Our donor was born Edith Mary Adam on 20 January 1870 at 6 Oakley Terrace, Dennistoun ,Glasgow .2 Her father was John Adam whose family owned a bleachworks, William Adam & Son of which John was a partner .3 Her mother was Elizabeth Jane Cochrane .4 According to the 1871 Census Edith lived at at 8 Oakley Terrace with her parents and the following siblings:- John aged seventeen, Catherine aged fifteen, Charles aged ten and Eliza aged eight. There were also at least four servants living in the house .5
Oakley Terrace was part of a model middle- class suburb planned from the 1850s by Alexander Dennistoun, from a wealthy Glasgow merchant family . Up to that time this area to the east of Glasgow consisted of country estates such as Craigpark ,Whitehill and Meadowpark which were owned by wealthy Glasgow businessmen(see below Figure 2).
Alexander’s father James had bought the Golfhill Estate in 1814 and built Golfhill House, the home of Alexander Dennistoun. Architect James Salmon was engaged to design the feuing and planning of the suburb after Alexander Dennistoun had purchased the above estates in the 1850s, an area of around 200 acres. However the plan was eventually modified and only Oakley Terrace, Westercraig Street and Clayton Place were built as after the 1870s there was competition from the expanding building for wealthier Glaswegians to the west and south of the city. Also, with builders were requesting more profitable feus to build tenements in the Dennistoun area to house lower middle- class and working class families often from Ireland, Italy and Eastern Europe. This put an end to the original plan for a model suburb for the wealthier middle class merchants in Dennistoun .6
Edith’s father’s occupation was that of master bleacher of the firm WilliamAdam and Son of Milnbank which was a bleaching and dyeing company located at 399-400 Townmill Road Glasgow situated between the Monkland Canal and the Molindinar Burn and employing over 300 workers 7 The bleachworks were situated east of Alexander Park in Dennistoun(see below Figure 4). The earliest reference to the Milnbank bleachworks was in the Glasgow Post Office Directory of 1828-9.
The following year, 1872, the Adam children lost both their parents. Eliza Adam died at 6 Oakley Terrace on 2 March 1872 of congestion of the brain and lungs .8 Edith’s father John also appears to have had health problems as he died on 13 December 1872 while ‘visiting Bournemouth for his health’.9
Edith was only two years old at the time of her parent’s death. It appears she and her elder sister Eliza went to live with her father’s elder brother William and his wife Helen. From about 1875 William Adam and his wife lived at 5 Windsor Terrace West in Glasgow’s West End .10 Edith, now aged eleven , was with her Uncle William and Aunt Helen at the time of the 1881 census ,visiting a Mrs Agnes Arthur at Cove , Kilcreggan in Dunbartonshire .11 She was at 5, Windsor Terrace, aged 21, with her Aunt Helen at the time of the 1891 Census with no indication that she was merely a visitor .12 She was married from that address in 190013 so we may presume that her Uncle William and his wife became substitute parents. It would also explain why Edith donated the painting Crummock Water by Samuel Bough in memory of her Uncle William .14 When Edith’s sister Eliza married in 1886 her address on the marriage certificate was also 5 Windsor Terrace .15
William Adam was also a partner in the family bleaching and finishing business. Helen Adam or Walker was his second wife ,his first wife Frances having died in 1869.16 Helen was Frances Walker’s younger sister .17 At this point no record of the second marriage has been found but according to William’s will Helen was certainly his wife .18
Uncle William died age sixty-seven on 24 September 1894 at 5 Windsor Terrace of ‘general debility’ so did not see his niece Edith marry .19 Edith married John Willison Anderson, an East India merchant, on November 7 1900 . John was twenty-seven and Edith was thirty .20
The Anderson family were cotton manufacturers in Glasgow so both families were involved in the cotton textile business which may be how the couple met. The business began in 1822 as Anderson & Lawrie, cotton manufacturers .21 It was taken over in 1839 by brothers David and John Anderson who was John W. Anderson’s grandfather .22 They built the Atlantic Mills in Bridgeton in 1864 which was a major employer in Bridgeton with 700 looms. The company concentrated on high quality fabrics with short production runs. Their shirt fabrics in particular earned a strong reputation at the top end of the market. D &J Anderson expanded in the early twentieth century becoming a limited company in 1911. In 1959 the company was absorbed into the House of Fraser .23
John Anderson, our donor’s husband, worked for Steel Brothers Co. Ltd, Burma24 which had originally been W S Steel & Co founded in Burma by Glasgow merchant William Strang Steel(1832-1911) in 1870. After moving to London in 1873 the founder was joined by his brother James Alison Steel as Steel Brothers Co. Ltd. The company traded in rice from 1871, in the export of teak from the 1890s and in 1906 became involved in the Indo -Burma OilCompany of which they eventually took control .25
Edith and John were married at St Georges Church in Buchanan Street Glasgow which was popular with wealthy Glaswegians .26 Only ten days after the wedding Edith and John boarded the SS Derbyshire in Liverpool bound for Marseilles and from there to Rangoon (now Yangon ), in Burma ( now Myanmar) where they appear to have spent the next ten years or so .27 Both their children were born in Rangoon: Hilda Constance Willison on 12 August 190528 and Freda Campbell Willison on 19 November 1910 .29 Neither Edith nor her husband appear in either the 1901 or the 1911 UK Census so it would appear they were living in Burma during this period.
The couple returned to Britain for a visit in 190330 and Edith and daughter Hilda came back in 1910. Mother and daughter sailed on the SS Derbyshire arriving in London on March 24th 1910 via Port Said and Marseilles .31 This journey may have been made for the purpose of bringing five year old Hilda to live in England as she appeared in the 1911 census living with her mother’s elder sister Elizabeth and her family in Willsden , Middlesex .32 Elizabeth had married Archibald E. Scott, a civil engineer, in 1886.33 Perhaps the climate in Burma did not suit such a young child. Edith herself certainly returned to Rangoon because as we have seen her second daughter Freda was born there on 19 November 1910.
By 1918 the Andersons had returned to Britain though the exact date of their return is not known. In 1918 they were living in a house called Greystones ,St Georges Hill, Weybridge. 34 St Georges Hill was a luxurious ,gated estate some 19 miles from London and had been developed by builder Walter George Tarrant . Tarrant had begun as a carpenter but in 1895 set up the building firm of W. G Tarrant Ltd. In 1911 he bought 964 acres of Surrey scrubland from the Edgertons, the family of the Earl of Ellesmere, on which he planned to build homes for wealthy London businessmen, the estate being near to Weybridge Railway station thus within easy commuting distance of London. No house was to be built on less than one acre of land and most had grounds of up to 10 acres. St Georges Hill was to contain not only a championship golf course which was laid out in 1912 but also tennis courts, croquet lawns, bowling greens , a swimming pool and an archery range. Such was the prestige attached to the development that the SurreyAdvertiser issued a special supplement in 1912 describing all the features of St Georges Hill in glowing terms. Each plot was to be sold freehold to individuals and several different architects were contracted so most houses were custom- designed, many being very large mansions .35 Greystones was built in 1913 to a design by architect Theophilus A. Allen . There is no information to date when the Andersons bought the house. The original name was Blythewood but the name was changed to Greystones in May 1914 so one could speculate that that is when the Andersons bought it. There is no image available of the house at this time but it was,’ three storeys high, classical style, buff roughcast ,red pantiles ….stone surround to front door.’ 36
There is little information about the life the Andersons led at Greystones .They employed several servants so one can presume they were affluent. There are references in local newspapers to a Mrs Anderson and a Miss Anderson taking part in tennis tournaments but we do not know if these referred to our donor and her daughters .37 There is also some evidence that a Miss H. Anderson(Hilda perhaps?) was involved in the Oatlands and Weybridge Girl Guide Association during the nineteen thirties.38
During World War Two both daughters served in the Voluntary Aid Detachment 39, a voluntary unit of civilians who provided nursing care for military personnel both in Britain and abroad .40 According to the 1939 Register Hilda was Acting Commandant of presumably a local VAD unit 41 while Freda served abroad where she probably met Major Edwin Archer of the Royal Army Service Corps. Major Archer was Scottish and was born in Morningside 42, Edinburgh in 1914 .They were married in Colombo, Ceylon(now Sri Lanka) on 17 May 1944. Eldest daughter Hilda did not marry .43 There is no further information at this point regarding John, Edith or Hilda Anderson during World War Two.
John And Edith remained at Greystones along with Hilda until their death. John died on 22 October 194544 and Edith died on 27 October 1952.45
St Georges Hill remains an exclusive gated community today where houses sell for millions of pounds. In recent decades it has been home to celebrities such as John Lennon, Ringo Starr, Cliff Richard and Elton John .46
Isabella Ure’s parents were Alexander Ure (b.1788), a writer in Glasgow, and his wife Mary Ross (b.1800) the daughter of a grocer in the Gorbals. Alexander and Mary had married on 4 December 1819 in the Gorbals and had four children; John Francis, b. 1820, Margaret, b. 1822, d. 1829; Mary, b. 1824, d. 1826; and Isabella who was born on 15 March 1828 at 13 St. Vincent Place, Glasgow. Isabella of Alexander Ure and Mary Rofs in Hutchesontown, 15th March, bapt. 27th1 Alexander Ure died on 23 November 1830 when Isabella was only two years old and was buried in the Old Gorbals Cemetery alongside his two infant daughters. Mary Ure and her two surviving children moved to 145 Hill Street, Garnethill. Later John Francis was sent to a boarding school in England leaving Mary and Isabella on their own. In the 1851 Census, they were visiting 34 Portland Street, Gorbals 2. John Ure became a civil engineer and then Resident Engineer with the Clyde Trust. In this capacity he is likely to have met John Elder of ‘Randolph, Elder and Co.’, marine engineers on the Clyde. There would then follow an introduction to his sister Isabella. In any event, on the 31 March 1857 ‘in her mother`s home’, Isabella, now aged 28 married John Elder (b. 1824) master engineer and shipbuilder 3. He was the third son of the marine engineer David Elder. The service was conducted by the Rev. Norman MacLeod after banns had been read in the Barony Church where Isabella was a member. An ante nuptial contract had been signed on 30 March 1857. By this agreement, Isabella was free to do whatever she wished with her own estate without reference to her husband. In the event of his death all his estate was to pass to her. After their marriage, John and Isabella moved as tenants to 121 Bath Street (built in 1840) and were listed there with three servants in the 1861 Census 4. The business of ‘Randolph and Elder’ which was concerned in the manufacture of marine engines, continued to flourish and in 1863 the Fairfield Estate in Govan was purchased, and the firm diversified into shipbuilding. This necessitated a move by John and Isabella to Elmpark, a villa in Govan Road. The Elders seem to have been very happy together sharing a common interest in music (Isabella played the piano) and they had a wide circle of friends and acquaintances among whom were Professor Macquorn Rankine, Regius Chair of Civil Engineering and Mechanics at Glasgow University and the Reverend Norman Macleod who was later to preach to Queen Victoria at Crathie Church. Both John and Isabella had strong religious convictions and were motivated to try to improve the lot of their Govan workforce. Apprentices were encouraged to attend evening classes with expenses paid where necessary; an accident fund was set up and a cooking depot provided at the gate of the shipyard. The business was expanding and when Charles Randolph retired in 1868 it was renamed ‘John Elder and Company’. However, in 1869, John Elder`s health began to decline. He and Isabella went to London to consult specialists, but it was to no avail. John Elder died in London on 17 September 1869. His body was returned to Glasgow and interred in the Necropolis on 23 September. The business of John Elder and Co. now employed about five thousand workers and had many orders to fulfill. For nine months after John Elder`s death, Isabella ran the business single-handedly until strain and exhaustion forced her to seek partners. The senior partner nominated was her brother John Francis Ure. It was also at this time that she decided to move from Govan back to Glasgow. She bought Claremont House, a mansion in the West End which had been designed by John Baird I and built in 1842. Also, at this time because of the state of her health, Isabella was advised by her doctor to embark on a tour of the Continent. She and a lady companion, Miss Caroline Jay set of from Glasgow in November 1870 apparently with no great enthusiasm. She wrote,
I certainly expected no enjoyment from this Continental tour but went as a duty – I was too crushed by my great sorrow and unnerved by long anxiety and fatigue during Mr. Elder`s illness and afterwards, to look to the right or the left for anything of the kind.
They visited England, Belgium, Germany, Austria and Italy. While staying at the Hotel Danieli in Venice they first encountered the man Isabella referred to in her notes as ‘the Russian’ and later just as ‘R’. After her return to Glasgow in May 1871, ‘R’ turned up unexpectedly at Claremont House. He subsequently proposed marriage in a letter. She immediately wrote back rejecting his proposal which she had received with some alarm. In the summer of 1872, Isabella travelled to Florence to commission a bust of her late husband. On the way she received two letters from ‘R’ one of which claimed they were now engaged! While she was staying at Ems on the return journey ‘R’ turned up at her hotel. He pleaded with her to give him money to repay a debt. ‘I, very foolishly perhaps, gave him £50….‘ On this visit, ’R’ also met John Francis Ure who was visiting his sister but who was unaware of the situation between them. All three left Ems to journey to Metz where they visited the battlefields of the Franco-Prussian war. On the way, Isabella lent ‘R’ her watch which had been a present from her husband and precious to her. In October 1872, ‘R’ turned up unexpectedly at Claremont House and was asked to stay to dinner to meet John Francis. Before dinner he apparently said to her, ‘If you don`t accept me, I`ll hunt you like a Red Indian as long as you live’. This eventually prompted Isabella to tell her brother the whole story. He visited ‘R’ and told him to discontinue his visits. Later, through her lawyer, Isabella received her letters and her watch. She never saw ‘R’ again. In the 1880s a man called Romanoff was executed in Paris. Her law agent at the time told her that ‘R’ and Romanoff were one and the same. Isabella was now a wealthy widow with a comfortable and commodious house. Its walls were hung with pictures including A Lake Scene by Corot and Flowers by Narcisse Diaz which were later bequeathed to Glasgow. However, she felt the need to return something to the community, especially that of Govan where her husband had made his fortune. She began in 1873 by giving £5000 to Glasgow University as a ‘supplementary endowment’ to the Chair of Civil Engineering in memory of her husband. This ‘augmented the Professor`s salary ….. by £225 a year’5. Professor McQuorn Rankine was a close friend whom Isabella held in high regard. Earlier that year he had published a Memoir of John Elder which had a very favourable reception in the press. (Professor Rankine was also one of those who proposed the idea of supplying Glasgow`s water from Loch Katrine). Isabella`s mother died in Dunoon in 1876 aged 79 years. Her death was reported by Isabella`s brother John Francis 6. Because of failing health, John Francis retired in 1878 and took up residence in Cannes. Isabella spent the winters there with him until he died of a stroke in 1883. In 1883 Isabella gave a further donation of £12,000 to Glasgow University to endow the “John Elder Chair of Naval Architecture” the first such chair of its kind in the world. In the same year, she purchased 37 acres of land opposite Elder`s shipyard and had it turned into a park for the people of Govan at a total cost estimated at £50,000. The park was eventually opened in 1885 by the Earl of Roseberry amid great fanfare and a public holiday.
Figure 1. Isabella Elder (The Bailie, 12 December 1883).
In 1884, Isabella bought North Park House and grounds near the Botanic Gardens in Glasgow for £12,000 and gave it to Queen Margaret College (QMC) to be used for the Higher Education of Women on condition that the College raised £20,000 as an endowment fund. When Queen Victoria visited the College in 1888, Isabella was presented to her as ‘a true benefactress to women`s education’. To commemorate the visit, Isabella presented the College with a new set of gates for the main entrance. Reporting on a Bazaar organized to raise funds for the endowment of the College, the Glasgow Evening Times observed that Mrs. Elder, who gave the opening speech, ‘is a buxom, well-preserved lady, with a self-possessed manner, and she said what she had to say with calm deliberation’. 7 She was then 64 years old. As a result of the bazaar, the endowment fund was now raised, and Isabella gifted North Park house and grounds to the university in October 1893. When the College extended its teaching to include female medical students, Isabella undertook to meet the running costs for the first few years. The College became incorporated into the University of Glasgow and the first female medical students graduated in 1894. Another project with which Isabella was involved was the School of Domestic Economy in Govan. The aim was ‘to improve the ability of women to cook nutritious meals cheaply and well and also to manage a home’. This was established in 1885 in the Broomloan Halls. Isabella met all the costs of the School and contributed money for prizes. An article praising the work of the school appeared in the British Medical Journal 8. She was one of the subscribers (ordering two copies) to Memoirs and Portraits of One Hundred Glasgow Men in 1886. This contained entries for both her husband and brother 9. A statue of John Elder which had been paid for by public subscription was unveiled in the Elder Park, Govan on 28July 1888. In 1891, Isabella arranged and paid for a course of lectures to be given at QMC on Astronomy. This was to continue for three years. She also gave an orrery to QMC. In her will she left £5000 to the Glasgow and West of Scotland Technical College to found a course of lectures on astronomy. These ‘David Elder Lectures’ (named after her father-in-law) are still given today at the University of Strathclyde. Isabella continued to take an interest in medical education for women both in Queen Margaret College and elsewhere. In October 1895 she gave an address to the Edinburgh School of Medicine for Women in which she described what had been established in Glasgow at QMC. She concluded,
It is always a great happiness to me when women, wherever educated, distinguish themselves and prove their sex worthy of the higher education so long withheld.
In 1901 as part of the 450th anniversary celebrations of the University of Glasgow, Isabella was one of four women awarded an Honorary LLD degree. This was the first-time women had been awarded honorary degrees by the university. In the same year she provided a home in Govan for the Cottage Nurses Training Scheme and donated £27,000 to establish the Elder Park Library which was opened by Andrew Carnegie in 1903.
Figure. 2 The Elder Park Library. (photograph by author)
She also gave £5000 to the building fund of the Glasgow and West of Scotland Technical College. Another gift, the Elder Cottage Hospital was opened in Govan in 1903. Isabella paid all of the hospital expenses up till her death and in her will she gave an endowment of £50,000 to assist with running costs Isabella Elder died at home on 18 November 1905 leaving an estate valued at £159,404. 0s. 6d. (about £15,000,000 today). Her death certificate stated that she died of heart failure, gout, bronchitis and cerebral effusion 10. Appropriately it was signed by Dr. Marion Gilchrist – the first female medical student to graduate from Queen Margaret College. Isabella was buried in the Elder Family Tomb in the Necropolis on 22 November 1905.
Figure 3. The Elder Family Tomb in the Glasgow Necropolis. (Creative Commons Attribution-Share Alike 3.0 Unported)
A statue of Mrs. Elder, paid for by public subscription, was unveiled in Elder Park on 13 October 1906 by the Duchess of Montrose. In the same year the ‘Ure-Elder Fund for Indigent Widows of Glasgow and Govan’ was set up under the terms of her will.
Figure 4. Statue of Isabella Elder in the Elder Park in Govan. (photograph by author)
The 500th anniversary of the University of Glasgow was marked in 1951 with the erection of new wrought iron gates at the main entrance. These incorporated the names of twenty-eight people associated with the University. One of these was Isabella Elder – the only woman so honoured.
Figure 5. Glasgow University Main Entrance Gates. (photograph by author)
References
Much of the material for this report was taken from the biography of Isabella Elder The Lady of Claremont House, Isabella Elder, Pioneer and Philanthropist, by C. Joan McAlpine, Argyll Publishing, 1997.
The same author also wrote the entry for Isabella Elder in the Oxford Dictionary of National Biography, OUP 2004-13, May 2006.
Scotland`s People, OPR, Glasgow, 1828.
Scotland`s People, Census Record 1851
Scotland’s People, Marriage Certificate
Scotland’s People, Census, Glasgow, 1861
The Bailie, 12 December 1883.
Scotland’s People, Death Certificate
Glasgow Evening Times, 25 November 1892.
British Medical Journal, 14 June 1890.
Memoirs and Portraits of One HundredGlasgow Men etc. Maclehose, James & Sons,Glasgow, 1886
Scotland’s People, Death Certificate
Appendix 1
Mrs. Isabella Elder of 6 Claremont Terrace, Glasgow, bequeathed twenty paintings to Glasgow in February 1906:
Oil. John Linnell. (1792-1882). The Disobedient Prophet (1854). Acquisition 1153. Destroyed by enemy action 1939-451
Oil. James Archer R.S.A. (1823-1904). Portrait of J. F. Ure (1884). Acquisition 1171.
Oil. Sir Daniel Macnee P.R.S.A. (1806-1882). Portrait of John Elder (after 1826). Acquisition 1172.
Another version of this painting is in the Harris Museum and Art Gallery.
This was called Hero and Leander.
This was bought at Sir Richard Wallace`s sale as by Canaletto.
This was painted by Sir Peter Lely and had the title, Nell Gwynne.
This was by Artois ‘with figures added by Teniers’.
She also gifted busts of John Elder by Powers, David Elder, senior by Ewing and Diana by Powers.
Appendix 2
Isabella Elder`s Will – Abridged – The Scotsman, 24 November 1905, p 8.
The trustees are instructed to hand over to the Corporation of Glasgow the following paintings in the house at 6, Claremont Terrace, Glasgow, along with the busts of John Elder by Powers, of David Elder, sen., by Ewing and of “Diana” by Powers.
“The Disobedient Prophet”, by John Linnell, “Hero and Leander”, by Armitage, “Royalists Seeking Safety”, by Marcus Stone, “Grand Canal Venice”, bought at Sir Richard Wallace`s sale as by Canaletto, “Sea Piece”, by Lambinet, “Nell Gwynne”, by Sir Peter Lely, “Roses”, by Diaz, “Wood Scene”, by Corot, “Four Faces”, by Fosco Fritta, “Passing the Cross”, by Goodall, “The Chess Players”, by Serra, “Playmates”, by Duverger, “Sea View” by Peter Graham, “Loch Achray”, by Sam Bough, “Cattle”, by Cooper, “Sheep”, by Cooper, “Children Coming from School”, by Lionel Smythe, And landscapes by Artois, with figures added by Teniers.
They are also directed to hand over to the Corporation the portraits of the testator’s late brother and husband upon the condition that the two pictures be hung together in such gallery or other suitable place as the Corporation may see fit to locate them in. And, in addition to the paintings and portraits enumerated above the trustees are given the fullest power, should they think fit to do so, to hand over to the Corporation of Glasgow such others of the remaining paintings and watercolours as the Corporation may desire, declaring that as this bequest in intended entirely for the benefit of the public in all time coming, the Corporation shall at no time be at liberty to sell the said paintings and others or any of them.
Appendix 3
Deaths: Glasgow Herald, 20 November 1905.
ELDER – At 6 Claremont Terrace, Glasgow, on the 18th inst., Isabella, widow of John Elder, engineer and shipbuilder in Glasgow. – Funeral from 6 Claremont Terrace to the Glasgow Necropolis on Wednesday, the 22nd curt (?) at 2 p.m. to which all friends are invited; carriages at St. George`s Church at 1.40; those desiring to attend will please notify Messrs Wylie & Lochhead, 96 Union Street.
Obituary:Glasgow Herald, 20 November 1905
Mrs. John Elder of Govan. A Noted West of Scotland Philanthropist.
By the death of Mrs. John Elder, which took place on Saturday evening at her house, 6, Claremont Terrace, Glasgow, the West of Scotland loses one of its most distinguished and philanthropic ladies and the burgh of Govan one who has been closely associated for many years with its principal industry, and who has besides conferred on it many benefactions. Than “Mrs. Elder of Govan” there is no better known on the Clydeside, and even among those who had not seen her she was respected and revered, not only because of her husband, who predeceased her by thirty-six years, but also because of the way in which she has spent her life in good works, always more than ready to anticipate any possible method whereby she could help a good cause quietly, and above all to do something for the social and moral welfare of the West of Scotland in general and the burgh of Govan in particular. In Govan her name has all along been a synonym for open-handed though discreet philanthropy, and she could always be depended upon to contribute to any movement likely to benefit the public of the burgh.
Association with Shipbuilding
Mrs. Elder was the widow of Mr. John Elder, the famous shipbuilder and engineer, whose improvements on the marine steam engine have always been considered as second only to those made by James Watt. Mr. Elder with his friend Mr. Randolph founded the engineering firm of Randolph & Elder, and after about eight years as millwrights and engineers began, in 1860, to build ships. Their business increased immensely and ultimately became the great works which afterwards developed into Fairfield Shipbuilding and Engineering Company (Limited), Govan. Mr. Elder in his later years had entire chargeof the works, which he carried on with great success until his death in1869 at the early age of forty-five. To these works or to Mr. John Elder himself it is unnecessary to make more extended reference here. Mrs. Elder was the only daughter of Mr. Alexander Ure, who was in his day a well-known writer in Glasgow, and her only brother was Mr. John F. Ure, one of the most distinguished of civil engineers, and a man who, as engineer of the Clyde Navigation Trust, laid the foundation of many of the improvements which were afterwards made in the harbor and the river. When Mr. Elder died his widow was left sole proprietrix of the extensive business at Fairfield. This position, however, she retained for only nine months. First her brother became a partner and some time later the works passed entirely into other hands and became first a private and then a public limited liability company. Mrs. Elder, however, never ceased to take a personal interest in everything that concerned Fairfield and she was a frequent and welcome visitor at the establishment, which is even yet among those who have known it long spoken of as “Elder`s Yard”.
Mrs. Elder and Govan
Of Mrs. Elder`s methods of spending the wealth which her husband`s genius and industry endowed her it is hardly possible to speak with adequate fullness. Her private benefactions were many but of those the public were always kept in ignorance.
Annie Isabella Cameron was born at 16 Grafton Square, Glasgow on 10 May 1897. Her parents were James Cameron, a civil engineer who had been involved in the construction of the Glasgow Underground and Mary Sinclair Cameron whom he married on Christmas Day 1894 at 42 Church Street, Ayr. 1 16 Grafton Square was Annie’s father’s home before his marriage. In 1901, Annie and her two siblings, Donald aged one and Mary four months with their parents were visiting James Gray, a grocer and his family at 60 Church Street, Ayr. 2 By 1911 the family had moved to Willbraepark, Overton Road, Strathaven. James Cameron was now aged 62, a civil engineer and contractor, with Mary 44, and children Annie 13, Donald 11, Mary 10 and Ewen 9. The children were all scholars. The family employed one domestic servant. 3 Mary Cameron became the tenant/occupier at Willbraepark after the death of her husband in 1921 and remained there until at least 1925. 4
After attending school in Strathaven, Annie Cameron enrolled at Glasgow University and graduated with a first-class honours degree in history in 1919. 5 She then undertook teacher training at Jordanhill College in Glasgow. After a brief spell of teaching, she returned to academia to study for a PhD supervised by Professor R.K. Hannay at Edinburgh University. Her subject was James Kennedy, Bishop of St Andrews (1408 – 1465). She completed her PhD in 1924 6 and in 1928 was awarded a Carnegie Research Fellowship which enabled her to live in Rome and to attend the Vatican School of Palaeography. In the Vatican Archives she found a rich source of fifteenth century material relating to Scotland, in particular the Scottish Supplications to Rome. The research and publication (from 1934 to 1970) of this material became her life’s work. Her frequent visits to the archives in this connection resulted in her affectionate nickname Nonna (grandmother) of the Archivo Vaticano. 7
Figure 1. Dr Annie I. Dunlop (nee Cameron) National Library of Scotland, Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International Licence 8
Annie Cameron was awarded a DLitt from the University of St Andrews in 1934 9 and was employed in the Scottish Record Office until she married George Dunlop (qv) on 23 August 1938 at Juniper Green in Edinburgh. 10 The couple then moved to Dunselma in Fenwick about five miles from Kilmarnock. Annie taught part-time at Edinburgh University and contributed regularly to her husband’s newspaper the Kilmarnock Standard. She was awarded an OBE in the King’s Birthday Honours of 1942 (Annie Isabella Cameron, MA, PhD, DLitt, (Mrs. G. B. Dunlop), Member of the Council of the Scottish History Association). After the war she was able to resume her research in Rome in 1947 – accompanied on this occasion by her husband. She was awarded an honorary LLD from St Andrews University in 1950 – the same year she was widowed. After her husband’s death, Dunselma was given to the Church of Scotland as a residential home for the elderly although Annie continued to live there. Thereafter she travelled widely continuing her research, lecturing and writing. She embarked on a lecture tour of the United States in 1955 promoting Scottish history. 11 She was appointed to the Royal Commission on the Ancient and Historical Monuments of Scotland on 26 April 1955 and was a member of the Scottish History Society whom she addressed on 12 December 1964 12 and the Scottish Church History Society. In 1972 she was awarded the Papal Benemerenti medal by Pope Paul VI. A particularly rare honour especially for a non-Catholic but reflecting the esteem in which she was held by the Vatican. 13
Annie I. Dunlop died at Dunselma on 23 March 1973. 14 Her funeral service was held at Masonhill Crematorium, Ayr on 27 March. 15 She was remembered as a kind, gentle, diligent personality who was always willing to offer help to others. 16 She was instrumental in ensuring that her husband’s bequest was delivered to Glasgow and to the National Galleries of Scotland. She also donated paintings on her own behalf to Glasgow’s Hunterian Art gallery.
The Annie Dunlop Endowment was set up at the Centre for Scottish and Celtic Studies at the University of Glasgow. Funds from the endowment are awarded bi-annually for the purpose of ‘promoting historical research into documents relevant to Scotland that are located outside Scotland’.
Figure 2. Roses and Larkspur (Roses et pieds-d’alouette Henri Fantin-Latour (1836 – 1904) Hunterian Art Gallery, University of Glasgow/ArtUK Gift from Annie Dunlop from the estate of her husband, George B. Dunlop, 1951
Figure 3. Fisher’s Landing. William McTaggart (1836-1910). Hunterian Art Gallery/ArtUK Gift from Mrs Annie Dunlop, widow of George B. Dunlop, 1951Figure 4. The Seashore (Sur la plage). Eugene Louis Boudin (1824-1898) Hunterian Art Gallery, University of Glasgow/ArtUK. Gift from Annie Dunlop, widow of George B. Dunlop, 1951Figure 5. Evening Thoughts, 1864. Robert Inerarity Herdman (1869-1888). Presented to the National Galleries of Scotland by Mrs. Annie Dunlop from the estate of George B. Dunlop, 1951. (ArtUK)Figure 6. Loch Katrine. John Lavery (1856-1941). National Galleries of Scotland /ArtUK. Presented by Mrs Annie Dunlop from the estate of George B. Dunlop, 1951
Glasgow Herald, 26 March 1973. This is from an obituary which also claims erroneously that she was born in Strathaven and attended the Glasgow High School for Girls.
Close, Rob, FSA (Scot) Ayrshire Notes No. 2018/1 Spring 2018 ISSN 1474-3, Ayrshire Archaeological & Natural History Society (pub.) in association with Ayrshire Federation of Historical Societies
Frontispiece of Calendar of Papal Letters to Scotland of Clement VII of Avignon, 1378-1394, Scottish History Society
The Apostolic Camera and Scottish Benefices, 1418 – 1488 Humphrey Milford, OUP (pub) for St Andrew’s University 1934
Scotland’s People, Marriage Certificate
Ewan Elizabethet al. The Biographical Dictionary of Scottish Women from the earliest times to 2004. Edinburgh University Press, 2007
St. Andrew’s University Archives
Ewan Elizabethet al. The Biographical Dictionary of Scottish Women from the earliest times to 2004. Edinburgh University Press, 2007
Scotland’s People, Death Certificate
Glasgow Herald, 24 March 1973
Close, Rob, FSA (Scot) Ayrshire Notes No. 2018/1 Spring 2018 ISSN 1474-3, Ayrshire Archaeological & Natural History Society (pub.) in association with Ayrshire Federation of Historical Societies
George Brown Dunlop was born on 24 November 1876 at Witch Road, Kilmarnock. His parents were George Dunlop, a reporter, and Annie Roxburgh who had married in Kilmarnock on 14 October 1869. 1 By 1881 the family had moved to 78 Titchfield Street, Kilmarnock. George aged four had two older siblings, Annie R. born 1872, and James W. born 1873 and a younger sister Helen Jane born 1878. 2
In 1891 the family was living at 82 Titchfield Street, Kilmarnock. George was now aged fourteen and a scholar. 3 By 1901 George had become an ‘assistant publisher’ living with the same family members apart from James. 4 George Dunlop senior died in 1909 5 and with Annie Dunlop now head, the family moved to 19 Portland Road, Kilmarnock. In the 1911 census, George was thirty-four, single and a ‘publisher – employer’. His sister Helen was also living with them. 6 George’s mother, Annie Dunlop died the same year. 7
From 1915 to 1935, George was the proprietor/occupier of a house at 44 Portland Road, Kilmarnock 8 probably remaining there until 23 August 1938 when he married Annie Isabella Cameron (qv) at Juniper Green in Edinburgh. 9 The couple then moved to Dunselma in Fenwick about five miles from Kilmarnock.
George Dunlop senior was for many years the editor/partner of the Kilmarnock Standard newspaper which was founded 1863. George became its second editor in 1878. and the following year he formed a business partnership with William Drennan to form the firm of Dunlop and Drennan publishers of, among other things, the Kilmarnock Standard. George was highly respected as an editor and as a historian. He was a founder member of the international Burns Federation.10 When he died in 1909 George junior succeeded him initially as a partner and then as head of the firm. During his tenure he appears to have been able to maintain the prestige and standards of the paper so that it had a reputation as one of the best provincial weeklies in Scotland. 11
Away from work George Dunlop had a great interest in art and was for a time vice-president of the Kilmarnock Art Club. He had an extensive art collection and had a gallery built onto his house at Dunselma in Fenwick to display it to the full. Included in his collection in addition to those artists mentioned above were works by William McTaggart the elder and Joseph Crawhall. It was reputed that his collection of works by D. Y. Cameron (a close friend) was the largest in the country. 12 As well as his bequests to Glasgow, he gave several paintings to Kilmarnock which are now displayed at the Dick Institute. He also donated each year the Kilmarnock Academy dux prize for art. 13
Another of George Dunlop’s interest was chess. He was a leading member of the Kilmarnock Chess Club and a past president. He was also honorary president of the Ayrshire Chess Association to whom he gifted a ‘beautiful trophy’. 14
Like his father before him, George was an elder in the Portland Road Church and a generous contributor to church funds. When he moved to Fenwick, he became associated with the church there. He was a major shareholder in Kilmarnock Football Club and an avid supporter rarely missing one of the club’s matches. 15
George Brown Dunlop died at his home, Dunselma, on 11 October 1950. After a service at Portland Road Church, he was buried in Kilmarnock cemetery. 16 A provision in his will was that Dunselma was to be given to the Church of Scotland for use as an Eventide Home. This was completed in 1956 although his wife continued to live there.
“Mr Dunlop was […] the possessor of an extensive library, which included a considerable number of volumes of Ayrshire interest, many of which had been passed on to him by his father.” Following his death his widow Annie Isabella Dunlop (1897–1973), presented the University of Glasgow with a collection of 170 volumes of English and Scottish literature from his library. 17
After being donated to Glasgow, the painting Blue Flax by E. A. Hornel was put on display in Glasgow City Chambers. It remained there for over twenty years until 1994 when it was stolen. At that time, it was valued at £100,000 but it was felt that it would have been almost impossible to sell. 1 The painting was later recovered having been left in a telephone box,
Figure 1. George Grant Blair from The Bailie Cartoon Supplement 16 September 1924.
Not all donor stories are grand ones. Some donations are large, some small but sometimes even the smallest of stories can give an insight into a life well lived within a community.
George Grant Blair was born in Karachi, India in 1859. His mother was Letitia Blair who was born in Bombay. His father was John Blair, an officer in the Indian Army. George was the oldest child of six and in 1871 the family was living in Dollar, where George and his siblings attended Dollar Academy. There is no record of the father in the census, so it is possible that he continued to serve as a soldier in India. (1)
George attended the school until 1875-76, by which time he would have been 16 or 17. The remaining family members had left the school by 1879-80 and did not appear in the Dollar census of 1881. According to Dollar’s archives, the family paid fees up to 1875-76. In 1876-77 the three youngest brothers are on the list of Free Scholars. To be a Free Scholar at Dollar, the family had to be resident in the town for at least three years and the family income had to be below a certain level. Apparently a lot of families from all over the UK came to Dollar because the fees were low and they would have a chance of a free education if the family fell on hard times. It is possible to speculate that around 1875/76 the family experienced some hardship which led the younger boys to become free scholars and which may have precipitated George and his younger brother Henry leaving the school. (2)
The Baillie, in the “Men You Know” Column (3), mentions that George, after leaving school, undertook some preliminary business training in Glasgow. The same column confirms George’s father’s occupation as an officer of the Indian Army. George, after his training in Glasgow, became a purser on McCallum Ferries, where he worked for forty years.
McCallum Ferries was the forerunner of Caledonian MacBrayne, which serves the Hebrides to the present day. Martin Orme and John McCallum ran two separate ferries to the Hebrides. They operated two steamships, the Dunara Castle and the Hebrides. From 1877 these ships operated a summer sailing from Glasgow to Village Bay on St Kilda. This service operated until 1939, although St Kilda was evacuated in 1930. The company also served most of the other Hebridean islands and supported the Hebridean communities living there. Eventually the two companies merged into one, which was taken over by MacBrayne’s in 1948. (4)
According to the Baillie, although George Grant Blair had no Hebridean connections, after forty years sailing around the islands he was “in person, in sympathy and sentiment a Hebridean among Hebrideans.” The article states that George Blair became a Gaelic speaker who embraced the culture of the Hebrides and knew the history and the people of the islands well……He sings their songs and he speaks their language. He tells their stories and he voices their needs. ” The writer also comments on his universal appeal to others. “ there is scarcely a shieling on the islands… in which he is not known and deservedly popular and there is certainly no country seat…in which he in person is unfamiliar to the residential tenant or laird. “ He was chosen for the “Men You Know“ column “because he is a first rate fellow; the singer of a capital song and a first rate teller of a rattling good tale; because he is a genial and kindly host and the staunchest of friends; because he is an efficient and enthusiastic officer, and because he is at heart in sympathy with the finest things of the people among who he has moved so long – their literature, their music and their arts.”
The National Library of Scotland Archive has a short film of the McCallum ferry “Hebrides” touring round the islands of Scotland, ending with a visit to St Kilda. George Blair is seen briefly at the beginning of this film, shot between 1923 and 1928, which gives some indication of ferry travel (and island living) in those days.(5)
George Grant Blair died on the 27 November 1956 in Glasgow, aged 97. He left a picture of himself to Kelvingrove, a picture of a man who came from one side of the world to another and found a niche for himself in the most remote parts of Scotland.
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’.
Figure 2. ‘The Soldier’ by Rupert Brooke. British Library, Creative Commons, (CC BY-NC)
On 16 October 1914 John Carson was made Acting Staff Paymaster and in January 1915 he joined the 1st 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.
Agnes Janet Richmond was born to David Richmond and his wife Bethia on 29 March 1871 (1) then living at 7 Newark Drive Kinning Park. She was a twin and her brother was James Alexander Richmond (2). His birth is found in the statutory register of births but hers is not.
She lived at home until her marriage. In 1891 the family are at 53 Albert Drive.(3)
On 25 July 1906, she married John Fairlie .(4) He was a mechanical engineer and came from a family of Indian merchants. She was his second wife. There are no children of the second marriage. Both her father and her husband- to- be made Wills (5 ) (6 ) which effectively ensured that she would inherit from her father but not from her husband since there were children and heirs from his first marriage.
When Sir David Richmond died on 15 January 1908 Agnes and her mother inherited money from the estate.(7)
Agnes and her husband would appear to have spent time in Lamlash on the Isle of Arran and were benefactors of the Lamlash Parish Church (8).There is no evidence that they were permanent residents in Arran. Agnes Fairlie donated a stained-glass window by Andrew Rigby Gray in memory of her father.(9) In 1913, her husband gave a church bell in Agnes’ honour.(10) In 1934 she gave the organ to the church in memory of the Reverend Peter Robertson.(11) John Fairlie died on 19 May 1921. (12)
Agnes died on 10 April 1946 (13) at 61 Clevedon Drive and in her will she donated a painting of her father by John Singer Sargent to Glasgow. Another painting hangs in the City Chambers.
Sir David Richmond (1843-1906)
David Richmond was born in Deanston Perthshire on 14 July 1843, the ninth of ten children to James King Richmond and his wife, Mary Lauchlan .(14) His parents moved to Glasgow when he was an infant He was educated at St James Parish School then Glasgow High School. He is also recorded as having attended the Mechanics Institute. (15) .In his teenage years he was sent to Australia because he had poor health and he spent two years there. (16) He returned in 1868 to set up a tube works, which was located at Aytoun Court in Glasgow.
In 1879, he joined the Glasgow Town Council representing the 14th ward (17). His most important contributions as Lord Provost were the building of the Peoples Palace in 1899 (18) and hosting the laying of the foundation stone of the Kelvingrove Art Gallery and Museum by The Duke of York in 1897.(19) This is commemorated in Kelvingrove.
Figure 3. Kelvingrove. Photograph F. Dryburgh.
Figure 4. Kelvingrove. Photograph. F. Dryburgh.
He was greatly involved in the expansion of electricity through the city and in initiating building of several public baths and fire stations . (20) He also supervised the establishment of Tollcross Park (21) and Richmond Park (named in his honour). (22) He was knighted in 1899 by Queen Victoria.(23)
Figure 5. The grave of Sir David Richmond in Glasgow Necropolis. Wikipaedia Creative Commons
By 1900, his company had expanded and had premises at both Broomloan Road in Govan at 35 Rose Street in the Hutchesontown district. Sir David was then living at Broompark in Pollokshields. (24) After he retired he served as Chairman of the Clyde Trust.
He died at 53 Albert Drive in Glasgow on 15 January 1906 and his heir was his son James (25). Agnes and her mother inherited money from the estate. He is buried in the Glasgow Necropolis. 26)
References
Ancestry.co.uk
National Records of Scotland Statutory Births 1871
National Records of Scotland census1891
National Records of Scotland Statutory marriages
John Fairlie Glasgow Sheriff Court Wills 1921
Sir David Richmond Glasgow Sheriff Court Wills 1906
Ibid
Homepage.ntlworld.cm/morritek/lamlashchurch
Ibid
Ibid
Ibid
National Records of Scotland Statutory Deaths 1921
National Records of Scotland Statutory Deaths 1946
Grace’s Guide to British Industrial History
Ibid
Ibid
Who’s Who in Glasgow Mitchell Library, Glasgow
The Peoples Palace Glasgow Website
The Glasgow Story
Grace’s Guide to British Industrial History
Tollcross Park web site
Richmond Park web site
Grace’s Guide to British Industrial History
National Records of Scotland census 1901
National Records of Scotland Statutory Deaths 1906
The William Graham Collection consists of approximately 3000 glass negatives, 450 lantern slides bought and donated by Thomas Holt Hutchison in 1916 and originally one and now two volumes of prints 180 of which were bought by purchase in 19121 and others donated later by Mrs Graham and it is thought by other members of the Graham family. 2 The collection is a unique photographic record of different areas of Scotland especially of Glasgow and the includes many buildings which have long been demolished, eminent Glasgow men of the time as well as slums and old stone carvings and photographs of ordinary citizens .3
William Graham was born in Glasgow on February 8 1845 .4 His father, William, was a ‘railway servant’ 5 and his mother was Elizabeth Hamilton. 6 The family home was Little Hamilton Street (Figure 1) off George Square between Frederick Street and John Street.
He was educated at St Paul’s Parish School in Stirling Street (Figure 1) off the High Street and later at St Andrew’s Parish School in Greendyke Street.
His first job as a young boy was that of carter’s boy employed by J&P Cameron. William changed occupations several times and was variously a printer working for a well-known Glasgow Printers Bell and Bain, a cooper with Mathers Wine Merchant in Queen Street, a fireman with the Edinburgh to Glasgow Railway and an engine driver with the North British Railway Company (see Figure 2). 7
There is also some evidence that somewhere along the line he was also an ‘iron turner’ possibly around the 1870s.8
William was first married to Mary Morton possibly in 1868 9 with whom he had at two children, Elizabeth, who was born at 16 Colgrain Terrace in Springburn in 186910 and William who was born in 1871.11 Eight days after young William’s birth his mother died of puerperal fever. 12 In 1873 William remarried. His second wife was Catherine Wilson and it is on the marriage certificate that the occupation ‘iron turner’ is recorded. Catherine was a domestic servant at the time of her marriage which appears to have taken place at 131 New City Road in Glasgow, the location of her father’s grocery business. 13
According to the 1881 census William, Catherine and twelve year old Elizabeth were living at 29 Portland Street. This was probably during William’s time with Mathers Wine Merchants .14 There is no mention of son William so perhaps he did not survive long after his mother’s death. By the time of the 1891 census Catherine and William were living at 4 Colgrain Terrace in Springburn and William’s occupation was that of ‘engine driver’ with the North British Railway Company. 15 After a series of strikes in 1890-1891 William was sacked from his job and went into business as a photographer ,having been an enthusiastic amateur for many years. He set up a studio in Vulcan street in Springburn. 16 The couple had moved to 468 Springburn Road by the time of the 1901 census in which William’s occupation was described as ‘photographic artist’ and which remained the family home.
William was a friend of another amateur photographer ,Duncan Brown ,who had acquired a reputation for his work in the 1850s and 1860s 17(see Fig 2).
William was a freemason and a founding member of the Old Glasgow Club which was founded in 1900 and which met in the Trades Hall in Glassford Street. 18 The aim of the club was to inform members of Glasgow’s history, architecture etc in the form of papers presented by members and guests. William contributed himself. For example on 21 February 1910 he gave a talk illustrated with his photographs entitled ‘Inscribed Sculptured Stones in and around Glasgow with Lime-Light Illustrations.’ 19 He had friends in Glasgow’s artistic community for example watercolourist William Young RSW (1845-1916). They often went for walks together and Graham took photographs while Young painted. The photograph of William Graham (Figure 3 below) was taken on a walking trip in September 1909 to the Peel of Drumry near Drumchapel. 20
In 1914 in a letter to the Club Secretary William suggested the Club might acquire ‘certain photographs taken by him of Old Glasgow Buildings and other items of interest…’.However William had died before this offer could be discussed. Whether ‘acquire’ meant purchase is unknown. 21
There is little information as to how financially successful was William’s business . His talents as a photographer certainly did not go unnoticed by the press . The Weekly Herald reported in February 1913, ‘Mr William Graham, photographer,…is well known in the city…his pictorial stories have been frequently called on to supply material for illustrated lectures and they are always available for the newspaper press of the city’. 22 We know he had financial dealings dealings with George Outram & Co, owners of the Glasgow Herald, as he took a photograph of a cheque from Outram’s for photographs he had taken of the 1911 Glasgow International Exhibition. 23 There is little information about William or Catherine and their day- to- day life but William Graham will always be remembered for his hundreds of photographic prints and plates which form the William Graham Collection .
William Graham died at the age of 69 on July 22 1914 at his home in Springburn of arterial sclerosis. 24 Catherine lived until 1921 and died at the family home at 468 Springburn Road. On her death certificate it is stated that Catherine was the widow of ‘William Graham iron turner’ with no mention of her husband’s photographic career or his railway years. 25
The Hutchison family came from Perthshire. Our donor’s great-grandfather Thomas Holt(1760-1855) was a tailor who in 1784 married Betty Miller, daughter of a mason. 26 Among their children was Joseph (1790-1854) who by 1835 was running a ‘comb warehouse ‘ at 36 High Street in Glasgow. 27 This business had expanded into that of ,’comb manufacturer, jeweller, hardware merchant and importer of foreign goods, wholesale’ by 1841. and was at 25 St Andrews Street near St Andrews Square. 28
By 1851 Joseph was living at 35 St Andrews Square with his wife Elizabeth ,formerly McIntyre,(1790-1865) and four children of whom John was born in 1822, and our donor’s father Peter in 1834. Joseph is described in the 1851 census as a merchant who employed 23 men. 29
Thomas Holt Hutchison (THH) (1861-1918)
Early Life and Education
Our donor was born on 19 February 1861 at 211 Sauchiehall Street, Glasgow the home of his parents Peter Hutchison and Marion Paterson Hutchison(or Holt).30Thomas was the eldest of five surviving children. Elizabeth was born around 1863, Joseph around 1865, Jeanette around 1867 and Marion around1870.31 By 1865 the family home was 15 Charing Cross which was off Sauchiehall Street at the junction of Woodside Crescent and Sauchiehall Street but which today has been replaced by the M8 motorway complex. 32
The family had moved to Berkley Street by the time of the 1871 census in which THH was reported to be ‘a scholar’ .33
His obituary states that THH had his early education at the old Albany Academy and then at Glasgow Academy. 34 Albany Academy, a private school for boys, was opened around 1871 at 328 Sauchiehall Street 35 and then in 1876 moved to 44 West Cumberland Street( later changed to Ashley Street) off Woodlands Road to a new school building designed by architects H&D Barclay which was described as ‘More like a city mansion than a school.’36 Hence the reference to the ‘old Albany Academy’. The building still stands today and is a Community Volunteer Centre. The headmaster was James N. McRaith, formerly an assistant teacher of English at Glasgow Academy (see below).37
THH was enrolled at Glasgow Academy in Elmbank Crescent, aged twelve ,for the 1873-4 academic year in Class 4L so he probably attended Albany Academy before it was moved. 38 Glasgow Academy was a private school founded in 1845 by, ‘a number of gentlemen connected with the Free Church’ one of whom was the Reverend Robert Buchanan .39 The building was designed by Charles Wilson and situated in Elmbank Street off Sauchiehall Street.40 These premises were opened in 1847 but the school was moved to Kelvinbridge in 1878 after the Elmbank premises were sold to the Glasgow School Board. During our donor’s time at Glasgow Academy the rector was Donald Morrison MA LLD who was rector from 1861 to 1899. Although originally a boys only school it is now co-educational. 41 THH remained at Glasgow Academy for three academic years while the family were living in nearby Berkley Street and left in 1896 at the age of fifteen. 42
After leaving school THH travelled and studied in France and Greece before entering the family ship- owning business of J&P Hutchison. 43 The family had moved to 3 Lilybank Terrace in Hillhead by 1881 and this remained the Glasgow home of THH’s parents and where THH lived until his marriage and where his mother Marion died in 1888.44
Like many young men of the time THH joined one of the many volunteer companies which were founded after 1859 at the end of the Crimean War when the British Government became concerned about home defence at times when most of the regular army was abroad fighting various wars.4 5 These volunteer companies underwent several amalgamations and name changes in the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries according to the various government initiatives of the time. We do know that THH joined the 19th Lanarkshire Corps as a 2nd Lieutenant in 1879,46 was promoted to Captain in the renamed 5th Lanarkshire Regiment(2nd Northern Company) in 188247 resigned his commission in 188448 only to be made Captain again in April 1885.49 This regiment eventually became the 5th(City of Glasgow) Battalion the Highland Light Infantry50 in which THH served for eight years.
Business Career
According to the 1881 census THH ,aged 20, was working as a shipping clerk, presumably in the family business of J &P Hutchison. At this time the business was based at 69 Great Clyde Street. 51 J&P Hutchison was founded around 1869 by our donor’s uncle John Hutchison who was joined in the enterprise by his brother Peter, our donor’s father. 52 The company’s ships traded with Ireland ,France and Portugal as well as around the coast of Scotland. 53 When Peter Hutchison died in 1899 the company had majority shareholdings in approximately thirteen ships. 54 THH became sole partner in the company in September 1911.55 In 1919 the company was taken over by The Royal Steam Packet Company and later became part of the Moss Hutchison Line. 56
THH had many other business interests and investments including shares in the Caledonian Railway Company, J&P Coats Ltd, The Lanarkshire Steel Company Co Ltd, The Ailsa Shipbuilding Company of which he was a director and The Galway Granite Quarry and Marble Works Ltd to name but a few. 57 The Hutchison family also owned several tenement properties in Glasgow which were rented out for example several tenements around Dumbarton Road in Partick. 58
Public Service
THH , following his father Peter’s example, served on Glasgow City Council. 59 After many invitations in 1910 THH agreed to stand for and was elected one of the councillors for Park Ward and in 1915 became a Bailie.60 Possibly his most valuable contribution was during his chairmanship of the Libraries Committee where he was instrumental in setting up the Commercial Library, the first such library in Britain outside London which was open to the public. The idea was first suggested in October 1913.61
Figure 10. Thomas Holt Hutchison. The Bailie. Men You Know No 2302 November 29 1916. By permission National Library of Scotland.
The first Commercial Library was to use part of the Stirling’s Library at 21 Miller Street, which had formerly housed the Mitchell Library before it was moved to its current premises in North Street ,Charing Cross. The City Librarian was encouraged to ‘utilise as far as possible furniture, books ,periodicals etc already available in the City Libraries and to add such further books etc and minor fittings as necessary’.62 The City Librarian had visited the London Chamber of Commerce , the Imperial Institute and the Guildhall Library for information and assistance in setting up Glasgow’s Public Commercial Library. 63 A booklet was produced to describe the library and its function. Four thousand copies were printed at a cost of £22.64
The Commercial Library was formally opened by the Lord Provost on 3 November 1916 ,’ with a large and representative attendance of businessmen’.65 The library was intended to serve the needs of local industry and commerce with ‘business directories, telephone directories with world- wide coverage, book stock on company law, economics, insurance, taxation, trade publications, patents and trade -marks for the UK and overseas and newspapers and statistical publications’. 66 One of the councillors paid tribute to Bailie Hutchison’s ‘zeal and energy…in helping to establish and develop this Commercial Library’. 67
There were 15,000 enquirers and visitors in the first few months and it was decided more books and other materials were needed .68 By March 1917 all four thousand copies of the Commercial Library pamphlet had been distributed and the Libraries Committee agreed that a second edition be published. 69 In 1955 the Commercial Library, along with Stirling’s Library, was moved to to the former Royal Bank of Scotland building in Queen Street which had been bought by Glasgow Corporation in 1949 and remained there until its closure in 1983 when its function was transferred to the Mitchell Library. 70 THH was also responsible for the building and opening of Langside Library which was the first in Glasgow to experiment with the open access method and which proved to be such a success that the system was adopted throughout the city, overcoming the prediction in some quarters that the result would be “all sorts of sacrilege, destruction and even theft. 71
THH also took a deep interest in the Glasgow Trades House and in September 1917 was elected Deacon Convenor of the Incorporation of Hammermen. He was treasurer of the Hillhead United Free Church ‘and gave valued service to several philanthropic institutions’.In 1915 he was elected to the Magistrates Bench. 72 He was a well-respected magistrate and councillor and remained on Glasgow Corporation Council until 1918.73
Family and Home Life.
In 1890 THH married Florence Riley at the Church of Scotland in Uddingston. Florence was the daughter of James Riley, general manager of the Steel Company of Scotland whose home was Brooklands Villa in Uddingston.74 The couple began married life at 4 Windsor Quadrant(now Kirklee Quadrant) in Kelvinside where they remained until around 1897-1898.75 The building was a red sandstone tenement block which was built in the later 1890s 76 and rent was £105 per year plus £20 feu duty.77 During this period Florence gave birth to a son, James Riley in 1893 and a daughter Marion, known as Maisie, born in 1895. 78 The Hutchisons moved to 16 Crown Terrace in Dowanhill, around 1898- 1899 where a second son Thomas Holt was born in 1899.79 16 Crown Terrace was one of a row of terraced houses designed by James Thomson and built around 1880 consisting of two floors ,an attic and a basement. 8016 Crown Terrace remained their Glasgow home until the death of THH in 1918.81
The Hutchisons also had a country home. Sometime before June 1910 82 the Hutchison’s had become tenants of Cranley House and Estate near Carstairs, which was rented along with two other shooting estates. One can presume that THH enjoyed shooting, a fashionable pastime among the rich at the time. Cranley was owned by the Monteith family. 83 The Hutchisons appear to have played a full part in the local community with many references in local newspapers to participation in local events such as Mrs Hutchison’s attendance at the Carstairs Horticultural Society Flower Show 84 and THH’s participation in local political meetings such as that to support the prospective Unionist Candidate for South Lanark in November 1912.85
World War One
THH continued his involvement in the Volunteer Movement during WW1 and was a Major commanding the Third Battalion Lanarkshire Volunteers attending such events as a Parade Inspection at Lanark .86 He was also involved in the formation of the Biggar Company of the Third Lanarkshire Volunteers. 87
The Lanarkshire Volunteer Regiment was part of the World War One equivalent of what was to become the Home Guard during World War Two. The Volunteer Movement had been replaced in the Haldane Act of 1908 by the Territorial Movement, with each volunteer regiment being attached to a regiment of the Regular Army. When World War One broke out many of the Territorial Regiments went to fight with the Regular Army leaving the Home Front with little defence. At the outbreak of the war there had been calls from those under or over the age of enlistment or those unable to enlist for other valid reasons to form volunteer battalions to be trained for home defence in case of invasion. These ‘civilian defence companies’ were organised all over the country and were largely self -financing through membership fees. At first their value was not officially recognised by the War Office as it was thought these civil defence companies would deter recruits from enlisting in the regular Army. However it was gradually realised that these men could carry out duties which would free up trained troops. The Central Association of Volunteer Training Corps (VTC) was set up in London to coordinate these civilian defence groups with a similar body in Scotland. There was much public and press pressure to have official recognition of the VTC. 88
The Scottish Volunteer Association (SVA )was formed in the spring of 1915 under the presidency of Lord Roseberry and was officially recognised by the War Office in May 1915. The aim of the SVA was to co-ordinate and supervise the volunteer movement in Scotland. A communication was sent to Lord Provosts, Provosts of all burghs in Scotland and to the Lord Lieutenants of all counties to bring all the volunteer forces within their respective areas in touch with the new organisation. 89
In March 1916 due to the introduction of conscription and much public pressure the dormant 1863 Volunteers Act was reinvigorated and regulations were drawn up by the War Office to organise the Volunteer Training Corps which was to be organised strictly on a county level and administered by the Lord Lieutenant of each county. Recruits had to be 17 with ‘no alien to be enrolled’. Commissions were to be temporary and the VTC were eventually allowed to wear the khaki uniform with a red armband inscribed with the letters ‘G R’. So at last the former civilian defence organisations became volunteer regiments named after the county concerned. The demands upon the services of the VTC grew and they were used for example to guard munitions factories, on the rail network and to bring in the harvest.90
The VTC trained regularly in Drill Halls, took part in many shooting competitions and had to attend summer training camps, for example at Lanark Race Course.91 Some members of the public did make jokes rather unkindly about the VTC referring to the ‘GR’ as meaning ‘Grandpa’s Regiment’ or ‘Government Rejects’. But by July 1918 they were being issued Enfield Rifles and Hotchkiss Mk 1 machine guns by the War Office. 92
Florence Hutchison, along with her daughter Maisie, also contributed to the war effort from Cranley by being one of the founders of the local Red Cross Society. They helped to recruit seventy volunteers who knitted socks and other garments for soldiers. 93 In 1915 they played a role in the National Egg Collection, an appeal for one million eggs ‘for our wounded soldiers and sailors’. The Hamilton Advertiser reported Mrs Hutchison’s thanks to local farmers for contributing 404 eggs which were sent to London. 94 They also entertained convalescing soldiers at Cranley. 95 Maisie became secretary of the Red Cross Society and her work was greatly valued. 96 She married Lieutenant J. E. Glynn Percy at Carstairs Parish Church in March 1918.97
THH’s two sons, James Riley Holt and Thomas Holt also played their part in the war. James Riley Holt obtained a commission in the Lanarkshire Yeomanry at the outbreak of the war and was later attached to the 19th Lancers in France after which he transferred to the 17th Cavalry in India . He also had a distinguished career in World War Two serving with the French Resistance and was awarded the DSO. After the war he became Conservative MP for Glasgow Central and was awarded a baronetcy. 98 The younger son, Thomas Holt, had to wait until March 1918 when, aged 18, he joined the Royal Naval Air Service as a Probationary Flight Officer. 99
The J&P Hutchison shipping fleet also played its part by transporting Red Cross goods and ambulances to France free of freight charges 100 and suffered casualties with at least three ships being lost. The Chloris and the Dartmoor appear to have been lost or badly damaged as compensation was paid by the British Government. 101 The Chloris had been torpedoed off Flamborough Head on 27 July 1918 with the loss of three lives including that of the master.102 The Atalanta, sailing from Galway to Glasgow with a cargo which included coal, timber and scrap iron, was torpedoed off the coast of Connemara on 14 March 1915 but the crew of sixteen who were all from Cushendall in County Antrim managed to escape by lifeboat. 103 The ship ,though taking, water was towed to harbour and the damage later repaired .104
Thomas Holt Hutchison died at Cranley on 22 June 1918 aged fifty -seven of pernicious anaemia 105 so did not live to see the end of the war. The HamiltonAdvertiser reported that his death ,’ was not unexpected ,none the less it was a surprise to the community’. At the beginning of the proceedings of the Northern Police Court in Glasgow just after his death THH was paid a tribute by Bailie John Bryce who referred to his death as ,’a great loss to the city’ 106 THH was buried at the Glasgow Necropolis on 25 July 1918.107
In 1921 Mrs Hutchison and the Hutchison Family presented an organ to Carstairs Parish Church in memory of Thomas Holt Hutchison. 108
Notes and References
1. Glasgow Corporation Minutes 10/12/1912 p. 312
2. William Graham Collection. Mitchell Library Special Collections
Thanks to the following for the help given in the production of this report:-
Staff of the Glasgow City Archives and Special Collections at the Mitchell Library Glasgow, the National Library of Scotland, Glasgow Academy Archives and Glasgow School of Art Archives.
Ellen Stewart Carrick was the daughter of John Carrick. She lived on private means all her life. She donated a painting of her father John Carrick by Sir Daniel Mcnee to Glasgow Art Galleries. On 7 April 1920 the Parks Committee accepted the donation.(1)
Ellen Carrick (or Helen or Nellie) was born on 11 August 1857 at Dundonald, Ayrshire to John Carrick and his wife Jane Stewart.(2) She was the youngest of 7 children.(3.) _There is little to learn about her early life which is not covered by her father’s history.Until his death she lived at home. In his Will she inherited the contents of the family home at 5 Park Quadrant and the rents of the properties at number 5 and number6 foras long as she was unmarried. (4 ) She did not marry and during her life time she moved to England and can be found at different addresses sometimes living with relatives. In the 1911 census she is at the home of her sister, Jane Thomson, at North Gate, Regents Park, London.(5 ) In 1918, she donated some of her father’s effects to Glasgow museums from an address in Hasselmere,Surrey.(6 ) In 1920 she is living at 10 Promenade Terrace in Harrogate from where she donated Sir Daniel MacNee’s painting of her father.(7). Again in 1926 she gave more of her father’s. collection of coins and other objects from an address in Southbourne Rd. Bournemouth.(8 ) She died on the 14 March 1933 in Abbey Road Marylebone.London.(9 ) There is a separate stone in the Necropolis,(10) Glasgow erected by a niece which reads:
For the daughters of John Carrick. Ellen Stewart Carrick and Marion Dunn Carrick,.wife of Thomas Chalmers.
John Carrick, (1819-1890) City Architect
John Carrick was born at Larbert on 6 May 1819 to William and Marion Carrick. His father was a hotel keepe..(11) He lived in Denny as a child. At the age of 12 he entered the office of John Bryce, Architect in Glasgow as an apprentice. (12) When he had served his time, he went into partnership with James Brown and the firm was Brown and Carrick.(13 ) In 1844 he became Superintendent of Streets in Glasgow. In 1854 he was appointed Superintendent of Public Works and then City Architect. (14 ) In 1866 he developed and became responsible for the City Improvement Trust Schemes.(15) In this position he played a large part in the layout and redevelopment of Glasgow which forms much of the city centre as we know it today.
He was involved in the planning of many of the city’s landmarks among these the City Halls, what is now formally known as The Merchant City and the relocation of the Maclellan Arch on Glasgow Green.(16 ) When the foundation stone for the New Municipal Buildings was laid in 1883, he had a prominent position behind the Lord Provost and the City Council in the grand procession which went from Infirmary Square to George Square.(17 )
By 1861(18 ) he is living at 5 Park Quadrant in the Park District and ,from his will, (19 )we know that he owned one other house there at number 6. In 1871(20 ) he was living at Arran View in Prestwick.
He died in 1890 (21 ) and is buried in the Necropolis in Glasgow with his father and mother. (22) His gravestone reads:
In memory of MARION DUNN wife of William Carrick died September27 1843 aged 45 years WILLIAM CARRICK died April6 1853 aged 56 years JANE STEWART wife of John Carrick born December 5 1817 died November 6 1836 JOHN CARRICK born May 6 1812 died May 20 1890 for forty six years City Architect and Master of Works of this city SAMUEL CARRICK second son of John Carrick born September 30 1848 died June 17 1893
.As befits a man who by the nature of his profession shaped the character and geography of Glasgow and particularly that of the Merchant City there are many sources relating to his achievements. Preeminent among these are articles in The Dictionary of Scottish Architects.,(23 ) and in Glasgow City of Sculpture (24)which within a detailed account of his life list all of the buildings in which he had an interest. Articles in The Merchant City Trail (25 ) and the Bailie (26 ) all Fserve to underline his importance as a Glasgow citizen and are useful for further reading.
Glasgow Museums holds a bronze sculpture and a marble bust by Pittendreigh McGillivray. (27 ) He is also portrayed in the painting of Queen Victoria’s visit to the 1888 Exhibition by John Lavery. (28)
Figure 1. George Robb, Carting Superintendent, Caledonian Railways – The Railway Magazine Sep 1907
George Robb came from an old family of carters who provided a service transporting goods to many towns in south west Scotland, at a time when the railway network was in its infancy.(1) The Robb family was prominent in the Kilmarnock area, where the earliest Scottish railway to be incorporated by private Act of Parliament was built between Kilmarnock and Troon in 1808. As the railway system developed, George moved to Glasgow where he joined the Caledonian Railway Company and progressed to become Superintendent of their Carting Department.(2)
Figure 2. Typical Goods cart early 20th century – The Railway Magazine Sep 1907
George was born in December 1833 in Kilmarnock to James, Innkeeper of The Wheatsheaf in Kilmarnock and a goods carrier between Glasgow and Carlisle, and Elizabeth Hutchison. George was educated at Kilmarnock Academy and left school to work with his uncle, Charles Robb at his carting business in Glasgow, based in Brunswick Street before moving to West Nile Street. (3) George succeeded to the business on his uncle’s death. George is recorded as living at 102 West Nile Street by 1861 and described as a railway agent. (4) By 1871 his address is 223 Hope Street and he was recorded as Carting Superintendent for Caledonian Railway. (5)
Carting services were widely publicised in local newspapers. In 1837/38, for example, J & W Robb (possibly related to George) advertised carrier services from Dumfries to Sanquhar and Thornhill ‘from opposite Mr Hairsten’s, High Street, every friday’. (6) All kinds of goods were carted, including alcohol. When George became Carting Superintendent he assumed responsibility for the efficient management of the service and checks were made to ensure that goods arrived at their destination intact. At one time carriers from Glasgow were met halfway to Kilmarnock by carters from that town. On one occasion it was discovered that there was ‘a great leakage in strong waters somewhere on the road. He (George Robb) rode to the rendezvous by devious hidden paths, and found the men indulging freely in the wine of the country. There was no more illicit jollification on Mearns moor’.(7)
The railway system in Scotland developed rapidly in the early nineteenth century. The Caledonian Railway was established by Act of Parliament in 1845 as a result of the absorption and amalgamation of a number of existing lines. By 1866 the Scottish Central and Scottish North Eastern Railways had been absorbed by The Caledonian.(8) Although the need for carting declined as the railways expanded there was still a demand to service the transport of goods between destinations not covered by the railways. The Carting Department of The Caledonian Railway was set up on 1 February 1870 and George was offered the job of managing the Department, which he accepted, and had free reign to organise the business as he felt fit. The Company acquired George’s stud of horses. By 1906 the company ran its own carting services from 55 of its stations and employed 1000 staff and over 1000 horses.(9) George had a renowned knowledge of horses and a reputation for acquiring only the best on the market. He related a story that when he was only ten years old he purchased his first pony, which he sold the following day for a profit of £5. Later in life he exhibited and judged horses at agricultural shows.(10)
One of George’s responsibilities was the purchase of healthy working horses. On 15 April 1881 a John Rankin from Largs sold a bay horse for £68 to George Robb, at the cattle market in Glasgow. On 20 April George wrote to Rankin to advise that the horse was unsound, being a ‘roarer’ ( a condition whereby a deformity in the throat causes the animal to ‘roar’) and should be returned. The case went to court and was found in Robb’s favour.(11)
The railway employed several contractors, Messrs Wordie and Company being one of the most prominent. The firm had been connected with The Caledonian Railway since its inception and had a reputation as being equivalent to the English firm of Messrs Pickfords. At the end of the nineteenth century John Wordie and Peter Wordie, sons of the company’s founder William Wordie, were partners, and worked with George Robb at Caledonian Railway Company in the management of its carting services.(12)
Figure 3. John and Peter Wordie – The Railway Magazine Sep 1907
By 1891 George was living at 17 Scott Street, a dwelling with 11 rooms. Also resident were a house keeper and a domestic servant. The building no longer exists and is replaced by Glasgow School of Art structures.(13)
George died at his home at 17 Scott Street, Glasgow on 27 February 1909 (14) and was interred in his family grave at The High Kirk churchyard in Kilmarnock. Mr Robb was a well known and respected figure and a special train conveyed mourners to his funeral in Kilmarnock. The service was conducted by the Reverend Mr Gunson, minister of Ramshorn Church, Glasgow, formerly St David’s Church, where many prominent Glasgow merchants are interred.(15) George Robb left an estate of almost £80,000 including a bequest ‘to the Kirk Session of The Ramshorn Church the sum of one thousand two hundred pounds, the free annual revenue of which shall be paid to the minister of the church for the time being’, that being the Reverend Gunson at the time. Bequests were also made to friends and business associates including John Wordie and Peter Wordie.(16)
1) The Meet by John Frederick Herring Snr 1795-1865. Herring specialised in painting horses, especially hunting and race horses and his clientele included Queen Victoria.
2) Coming from Church by David Adolf Constant Artz 1837-1890. Artz was a dutch painter who was associated with the Hague School.
Glasgow Museums Art Donors Group 