Showing 240 results

Names
Person

Helen Gill Parker (nee Irons)

  • Person
  • 1897-1969
Helen Irons was born in Perth, the eldest of four children. The family moved to Forfar where her railwayman father, William Irons, worked as the Station Foreman. Her Mother, Margaret Gill, was from Dundee.
Helen trained as a teacher at Dundee Training College, graduating in 1917. She worked as a teacher in Durham where she met and married William Parker, and had two children.
Her latter years were spent in Hampshire, where she had moved to be near her daughter.
Source: granddaughter

Alex Coupar

  • MS 258
  • Person
  • 1932-
Alex Coupar was educated at Dens Road and Morgan Academy. He always wanted to be a photographer and joined DC Thomson after leaving school as a press photographer, eventually specialising in theatre work and the Scots Magazine.
In 1953 he served his National Service with the Royal Air Force School of Photography where he was a publicity photographer. In 1955, Coupar returned to Dundee and DC Thomson and where he worked on news stories and with the Dundee Repertory Theatre, producing production and publicity photographs.
Leaving DC Thomson in 1966, Coupar set up his own studio at 19 South Tay Street, working freelance for the press and for companies like Dundee Rep and Bett Brothers builders (his first clients). Coupar's studio, Spanphoto, became known as one of Scotland's premier photographic firms.
Alex Coupar married Margaret with whom he had a son and daughter. He retired and closed Spanphoto in 2000.

James Ernest Cox

  • Person
  • 12 Sept 1876-17 July 1950

James Ernest Cox was the eldest son of Ada Mary Cox and Edward Cox of Cardean and Drumkilbo, Meigle. Educated at a preparatory school and at Uppingham, he then studied at Pembroke College, Cambridge, where he graduated B.A.

In 1899 he joined the firm of Messrs Cox Brothers. He became a leading authority in jute and in 1920, when Jute Industries Ltd acquired companies in the city, including Cox Brothers Ltd, he was chairman of the firm. From 1920 until 1948 he was a chairman of Jute Industries Ltd and its subsidiary companies and was a prominent figure in the business and commercial world. Following the death of his father In 1913 he joined the Board of the First, Second and Third Scottish-American Trust Company and the Northern American Trust Company. Later he became chairman of the companies and held these positions, along with that of chairman of the Camperdown Trust Company Ltd, until his resignation in 1947. He was a member of the local board of the Northern Assurance Company Ltd, and an extra-ordinary director of the Scottish Widows' Fund and Life Assurance Society. In 1919 he became president of the Chamber of Commerce and for many years he was a prominent member of the Association of Jute Spinners and Manufacturers.

In 1906 he became a member of the Council of University College, Dundee. Later he was appointed convener of the finance committee and in 1926 was appointed chairman of the council. In 1931 his services to the university were recognised when he received the honorary degree of LL.D. in 1931. He resigned from the chairmanship in 1939, and three years later was elected president of the College, a position he held for until 1946.

In 1934 he was appointed by the Scottish Secretary to the Committee on Scottish Health Services, established to review the entire national health policy and organisation in Scotland. JE Cox served for six years as a director of Dundee Royal Infirmary and wad also vice-president of the Royal Victoria Hospital. He was a General Commissioner of Income Tax for the Division of Dundee.

Dr Cox lived at Lyndhurst, Lochee prior to purchasing Methven Castle in 1922. The estate, of almost 1000 acres, comprised the mansion-house; policies and woodland; the home farm; and the farms of Easter Busby, Loanleven, and Easter, Middle and Wester Powside. He had an interest in agriculture, particularly pig breeding and won prizes at many shows, including several at the Royal Highland Show. He was also president of Methven Curling Club. While resident in Dundee Dr Cox was identified with St Margaret's Episcopal Church but after the purchase of Methven, he was prominently associated with St Ninian's Cathedral, Perth, being treasurer of the Diocese of Brechin for 25 years.

He married Agnes Jane Tod in 1904. His wife, three sons, Commander David E. Cox, Michael George Cox and Douglas Hunter Cox and a daughter, Margot Cox, survived him. His first born son, Edward James Cox, had been killed in a motorcycle accident in 1925. A daughter Kathleen Mary Cox was born and died in 1911.

David Ernest Cox

  • Person
  • 11 November 1908-5 November 1980
David Ernest Cox, the son of James Ernest and Agnes Jane Cox, was born in Lochee. His early education was at Stanmore Park, Middlesex, from which he entered Dartmouth Naval College as a cadet in 1922. As a Sub-Lieutenant he was present at the evacuation of Nankin in 1927. He was appointed Midshipman in 1928 and while returning from China, his ship, HMS Enterprise, was joined by the Prince of Wales at Dar-es-Salaam, who was rushing home from East Africa to see the King on his sick-bed. David served as a Commander in the Royal Navy until 1947.
After 1947, Cox and his wife, Mary Aileen Musgrove with whom he had two children, Jane and Edward, lived in South Africa, Rhodesia and Malta, then settled in Guernsey in 1972
During his retirement Commander Cox sailed his boats, 'Ninga' and 'Scottish Simo' through the French canals, across the Ionian and Adriatic seas, and throughout the Mediterranean from his base in Malta.

Eddie Small

  • Person
  • 1951-2020

Eddie was a historian, playwright, Creative Writing tutor and Public Engagement Officer for the University of Dundee's School of Humanities. He was a well-known face in Dundee literary circles and wrote the play 'The Four Marys' as well as the books 'Mary Lily Walker: The Forgotten Visionary of Dundee' and 'To Bodies Gone', the latter of which saw Eddie research the history of death in Scotland, with an emphasis on practices and rituals surrounding bereavement. He twice won the Stephen Fry award for public engagement, and was voted the 2016 Inspirational Teaching Award winner by the University’s student body. He was also well-known for his very popular tours of the city.
Eddie was born at Dundee Royal Infirmary, grew up in Kirkton and attended West March Primary School and Kirkton High. He had a variety of jobs before gaining his degree and joining the University of Dundee

Sources:
https://www.dundee.ac.uk/stories/eddie-small-memoriam
https://www.eveningtelegraph.co.uk/fp/tributes-flood-in-for-one-of-the-citys-great-sons-eddie-small/

Neil Stewart and William Tennant Gairdner

  • Person
  • 1814-1907

Neil Stewart (1814-1875) was primarily a Botanist and was a member of many learned societies, including the Botanical Society of Edinburgh and excelled as a botanical draughtsman in the illustration of natural history subjects. He executed a large number of botanical drawings for the Botanical classes in the Universities of Glasgow and Edinburgh and for a number of years was the elected artist to the Botanical Society of Edinburgh, of which he became an Associate in 1850.

William Tennant Gairdner (1824-1907) studied medicine at Edinburgh in the 1840's, gaining good reports and coming to work in Edinburgh Royal Infirmary. Gairdner applied for the post of pathologist to the ERI in 1848. This meant he became responsible for the "Edinburgh Pathology Register", a series of large leather bound volumes that recorded the findings from every post-mortem examination. Throughout his career he progressed rapidly, from Clerk to Infirmary Pathologist and finally, to Physician. His last appointment was to the Chair of Medicine at Glasgow University, and it was while in this position that he received his Knighthood.

Dr James Rorie

  • Person
  • 1838-1911
James Rorie was 4 April 1838 in Arbroath and educated at Arbroath Academy. In 1855 he began studying at Edinburgh University as a medical student graduating in 1859 as a Doctor of Medicine. In the same year he also received a diploma from the Royal College of Surgeons. He then began working in the old Dundee Asylum and was appointed Superintendent in 1860. Throughout his life Dr Rorie was an important member of the Glasite Church and in 1872 married Margaret Baxter with whom he raised a family. He was later involved in the building of the new asylum at Westgreen, Liff which eventually became the Royal Dundee Liff Hospital. In 1891 Dr Rorie was appointed lecturer on Mental Diseases in the Medical Department at Dundee University College. He died in 1911.

Roger Leitch

  • Person
  • 195? -
Ethnologist Roger Leitch started making fieldwork recordings as an undergraduate at the University of Edinburgh in the early 1980s. As a graduate, he worked with the School of Scottish Studies. He has recorded and transcribed interviews with people living in the Highlands and Islands, people involved in seasonal work and the travelling community

Jan Walis

  • Person
  • 1908-1987
Jan Walis was a Polish soldier who settled in Scotland after the Second World War. He returned to his roots in farming, founding an agricultural college in Findo Gask in the late 1940s before retiring to Montrose, where he died.

Professor G. P. Henderson

  • Person
Professor G. P. Henderson was a lecturer in the department of Philosophy at the University of Dundee and the editor of the publication- The Philisophical Quarterly

Robert N.M. Robertson

  • Person
  • 15 March 1915-6 February 1991
Robertson was born in Canada and grew up in Rothsey. He attended Glasgow University as a law student and later served with the army in India and took part in the Normandy landing during the Second World War.
He was appointed as an administrator to the Medical School at St Andrews in 1945 and later left to become the Secretary of the University of Southampton. He became Secretary and Registrar of Queen’s College, Dundee in 1966 and continued as Secretary of the University of Dundee from its foundation in 1967 until 1973. It is recognised that he played a major role in its development during the 20th century.

George Mason

  • Person
  • 1945-
George Mason was an employee of Timex Electronics group, employed in their manufacturing plant in Dundee during the Timex dispute. The Timex corporation had been a major employer within the city for a number of decades when, in the early 1980s, citing difficulties with competing with cheaper workforces and production costs in the Far East, the company attempted to streamline the plant. This streamlining took the form of attempting to cut wages and employee numbers, which led to a dispute with the workers and their Union. This dispute resulted in mass demonstrations, picket lines, clashes with police, a large number of redundancies, and the bringing in of replacement workers to take the place of those sacked and picketing, before ultimately resulting in the closure of the plant and Timex withdrawing from Dundee in 1993. During this time period George Mason was an active member of the union, and had his employment terminated for taking part in the picketing.
George Mason is currently (2006) a janitor at the University of Dundee.

John Robinson Imrie

  • Person
  • 1914-2000
John Robinson Imrie was born in Wormit on Tay , attending secondary school at Harris Academy. He resided at Hawkhill Place while he studied medicine at University College Dundee, which his brother had also attended and qualified from.
Graduating in 1937, he worked as a Senior House Officer at Harrogate Hospital, moving on to work as a ships surgeon. Returning from this post, he worked at Torbay Hospital before joining the Royal Army Medial Corps. In this post he served in India and the Middle East, reaching the rank of Major.
After the war, Imrie joined with Dr. Venn-Dunn in General Practice in Torquay, now the medical centre at St. Marys. He was also clinical assistant in the Geriatric department at Paignton Hospital, and Newton Abbot Hospital. He was involved in founding Lily Derry Day Hospital at Torbay, and was medical officer to both the Post Office and the Territorial Army.

James Hamilton Gray

  • Person
  • 1902-?
James Hamilton Gray was the son of David Dargie Gray, station master at West Ferry Station, Broughty Ferry, and his wife, Mary Brown Robertson. James attended the Eastern School, Broughty Ferry where he received the Dux Price for General Excellence in June 1915. From there he went on to Harris Academy in Dundee and then Dundee Technical College where between 1917 and 1921 he received Class Certificates in Jute Manufacturing and also in 1921 a qualification in Home and Foreign Trade from Dundee Chamber of Commerce. While he was studying he was working at David Low and Company at Ann Street Works, Dundee; he worked there until March 6 1922.
By 1923 he was in India and from January 1923 to March 1947 he was employed by the Barnagore Factory and the Bally Jute Co., Ltd. In March he was promoted to the executive staff of Jardine Henderson Ltd where he remained until his retirement in 1956.
During his first year in India he was ill; there are no specific details about the illness though a letter he wrote suggests he had been ill for 7 weeks. In the same year he enrolled with The Cossipore Artillery. Between 1930 and 1932 he passed examinations in Hindustani and Bengali. According to his niece, he was also an arbitrator of the Bengal Chamber of Commerce and a commissioner of the Barnigore Municipality, under British Rule.
In 1950 he married Margery Strachan Ross at St Andrew's, Church of Scotland, Calcutta and on his retirement in 1956 he and his wife returned to Broughty Ferry.

George Bernard Shaw

  • Person
  • 1854 -1950
George Bernard Shaw was a Dublin born, Nobel prize winning playwright and critic. His plays include 'Major Barbara', 'The Doctor's Dilemma', 'Caesar and Cleopatra', 'Pygmalion', and 'Saint Joan'. He was also a prolific letter writer.

Johnston Forbes-Roberston

  • Person
  • 1853-1937
Johnston Forbes-Roberston was an English actor whose portrayal of Hamlet was considered by many, including Bernard Shaw, to be the finest of his generation, and he wrote the part of Caesar in 'Caesar and Cleopatra' specifically for Forbes-Roberston, with the part of Cleopatra played by Gertrude Elliott, who was also Forbes-Robertson's wife. Forbes-Robertson had previously toured Shaw's play 'The Devil's Disciple' in the lead role. Forbes-Robertson also brought 'Caesar and Cleopatra' to the Shubert Theatre in New York in 1913, as manager of Forbes-Robertson Repertory.

Henry David Buist

  • Person
  • ?-1972

Henry David Buist served an engineering apprenticeship then went to India where he was a factory manager for National Company Ltd in Rajgunge for 33 years. He managed the Orient, Budge and National Jute Mills. In 1935 he was appointed a Magistrate of the Third Class in the district of Howrah.

Buist's family lived at Dalmeny Place, 1 Morgan Street, Dundee and would holiday in India. Buist and his wife had two daughters; the elder, Ina, was regularly sent postcards from India by her father and by his brother, William. Their youngest child, Henry, was drowned when his ship was torpedoed off Norway in the early months of WW2.

HD Buist retired from working in India in February 1942. His wife died in 1963, and Buist himself died at his home, 27 Oxford Street, Dundee in February 1972.
Source: The Courier & Advertiser, February 29, 1972

Dr William Maxwell Jamieson

  • Person
  • ?- August 1994
Dr William Maxwell Jamieson O.B.E., M.D., F.R.C.P. (Ed.), F.F.C.M., D.P.H., took up duty as Senior R.M.O. at King's Cross Hospital, Dundee, in 1939, and apart from service with the R.A.F., 1944-1947, he stayed there until his retirement in 1979. He had been promoted to Physician Superintendent in 1948, and also headed the University's Department of Communicable (Infectious) Diseases. He headed the organising committee for the centenary celebrations of Dundee Medical School in 1987.

Robert H S Robertson

  • Person
  • 17 June 1911-7 July 1999
Robert Hugh Stannus Robertson FGS FRSE was a 20th-century Scottish chemist and authority on clay minerals.
He was born in Greenwich east of London, the son of Sir Robert Robertson and educated at Rugby School. He then studied Chemistry at Cambridge University graduating MA around 1930. On graduating he spent some time mapping Dicksonland in Spitzbergen where the glacier Robertsonbreen is named after him.
In 1933 he became the Chief Chemist at Fullers Earth Union Ltd in Surrey then in 1944 moved to Glasgow. In 1958 Robertson moved to Pitlochry where he lived for the rest of his life. His field work was varied and worldwide, including, field work in Iran (Kermanshah, Spain, Greece, and the US, and the United Kingdom.
In 1969 he founded the Robertson Resource Use Institute in Pitlochry and elected a Fellow of the Royal Society of Edinburgh a year later.

John Iball

  • Person
  • 1907-21 January 1993

John Iball was born in Hasland, Derbyshire. He attended University College, Bangor from where he graduated with a first class degree in physics in 1928.

After a year doing a teaching diploma, he took an MSc in 1930 and a PhD in 1932 in the study of crystal structures by X-ray. Iball then went to the Royal Institution in London where he worked under Sir William Bragg focusing on X-ray studies of organic compounds. This led him to study the molecular structure of cancer producing aromatic compounds and to an interest in carcinogenicity.

He joined the research staff of the Royal Cancer Hospital in London in 1934 and his contribution was recognised by the award of a DSc (Wales) in 1939. The following year Iball joined the team working on rocket science for the Ministry of Supply then, after the war, moved to Port Sunlight to work for Unilever.

In 1948 he was appointed a fellow at University College, Dundee where he was to remain until he retired. He lectured in the physics and chemistry departments and in 1969 was appointed Senior Gibb Fellow of the British Empire Cancer Campaign.

Iball was keen to share his enthusiasm for science with people outside the academic community. He formed the Tayside and Fife Branch of the British Association and was always willing to help local industries with scientific problems. After he retired in 1974 he continued to be active in these areas and to publish the results of his ongoing research. Iball died in Dundee.

George Taylor and Margaret Corstorphine

  • Person
  • 1904-1993

George Taylor was born in Edinburgh and educated at Edinburgh University where he gained a degree in Botany. Leaving his post-graduate employment at the Royal Botanical Garden, Taylor moved south to establish the botanical section within the British Museum. In 1956 he was appointed the director of the Royal Botanical Gardens at Kew and gained a knighthood in 1962. As well as his official career he travelled widely in China, Asia and Africa on plant collecting expeditions and had a special interest in the Himalayan poppy.

Robert Henry and Margaret Corstorphine were keen amateur botanists from Arbroath who dedicated their talents to studying the flora of the county of Angus. Over a forty-year period lasting into the early 1940s they amassed a comprehensive Herbarium and botanical library and were also engaged in the compilation of a manuscript survey of the flora of Angus, which was intended for publication. Taylor became closely involved with the Flora of Angus after the death of Robert Corstorphine. Margaret Corstorphine welcomed his assistance as her poor health left her unable to continue with the work alone.

Kate Stewart Fraser

  • Person
  • 1886-1974

Kate Stewart Fraser was born in Annfield Street, Dundee, the daughter of John Fraser. She was educated at Morgan Academy and Harris Academy and then University College, Dundee (which she attended 1905-1910) and was awarded an honours MA by the University of St Andrews in 1909. She had served as a pupil teacher at Hill Street School and later taught at Harris Academy, Dundee.

During the Great War Kate emigrated to Canada where she married her fiancé Thomas Willock (Tom) Scott, an accountant from Wormit. They had two children Kathryn, known as Kay, a French teacher, and Thomas Stewart, known as Stewart. Stewart Scott also became a teacher and died on 29th March 2006 in Toronto. He was survived by his second wife Maia and his three children.

Kate died in Toronto.

Arthur Dawson Foote

  • Person
  • 1931-

A. D. Foote was born in Toxteth and educated in Manchester from 1938 and at Balliol College, Oxford, from 1949 where he read Classics and English.

Foote suffered from schizophrenia from the age of 26. After he recovered from an illness he spent some years as Warden of the International Voluntary Service Centre in London. To get a quieter job he worked at the National Central Library in Malet Place till 1965.

In 1969 he moved to Dundee where his family stayed; he had to spend the first 5 years in hospital. There, he edited a quarterly magazine for the patients which ran up to 22 issues.

A. D. Foote has been writing poetry and short stories as a vocation, and from 1985 earning income as a translator. He speaks Finnish, Polish, Hungarian, Cornish, Arabic, Ido and Interlingua.

William Fraser Mitchell

  • Person
  • 9 April 1900 -
William Fraser Mitchell was born in Monifieth, Angus, the only son of William Fraser Mitchell and Jane Lawson.
He was a descendant of William Watson, linen weaver, St Vigeans, who was also the great grandfather of Sir Robert Alexander Watson Watt (1892- ), inventor of the radar.
William Fraser first compiled his family history in 1940. This material relates mainly to his mother's family.

Iain Forbes

  • Person
  • 1948-
Iain Forbes was born in Dundee in October 1948. He attended Blackness Primary School then progressed to Harris Academy in 1960. Forbes attended Queen’s College/University of Dundee between 1966 and 1970, studying Civil Engineering.
He left Dundee in November 1970 for a job with Leicester City Council and then moved to London in late 1974, where he qualified as a Chartered Engineer in 1976. Forbes held posts in the Engineering and Transportation fields for various local authorities in London until 2012, when he retired.
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