Category: Lawyer

On 21 November 1944, an oil painting of Provost Robert Donald by an unknown artist was presented to Glasgow Corporation by Mr T. W. Donald, 172 St. Vincent Street, Glasgow. C.2.

 (Thomas Walter Donald was the 3x great grandnephew of Robert Donald).

 There was submitted a letter from Mr T.W. Donald, Writer, 172 St. Vincent Street, offering to present to the Corporation a portrait of Robert Donald, who was provost of Glasgow from 1776 to 1777, and the committee, after hearing a report from the Director, agreed that the gift be accepted and that a letter of thanks be sent to the donor.¹

            Thomas Walter Donald was born on 5 January 1878 at The Baths, Helensburgh. (This was an extension of the Baths’ Hotel – later the Queen`s Hotel – built for Henry Bell who ferried customers from Glasgow in his steamship The Comet to the hotel).  His parents were Ellen Mary Jane Brown and Colin Dunlop Donald jr., a writer in the family firm of McGrigor, Donald & Co., (later C.D. Donald & Sons) of 172 St. Vincent Street, Glasgow. Colin`s address at the time was North Cottage, Wemyss Bay. Colin and Ellen had married on 16 January 1877 in Helensburgh and Thomas was their first child. ² Thomas` brother, Colin Dunlop Donald was born on 11 September 1879. ³

      

In the 1881 census, the family was at 72 East Clyde Street, Helensburgh.⁴ This was the home of Thomas`s great grandfather Walter Buchanan of Shandon who had been an MP for Glasgow between 1857 and 1865. A third brother, William Frances Maxwell Donald (Frank) was born on 3 June 1881, and a sister Helen (Nelly) on 16 July 1882. Thomas later wrote a memoir of his childhood in Helensburgh recalling some of his earliest memories.⁵

Thomas`s mother died suddenly of a chill on 20 August 1882 shortly after the birth of her daughter. A memorial window to her was placed in St. Michaels`s Church in Helensburgh in 1889. ⁶

           

In the year following Ellen Donald’s death, the family left Helensburgh and moved to Glasgow, first to Westbourne Gardens where they remained for a year, and then to 14 Huntly Gardens, Hillhead. ^7,8

The boys were later sent to boarding schools in England. In the 1891 Census, Thomas, aged 13, was a pupil at Bilton Grange School in Warwickshire. ⁹ In January of the following year he entered Rugby School boarding at Michell House. At Rugby he seems to have kept a low profile as there is no record of him participating in any of the school teams or winning any major prizes. ¹⁰ He left in the summer of 1895 to go to Glasgow University.

(His two younger brothers also attended Rugby School. Both boarded at Mitchell; Colin Dunlop Donald from 1893-1895 and William Francis Maxwell Donald from 1895-1898.¹¹  William later studied engineering at Glasgow University).

Thomas`s father, Colin Dunlop Donald III wrote articles on archaeology and a history of The Board of Green Cloth which provided ‘a social history of Glasgow at the turn of the nineteenth century’. He was Hon. Secretary of the Regality Club which published books on the buildings of Glasgow. These were illustrated by etchings by D. Y. Cameron who used to call at 14 Huntly Gardens with the proofs.¹² (These etchings were left to Thomas and subsequently passed to his grandson Frank Donald who donated them to Glasgow. These are catalogued as PR.2004.5).

When their father died suddenly (of a chill) in 1895, Thomas`s unmarried uncle Thomas F. Donald (TFD) took over the care of the four orphans.

(Thomas F. Donald was an accountant and stockbroker. As a young apprentice his firm had been engaged by one of the Directors of the City of Glasgow Bank to see if he had any defence after the bank failed in 1878. TFD saw the balance sheet which had been presented to a meeting of the board, and when he examined the same balance sheet afterwards it had fictitious amendments in red ink! TFD was secretary of the Royal Northern Yacht Club in Rhu for 24 years and was presented with 200 guineas when he retired in 1910. He was also a donor to Glasgow gifting The Clyde from Dalnottar by John Knox in 1921. This is displayed in the  Kelvingrove Art Galleries and Museum).

At university Thomas Walter Donald continued the study of Latin and Greek which he had begun at school. He also attended classes in Mathematics, English, Logic and Roman Law for fees of £5.5.0 per year. He graduated MA on 3 November 1898. Thereafter, he began a course leading to the degree of LLB. He gained a ‘Highly Distinguished’ award in History in 1898-99. In 1899-1900 he studied Scots Law under Professor Alexander Moody Stuart and was awarded a prize for ‘Eminence in Class Examinations’. He matriculated as ‘Thomas Walter Donald MA’ for session 1900-1901 taking classes in Jurisprudence, and Constitutional Law and History. In the latter class he was awarded first prize and he graduated LLB in 1901.¹³

 In the 1901 Census, Thomas was a ‘lawyer`s apprentice’, aged 23, living with his uncle, Thomas F. Donald, 47, at 14 Huntly Gardens, Glasgow.  His brothers, Colin aged 21 and William, 19, were also living there.¹⁴

After serving an apprenticeship with the Glasgow legal firm of Maclay, Murray and Spens, Thomas was admitted a solicitor in 1902.

On 20 September 1902, Thomas married Sarah Gertrude Newstead, at St. Mary’s Church, Bryanston Square, Westminster, London.¹⁵ She was 28, the daughter of a retired surgeon from Bristol. The couple moved to Glasgow to a flat at 8 Clarence Drive, Hillhead, where their son Colin George Walter Donald was born on 7July 1904. ^16,17 Soon after the birth they moved to Grendon Lodge in Helensburgh. ¹⁸ It was here that their daughters Monica Mary Louise (1910) and Barbara Gertrude (1912) were born.¹⁹ Apparently, the children later became close friends of the Blackie children who lived in the ‘Hill House’. Barbara later reported that ‘while the window seats in the Hill House were great fun, the famous Charles Rennie Mackintosh chairs were terribly uncomfortable’. ²⁰

About 1905, Thomas joined McGrigor, Donald and Co., Glasgow a law firm which had been part founded by his great-grandfather, Colin Dunlop Donald.²¹ He remained with this firm for the rest of his life eventually becoming senior partner. He also became the senior member of the Royal Faculty of Procurators in Glasgow. He seems to have specialized in lawsuits involving shipping and shipwrecks and often acted on behalf of the Board of Trade at which time, ‘all other work in the office ceased!’ The firm also acted for the family of Madeleine Smith.²²

Thomas had a keen interest in his family history and outlined some of its main points in a letter to the Glasgow Herald in 1909 ²³. This was in response to a previous letter requesting information about the father, grandfather and great grandfather of Robert Donald – the subject of the donated portrait. (Appendix 1)

Due to a pre-existing medical condition, Thomas was not required to do active service in WW1. However, he did undertake a course of training in the Glasgow Citizen Training force which he completed in 1915 before transferring to the corresponding company in Helensburgh. (In WW2 his duties involved a stint of fire watching at 172 St Vincent Street).

              After living for eighteen years in Helensburgh the family moved to Stirling in 1922, to a house at 9 Snowdon Place which they also named Grendon. ²⁴ (This is still called Grendon House but has been converted to flats)

Thomas and his brother Colin Dunlop Donald became members of the Merchants’ House of Glasgow in 1928. ²⁵

(The page shows, Matriculation Number; Date, 13^th Sept. 1928; Name; Occupation; Address of Firm; Father`s Name and Designation; Entry Fee (21 guineas) and date when paid).

Thomas was fond of ‘cruising in other peoples’ yachts’ but he also undertook some more far-flung voyages. On 19 June 1931, he arrived in London via Plymouth from Bombay, India. He was 53 and had travelled on the P & O ship ‘Malwa’.

On 21 February 1938 he arrived at Bristol from Kingston, Jamaica following a visit to his son and daughter-in-law.²⁶

 Gertrude Donald died from cancer at 9 Snowdon Place, Stirling on 13 April 1942. She was 68.²⁷

In 1952 Thomas moved to 44 Kelvin Court on Great Western Road, Glasgow. In 1969 he gave an interview to Jack Webster of the Scottish Daily Express in which he talks about his connection with the West India Association.²⁸ This had been set up in 1807 to facilitate trade with the West Indies. He had become treasurer of the association in the 1930s and had presided over their last meeting in 1969. (Appendix)

Thomas Walter Donald died on 23December 1970 at 44 Kelvin Court, Glasgow. He was 92. The cause of death was hypostatic pneumonia and myocardial degeneration. The death was registered by his nephew Colin Dunlop Donald.²⁹

According to the writer of his obituary, Thomas Walter Donald ‘was a man of great charm and wide culture, and in his extensive legal practice his humanity found full scope’.

            He played his part in public work as a director of the Merchants` House and the Elder Hospital, and as representative of the Glasgow Faculty on the Joint Committee of Legal Societies from which the Law Society of Scotland developed. He was a director of the British Linen Bank and the Scottish Provident Institution.³⁰ He was also a Trustee of Provands Lordship.

            Thomas`s daughter-in-law was Russian and a good friend of the painter Eric Prehn and his wife Irina, whom she had known in Riga. When Eric and Irina moved to Edinburgh Thomas used to stay with them when he attended British Linen Bank board meetings. As a result of their friendship Thomas was encouraged to take up painting himself. Unfortunately, not much of his work has survived. Thomas does not appear to have been a collector of art but owned the following paintings which have family connections.

1. Portrait of Robert Donald, Provost of Glasgow 1776-7. Donated to Glasgow.
2. Portrait of Colin Dunlop of Carmyle, Provost of Glasgow and one of the founders of the ‘Ship Bank’. This was donated to the British Linen Bank to celebrate the bicentenary of the Ship Bank. It passed to the Bank of Scotland and was subsequently returned to the family.
3. Portrait of Kathrine Donald, wife of Robert. This remains in the family.
4. Portrait of James Donald painted in1757. This remains in the family. It was shown as part of the Old Glasgow Exhibition.

The Sitter

Robert Donald (1724 – 1803)

Robert Donald was a ‘Virginia Merchant’ – one of the Glasgow ‘Tobacco Lords’ – and a Provost of the City. He was born in 1724 the fourth son of Thomas Donald of Lyleston (also a tobacco merchant) and Janet Cumming of Baremann. ³¹

He formed a partnership with his older brother James. (James Donald, also a tobacco merchant, acquired the lands of Geilston in Cardross in 1757 and was subsequently styled, James Donald of Geilston). Robert married his first cousin Katherine Donald, daughter of Robert Donald of Greenock.

When James Donald died in 1760 his estate passed to his eldest son Thomas who maintained the partnership with his uncle Robert, and they traded as Robert Donald and Co. They had their own fleet of ships which they operated in conjunction with their cousins in Greenock.  They maintained a network of Company Stores in the back country of Virginia and dealt with the small tobacco growers. 

Both Robert and James appear to have spent time in Virginia, and had a house in Pages a township in Hanover County where they were visited by George Washington in 1752. Robert left America to return to Scotland in 1758.

Robert became a Burgess of Glasgow (by right of his wife) in 1759. He was elected a Baillie in 1765 and 1773. In 1767, he feued the 24-acre Mountblow estate near Clydebank from George Buchanan of Auchentoshan and built Mountblow House on this estate.

  He was elected Provost of Glasgow on 1 October 1776 and retained that position until 30September 1777. In 1778 he took an active part in raising a regiment to serve against the Americans in the War of Independence. However, he later lost most of his fortune when Thomas Donald & Son became bankrupt in 1787. (Presumably Thomas was now senior partner hence the name change.) Robert remained at Mountblow and, until 1798, was employed by the city to supervise the deepening of the River Clyde at a salary of £50 per annum later increased to £60.

On 6 June 1793, Robert wrote a letter from Mountblow to George Washington asking him to look favourably on the bearer who was his nephew.

Katherine Donald died in 1798 and five years later, on 22 February 1803 Robert Donald died at Mountblow. ³² He was buried in the Ramshorn Churchyard in Glasgow. Having no children of his own he seems to have left the bulk of his estate to his nephew Alexander Donald.

            The Mountblow estate was acquired by Henry Bowie and then by William Dunn of Duntocher (1770-1849). It was inherited by Dunn’s nephew, the Advocate Alexander Dunn Pattison. He sold it to Glasgow Corporation in 1877 and they in turn rented it to James Rodger Thomson of the Clydebank Shipyard until 1893 when it was leased to the Seamen’s Orphans’ Institute. It became Mountblow Children’s Home in 1922.³³ The house probably suffered damage in the Clydebank Blitz of 1941 although was not hit directly by bombs. The remains were demolished to make way for housing after the war.

The Painting

The painting was completed in London in 1762 when Robert Donald was 38. The artist is unknown. The painting did not remain in the family and may have been sold either when Robert`s business collapsed or when he died. In 1868, the portrait was on loan at an Exhibition of Portraits held in the New Galleries of Art in Sauchiehall Street. It was lent by Thomas Carlisle Esq.* It was loaned to the ‘Old Glasgow Exhibition’ held under the auspices of the Glasgow Institute for Fine Arts in 1894. This time the lender was a Miss Carlisle.

*Thomas Carlisle was a manufacturing chemist and a partner in the firm of Stevenson, Carlisle and Co. with works at Millburn Street, Townhead, Glasgow and an office at 23 West Nile Street. He had a house at 2 Lancaster Terrace, Great Western Road. He died in 1917. It seems he was also in possession of a portrait of Katherine Donald, wife of Robert at the time of the 1868 exhibition. Perhaps Thomas Walter Donald purchased both portraits from the Carlisles?

 Appendix

An article written by Jack Webster which appeared in the Scottish Daily Express.

                 ‘When the tax on rum was a farthing a gallon’

Thomas Walter Donald nods towards a portrait above his lounge mantelpiece and tell you that the robust gentleman in question, his great-great-grandfather, was born in 1745 and became one of Glasgow`s tobacco lords trading with the American colonies.

But Mr. Donald, quiet and cultured, does not require a portrait to give his visitor a sense of history. For he himself has lived through 92 years in which he has been, and remains, an active city lawyer. He was a trustee of the estate of Mr. Smith of Blythswood Square, father of Madeleine Smith, the Glasgow girl accused in 1857 of poisoning her secret French lover, a charge which was found “not proven”.

The other day, Mr. Donald brought another reminder of an age that is all but forgotten when he called a rather special meeting of the West India Association. The association was founded in 1807 to help those eager businessmen who were trading with the West Indies during last century to bring home the rum, sugar and tobacco. “My family has turned from trading to law, however”, says Mr. Donald, “and I was never a trader myself. I merely became treasurer of the West India Association in the 1930s, by which time there was not much business being done”.

“The emancipation of the slaves had knocked a considerable hole in the profits. But there was a time in the heyday of these tobacco, rum and sugar lords when the association was very active. In 1840 for example, it appointed a delegation to go to Parliament to protest against an increase on the duty on rum from ¼ d to ½ d per gallon. Glasgow was doing a tremendous overseas trade at that time. By the time the Second World War came, more and more trade was being done from London”.

“Those in Glasgow still interested began to die off and the association became moribund. We met again in 1946 – but not again until 1969, when I thought it was perhaps about time that we had another meeting”.

“This time it was to see about disposing of stock and cash totaling around £730 – and eight remaining members of a once flourishing organisation agreed that the remaining surplus funds will be handed over to “the West India Committee” in London. This is a non-profit making body founded in 1750, which promotes Commonwealth, Caribbean/UK trade and stimulates investment in the Commonwealth and Caribbean and the improvement of the standard of living there”.

In his luxury flat in Glasgow`s west end, Mr. Donald showed me the massive tomes of minutes stretching back to 1807 – which are now being handed over to the Mitchell Library. He had known nearly half of that period from his own experience. To talk to him was to absorb history itself. At 92, he is still senior partner in one of the Scotland`s biggest legal practices. He pops down to the Western Club in the city centre, or off on a cruise to Madeira.

Jack Webster

References

1. Glasgow Corporation, Minutes of Art Galleries and Museums Committee, 21 November 1944, page 165. Held in The Mitchell Library, Glasgow
2. Scotland`s People, Birth Certificate
3. ibid
4. ancestry.co.uk, 1881 Census, Scotland
5. Memoir written by T.W. Donald. Excerpts from this memoir were supplied by Frank Donald, grandson of the donor. I am most grateful to Frank and his cousins Colin and James Donald for supplying photographs and information contained in this report. Any un-attributed material in this report is due to them.
6. Stained Glass Window in St. Michael`s Church, Helensburgh. Made by Charles Eamer Kempe, 1889. (Mary Magdalene anointing the feet of Christ), St Michael’s Church — a short history Penny Johnston, 30 March 2010, Helensburgh Heritage
7. T. W. Donald Memoir
8. Glasgow Post Office Directory, 1884-5
9. Ancestry.co.uk, 1891 Census for England
10. Information from Rusty MacLean, archivist, Rugby School
11. ibid
12. T.W. Donald Memoir
13. Archives of the University of Glasgow
14. Ancestry.co.uk, 1901 Census, Scotland
15. Ancestry.com, London Marriages
16. Glasgow Post Office Directories for 1903-4, 1904-5 and 1905-6
17. Scotland`s People, Birth Certificate
18. Scotland`s People, Census 1911
19. Scotland’s People, Birth Certificates
20. T.W. Donald Memoir
21. Glasgow Post Office Directories for 1903-4, 1904-5 and 1905-6
22. Glasgow Herald, 25 December 1970, page 11.
23. Letter initialed “T. W. D.”, Glasgow Herald, 16 April 1909, page 14
24. Post Office Directory, Stirling, 1922
25. Merchants` House of Glasgow Archive, Mitchell Library, Glasgow
26. Ancestry.com, UK Incoming Passenger Lists, 1878-1960
27. Scotland`s People, Death Certificate
28. Scottish Daily Express, 31 July 1969
29. Scotland`s People, Death Certificate
30. Glasgow Herald, 25 December 1970, page 11
31. Marwick, J.D. ed., Provosts of Glasgow, in Charters and Documents Relating To the City of Glasgow 1175-1649 Part 1, Glasgow, 1897
32. The Scots Magazine, Vol 65, 1803, (‘At Mountblow, in the 79th year of his age, Robert D(onald) Mountblow, Esq formerly Lord Provost’)
33. Glasgow University Library, Special Collections, Dougan Add. 73

On 29 December 1943, a bequest from Kenneth Sanderson, Esq., W.S., Edinburgh, of a portrait in oil of George Murdoch (2352) by David Martin was received.

“There was submitted a letter from Wishart & Sanderson, solicitors, Edinburgh, intimating that the late Mr. Kenneth Sanderson, W.S., had bequeathed to the Corporation the portrait of George Murdoch, Lord Provost of Glasgow, 1766, by David Martin. The committee, after hearing a report by the Director, agreed that the bequest be accepted”.¹ (Accepted 29^th December 1943).

Kenneth Sanderson was born on the 1^st of July 1868 at Knowe Park, Galashiels. ² He was the fourth of eight sons born to Robert Sanderson a woollen manufacturer and his wife Elizabeth Cochrane whom he had married on the 22^nd of September 1859. The eldest child of the family was a daughter, Jane, born in 1860. ³

Sanderson was educated at the Edinburgh Institute (now Stewart`s Melville College) which he attended from 1882 to 1885. The following lists some of his achievements during and after his time at school ⁴:-

“SANDERSON, Kenneth, 5, Northumberland Street. Particulars at School – 1^st XV, 1884-85. After Leaving School – W.S., 23, Rutland Street, Edinburgh; Chairman, Edinburgh Public Library; Lawn Tennis: Scotland v Belgium, 1914; 1914-18, Assistant in Law Department of Board of      Trade; Fellow of the Society of Antiquities of Scotland; Director, Scottish Power Company”

After leaving school in 1885, he attended Edinburgh University. At the same time, he was serving his apprenticeship as a Writer to the Signet which he began on the 2^nd of November 1885.⁵ From the census of 1891, he was at his parents` home with four of his brothers. His occupation was “apprentice law clerk”.⁶ Having studied Civil Law and Conveyancing, he completed his apprenticeship in the office of Messrs. Bruce and Kerr, W.S. on the 13^th of July 1891 when he became a member of the W.S. Society. ⁷ The following year, along with Andrew Wishart W. S., he formed the firm of Wishart and Sanderson where he remained a senior partner throughout his life. The firm built up a considerable practice both in Edinburgh and the Borders.⁸ In 1897 he wrote a letter to the Scotsman from 65, Castle Street, Edinburgh supporting the idea that “Scottish bills …. could fittingly be dealt with by a tribunal sitting in Scotland”.⁹ In both the 1901 and 1911 censuses he was living at 5, Abercromby Place and employing two servants. His profession was “W.S. and N.P.” ¹⁰

Kenneth Sanderson was a talented lawn tennis player. In 1887 he competed in tournaments in Galashiels and Melrose and in 1888, he entered the Scottish Championships, reaching the semi-finals. He competed in the Queen`s Challenge Cup in 1890 and reached the final of the Scottish Border Championships in 1903. In 1904 another entry into the Scottish Championships ended when he lost in round one. He also competed in tournaments on the Continent, South of France (quarter-finals in 1905) and Cannes (semi-finals in 1905) and again in 1909. He again reached the semi-finals of the Scottish Championships in 1908 and played in the South of Scotland Tennis Championships at Moffat as current North of Scotland Champion. He reached the men`s singles final and played in the mixed doubles.¹¹ In April 1914 he toured Belgium with the Scottish Lawn Tennis Team and represented Scotland against Belgium in the first international match in which a Scottish team was involved. (He won two and lost two matches). (The team attributed its relatively poor form to having to play the match so soon after arriving in Belgium!)¹²

He wrote a critique of Scottish Tennis comparing the standard of play now and 40 years previously. In it he mentions some of the prominent players and tournaments.¹³ This was republished, (unaltered because of its historical interest), in 1927. ¹⁴

In other arenas, he was an expert angler (“a passionate sport from boyhood on Ettrick and Tweed”) and a fine golfer becoming a member of the Royal Burgess Golfing Society. He was also elected a council member of the Royal Scottish Geographical Society in 1907.

When the Edinburgh Sir Walter Scott Club was established in 1893, Sanderson was a founder member and was elected to the post of Honorary Secretary. The First Annual Meeting and Dinner of the club was held on the 7^th November 1894.

“The Secretary (Mr. KENNETH SANDERSON, W.S.) read the Minute of the Meeting constituting the Club, which was held on 13^th June last, and the same was approved of. He reported that the membership to date numbered 496”. ¹⁵

His address at this time was 15, York Place. The following year he attended the meeting of the Club in the Synod Hall, Edinburgh where the Rev. John Watson (a.k.a. Ian Maclaren) was the speaker. The speaker commented that even then Scott was “not read”. ¹⁶ The 7^th Annual Dinner of the Club was held at the Royal Hotel, with Sanderson as Hon. Sec. ¹⁷ In this capacity, he wrote to Sir Donald MacAlister in 1909 inviting him to be President of the Club for the following year. Sir Donald was then Principal of Glasgow University and the letter is preserved in the archives of the University. ¹⁸ The invitation was accepted. On the 8^th of April 1910 he wrote to Lord Crewe possibly with a similar invitation. ¹⁹

After 27 years as Hon. Sec. of the Club, he indicated his intention to resign that position on 31^st October 1921 and his resignation was accepted at the AGM and Dinner on the 17^th of December that year.²⁰ Presumably this prompted a presentation to him of “the Bracket Clock by Joseph Kniff, given to me by the Edinburgh Sir Walter Scott Club” which is mentioned in his will and which was left to his nephew Robert Kenneth Sanderson. He retained a connection with the club and attended its Thirtieth Annual Dinner in 1930 at the North British Hotel, with the Rt. Hon. Stanley Baldwin presiding. He was no longer an office bearer.²¹

In 1932 he wrote authoritative articles in the Scotsman describing exhibits (for example “The Engraved Portraits” of Scott) on display at the Scott Centenary Exhibition in the National Galleries of Scotland.²²

The Old Edinburgh Club was founded in 1908 with Sanderson a founding member.²³

Kenneth Sanderson`s main interests outside of his law practice were Scottish Art, Prints and Engravings, and libraries. He was regarded: “as one of the finest art connoisseurs in Scotland; he had not only one of the largest private collections of pictures and prints, but an intimate knowledge of the work of each of the great painters and engravers, particularly of the 18^th century. His favourite portrait painter was probably David Martin, the master of Sir Henry Raeburn, though he had an affection for Allan Ramsay and Andrew Geddes”. ²⁴

His “intimate knowledge” is exemplified in a letter of 1917 on the subject of “Sir Henry Raeburn`s “Glengarry””<sup>25</sup>. He was instrumental in the foundation of the Scottish Print and Fine Arts Club which held exhibitions in Edinburgh, Glasgow and Aberdeen and he contributed regularly to “The Print Collector`s Quarterly”. For example, he wrote an article on “Engravings after Raeburn” for one of the 1925 editions.²⁶

In 1928 he became Curator of the Signet Library a post which he held for the rest of his life.²⁷ He was Chairman of the Edinburgh Library Committee from 1930. ²⁸ In a letter of that year he requested donations of local materials to be housed in a new library being built in Leith.²⁹ In 1934 he presided over a meeting of the General Committee of the Edinburgh Public Library and announced that he was giving two pencil drawings by Henry Gastineau and a letter of James Gordon dated 1680, to the Edinburgh Room.³⁰ This was followed in 1935 by his gift of two watercolour drawings to Edinburgh Central Library; “The Edinburgh Tollbooth, 1829” and “View of Portobello, 1838”.³¹ He was also chairman of the Library Committee of Edinburgh University.³² He was passionate about “the extensions and welfare of the Public Library – which he regarded as his chief life`s work”.³³

In 1936 he was appointed to the Board of Trustees of the National Galleries of Scotland (NGS). He subsequently served as the National Galleries of Scotland Accounting Officer.³⁴ In 1938 in his capacity as Trustee he was a member of the Executive Committee set up in Edinburgh in connection with “the most comprehensive exhibition of Scottish Art which has ever been undertaken”. The exhibition was to be held at the Royal Academy, Burlington House, London in 1939. Other members of the committee were Sir James L. Caw, Sir D. Y. Cameron, Mr. Stanley Cursiter and Mr J. R. Blyth, Chairman of the Kirkcaldy Art Gallery Committee.³⁵ John Lavery and Sir Muirhead Bone were involved in the London committee. In connection with this exhibition he gave a series of weekly lectures on Scottish painters featuring, for example, the work of Wilkie and Geddes.³⁶ He also lent the portrait of George Murdoch (subsequently donated to Glasgow) to be exhibited at the Royal Academy.

Sanderson visited many of the galleries in Europe the last being those in Copenhagen and Stockholm in the year before the war.³⁷ In 1941 he represented the Trustees of NGS at an exhibition of “Inter-Allied Art” which was opened by Tom Johnston Secretary of State.³⁸ He was reappointed to the Board of Trustees in 1942 (along with Sir William Burrell and Sir D. Y. Cameron).

 “Interested in the development of electrical supply in the South of Scotland, he became a director of the Scottish Power Company and the various electrical supply companies associated with it”. ³⁹

Kenneth Sanderson never married. He died aged 75 on the 16^th October 1943 at his home, 5, Northumberland Street, Edinburgh. “An Appreciation” appeared in the Scotsman;

“His bright, engaging and energetic personality endeared him not only to friends in the Parliament House and in other legal quarters, but in several artistic, literary and other societies. His zest, wide knowledge, sincerity and sound judgement were characteristics which won the admiration of all whom he came in contact with.” ⁴⁰

The Edinburgh Evening News of 18^th October 1943 contained a brief obituary and according to the Weekly Scotsman, his estate was valued at £26,503. ⁴¹ Among other bequests he left £1000 to the City of Edinburgh Council of Social Service, £500 to the Kirk Session of St. Cuthbert`s Parish Church – of which he had been an elder – (“for behoof of the Choir Endowment Fund”) and £200 to the Scottish Modern Arts Association. He also bequeathed a print showing the opening of the Scott Monument to Edinburgh Central Library.

The National Galleries of Scotland have a large collection of prints and drawings from the Kenneth Sanderson bequest of 1944. In addition, the Fine Arts Library in Edinburgh Central Library has a collection of artists` autographs and letters also from the bequest.

References

1. Glasgow Corporation Minutes, 16^th November 1943, Committee on Art Galleries and Museums. (Mitchell Library)
2. Scotland`s People, Birth Certificate
3. ancestry.co.uk
4. Edinburgh Institution, 1832 – 1932, J.R.S. Young, George Waterston & Sons Ltd., 1933
5. Information and photograph of Sanderson from, James Hamilton, Research Principal, The WS Society, The Signet Library, Edinburgh
6. Scotland`s People, Census, 1891
7. Scots Law Reporter, 1943, p191
8. Information from Andrew Wishart, grandson of Kenneth Sanderson`s partner; He also provided the information that a walnut tallboy was bequeathed to the Royal Scottish Museum and is on display there;
9. The Scotsman, 13^th April 1897, p9
10. Scotland`s People, Censuses, 1901 and 1911
11. tennisarchives.com/player.php?playerid=9422 and The Scotsman, 7^th August 1909 p13

12. “Fifty Years of Lawn Tennis in Scotland”, 1914, Wallace MacGregor, editor and publisher
13. “Aspects Of Scottish Lawn Tennis”, Being A Series Of Articles By J. Patten Macdougall, C.B., A. Wallace Mcgregor, A. Morrice Mackay, Edinburgh, 1^st Jan 1910
14. “Fifty Years of Lawn Tennis in Scotland”, Wallace MacGregor, publisher. 1927
15. Minutes of the Edinburgh Sir Walter Scott Club,7^th November 1894, reprinted 9^th March 2009
16. The Scotsman, 26^th Nov 1895. p9
17. The Scotsman, 10^th January 1901, p9
18. Glasgow University Archives, MS Gen 544/42
19. Cambridge University Archives, Crewe C.14.1.24
20. From the Minutes of the Edinburgh Sir Walter Scott Club, courtesy of Lee Simpson, Hon. Treasurer
21. The Scotsman, 17^th January 1930, p10
22. The Scotsman, 1^st and 2nd July 1932, p12
23. Information from, James Hamilton, Research Principal, The WS Society, The Signet Library, Edinburgh
24. The Scotsman, 19^th October 1943, p4; 18^th October 1943. Notice of his death and an obituary
25. The Scotsman, 24^th July 1917, p6
26. The Print Collector`s Quarterly, Vol. 12, No. 2, April 1925
27. Information from, James Hamilton, Research Principal, The WS Society, The Signet Library, Edinburgh
28. The Scotsman, 22^nd January 1930;
29. The Scotsman, 24^th January 1930 p7
30. The Scotsman, 31^st July 1934, p7
31. The Scotsman 1^st October 1935, p13
32. The Scots Law Times, 6^th November 1943, pp 47,48
33. “A Friend`s Tribute”, The Scotsman, 21^st October 1943
34. I am grateful to Kerry Eldon, Librarian, Scottish National Gallery, for information and for allowing access to its collection of Sanderson papers.
35. The Scotsman, 4^th June 1938, p17
36. The Scotsman 28^th January 1939, p15
37. “A Friend`s Tribute”, The Scotsman, 21^st October 1943
38. Glasgow Herald, 31^st May 1941
39. Edinburgh Evening Dispatch, 18^th October, 1943
40. The Scotsman, 19^th Oct 1943
41. The Weekly Scotsman, 3^rd Jan 1944, p3

The Painting

The portrait was painted by David Martin (1737 – 1797) in 1793. It is signed “Martin, P.W.P* pinxit 1793”. It was a family commission and remained in the family till 1931.

It was exhibited in Glasgow in 1868 (with the attribution that it was by Raeburn) and in 1894 at an exhibition of “Old Glasgow Art”, lent by Andrew B. Yuille.

It was sold at Christie’s in London on July 10, 1931 from the property of C.T. Murdoch, Esq., M.P.** It was bought by Leggatt for £105 and sold on to Kenneth Sanderson.

In 1937 it was loaned by Kenneth Sanderson to The Scottish Fine Arts and Print Club Loan Exhibition and again in 1939 to the Exhibition of Scottish Art at the R.A., London.

*P.W.P. = Painter to the Prince of Wales

** Charles Townshend Murdoch (27 May 1837 — 8 July 1898) was a banker and Conservative politican who sat in the House of Commons between 1885 and 1898.

The Sitter

George Murdoch was admitted a burgess of Glasgow on 26^th September 1737, “by right of his father”. He was Dean of Guild in 1751 and 1752. He was elected Provost of Glasgow from 1754-1755 and again from 1766-1767. He was a merchant primarily trading in wines from Madeira, but became involved in related enterprises such as becoming a partner in a glass bottle works in 1742, and forming Murdoch & Warroch to build and operate the famous Anderston Brewery. George Murdoch was thrice married. His first wife was Margaret Leitch, daughter of a Glasgow merchant whom he married about 1740 and had a family of five sons and three (four?) daughters. His subsequent marriages (to Janet Bogle and Amelia Campbell) produced no further children.

One of his sons, James, went to work in Madeira at the age of thirteen and another, George, ended up in Grenada. In 1767, while in his second term as Provost, Murdoch laid the foundation stone for the new Jamaica Street Bridge. A mason, in 1769 he became “Provincial Grand Master over the Counties of Lenrick (Lanark?), Renfrew, Air, Dumbarton and Argyle”.

George Murdoch died at Frisky Hall, Dunbartonshire on 19^th September 1795 and was buried in Blackfriars Churchyard. He was survived by his third wife.

The information about the painting and the sitter comes from the object files at Glasgow Museums Resource Centre.