McManus 168

Mary Ann Baxter (1801-1884) was the seventh of the eight children born to William Baxter (1767-1854) and Elizabeth Gorrell (1763-84).^[1] She was named after her maternal aunts, Mary and Ann Gorrel.^[1] Her siblings were Eleanor (1788-1868); Edward (1791-1871); David (1793-1872); Margaret (1794-1845); John Gorrell (1796-1853); William Gorrell (1798-1852) and Elizabeth (1802-1883).^[6] Her father opened a flax mill at Lower Dens Works in Dundee in 1822, operating as William Baxter and Sons (later Baxter Brothers). The steam powered, large scale manufacture of linen was the foundation of the Baxter family fortune, under the leadership of Mary Ann’s brother David.^[7]

As an unmarried daughter of a wealthy middle class family, for the most part Mary Ann lived privately at home, though she was known to have liberal views on religion. She was a founder member and generous donor  to the Congregational Ward Chapel, Dundee and funded the opening of the Congregational Theological Hall in Edinburgh.^[8] She was a benefactress to the London Missionary Society, which she favoured for their un-denominational policy and to many other home and overseas missions and private causes.^[9]

Mary Ann’s first noteworthy involvement with civic life in Dundee was in 1861-3 when she, together with her brother David and eldest sister, Eleanor Baxter, gifted Baxter Park to the city. The Baxters donated 36 acres for a public park, designed by Sir Joseph Paxton, intended to provide mill workers with a green space for recreation in the industrial city.^[10] The opening of Baxter Park on 9 September 1863, by Earl Russell, was a grand civic ceremony, with workers’ processions, presentation of the Baxter Deed of Gift and the unveiling of a statue of the newly knighted Sir David Baxter. An estimated 70-80,000 Dundonians attended the opening (roughly three quarters of the population) and the Dundee Advertiser recorded the generosity of Sir David and ‘the Misses Baxters, his kind-hearted sisters.‘^[11]

Mary Ann Baxter, described as a ‘clever and far seeing lady,’ outlived all her siblings and eventually succeeded to the family estate of Balgavies, amassing a considerable private fortune. From the mid 1870s, the success of university extension colleges in England stimulated local demand for university education in Dundee, now a major industrial city. The campaign was led by Mary Ann’s relative, Dr John Boyd Baxter and, in 1880, it was announced that Miss Baxter would head the subscription list, providing the necessary financial backing for a university college. Mary Ann contributed the major funding of £130, 000, Boyd Baxter contributing £10,000.^[12] This was said to enable Mary Ann to realise her ‘noble ambition of embellishing her native town and promoting the cause of higher education.’^[13] In 1881, the Baxters endowed University College, Dundee to provide for ‘the education for persons of both sexes and the study of science, literature and fine arts,’ and it opened on 5 October 1883, inaugurating higher education in Dundee – the forerunner of the modern University of Dundee.

Mary Ann died on 19 December 1884, with obituaries in the Scottish press recording her many philanthropic contributions and her reputation as a ‘considerate, sympathetic and helpful friend’ to charities and individuals alike.^[14]

Mary Ann Baxter left over £300,000 in her will, which confirmed  her private generosity and sense of public duty in the long lists of legacies and bequests.^[15]