McManus 168

John Ogilvie was born the eldest son of James Ogilvie, writer, and his wife, Rachel Jameson.^[1] His father was a notable figure in Dundee having been described, when he died in 1867, as ‘the oldest solicitor in the town.‘^[8]

John Ogilvie’s grandfather, also John Ogilvie, founded his law firm in Dundee in the later 1760s,^[8] with his father, James Ogilvie, entering into partnership around 1802,^[8] under the designation of  ‘J Ogilvie & Son.’^[8]

Continuing with tradition, John Ogilvie, and subsequently, his own son, John were entwined within the family firm – firstly as ‘J & J Ogilvie’^[5] and, finally (by the later 1860s) as ‘John, James & John Ogilvie,’^[9] (sometimes ‘J J & J Ogilvie’).^[9]

Their business was located on the High Street at 3 New Inn Entry.^[5][10]

The extended Ogilvie families lived in the fashionable district at the west end of the Nethergate. John Ogilvie and his family resided at 4 Park Place,^[10] with his father, James Ogilvie residing at the south corner of the same street, at 1 Park Place, fronting the Nethergate.^[10]

John Ogilvie remained in business for 36 years. His abilities as a lawyer had always been acknowledged and ‘by the members of the bar, Mr Ogilvie was very much esteemed.’^[7]

It was declared that;

‘His appointment as one of the Sheriff Substitutes in Dundee was regarded with great satisfaction and in that capacity he invariably acted with the utmost discretion.‘^[7]

John Ogilvie’s death in 1869 came as a result of having contracted typhus fever. At the time, the youngest of his children was merely 6 years old. In a short period over 1869/70, his wife Anne had endured the loss of her husband, her eldest son, James and a daughter Elizabeth (Bessie).^[11]

This man, coming as he did from a respected firm of solicitors, or writers as they were then called could claim a respected profile in the town among his colleagues and associates. As a family man in a Victorian age, his second youngest daughter, Mary, reported;

‘Coming after so many brothers and sisters I did not know my father very well. He used to play with me sometimes, and had a wonderful trick of making half-a-crown go through the table, (of course it went through for I heard it fall into the cup below!) but I should have welcomed more tokens of affection. Children should grow up lapped in love.’^[11]

A wistful note which could never grow fonder as her father, John Ogilvie, died while she was 10 years old.