George Storrar Brown

George Storrar Brown lived at No. 2 for sixteen years, between 1882 and 1898.¹ He was born at East Wemyss, Fife on 21 October 1840, son of brewer James Brown and Isabella Storrar.² He was described as a shopkeeper (draper) in 1881,³ when he lived at 1 Pembroke Place, Edinburgh and as a draper’s assistant in 1891.⁴ Latterly he had his own draper’s business at 91 Broughton Street.⁵ He died 08 March 1900 at 5 Claremont Terrace.⁶

George S. Brown married Agnes Brodie Torbain in 1868, at Leith. She was the daughter of Alexander Torbain, town messenger, and Agnes Annan. She died of peritonitis, aged 39, on 22 April 1878 at 12 Bowling Green Street, Leith.⁷ George Brown and Agnes Torbain had two daughters who were resident at No. 2 Malta Terrace in 1891. Isabella Storrar Brown was born 05 July 1873 at Anstruther, Fife⁸ and died at Scoonie, Fife in 1954.⁹ Ann Torbain Brown was born in Edinburgh in 1876¹⁰ and died at Kennoway, Fife in 1949.¹¹

George S. Brown married his second wife, Grace McPherson, on 19 May 1880. He was then living in Springwell Place.¹² Grace McPherson was born in Edinburgh on 01 July 1838, daughter of James McPherson, a house painter, and Jacobina Leslie Thomson. At the time of her marriage she was working as a draper’s saleswoman, possibly in the same business as her husband. She died at Penicuik, Midlothian, nine months after her husband, on 01 January 1901.¹³

The mother of Grace McPherson or Brown, Mrs Jacobina McPherson, was listed as residenter and proprietrix at No. 2 Malta Terrace in the Valuation Rolls of 1885-86 and 1886-87. She was born Leslie Thomson on 29 January 1811, at Lesmahagow, Lanarkshire, daughter of William Thomson and Marion Downie.¹⁴ At St Cuthbert’s, Edinburgh, on 21 August 1837, she married James McPherson, a house painter.¹⁵ She was widowed in April 1864¹⁶ and described as a house painter employing six men in the 1871 census, living at 3 St Bernard’s Row.¹⁷ She died at Penicuik on 25 December 1886.¹⁸

1. PO Directories 1890-91 to 1897-98.
2. Baptisms (OPR) Scotland. Wemyss, Fife. 01 November 1840. BROWN, George. 459/ 60 206. Ancestry collection ‘Scotland, Select Births and Baptisms, 1564-1950.’ https://ancestry.co.uk: accessed 27 February 2024.
3. Census records. Scotland. St George, Edinburgh. 03 April 1881. BROWN, George S. (Head). 685/1 06/ 25. Ancestry collection ‘1881 Scotland Census.’ https://ancestry.co.uk: accessed 26 February 2024.
4. Census records. Scotland. St George, Edinburgh. 05 April 1891. BROWN, George. 685A/2 13/ 07. Ancestry collection ‘1891 Scotland Census.’ https://ancestry.co.uk: accessed 26 February 2024.
5. PO Directories 1897-98, 1898-99 and 1899-00.
6. Deaths (SR) Scotland. Edinburgh. 08 March 1900. BROWN, George Storrar. 685/2 199. https://scotlandspeople.gov.uk: accessed 27 February 2024.
7. Deaths (SR) Scotland. South Leith, Midlothian. 22 April 1878. BROWN, Agnes Brodie. 692/2 288. https://scotlandspeople.gov.uk: accessed 26 February 2024.
8. Births (SR) Scotland. Anstruther, Fife. 05 July 1873. BROWN, Isabella Storrar. 402/ 27. Ancestry collection ‘Scotland, Select Births and Baptisms, 1564-1950.’ https://ancestry.co.uk: accessed 26 February 2024.
9. Deaths index (SR) Scotland. Scoonie, Fife. 1954. BROWN, Isabella Storrar. 456/ 33. https://scotlandspeople.gov.uk: accessed 26 February 2024.
10. Births index (SR) Scotland. St Andrew, Edinburgh. 1876. BROWN, Ann Torbain. 685/2 86. https://scotlandspeople.gov.uk: accessed 26 February 2024.
11. Deaths index (SR) Scotland. Kennoway, Fife. 1949. BROWN, Annie Torbain. 434/ 27. https://scotlandspeople.gov.uk: accessed 26 February 2024.
12. Marriages (SR) Scotland. St George, Edinburgh. 24 May 1880. BROWN, George and McPHERSON, Grace. 685/1 147. https://scotlandspeople.gov.uk: accessed 26 February 2024.
13. Probate records. Scotland. Edinburgh. Confirmation. 11 April 1901. BROWN, Grace. Ancestry collection ‘Scotland, National Probate Index (Calendar of Confirmations and Inventories), 1876-1936.’ https://ancestry.co.uk: accessed 26 February 2024.
14. Baptisms (OPR) Scotland. Lesmahagow, Lanarkshire. 29 January 1811. THOMSON, Leslie. 649/ 20 233. https://scotlandspeople.gov.uk: accessed 26 February 2024.
15. Marriages (OPR) Scotland. St Cuthbert’s, Edinburgh. 21 August 1837. McPHERSON, James and THOMSON, Jacobina Leslie. 685/2 430/ 549. Ancestry collection ‘Scotland, Select Marriages, 1561-1910.’ https://ancestry.co.uk: accessed 25 February 2024.
16. Burials (Cemetery Registers) Scotland. Warriston, Edinburgh. 12 April 1864. McPHERSON, James. Ancestry collection ‘Edinburgh, Scotland, Cemetery Registers, 1771-1935.’ https://ancestry.co.uk: accessed 26 February 2024.
17. Census records. Scotland. St Cuthbert’s, Edinburgh. 02 April 1871. McPHERSON, Jacobina (Head). 685/1 88/ 04. Ancestry collection ‘1871 Scotland Census.’ https://ancestry.co.uk: accessed 26 February 2024.
18. Deaths (SR) Scotland. Penicuik, Midlothian. 25 December 1886. McPHERSON, Jacobina. 649/ 233. https://scotlandspeople.gov.uk: accessed 25 February 2024.