William George Cuthbertson

William George Cuthbertson, a stationery wholesaler, lived at No. 1 between 1882 and 1886.¹ He was born in Edinburgh on 21 May 1857, son of William Fairbairn Cuthbertson and his wife Mary Tait.² William Cuthbertson senior (1821-1883)³ was a bookseller and stationer, later a stationery wholesaler, with business premises at 4 Albany Street.⁴

William Cuthbertson junior was described as a stationer’s traveller, living at 2 Gayfield Street in 1879.⁵ He was recorded as a ‘commercial traveller stationery’ living at 56 India Street in the 1881 Census,⁶ and again as a stationer’s traveller in 1882.⁷ After his father’s death in 1883, William Cuthbertson junior was described as a stationery wholesaler. In 1906, William Cuthbertson, wholesale stationer, was appointed a Justice of the Peace.⁸

The business of W. Cuthbertson (later W. Cuthbertson & Co.) moved to 2 Picardy Place around 1884, and then to 17 Union Street around 1898. William Cuthbertson’s residence between 1886 and 1896 was 23 Dublin Street. He lived at 113 Mayfield Road from 1896 to 1911, and latterly at 16 Clark Avenue.⁴

William George Cuthbertson married Elizabeth Thomson Ross on 15 December 1879.⁵ She was the daughter of John Ross, photographer, and Elizabeth Thomson. She was born about 1860 and died 22 May 1914.⁹

William Alexander Cuthbertson, the first child of William Cuthbertson and Elizabeth Ross, was born at No. 1 Malta Terrace on 18 July 1882.⁷ Their second child, Duncan MacGregor Cuthbertson was born at 23 Dublin Street on 21 September 1886,¹⁰ after the family’s departure from Malta Terrace. A daughter, Dorothy Cuthbertson, was born in 1891.¹¹

William Alexander Cuthbertson, known as “Willy”, recorded as an art student in the 1901 Census,¹² studied at the Trustees’ Academy. In 1902, he was appointed Ship’s Artist on the S.Y. Scotia, and sailed to the South Orkney Islands as a member of the Scottish National Antarctic Expedition. He returned to Scotland in 1904 to continue his studies.¹³ He served as Lieutenant in the Royal Navy Volunteer reserve between 1916 and 1919, commanding Motor Launch 349. After the war, he lived on this boat at Heybridge Basin, Essex. He was recorded there in the 1939 Register, a portrait and landscape artist.¹⁴ He died in 1968.¹⁵

On 28 June 1916, William Alexander Cuthbertson married Kathleen Grace Prince at St Peter’s, Croydon.¹⁶ She was born on 1 February 1892 at Wimbledon, Surrey,¹⁴ daughter of Cecil Waller Prince (1868-1923) and Kate Elizabeth Mayhew (1870-1930). She died at Maldon, Essex on 24 December 1981.¹⁷

1. PO Directories 1882-83, 1883-84, 1884-85 and 1885-86.
2. Births (OPR) Scotland. Edinburgh. 21 May 1857. CUTHBERTSON, William. Family Search. Collection:  Scotland Births and Baptisms, 1564-1950. https://familysearch.org: accessed 18 November 2020.
3. Year of birth from census records. Year of death from ‘Scotland, National Probate Index (Calendar of Confirmations and Inventories), 1876-1936’. Ancestry. https://ancestry.co.uk: accessed 18 November 2020.
4. PO Directories.
5. Marriages (CR) Scotland. Edinburgh. 15 December 1879. CUTHBERTSON, William George and ROSS, Elizabeth Thomson. 685/1 419. https://scotlandspeople.gov.uk: accessed 18 November 2020.
6. Census records. Scotland. St Cuthbert’s, Edinburgh. 3 April 1881. CUTHBERTSON, William (Head). ED 52, Household schedule no. 12. Ancestry. Collection: 1881 Scotland Census. https://ancestry.co.uk: accessed 18 November 2020.
7. Royal Scottish Academy. (2020). ‘The Maclaine Watters Medal: A new Acquisition’. Royal Scottish Academy website, 31 July. https://www.royalscottishacademy.org/2020/07/31/the-maclaine-watters-medal-a-new-acquisition/: accessed 18 November 2020.
8. Edinburgh Evening News, 18 October 1906.
9. Death notice, The Scotsman, 25 May 1914.
10. Births (CR) Scotland. St Andrew, Edinburgh. 6 September 1886. CUTHBERTSON, Duncan MacGregor. 685/2 1101. https://scotlandspeople.gov.uk: accessed 18 November 2020.
11. Birth index (CR). Scotland. Colinton, Midlothian. 1891. CUTHBERTSON, Dorothy Catherine.
12. Census records. Scotland. 31 March 1901.
13. Royal Scottish Academy. (2020). op. cit.
14. 1939 Register. England. Maldon, Essex. 29 September 1939. CUTHBERTSON, William A. ED: DCEB, 196/3. Ancestry. Collection: 1939 England and Wales Register. https://ancestry.co.uk: accessed 18 November 2020.
15. Deaths index (CR). England. Maldon, Essex. 1968. Jan-Feb-Mar. CUTHBERTSON, William Alexander. Ancestry. Collection: England & Wales, Civil Registration Death Index, 1916-2007. https://ancestry.co.uk: accessed 18 November 2020.
16. Marriages (PR). England. Croydon, Surrey. 28 June 1916. CUTHBERTSON, William Alexander and PRINCE, Kathleen Grace. Ancestry: Collection: Surrey, England, Church of England Marriages and Banns, 1754-1937. https://ancestry.co.uk: accessed 18 November 2020.
17. Probate. England. Ipswich, Essex. 4 February 1982. CUTHBERTSON, Kathleen Grace. Ancestry. Collection: England & Wales, National Probate Calendar (Index of Wills and Administrations), 1858-1995. https://ancestry.co.uk: accessed 19 November 2020.