The Buchanans were a Glasgow family who made their wealth in the mercantile trade. John Graham -Gilbert painted portraits of each of the three daughters of George Buchanan - Margaret, Jane and Elizabeth. Both Elizabeth and Jane's portraits belong the the collection at the Dick Institute. Margaret's portrait has not survived.
Their father, cotton baron George Buchanan of Woodlands, bought Bellfield House in Kilmarnock for his three daughters. After the death of Elizabeth, who outlived both her sisters, the Buchanan Bequest Trust was set up and the house and gardens donated to the Burgh of Kilmarnock.