McManus 168

Full name

John Milne Baxter

Date of birth

30-06-1822^[1] (baptised 14-08-1822)^[2]

Place of birth

Dundee^[1]

Gender

Male

Marital status

Married 05-06-1844^[3]

Name of spouse

Margaret Christie Todd^[3]

Children

Thomas William, 1848;^[4] George Handyside, 1850;^[5] Ellen, 1851;^[6] Richard, 1853;^[7] Colin, 1855;^[8] Allan, 1857;^[9] Lucy, 1859;^[10] Mary, 1861;^[11] Stephen Leighton, 1862;^[12] Margaret Todd, 1864;^[13] John Crichton Milne, 1864^[14]

Home address

81 Bucklemaker Wynd, Dundee, c.1850-1854^[15]
Meadow Place, Dundee, c.1856-1862^[16]
Sydney Place, 6 Laurel Bank, Dundee, c.1864-1868^[17]
Sydney Place, 11 Laurel Bank, Dundee, c'1869-1870^[18]
Eden Lodge, 72 Ferry Road, Dundee, c.1871-1876^[19]

Age at death:

53 years

Place of death:

Dundee

Date of death:

03-02-1876^[20]

Buried:

Eastern Cemetery^[21]

Religious affiliation

Glasite^[22]

Political affiliation

Unknown

Clubs / societies

Patron, Mrs Margaret Petrie or Moncur's Bequest, 1864-1876:^[23] Minister of Glasite Church:^[24]

Public offices

None

Related subscribers

Subscriber no.    4 – George Armitstead – Baxter worked for George Armitstead and Co and also co-owned ships with Armitstead.

Subscriber no.156 – T. Weston Miln – Baxter worked as a clerk in his firm, which was taken over by George Armitstead on Miln’s retirement.

Occupation

Flax Merchant^[25] and shipowner^[26]

Employment

Employee and owner

Place of work

Messrs G. Armistead & Co^[27]

Work address

T.W. Miln's office, Panmure Street, Dundee, 1850^[28]
George Armitstead & Co, Panmure Street, Dundee, 1853-1875^[29]

Career to date:

John Milne Baxter was the son of George Handyside Baxter, manufacturer,^[30] and Janet Milne. He married Margaret Christie Todd in 1844 and they had at least eleven children between 1848 and 1866. In 1850 John was recorded as being a clerk in the office of T. W. Miln in Panmure Street, Dundee, although by this stage the firm may already have come under the control of George Armitstead.^[31] In the 1851 census he is described as clerk to a commission agent.^[32] He was living in Bucklemaker Wynd with his wife, two sons, his wife's brother (a seventeen year old ironmonger's apprentice), and one servant. Miln's business was taken over by George Armitstead^[33] and Baxter continued as a clerk for his new employer.^[34] He soon rose to occupy the position of accountant and book-keeper^[35] and after 1861 was described as a merchant.^[36] He co-owned Dundee registered ships with George Armitstead and others, including Khankai, Akindo and Ousuri.^[26] This suggests that he was much more than just an employee. In religion John was a Glasite, also known as Sandemanian, names derived from the early followers of John Glas, the deposed minister of Tealing in the 1730s. It would appear that John was following in his father's footsteps, as, in a list of Glasites in Dundee, George H. Baxter is one of the elders and John M. Baxter one of the deacons in 1855.^[37] In 1861 the Baxters were living in the more salubrious surroundings of Meadow Place with eight children and three servants.^[38] His contribution of £50 to the Albert Institute Ltd suggests that he was in comfortable circumstances.