McManus 168

John Leadbetter was born in Penicuik in 1788. He established himself in the linen trade from c.1815 in Glasgow and eventually expanded his business to Dundee and Belfast. After 1848 Leadbetter took a less active role in the business he had established due to declining health. John Leadbetter died in Glenallon in Torquay on 17 March 1865, leaving behind his widow, two sons and three daughters. His sons carried on the business.^[7] He is buried in Glasgow Necropolis.^[8]

His obituary described him as a successful businessman and upstanding citizen who was involved in municipal politics in Glasgow, holding positions of Councillor, Magistrate and Dean of the Guild. He was very much a rail enthusiast and was Chairman of the Glasgow-Edinburgh Railway Company; Director of the Ayrshire Railway Company and Chair of the Dumfries Railway.^[9] He provided the Glasgow Mechanics Institute with a building in 1831 and was chair of the Institute for ten years.^[10] He was a Conservative in politics.^[7]

Malcolm McCaul was born in Glasgow about 1804^[11] and died in Stirling in 1891.^[12] He was married to Isabella Alston, 26 June 1832, in Glasgow.^[13] In 1841 Malcolm, described as a merchant, Isabella and their first four children were resident at East Bay, Dunoon.^[14] In the 1851 Scottish Census he was registered as a linen manufacturer, living at 1 Clifton Place in the parish of Barony, Lanarkshire, with his wife Isabella and seven children: Margaret aged 17, Gilbert aged 16, Jessie aged 14, Isabella aged 13, Malcolm aged 6, Annie aged 1 and Cath aged 8 months. ^[11] In the 1861 Scotland Census he was listed as linen manufacturer and merchant living in Wilton Crescent, Maryhill and  having a further daughter Robina aged 9.^[15] Isabella died at Stirling in 1875, aged 63,^[16] which is where Malcolm, retired linen and cotton merchant, was living at 5 Drummond Place, with his eldest daughter, Margaret, in 1881.^[17] Malcolm’s death on 18 January 1891, aged 86, is recorded on a family headstone at the Ramshorn Graveyard, Glasgow, which also mentions that he is buried in the Glasgow Necropolis.^[18]

From entries in the Dundee Post Office directories, Leadbetter, Adamson & Co. were first listed in 1837 as flaxspinners, linen manufacturers and merchants, operating from Cowgate, Dundee.^[1] The entries for Leadbetter, Adamson & Co., 1845-1848, list the company as flaxspinners, bleachers, dyers and power loom manufacturers, with a warehouse in Cowgate and works at Erichtside in Blairgowrie. From 1850-1859, the entry changes to John Leadbetter & Co. operating from 37 Meadowside, Dundee with no mention of Blairgowrie.^[3] From 1861 through to 1867, the entry was listed as Leadbetter & McCaul.^[19] From 1869, all entries were listed as Leadbetter Bros & Co. and the McCaul name was dropped.^[20] The company continued through to the late 1920s.