McManus 168

Robert Adamson, the son of  Robert Adamson Jnr., merchant, and his wife, Jane Miln, was aided at the start of his working life through the estate of his grandfather (also Robert Adamson) who died in 1820.^[14]

He embarked on the operation of an ironmonger’s business in Dundee for over twenty years. Thereafter, in his fifties, he became the manager of Dundee Water Company. Described as having been an ‘efficient and obliging manager,’ he obtained the principal credit for the laying out of the grounds at Monikie, its appearance apparently much admired by visitors.^[10]

After his retiral in 1864, Robert Adamson spent out his days living at Hermonhill House (with his sister Eliza), at that time having a ‘commanding view’ – the fine terrace of houses fronting the Perth Road not yet constructed.

The building of St Mark’s Church on the corner of Perth Road and Greenfield Place (a stone’s throw from his residence) prompted Robert to make a grand gesture towards its bearing. To that end, Robert gifted a bell with the inscription ‘presented by Robert Adamson of Hermon Hill.’ The bell which weighed approximately 17 cwt., and was cast by Messrs Warner & Sons, London, was said to have possessed a clear and bold tone.^[7]

Many charitable institutions and other worthy causes benefited from the mutual disposition of the estate of Robert Adamson and his spinster sister, Eliza. The estate was a sizeable one amounting to over £22,000. Among the beneficiaries were: schemes of the Church of Scotland; the Kirk Session of Dundee; Dundee Royal Infirmary; the Industrial Schools, the Orphan Institution; the Female Society; the Indigent Sick Society;  the Deserving Poor; the Clothing Society and the wonderfully named Decayed Gentlewomen’s Society.^[15][16]