Articles

         This oil painting was bequeathed by the sitter, David Fortune, of the Scottish Legal Life Assurance Society, 84 Wilson Street. It was received in June 1911.

            David Fortune was born about 1842 in Glasgow. His parents were Helen Brown and David Fortune, a master plumber. It is possible that both his parents died when David was young because in the 1851 census he was with his grandfather, David Fortune, a journeyman plumber, and his grandmother Smollet Renton.¹ (His grandparents had married on 19 June 1818 in Glasgow). ² They were living at 74 Cannon Street, Glasgow along with David`s uncle John Fortune who was 17 and his aunt Smollet Fortune aged 14. David`s parents do not appear in any census. In the 1861 census ³, David`s occupation was ‘printer compositor’. He was now aged 18 and living with his uncle John and his wife Mary at 140 Cumberland Street, Hutchesontown. His grandfather was living with them.

            By 1865, aged 23, David Fortune had become secretary of the Central Working Men’s Club based at 153 Trongate. He had a house at 10 Wellington Street ⁴. While occupying this position, he was instrumental in setting up the first of several industrial exhibitions he was to be involved with. From a retrospective article in The Bailie we are told that:

Mr. David Fortune was the Secretary of the first Industrial Exhibition in
Scotland. It was held under the auspices of the Central Working Men`s
Club, in the present Royal Polytechnic buildings, in the year 1865, and
was opened by the late Duke of Argyll as a Winter Exhibition. Mr.
Fortune was also connected with the Partick and Whiteinch Exhibition
held in the same year. ⁵

 (An earlier edition of The Bailie had demoted him somewhat stating that he was ‘janitor of an industrial exhibition in what is now (1889) the Polytechnic Warehouse’). ⁶ According to the Glasgow Encyclopaedia, The Royal Polytechnic buildings were at 99 Argyll Street and the exhibition (of 1865) had ‘500 exhibits, 400 of which, its placards announced, were by working men’. ⁷        

           The Post Office Directory for 1866-67 lists David Fortune as the ‘manager of an Industrial Museum at 99 Argyll Street with a house at 26 George Street’.

            On 15 March 1866, David Fortune married Ann Webster, a seamstress, at 24 Stockwell Street, Glasgow. In the same year, on 29 November, their first child, George Roy Fortune was born. ⁸ This  occasion gives the first glimpse of David`s passion for the Temperance Movement as the child seems to have been named after George Roy Esq. who, according to a report on the movement ⁹, was a prominent member of the Scottish Temperance League and became its Honorary Director in 1868. The whole family was named as members of the Scottish Temperance League in 1868-69 with George Roy (aged 2) a ‘Juvenile Adherent’. In the report David Fortune is listed among those ‘Gentlemen who have frankly given their occasional services in the advocacy of the cause….their labours have been most abundant and self-denying’. He contributed five shillings in Donations and Subscriptions. (William Collins, the publisher, and future employer of David Fortune, who was also a member, contributed £5).

            The following year, aged 25, David Fortune was appointed to the post of Janitor of Anderson`s University and Keeper of the University Museum. There were 267 applicants for the post with 14 leeted. (Whether significant or not, David Fortune was the first name on the leet). He was appointed on 18 September 1867, with a salary of £60 per annum. In addition, he was to receive a 5% commission on Annual Subscriptions to the University which he was to collect. He was also to occupy the Janitor`s House rent free with water, gas and coal included and free of taxes. He sent his letter of acceptance on 20  September ¹⁰ (Appendix 1).

            In the census of 1871 ¹¹, the family was at 204 George Street (the Janitor`s House). David is described as the ‘Curator of University’. Apart from George Roy, aged 4, there were two other children, Jamie E. (a daughter who probably died young) and Maggie Webster aged 7 months. Another child, Anne Smollett Fortune, had been born on 24 July 1869 ¹² but is not recorded on the census. In the Glasgow Post Office Directories from 1868 to 1872,  David Fortune is listed at the Andersonian University, 204 George Street. He was still pursuing his temperance activities as the following advertisement, which appeared in The Temperance Record of 1871, illustrates:

 Amy Royson`s Resolve, by David Fortune. A New Prize Temperance Tale.
Price, in paper covers, 1s; post free, 14 stamps. In extra cloth
boards, 2s; post free 28 stamps.  Published by John S. Marr and Sons,
Glasgow. ¹³

            According to the Anderson`s University Calendar, David Fortune was Janitor of the University until 1871-2. However, on 21 February 1872 he tendered his resignation in order to take up a ‘new post’. Although his terms of employment stated that he was required to give three months’ notice, he asked to be allowed to relinquish his post within fourteen days and was given permission to leave on 1 March.¹⁴ His ‘new post’ was that of Secretary of the Irish Temperance League (ITL) in Belfast.¹⁵ On 2 June 1873 he communicated an article on The Origin of the Temperance Agitation in Ireland which was published in a volume entitled The Early Heroes of the Temperance Reformation. ¹⁶ ‘He was a very dynamic and effective secretary’ of the League and had the idea of setting up coffee stalls in Belfast ‘for which the ITL is popularly remembered’. ¹⁷

            In 1876 an International Temperance Conference was held in Philadelphia. David Fortune contributed an article The Irish Temperance League which was published in a Memorial Volume. ¹⁸  He left the ITL in 1877 (a departure that was ‘greatly regretted’) and returned to Glasgow to take up a ‘share in the management of the important business of Sir William Collins &Co.’.¹⁹ From 1879 to 1881 he was living at 89 North Frederick Street ²⁰ and according to the census of 1881 he was the ‘foreman of a stationery manufacturer’. There had been an addition to the family – David jnr. who was aged two and born in Glasgow.²¹

Between 1881 and 1886 he became President of the Scottish Legal Life Assurance Society (SLLA).²² It is likely that this was a part-time post as his main occupation was still with William Collins. In the same year he gave evidence to the Select Committee on ‘National Provident Insurance’. ^{23, 24} (Appendix 2) At that time the SLLA had over 30,000 children under the age of five listed as members, but he denied, in his evidence, that child insurance encouraged infanticide or neglect.

            He was now resident at 104 Peel Terrace, Hill Street, Garnethill. As The Bailie commented ‘whenever a decent, hard-working, shoemaker or warehouseman blossoms into a ‘swell’ he chucks his ancient dwelling-place in Monteith Row or North Frederick Street, and travels ‘out West’. ²⁵ The article was bemoaning the exodus from the East-end of Glasgow and the increased prominence in city affairs of the West-end.

            On 25 November 1886 an Industrial Exhibition was opened at the Burnbank Drill Hall and Grounds in Great Western Road. David Fortune was a member of the Executive Committee and Honorary Secretary. Of the members of the Executive Committee, The Bailie commented ‘One and all of these gentlemen, each of whom is a citizen of repute, has wrought with might and main to further the scheme’. ²⁶       

 An advertisement was placed in The Glasgow Herald  advising that there would be ‘Illuminations with Electric Light’, ‘Machinery in Motion’ and ‘Sir Noel Paton`s Choice Works’ etc. etc. The proceeds of the first week and any overall profits were to be given to local charities. An article in the same issue gave a full account of the attractions on offer. ²⁷

            In the Glasgow Post Office Directory of 1888-89 David Fortune is described as ‘manager, Sir William Collins, Sons and Co., Stirling Road’ and ‘President of Scottish Legal Life Assurance’. According to The Bailie the SLLA ‘may be congratulated on the possession of a Chairman (President) whose strong common sense and admirable business faculty has already been of the utmost advantage in their interests’. ²⁸  He was also Chairman of the Congress of Friendly Societies and Director of the Scottish Temperance League. His interest in education was shown when he gave evidence before a Royal Commission on Technical Education.

            David Fortune`s next major project was the East-End Industrial Exhibition of 1890 held in Dennistoun.

            ‘It is but a few months since an East-end Industrial Exhibition was
suggested by Mr. David Fortune, and today………the Marquis of
Lothian unlocks a palace of instruction and entertainment’. ²⁹

            Perhaps because of the influence of David Fortune the exhibition seems to have been a teetotal affair and perhaps because of that ‘misguided decision’ was lacking in visitors. ³⁰ However, a later edition of The Bailie  states that the exhibition ‘resulted in a surplus of £3000 being handed to the Corporation to aid in building the People`s Palace.’ ³¹ This is confirmed by an article in the Glasgow Encyclopaedia:

The East End Industrial Exhibition of Manufactures, Science and Art,
took place in 1890-91. Its profits were to go towards establishing ‘an
institute for the intellectual and social improvement and recreation of
the inhabitants of the East End of Glasgow’. – this objective was realised
by the erection of the People`s Palace.³²

      Again, The Baillie had something to say:

‘Concerning Mr. David Fortune, the Chairman of the Executive
Committee, there is little need to say anything. Mr. Fortune is an
eager and enthusiastic worker at whatever he puts his hand to, and
he usually contrives to make the different enterprises with which he is
connected turn out successes.’ ³³

 One of his duties was to reply to the toast to the executive at the opening ceremony.

            According to the 1891-92 Glasgow Post Office Directory he was ‘President, Scottish Legal Life Assurance Society’ but was now described as a ‘mercantile stationer’ at 28 Gordon Street. In the 1893-94 edition he was a manager at Sir William Collins, Sons and Co., Stirling Road and had become Secretary of Scottish Legal Life. In 1895-96 he is listed as ‘J.P., F.S.S.’. In 1897 he moved to 197 Pitt Street and two years later he moved again to 19 Rowallan Gardens, Broomhill.

            David Fortune was Chairman of the Glasgow East End Industrial Exhibition which ran from 9 December 1903 till 9 April 1904. It was staged in Duke Street in premises designed for the East End Exhibition of 1890 – 91 and attracted 908,897 visitors. Its aim was to raise funds for the Royal Infirmary but in the event made a disappointing profit of £221. An advertisement for the exhibition appeared in the Glasgow Herald of 9 December 1903. At the closing ceremony ‘the members of the Executive, accompanied by Sir John Ure Primrose, the Hon. the Lord Provost came upon the platform and were enthusiastically received. Mr. David Fortune, who presided, briefly introduced the Lord Provost’. ³⁴ In his speech, the Lord Provost congratulated the Executive on the success of the Exhibition. Mr. Fortune then proposed a vote of thanks to the Lord Provost and the formal proceedings were terminated.

The Bailie again commented:

‘Mr. Fortune`s zeal and energy have permeated the various
committees. Exhibitions are Mr. Fortune`s hobby, but in the serious
business of life he devotes his time and attention to the work of the
Scottish Legal Life Assurance Society, where, as the able and efficient
Secretary, he renders yeoman service. Mr. Fortune is also actively
identified with the leading social, educational, and municipal
movements in the city.’ ³⁵

            On 10 October 1911, David Fortune was presented with his portrait in oils ‘in recognition of 50 years public service in Glasgow’. (This was the painting which was subsequently bequeathed to Glasgow). Rather appropriately, the portrait was presented to him at the Scottish National Exhibition of 1911 held in Kelvingrove. The purpose of this exhibition was to raise funds to endow a Chair of Scottish History and Literature at the University of Glasgow. For once, David Fortune appears not to have been involved. The presentation was made by Lord Rowallan in front of a large gathering in the Athole Restaurant. At the same time, Mrs. Fortune was presented with a gold pendant set with pearls. Among those present were David Fortune`s daughter and his son Dr. George Fortune. Also present was Francis Wilson who painted the portrait. ³⁶

            On 16 June 1912 Annie Fortune died aged 65 at home in Broomhill. Her death was reported by her son G. Roy Fortune but some details on her death certificate differ from those shown on her marriage certificate i.e., her father is listed as David Webster, a blacksmith and farmer, and her mother as Annie Webster m.s. Hall. ³⁷

            After his wife’s death, David Fortune appears to have remarried although this marriage is not recorded on Scotland’s People. His new bride was a widow Mary Ann Gray (nee Kemp) who predeceased him. She died on 24 March 1917. ³⁸

David Fortune died, aged 75, on 12 November 1917 at 19 Rowallan Gardens, Broomhill. He was buried in the Glasgow Necropolis on 14 November but there is no evidence of a gravestone having been erected. His death certificate records that he was an insurance secretary, widower of 1. Annie Webster, 2. Marion (sic) Gray. The death was reported by his son G. Roy Fortune and again the details differ from those on his marriage certificate. His father is given correctly as David Fortune, plumber but his mother is listed as Maggie Fortune m.s. Galloway. ³⁹ His obituary was published in The Glasgow Herald under the heading ‘A Social Reformer – Death of Mr David Fortune’. The author noted that as well as his many other interests, David Fortune was a ‘keen Burnsian’ and was frequently called upon to deliver ‘The Immortal Memory’. He was a Fellow of the Royal Statistical Society and of the Chartered Institute of Secretaries and a member of the Greenock Harbour Trust. ⁴⁰
A memorial service was held on 18 November 1917 in the Newton Place United Free Church in Partick.

His estate was valued at £6913.18s. 6d and in his will,⁴¹ he left £100 each to the Scottish Temperance League and the Royal Glasgow Institute for the Deaf and Dumb and £50 each to the Royal National Lifeboat Institute and the East Park Home for Infirm Children. He also left bequests to the Sabbath Schools of the Newton Place United Free Church, Partick ‘for the purchase of prizes’ and to the Rose Street Day Industrial School to help with funding the Annual Excursion and Christmas Entertainment for the poorer children. The ‘goods and chattels’ belonging to his second wife were left to her grand-niece Marjorie Hartstone who was then living at 19 Rowallan Gardens.  

            Two paintings are mentioned in his will; Scotland Yet by Cameron (first name not given) ‘bequeathed to me by the grandson of Robert Burns’ which was left to his elder son and his portrait by Francis Wilson which was to be given to the People`s Palace in Glasgow.

            His portrait was offered by his trustees to Glasgow Corporation on 1 February 1918 and was initially declined due to a lack of space at the People`s Palace. However, after further consideration and correspondence from the trustees, the painting was accepted on 31 May 1918. ⁴²

The Artist

Francis Wilson was primarily a painter of landscapes and portraits. He was born in Glasgow in 1876. He studied at the Glasgow School of Art and continued his training in Florence, Paris and Rome. On his return from the Continent, he set up a studio in Glasgow, exhibiting at many of the Scottish societies, including the Royal Scottish Academy and the Glasgow Institute. He also exhibited at the Paris Salon. He was a Member of the Glasgow Art Club and his work is represented in the Glasgow Art Gallery.

References

1. ancestry.co.uk, Scotland Census 1851
2. familysearch.org
3. ancestry.co.uk, Scotland Census 1861
4. Glasgow Post Office Directory, 1865-66.
5. The Bailie, No. 1626, 16 December 1903, Mitchell Library, Glasgow
6. The Bailie, No. 886, 9 October 1889
7. Fisher, Joe, The Glasgow Encyclopaedia, Mainstream Publishing, 1994. pp 130-134.
8. Scotland`s People, Birth Certificates
9. Annual Report of the Scottish Temperance League, 1868-69. Anguline Research Archives. http://anguline.co.uk/Free/Temperance.pdf
10. Minute Book of Anderson`s University, 1865-1881. Andersonian Library, University of Strathclyde.
11. ancestry.co.uk, Scotland Census 1871
12. Scotland Births and Baptisms, 1564-1950, database, FamilySearch (This birth is not recorded on Scotland’s People
13. The Temperance Record, 4 November 1871, p528. Google Books.
14. Minute Book of Anderson`s University, 1865-1881. Andersonian Library, University of Strathclyde.
15. The Bailie, No. 886, 9 October 1889
16. The Early Heroes of the Temperance Reformation, Scottish Temperance League, Glasgow, 1873. Houlston and Sons and W. Tweedie, London. http://www.archive.org/stream/earlyheroesoftem00logauoft/earlyheroesoftem00logauoft_djvu.txt
17. Information from Archie Wood, Honorary Archivist, Irish Temperance League. (Sent by email, 2012)
18. Centennial Temperance Volume. A Memorial of the International Temperance Conference, held in Philadelphia, June 1876. (Published 1877, article number 851 – 852). (Google Books).
19. The Bailie, No. 886, 9 October 1889
20. Glasgow Post Office Directories
21. Scotland’s People, Census 1881
22. Glasgow Post Office Directories
23. Scotland in the 19^th Century, (ebook), Chapter 6, Section 6.8, Insurance
24. The Bailie, No. 736, 24 November 1886.
25. The Bailie, No. 886, 9 October 1889.
26. The Bailie, No. 736, 24 November 1886
27. The Glasgow Herald, 25 November 1886 pages 1 and 5.
28. The Bailie, No. 886, 9 October 1889.
29. The Bailie, No. 949, 24 December 1890.
30. ibid
31. The Bailie, No. 1626, 16 December 1903.
32. Fisher, Joe, The Glasgow Encyclopaedia, Mainstream Publishing, 1994 pp 130-134.
33. The Bailie, No. 949, 24 December 1890.
34. The Glasgow Herald, 11 April 1904, page 9.
35. The Bailie, No. 1626, 16 December 1903.
36. The Glasgow Herald, 11 October 1911, page 9.
37. Scotland`s People, Death Certificate.
38. ibid
39. ibid
40. The Glasgow Herald 12 November 1917.
41. Scotland’s People, Wills and Testaments, SC36/51/179, pp 228-239, 1918
42. Glasgow Corporation Minutes, 1 February 1918, C1 3.58, p584; 1 May 1918, p1089; 31 May 1918, C1 3.59, p 1277, Mitchell Library

Appendix 1

            David Fortune`s letter of acceptance of the post of Janitor of
Anderson`s University and Keeper of the Museum.

26, George Street,
20^th September 1867

Sir,      

            I beg to acknowledge receipt of your communication of yesterday, acquainting me of my appointment by the Managers, as Janitor to Anderson`s University, and Keeper of the Museum connected with that institution. I cordially agree to the terms specified in your letter, and I need scarcely say that my best energies shall be devoted to the fulfilment of the various duties required of me, in a manner which, I hope, shall prove satisfactory to the Managers and the other gentlemen connected with, and interested in the welfare of the University. With thanks for the great favor (sic) bestowed on one,
I remain, Sir etc.

                           (signed)  David Fortune

William Ambrose Esq.
Secretary,
Anderson`s University.

Taken from the Minute Book of Anderson`s University, 1865-1881.

Appendix 2

David Fortune, the President of the Scottish Legal Life Assurance Society, which was a mutual as well as a collecting society, said its business was almost entirely confined to the working classes. Out of a total of 400,000 members, 38,771 were under the age of 5 and 37,731 between the ages of 5 and 10. He disclaimed the suggestion that child insurance encouraged infanticide or neglect. He recommended that only one insurance should be allowed on a child, as with only one certificate, there would be no possibility of insurance beyond the legal amount. He thought all societies insuring children ought to be registered under the Friendly Societies Act, 1875, but did not recommend the registration of every child life insurance as this would be extremely unpopular among the working classes

The oil painting Adam’s First Sight of Eve (2570) by John Martin was presented to Glasgow on 4 October 1946 by the Imperial Chemical Company, Ardeer, through Lord McGowan and the Local Secretary Ms. Pitceathly. ¹ It had been discovered in the Kilmeny Hotel in Ardrossan by Evelyn Waugh when he was stationed there during WW2.

Since the donor’s history is well documented it seemed more interesting to research the provenance of the painting and how it came to be in a hotel in Ardrossan, Ayrshire.

What Was Known?

            Adam`s First Sight of Eve was completed in 1812 by John Martin. It is signed J. Martin, 1812. He sent it to the Royal Academy Exhibition of 1813 where to his delight it was displayed in the Great Room. It was accompanied by a quote from Milton’s Paradise Lost,

                        ‘Nature herself, though pure of sinful thought,
Wrought on her so, that, seeing me, she turned’.

            It was purchased, probably from the exhibition, by ‘Spong, a rich Kentish collector’ for seventy guineas. ^{2, 3, 4}

What Is New?

A search of the census records suggested that the ‘Spong’ in question was Thomas Spong who was born in Aylesford, Kent in 1780/81. He was christened on 6 January 1781. ⁵ He is recorded in three census records where he is described as a ‘merchant’ aged 60 (1841), a ‘coal merchant’ aged 69 (1851) and a ‘retired gentleman’ aged 80 (1861). In 1861 he was living at 2 Albion Terrace, Faversham next door to his son William. ⁶

The painting seems to have remained in the possession of Thomas Spong for forty years as the next we hear of it is when it was advertised for sale by Christie and Manson in a collection of English pictures which was held at their Great Room, 8 King Street, London on 30 June 1853. ⁷ The sale catalogue listed

‘Lot 81, Adam’s first sight of Eve. The celebrated work, exhibited at Somerset House about 1813’.

   Unfortunately, the painting failed to sell. (No buyer to take the story forward!) The reserve on it was £50 and the bidding went up to £47. The seller, whose name was not disclosed at the time of the sale was a Mr. Walter Tebbitt, of 3 Union Crescent, Wandsworth Road, London. ⁸ Walter Tebbitt was born in 1827/8 in Surrey. On 5 February 1850 he was elected to the Linnean Society. Their records give his address as Cottage House, Clapham Common, London. His main interest was botany. On 5 May 1850 he co-presented a portrait of Edward Stanley (1779-1849) to the Society. ⁹ In the 1851 census for St. Giles in the Fields he is listed as aged 23, unmarried with his occupation ‘Mother of Pearl Works Ornamental’, born Surrey and employing one servant. His address was 4 North Crescent. ¹⁰On 28 April 1852, in Aylesford, Kent, Walter Tebbitt married Grace Nash Spong who was 19 and the daughter of Thomas Spong. ¹¹

            Walter Tebbitt left the Linnean Society on 1 November 1860. On the 1861 census he and Grace and their two children were living at Martinhoe, North Devon, Wooda Bay. He was now a ‘fundholder’. ¹² Thomas Spong died at Canterbury on 15 August 1865. He was survived by his wife, Mary Eliza Spong who inherited most of his effects. There was no mention of the painting in his will. ¹³ Walter Tebbitt died on 24 March 1893 at Marlborough House, Tunbridge Wells. The painting is not mentioned in his will, but he did leave his pictures to his widow. ¹⁴ Grace Tebbitt died on 4 December 1924 in Tunbridge Wells. ¹⁵ It seems that she did not leave a will. From 1853 to 1942 the whereabouts of the painting are unknown.

            In April 1942 Evelyn Waugh, then a captain in the Royal Marines, was posted to Glasgow and then to the Special Services Brigade in Ardrossan. He had earlier undertaken commando training on the Isle of Arran. Later in the year, on 28 September, when visiting Diana Cooper in Bognor Regis he told her that there was a small painting by John Martin in the Kilmeny Hotel in Ardrossan. ¹⁶

Kilmeny Hotel

            Kilmeny* House (later the Kilmeny Hotel) was built in South Crescent, Ardrossan for John Galloway between 1885 and 1888. John Galloway was born in Glasgow in 1829. In the census of 1861, he was aged 31 and living at 55 Clarence Street, Glasgow with his wife Margaret and two daughters. He was a ‘Clerk Cashier in a Shipping Insurance Broker’s Office’. ¹⁷ He moved to Ardrossan shortly after and in 1865 was the tenant occupier of a house in Countess Street. ¹⁸ He was employed by the firm of Patrick (Paddy) Henderson ship owners and eventually was appointed its managing director. In 1874 he became a member of the Glasgow Chamber of Commerce. The following year he was the proprietor/occupier of a house and offices in South Crescent and the occupier of a house in Raise Street, Ardrossan. ¹⁹ In 1885 he was elected a Director of the Glasgow Chamber of Commerce. The first mention of Kilmeny appears on 22 September 1888 when an article in the Ardrossan and Saltcoats Herald notes that ‘Mr. John Galloway (of Messrs P. Henderson Ltd.) who resided at Kilmeny, Ardrossan, placed a memorial stone in the Free Church’. In the 1895 Valuation Roll for Ardrossan, he is listed as Proprietor, Kilmeny House Offices and Garden, South Crescent. He was also a tenant at 2 Manse Street, Church Place suggesting that he may have been using Kilmeny House as offices only. He was re-elected Chairman of Glasgow Chamber of Commerce in January 1899. In the census of 1901, he is listed as a ‘retired shipowner’. John Galloway passed away on 25 September 1904.

       ‘John Galloway, Homehill, Bridge of Allan, (formerly of Kilmeny Ardrossan), died. He was head of Patrick Henderson shipowners before his retirement. His estate was valued at £53,613, 16s. 6d.’^{20, 21}

His death and an appreciation of his service was noted in the minutes of the Glasgow Chamber of Commerce. ²²

From his death certificate his father George Galloway was an artist. Could he have acquired the painting?

   The next proprietor of Kilmeny House in 1905 was James Cant, a timber broker with premises at 52 St. Enoch Square, Glasgow. ²³ On 4 October 1907 he was elected president of the local branch of the National Bible Society. ²⁴ He was still proprietor in 1915 but by 1920 ownership had passed to Major Frederick Charles Gavin. On 12 April 1922 North Ayrshire Licensing Court granted a certificate by 7 votes to 3, for an inn and hotel for Kilmeny House, South Crescent, Ardrossan. The licensee was Charles F.O. Lee the keeper of the nearby Eglinton Arms Hotel. ‘Kilmeny House is a private residence, containing 30 apartments, and had not previously been licensed, and objections were stated against granting a licence, on behalf of a number of persons owning and occupying property in the vicinity’. ²⁵

ICI

Following his invention of ‘dynamite’, Alfred Nobel formed the British Dynamite Company Ltd. In 1870. He purchased land on the Ardeer Peninsula in Ayrshire to set up a plant to manufacture dynamite. Its relative remoteness and substantial sand dunes made it suitable from a safety point of view. The company, renamed as Nobel’s Explosives Company Ltd. In 1877, became the largest explosives factory in the world. ²⁶

Harry Duncan McGowan was born in Glasgow on 3 June 1874. He attended Hutchesons’ Grammar School and Allan Glen’s School, Glasgow but left at age fifteen to join Nobel’s Explosives Company eventually becoming manager. During the First World War he was able to merge most of the British explosives industry, and by 1920 he had become Chairman and Managing Director of the resulting Nobel Industries Ltd. In 1926 this company merged with other chemicals-based industries to become Imperial Chemical Industries (ICI). McGowan became Chairman and Managing Director in 1930 and remained Chairman until 1950. He was made Baron McGowan of Ardeer in 1937. Ardeer, which is about three miles from Ardrossan, became the Nobel Division of ICI after the merger in 1926. ²⁷

    ICI began using the Kilmeny Hotel to entertain and accommodate guests from 1929 ²⁸ and Charles Lee remained the proprietor until at least 1940 and probably till 1945 when it was taken over by ICI. The painting was found in a dirty state and was cleaned and restored under the supervision of Mr. F. C. Speyer who was the Controller of the Industrial Ammonia Division at ICI. ²⁹ On 4 October 1946, the painting was donated to Glasgow. When ICI moved out of Kilmeny in 1949 a report in a local newspaper opined that ‘in the last twenty years it has looked more like a mausoleum than a hotel’. ³⁰ This might account for the state of the painting.

(In the Object File there are two references purporting to be referring to the sale of the painting.

A Christie’s sale on 7 August 1855. Christie’s could find no trace of this sale. In fact, the date in incorrect. It should be 7 August 1875 – The Hooton Hall Sale.

Lot 850 – Adam and Eve Praying at Sunset by John Martin- sold by Naylor and bought by Fitzhenry 

On 3 May 1879 – Nield Sale – lot 59 – Adam and Eve with an angel in the Garden of Eden by John Martin, bought by Fraser.

Both refer to different John Martin paintings).

          * Kilmeny may derive from a poem by James Hogg.

.. Bonnie Kilmeny gaed up the glen;
But it wasna to meet Duneira’s men,
Nor the rosy monk of the isle to see,
For Kilmeny was pure as pure could be.
It was only to hear the yorlin sing,
And pu’ the cress-flower round the spring;
The scarlet hypp and the hindberrye,
And the nut that hung frae the hazel tree;

                                          etc.

 References

1. Glasgow Museums, List of Donors, Glasgow Museums Resource Centre
2. Equivalent to about £5,500 today
3. Pendered, Mary, John Martin, Painter – His Life and Times, Hurst & Blackett, London, 1923 pp 61, 77, 79,
4. Balston, Thomas, John Martin 1789 – 1854: His Life and Works, Gerald Duckworth, London, 1947  p36,
5. Old Parish Registers, Kent, Family Search
6. Ancestry.co.uk, Census Records, England
7. The Morning Post, 20 June 1853
8. Information from Lynda McLeod, Archivist, Christie’s Archives, transcribed from sales’ catalogue and sellers’ list
9. Information from Luke Thorne, Assistant Archivist, Linnean Society
10. Ancestry.co.uk, Census Records, England
11. Old Parish Registers, Family Search
12. Ancestry.co.uk, Census Records, England
13. Will proved at HM Court of Probate, Canterbury, 8 September 1865
14. Will probate granted to his widow and three other executors. 27 May 1893
15. Ancestry.co.uk, Grace Nash Spong family tree
16. Page, Norman, An Evelyn Waugh Chronology (Author Chronologies), Palgrave Macmillan, London, September 1997 (also on Google Books)
17. Scotland’s People, Census 1861
18. Scotland’s People, Valuation Roll, Ardrossan, 1865
19. Scotland’s People, Valuation Roll, Ardrossan, 1875
20. Glasgow Herald, 27 September 1904
21. Confirmations and Testaments, Mitchell Library, Glasgow
22. Minutes of Glasgow Chamber of Commerce, 10 October 1904
23. Scotland’s People, Valuation Roll, Ardrossan, 1915
24. Ardrossan and Saltcoats Herald, 4 October 1907
25. Glasgow Herald, 19 April 1922
26. https://www.secretscotland.org.uk/index.php/Secrets/ICIArdeer
27. https://www.gracesguide.co.uk/Harry_Duncan_McGowan
28. Catalyst, ICI Magazine 1929, information from Judith Wilde, archivist
29. Hansard, Volume 391, 14 July 1943
30. Kilmarnock Herald and Ayrshire Gazette, 7 October 1949 (Getting Around and About by The Coaster) also posted in http://www.threetowners.com

Thomas Ranken was a Writer to the Signet, and a Match Rifle Shot who won medals in The Olympic Games in 1908.

Thomas Ranken was born on the 18 May 1875 to Robert Burt Ranken and his wife Mary  nee Dunlop in Edinburgh . His father was a Writer to the Signet. (1)  It was a prosperous household. In the 1881 census he lived at 8 Learmonth Terrace, Edinburgh with father, mother, 2 siblings and household staff which included a cook, 2 housemaids, laundress, 3 nurses and a kitchen maid. (2) His brother, William Bruce Ellis Ranken (3) was to become an artist and his sister, Janette Mary Fernie Ranken was to become a well known actress and socialite, marrying Ernest Thesiger. (4) Their father rented a country house in the Borders, Cringletie Manor and in the census of 1891 (5) two of the children are there but not Thomas. This was because he was educated at Eton and then at Balliol College. (6) In 1896 , when he was 21 years of age and had reached his majority, The Edinburgh Evening News reported that the tenants and employees of the Cringletie Estate had presented him with a rose bowl to mark the occasion. (7)

He graduated BA in 1899. During his time at Balliol he was a Lieutenant in the 1^st Oxford University V.B. Oxford Light Infantry and it was there that he began a lifelong involvement with rifle shooting. He was president of the University shooting committee and of the Small- Bore Club. (8)

He returned to Edinburgh and was apprenticed to his father in1899. The apprenticeship was for two/three years because he had graduated from Balliol. In 1902 (9) Thomas was accepted as a Writer to the Signet and in the same year his father died. (10)  This was the beginning of his professional life and he continued to practise until his death.  

He had another interest which continued successfully for many years and this was small-bore rifle shooting. There are many references in the press about his success in his chosen pastime. Indeed when he died his obituary in the Scotsman (11) is headed ‘Champion Rifle shot . Death of Major T Ranken’.  He competed in the 1908 Summer Olympic Games. (12)  He won a silver medal in the Single Shot Running Deer event and in the Double Shot Running Deer event (both now discontinued) and came fifth in the 1000 yards free rifle event. He was also in the team which won the silver medal for the team prize. He took part in the 1924 Olympic Games but won no prizes. (13)

He served as a member of the council of the National Rifle Association and was a member and sometime Captain, of the Scottish Twenty. Among the many prizes he won were the Prince of Wales Prize, The Association Cup for Match Rifles and the Scottish Champion Cup  at Barnley in 1906. He was often in the final stages of the Queen’s and Kings Prize at Bisley. (14)

He served in the First World War, rejoining the 8^th Royal Scots from the T.F. reserve in 1915. He acted as a Musketry Officer from April 1915 to June 1915 and then Brigade Major to 2/1 Lothian Infantry Brigade. He was thereafter attached to the General Staff Scottish Northern Command until 1919. (15)

In 1920 he married Marion Bruce, daughter of the Hon F J Bruce of Seaton House, Arbroath. (16) They had two sons. (17) He died on 27 April 1950 and is buried in the Dean cemetery in Edinburgh (18) (19) and his gravestone reads:

                                 Maj. THOMAS “TED” RANKEN

                Remember TOM RANKEN a large lovable personality.

                                        18 V 1875 -27 IV 1950

Acknowedgement

I have to thank the Archivist of the Library of the Signet in Edinburgh for his help with my researches. It was much appreciated.

Paintings

In 1948 Thomas Ranken wrote to the keeper of the Art Galleries in Kelvingrove offering several paintings. The following were accepted: (20)

• The Honorable Mary Fleming by John Watson Gordon
• Alexander MacAllister of Torrisdale by John Watson Gordon
• The Throne Room Madrid by William Bruce Ellis Ranken

References

1. National Records of Scotland Statutory Births 1875
2. National Records of Scotland Census 1881
3.  www.williamranken.org.uk   Wendy and Gordon Hawksley
4. Jeanette Thesiger   http://www.ernestthesiger.org
5. National Records of Scotland Census 1891
6. Archive of The Signet Library, Edinburgh. Personal Communication
7. Edinburgh Evening News 26 May 1896
8. Balliol College Register   www. archivesballiol.ox.ac.uk
9. Archive of The Signet Library, Edinburgh. Personal Communication
10. National Records of Scotland Statutory Deaths 1950
11. The Scotsman 29 April 1950
12. Wikipedia Summer Olympics 1908
13. Wikipedia summer Olympics 1924
14. The Scotsman 29 April 1950
15. Archive of The Signet Library, Edinburgh. Personal Communication (WS Roll of Honour 1914-1919)
16. Dundee Evening Telegraph 27 February 1920
17. Ancestry.co,uk
18. National Records of Scotland Statutory Deaths 1950
19. Dean Cemetry  www.deancemetry.org.uk
20. Correspondence in Glasgow Museums Archive