by the Carrick Gazette on 12th July, 2011 and information in the Council committee reports. (Note. This article uses the spelling Mcmaster that is found in historical records. Recent documents refer to McMaster.)