Identity area
Type of entity
Authorized form of name
G. L. Wilson Department Store
Parallel form(s) of name
Standardized form(s) of name according to other rules
Other form(s) of name
Identifiers for corporate bodies
Description area
Dates of existence
History
Gavin Laurie Wilson was born in Strathaven, South Lanarkshire, in 1852. He had a 'popular warehouse' in Cupar, Fife before opening what became G.L. Wilson's Department Store in 1894. The store, originally principally a drapery, was located on the corner of Murraygate and Commercial Street, Dundee, and was popularly known as 'The Corner'. Wilson died in 1932 but his son John continued to run the business until his death in 1962. Another son, involved to an extent in the store, was Sir Garnet Wilson (1885-1973) a local Liberal politician who was Lord Provost of Dundee from 1940 to 1946 and who was knighted for his services to the city. A third son, Gavin, died in action as a result of wounds sustained during the First World War. The store closed c 1972 but the building still stands.