The Life Insurance Co of Scotland was founded in Edinburgh in 1825. The name was changed to the Standard Life Assurance Co in 1832 and the company began a period of expansion that lasted 60 years, acquiring the York and London Insurance Company in 1844, and the East of Scotland Assurance Co in 1852. In 1865 it acquired the Minerva Life Assurance Co and the Victoria Legal and Commercial Co, and merged with the Colonial Life Assurance Co. The India Life Assurance Co was acquired in 1871. In 1925 Standard Life became a mutual life company. An agency for Standard Life was in operation from at least 1834. By 1840 the Dundee agent was J & J Ogilvie, Writers, but by 1850 the agents were Shiell and Small. Standard Life did not open a branch in Dundee until 1946.
Henry Burra Esquire is described as living in Playden, Ashford, Kent, although Playden is actually near Rye, Sussex. He owned land in the parishes of Glenbuchat and Strathdon in Aberdeenshire.
The Eastern Bank of Scotland was established in Dundee in 1838 with an office in the Trades Hall. The bank had branches in Anstruther, Inverkeithing and Montrose as well as agents throughout Britain. In November 1862, negotiations were entered into with the Clydesdale Bank, resulting in amalgamation in 1863.
The Dundee Garden City Association (c.1922-1965) was a co-operative of owner-occupiers living in the area of the Kingsway Garden City. This area included the Kingsway itself, Clive Road, Bruce Road and Foster Road. In 1948 it was said to represent over 300 persons with a core membership of 79. Committee meetings were held once a month, while general meetings were held quarterly. The concerns of the Association ranged from the sharing of tools, to organising and implementing schemes of mutual help and safety precautions during the war, to the removal of local pillar boxes. There was a proposal in July 1962 that the Society should be dissolved and a subsequent transfer of surplus assets of £2,955 to be used for Housing Repairs Fund.
The Exchange was established in 1856 by Sir John Ogilvy. He offered land in Bank Street which he and others had purchased to be used as the site. The Corn Exchange and its associated buildings were used by the public for concerts, classes, meetings and a picture saleroom. It was originally administered by a committee, which included members such as John Leng, proprietor of the Dundee Advertiser, and Lord Kinnaird.
Shiell and Small, solicitors, was founded in 1832 by John Shiell of Smithfield and David Small. It began trading in New Inn Entry before moving to larger premises in Bank Street in the 1860s. A family concern until 1891, W. Thomson Currie, who had been admitted as a co-partner, assumed control and continued the practice under the same name. Shiell and Small acted as Treasurers to the University College Dundee and the Technical Institute, served as Clerks for the Baxter Park Trust and were factors for the Dalhousie, Rossie Priory and Baldovan estates. Shiell and Small ceased trading in 1990.
John Shiell and David Small founded Shiell and Small solicitors in 1832. John Sheill (1806-1875) was from Smithfield, while David Small (d 1885) was the son of a Dundee Town Clerk. They began trading in New Inn Entry, and moved to 10 Reform Street in the early 1840's, and shortly afterwards moved to larger premises in Bank Street in the 1860s. John Shiell's son, James Guthrie Shiell (1874-1927) joined the firm in the early 1900s, and other partners included John Small, W.F. Small, and Herbert Kinnaird Ogilvy. In 1891 W. Thomson Currie, who had been admitted as a co-partner, assumed control and continued the practice under the same name. Shiell and Small acted as Treasurers to the University College Dundee and the Technical Institute, served as Clerks for the Baxter Park Trust and were factors for the Dalhousie, Rossie Priory and Baldovan estates. They were well known for representing both major businesses and landed families in the Dundee area. Shiell and Small ceased trading in 1990, when it was acquired by Miller Sneddon solicitors of Perth and Newburgh, which later merged with Hendry and Fenton solicitors of Dundee, to form Miller Hendry solicitors of Dundee, Perth and Newbrugh.
Catherine Kinnear (1912-1988) was a bibliophile and antiquarian. She was a graduate of the University of St Andrews then trained as an orthoptist, working for over 40 years at the Nethergate Eye Clinic. Kinnear was active in Dundee Civic Trust and the Abertay Historical Society of which she was a founder member and also served as president.
William R Stewart & Sons owned Hillbank Hackle Works on Dens Road, a converted hand loom factory. The company is still in operation, manufacturing drilled and pinned rollers, segments, strips etc. used for processing cotton, synthetic and other textile fibres, waste recovery, perforation and tobacco.
Daniel Buchanan & Sons Ltd were manufacturers of leathercloth and PVC coated paper based in Prestonpans. By 1965 the company was insolvent. As the firm was a major supplier to Low Brothers, the Don and Low group were reluctant to allow it to go bankrupt and so took over its running. In about 1967 Buchanan & Sons was linked, for administrative purposes, with another Don company, T. Gaunt (Rainwear) Ltd which specialised in the making of PVC garments. The Buchanan name seems to have ceased to be used around 1984, a period when Don and Low underwent internal restructuring. T. Gaunt seems to have been subsumed by Don and Low (Packaging) Ltd at by this same time.
Low Brothers & Co. was a firm of jute merchants and was based in Dundee. Its origins can be traced to a jute bag-sewing firm, which was established in 1913 by William Low (Snr) and Peter Low. In the late 1950s it expanded into textile production, purchasing the small firm of Alexander Henderson and Co. This attracted the attention of Don Brothers Buist and Co. who wished to link their textile production concerns with textile merchants. Consequently in 1960 the two companies merged, with two Dons directors joining Lows' board and William Low (Jnr) of Low Brothers joining the board of Dons. Both companies continued to trade under their own names until internal reconstruction of the Don and Low group in the 1980s.
Strathmore Woollen Co. Ltd was founded in 1949. From its establishment the majority of the firm's shares were owned by Don Brothers Buist and Co. In March 1983 Don and Low decided to abandon production at the company's Canmore Works, ending the existence of the Strathmore Woollen Company as part of the Don and Low group. However the company was then taken over by its former Scottish sales manager. It was still active as of July 2017.
J & J Smart, Brechin, Ltd was founded in 1838 and was based in Brechin, Scotland. In 1960 the company entered into informal merger negotiations with Don Brothers, Buist & Co Ltd. As a result of this merger John B. Smart, son of the firm's chairman, joined the board of the larger firm. The company's name seems to have been retained for sometime after the merger. Although a relatively small business, J & J Smart produced a variety of fabrics, including jute and cotton, and also experimented with new fabrics such as rayon in the 1950s.
James Scott, Junior, was a merchant based in Forfar from at least 1804-1832. At some point subsequent to this, the business was taken over by one of the predecessor companies of Don & Low (Holdings) Ltd.
Alexander Henderson & Son Ltd, Spinners were a jute-spinning firm based in Dundee, Scotland. The company was established in 1833. Their centre of operations was the South Dudhope Works in the city's Smellie's Lane. By 1865 the Works included a mill and a factory, the latter housing some 85 power looms. The company eventually became a subsidiary of Low Brothers & Co (Dundee) Ltd, and was included in that company's amalgamation with Don Brothers, Buist & Co Ltd in 1960.
Moffat and Son Ltd was a small manufacturing firm based in Forfar. The company specialised in the production of fine hessians, and was based at Haugh Works, South Street, Forfar. In 1957 its management decided to sell the firm and subsequently Don Brothers, Buist & Co Ltd bought a controlling interest in the company in 1958.
The Dundee Calendering Company Ltd was incorporated in 1908. It was housed in a complex called the Dundee or Queen Street Calendar, built in around 1822. In its early days it was managed by A.J. Warden. In the 1950s Alexander Henderson and Sons Ltd acquired many of their shares, and possibly a controlling interest in the company. By 1960 the company was a subsidiary of Low Brothers & Co (Dundee) Ltd, and thus eventually became part of Don & Low (Holdings) Ltd
Low Brothers & Co. was a firm of jute merchants and was based in Dundee. Its origins can be traced to a jute bag-sewing firm, which was established in 1913 by William Low (Snr) and Peter Low. In 1960 it merged with Don and Buist. Two Don directors joined Lows' board and William Low (Jnr) of Low Brothers joined the board of Don and Buist. Both companies continued to trade under their own names, until internal reconstruction of the Don and Low group in the 1980s. William Low (Jnr) emerged as a leading figure in the new firm and played a key role in establishing it as one of Europe's leading polypropylene companies. He was for a long time Chairman and Chief Executive of the firm. He finally left the firm in 1989 when he retired from as position as non executive Chairman. He also served as Chairman of Dundee Chamber of Commerce and Chairman of the European Association of textile Polyolefins. This post was later held by his son. W. Barclay Low, who also served as Don and Low's personnel director
The Don family were involved in the textile trade in Angus from the eighteenth century. By the nineteenth century many of the family were involved in the family firm which eventually became Don Bros. Buist, and Co and later Don and Low PLC. Among them was John Don a great leader of the company in the Victorian period. The Hill and Robertson families were offshoots of the Don family. One of John Don's daughters, Mary Anne Don, married Michael Hill a merchant from Hull. Their son Lionel was appointed a Director of Don Bros., Buist and Co. in 1922. Another member of the family Evelyn Campbell Don married L.F. Robertson.
Tay Textiles Ltd was an amalgam of various Dundee textile firms, some of which had been founded in the nineteenth century. By the early 1980s it was mainly a producer of specialist polypropylene tape, which was used to make flexible intermediate bulk containers. In 1983 Don & Low purchased it from Scott and Robertson PLC for £350,000. It had two plants one in Dundee, and one in Perth. Commercially the take-over was not a success, despite considerable investment in the company, and in 1989, Dons opted to sell the firm to Van Leer (UK) Holdings Ltd. In 1990 it became Van Leer Tay Ltd and in 2001 Huhtamaki Tay Ltd, although by this time the company seems to have had no operations in Dundee.
