McManus 168

Full name

William Ritchie

Date of birth

04-12-1818^[1]

Place of birth

Dundee^[1]

Gender

Male

Marital status

Married^[2]

Name of spouse

Grace Maclean Watson^[2]

Children

Elizabeth, b.c.1848:^[2] Agnes, b.c.1851:^[2] Mary, b.c.1853:^[2] Alice, b.c.1856:^[2] William, b.c.1860:^[2] David Watson b.&d.c. (1861): ^[3] George, b.c.1865:^[4]

Home address

Mile End, Middlesex, c.1848-1850.^[5]
Shrubland Road, Shoreditch, Tower Hamlets, London, c.1851.^[5]
13 Westfield Place, Dundee, c.1853-1865.^[6]
Elmslea, Perth Road, Dundee, c.1867-1885.^[7]
Tayview House, East Newport, Fife, c.1885-1889.^[8]
7 Linden Avenue, East Newport, Fife, c.1890-1902.^[9]

Age at death:

82 years^[10]

Place of death:

Linden Avenue, East Newport^[10]

Date of death:

21-10-1902^[10]

Buried:

Not known

Religious affiliation

United Presbyterian - Dudhope Crescent Road UP Church, Dundee and latterly Trinity UP Church, Newport^[11]

Political affiliation

Not known

Clubs / societies

President, Dundee Horticultural Society, 1865-1866.^[12] Director, Dundee Industrial Schools Society, 1867-1881.^[13] Committee member, Fine Art Exhibition (Drill Hall), British Association visit to Dundee, 1867.^[14] Committee member, Restoration of Old Steeple, 1870.^[15] Committee member, James Carmichael statue, 1872-1876.^[16] Director, Dundee Orphan Institution, 1875-1889.^[17] Director, Dundee Shipowners Company, c.1884-1887.^[18] Director, Western & Hawaiian Investment Company, c.1885-1902.^[19] Director, East of Scotland Investment Company, c.1885-1902.^[20] Convener of business committee, Dundee Fine Art Association, c.1893-1902.^[21]

Public offices

None

Related subscribers

Subscriber no.18 – Edward Baxter – fellow member of Dundee Industrial Schools Society.

Subscriber no.21 – J.C. Bell – fellow member of Fine Art Exhibition Committee, 1867.

Subscriber no.29 – Sir David Baxter – fellow member of Dundee Industrial Schools Society.

Subscriber no.35 – W.E. Baxter – fellow member of Dundee Industrial Schools Society.

Subscriber no.174 – J.G. Orchar – fellow member of Fine Art Exhibition Committee, 1867.

Subscriber no.205 – George B. Simpson – partner in the firm of Ritchie & Simpson and fellow member of Fine Art Exhibition Committee, 1867.

Subscriber no.260 – Lord Kinnaird – fellow member of Fine Art Exhibition Committee, 1867 and Dundee Industrial Schools Society.

Occupation

Merchant and Manufacturer^[22]

Employment

Employer with partner^[22]

Place of work

Ward Street Mill, Ward Road, Dundee.

Work address

Hawkhill, Dundee, c.1853-1868.^[23]
Maxwelltown/Ann Street/Nelson Street, Dundee, c.1856-1865.^[24]
Office, 32 Baltic Street, Dundee, c.1856-1857.^[25]
Ward Street Mill, Ward Road, Dundee, c.1858-1881.^[26]
Lower Pleasance Mill, 22 Milne's Wynd, Dundee, c. 1871-1879.^[27]

Career to date:

William Ritchie was the son of William Ritchie and Barbara Dall. His father was described as a military man^[28] but the Howff burial records refer to his mother as the widow of Lieutenant William Ritchie, RN, when she died in 1845.^[29] It would appear that the young William secured a place in a prominent commercial house in London, remaining there for a number of years.^[28] His daughters, Elizabeth and Agnes, were both born at Mile End, Middlesex, although their mother, Grace, was a Dundonian like their father.^[2] In 1851, the family were at Shrubland Road, Shoreditch and William is described as a manufacturer of linen goods.^[5] William is believed to have learned the business at the Ward Street Mill of William Boyack but this may have been before going into manufacturing in London.^[28] There may also have been a connection between his father and Boyack, as both men were Dundee councillors in 1837.^[30] William entered into a manufacturing partnership with George B. Simpson about 1853, with premises in Hawkhill.^[23] They also acquired a factory in Maxwelltown,^[24] before also taking over the Ward Street Mill of William's former employer.^[31] In addition the firm occupied the Ward Mill,^[32] which was the address both men were given in the subscription to the Albert Institute.^[33] It is difficult to establish exactly which building this was, but it was probably located in South Ward Road.^[34] At this time, William lived in Westfield Place, south of Perth Road. Ritchie & Simpson were described as merchants and manufacturers by the time of the subscription to the Albert Institute. Both partners were listed as individual subscribers. The firm also subscribed a guinea on an annual basis to the Dundee Industrial Schools Society, 1862-1875. Its Ward Street Mill was very close to the Industrial School in Ward Road. William Ritchie became a director of the society in 1867.^[13] William put his "desirable west end residence" at 13 Westfield Place up for sale in 1864, so that he could buy a larger house presumably to help house his growing family and perhaps, just as importantly, his growing art collection.^[35] It was noted that at the 1867 Royal Scottish Academy exhibition in Edinburgh that many of the paintings belonged to Dundee merchants, with William Ritchie and his partner, George Simpson, among those mentioned.^[36]