McManus 168

Mary Ann Low was the daughter of Robert Low and his wife, Elizabeth Dun.^[1][2] Her father, Robert Low, became cashier/manager of the Dundee Banking Company.^[4]

At the time of her marriage in 1848 to David Martin, flax merchant and shipowner, Mary Ann was already 50 years of age, while her husband was 20 years her senior. He was the son of the Rev Dr Samuel Martin of Monimail, Fife,^[9] and had been widowed for a second time before marrying Mary Ann Low. Previously, he married Elizabeth Marshall, in 1808^[10] and Janet Ramsay in 1818.^[11] His only surviving child (by his first wife), Isabella Marshall Martin (b 1809),^[12] was later to marry Captain James Ogilvy Dalgleish of Woodburne in Fife.^[13] Also, a grand niece of David Martin, Eliza Russell Meldrum, married William Lindsay Boase,^[14] another subscriber to the Albert Institute.

David Martin was a renowned ‘green cloth. merchant’ of long standing in Dundee. His career began in the 1790s when he was a partner with Robert Stirling in the firm of ‘Stirling & Martin.’^[15]Their business was dissolved in 1825.^[15] Thereafter, David Martin, after trading on his own account, entered into partnership (around 1834)^[16] with his nephews, David Pitcairn and David Martin Jnr,^[16] under the style of ‘Messrs David Martin & Co.’^[16] It was reported in 1869 that the firm ‘have conducted one of the largest business in Dundee for a great many years and, during the whole period, they have been highly respected by their fellow merchants and noted for their integrity and honourable dealings.’^[16]

David Martin was made a merchant burgess in 1816.^[17]

The Martin’s home at 2 Roseangle had been the residence of David Martin from the time it was built.^[18] What must have been a rather imposing villa, standing at the junction of Perth Road with Roseangle, is reputed to have been erected between 1815-1820.^[19] It has been attributed to David Neave,^[19] the city architect of the period from 1813-1833.^[20]

It has been said that Neave;

‘will be best remembered however, as the favoured architect of Dundee’s mercantile élite. He completed South Tay Street in 1818, and the first section of King Street in 1825, and designed 21 – at the very least – neat classical villas in Park Place, Perth Road, Magdalen Yard, Seagate and down into Roseangle. Their interiors were cleverly planned, smart whilst remaining unpretentious, with some fine ceiling plasterwork.’^[20]

Its location and size was testament to the status of David Martin. His then business partner, Robert Stirling, also lived on Roseangle. His home was Gray Bank. After Stirling’s death (and also that of his brother John who inherited the property), an advert was placed advertising his plot of land – ‘that beautiful lot of ground lying between the Magdalen Yard Road and the River Tay, to the west of Grey Bank which would form an eligible site for a genteel dwelling house.’^[21]

Sadly, today, the Martin’s home still stands, a B listed building,^[19] almost two hundred years old, in a sorry state, having lain empty for almost 40 years.

At the time of giving her donation towards the Albert Institute, Mary Ann (Low) Martin had been a widow for 11 months. Her husband, by then aged 85 years, died at the start of that year on 13 January 1863.^[9] She would appear to have spent her energies in supporting charitable organisations, engaging with like gentlewomen and her church. Her younger sister, Frances Low, together with her two daughters, had returned to Dundee from India, having been widowed. Her husband (John Low) had been a merchant in Calcutta and Rangoon. He died at Ava in the East Indies in 1850.^[22] Frances Low and her daughters (both born in Calcutta) lived close to her sister in nearby Hawkhill Place.

Again, Mary Ann (Low) Martin’s status and lifestyle was mirrored in a codicil to her will, in which she bequeathed a number of personal items, trinkets and keepsakes to friends and relatives.^[8] To her sister, she left items such as ‘a work table, dressing box, India shawl, cameo brooch, brooch with Cpt and Mrs Dalgleish’s hair.’^[8] There were numerous items of jewellery either made of or containing hair of loved ones (not all deceased). Some of the items included what must surely have been ‘mourning brooches,’ while others may have been fashionable items of the time actually made with hair. To a nephew she left the ‘scarf pin containing his dear mother’s hair (Mary Ann’s sister, Margaret Dun Low) which she gave to my father.’^[8] Another important item was her Bible.^[8]

Mary Ann (Low) Martin’s inventory also made mention of her possession of ‘1 share of the Albert Institute (Ltd) Dundee of no value.‘^[8]