In the year 1798, Andrew Bannatyne was born on the island of Bute, the eldest son of Dugald Bannatyne the Glasgow postmaster. Andrew Bannatyne was educated at Glasgow, Edinburgh and Heidelberg. He entered the Faculty of Procurators in 1825 and was to serve as Dean of the Faculty from 1860-65.

Along with his brother Dugald John, Andrew Bannatyne was active in many aspects of Scottish business, most notably when inaugurating the Edinburgh and Glasgow railway company. He was a supporter of parliamentary and municipal reform, and a noted member of the Liberal Party. He promoted the Bankrupt Act of 1839 and the Procurators’ Act of 1865, and in 1866 was a commissioner on the inquiry into registration of heritable property. This would have been a subject close to his heart, when his wife had been the surviving daughter of the Millar family of Milheugh. When Andrew married into the Millars, he found himself with the entire property of Milheugh and it’s estate. In the 1859 valuation rolls, there is mention that he wanted the name of Milheugh to be spelled with one L, something that may have been to distinguish it from Millheugh in Larkhall, although he may simply have been putting the Bannatyne mark on the estate.

Having been made an honorary Doctor of Law by Glasgow University in 1868, Bannatyne died at home at Milheugh, Blantyre, on 12 June 1871. He was survived by his wife, two daughters and six sons.