John Findlay Carson (1883 – 1955)

 This painting was gifted to Glasgow in 1955 by John F. Carson. ¹

Alexander Dennistoun is the subject of a report listed elsewhere in this blog.

            From Scotland’s People there are two John F. Carsons who died after 1955. John French Carson who died in Greenock in 1984 and John Findlay Carson who died in Maybole in 1955. The latter seemed more likely as the donor.

            John Findlay Carson was born at St. Oswald, Kilmacolm, Renfrewshire on 9 November 1883. He was the son of David Simpson Carson, a chartered accountant, and his wife Margaret Findlay. John’s parents had married on 19 September 1878 in the Church of Scotland Manse, Kirkoswald, Ayrshire where Margaret’s father was the minister. ² John’s older brother, David Simpson Carson was born in Kilmacolm in 1879. He also had two sisters, Jessie Muriel Carson born 1880 in Partick and Una Margaret Carson born 1889 in Kilmacolm. ³

From the 1901 Census,⁴ John was a pupil at Fettes College in Edinburgh. Afterwards he followed his father in becoming a chartered accountant. He joined the Royal Naval Volunteer Reserve (RNVR) and on 2 January 1910 he was appointed Assistant Paymaster.⁵ In 1911 he and his father were boarders at the Hydropathic Institute in Kilmacolm. ⁶ At about this time, he became a partner in Moores, Carson and Watson, chartered accountants based at 209 West George Street, Glasgow. (He remained with this firm for 44 years until ill-health forced his retirement).⁷ On 10 June 1912 he was promoted to Paymaster, RNVR followed by a secondment/connection to the Admiralty on 13 June.⁸ A further promotion followed in 1914 when he was appointed Acting Paymaster Commander, RNVR.

On 30 January 1914, ‘An engagement (was) announced between John Findlay Carson, younger son of David S. Carson, St. Oswald’s, Kilmacolm and Molly, youngest daughter of the late Cecil Arkcoll and Mrs W. M. MacLeod, and stepdaughter of W. M. MacLeod, Markyate Cell, Dunstable’. ⁹ The couple were married at St. John’s Church, Markyate on 18 July 1914 with the bride now referred to as Mary Frances.¹⁰ The Luton Reporter also had an account of what was a lavish wedding with a full list of all the wedding presents given by almost everyone in the village. The bride was the daughter of the ‘Lord of the Manor’. After the nuptials, the couple honeymooned in Switzerland and Northern Italy. ¹¹

            On 25 August 1914, John Carson transferred from his base at Clyde to Blandford in Dorset. Blandford Camp was set up at the outbreak of WW1 as a base depot and training camp for the RNVR. The poet Rupert Brooke was stationed here at this time, and it was here that he wrote his poem ‘The Soldier’.

On 16 October 1914 John Carson was made Acting Staff Paymaster and in January 1915 he joined the 1^st R.N. Brigade at RNVR, HQ. In 1916 he was posted for a time to Mudros. This was a small Greek port on Lemnos and acted as a base for the British attempt to seize control of the Dardanelles. It was also where the armistice was signed between Turkey and the Allied Forces in 1918. Later that year John embarked on H.M.T. Franconia for France. (This ship was sunk by U-boat action in October 1916 on her way from Alexandria to Marseille). In France he was posted to Rouen which was a base depot for supplies, transport, reinforcements and hospitals. During his service, he seems to have been called up frequently for duty at the Admiralty.

John and Mary’s first child, Ian Seton Findlay Carson, was born on 22 September 1916 at Kilmacolm.¹² A second child, Allan McLeod Carson was born on 18 September 1917. ¹³ This year also saw the death of John’s father, David Simpson Carson at 12 Claremont Terrace, Glasgow. He was 67. ¹⁴ On 11 July 1918 John Carson was made Acting Paymaster Commander, Lieutenant Commander RN Division. He still held this position when on 12 December 1919 he was awarded an OBE. ‘His name was brought to the notice of the Secretary of State for War for valuable services rendered in connection with the war’. ¹⁵

After the war, he returned to his position as partner in Moores, Carson and Watson. He came into possession of extensive property near Maybole in Ayrshire which comprised houses and farms at Fisherton and Drumbain (his main residence), a house near Ayr, woodlands, shootings etc. ¹⁶

In public life he became a Trustee of the Glasgow Savings Bank in 1933 and from 1947 to 1955 he was a Director of the Merchants’ House in Glasgow and Director of the Glasgow School of Art and from 1950 to 54, Director of the Glasgow Chamber of Commerce. In 1950 he was elected President of the Institute of Accountants and Actuaries in Glasgow. He was Past Chairman of the Glasgow and West of Scotland College of Domestic Science and a Past President of the Scottish Chartered Accountants Benevolent Association. ¹⁷

Mary Frances Carson died at Drumbain, Dunure on 21 November 1952. John Findlay Carson died three years later on 23 November 1955 at Drumbain.¹⁸ They were buried in Dunure Cemetery.

            References

1. List of Donations to Glasgow Corporation, Glasgow Museums Resource Centre.
2. Scotland’s People, Birth Certificates
3. ibid
4. Scotland’s People, Census 1901.
5. London Gazette, 2 April 1910.
6. Scotland’s People, Census 1911.
7. Glasgow Herald, 24 November 1955, p11 (Obituary).
8. London Gazette, 13 June 1912.
9. The Scotsman, 30 January 1914
10. Ibid. 20 July 1914
11. Luton Reporter, 20 July 1914
12. Scotland’s People, Births.
13. Ibid
14. Scotland’s People, Death Certificate
15. London Gazette, 12 December 1919
16. Scotland’s People, Valuation Roll, 1925
17. Glasgow Herald, 24 Nov 1955 p11(Obituary)
18. Scotland’s People, Death Certificate