Charles Fortune Wilson

Charles Fortune Wilson, a printer compositor employed by Morrison and Gibb, was resident at 7 St Bernard’s Row between 1930 and 1940.¹ He was born 04 June 1871, at Edinburgh, son of William Wilson, a stone carver, and Agnes Fortune.² He died at Western General Hospital on 30 September 1940 from injuries and shock sustained at Crewe Place, Granton during an air raid which killed two children and injured 13 others.³

He married Isabella Lugton Grosert on 10 December 1897.⁴ She was born in Edinburgh on 12 April 1873,⁵ daughter of Adam Grosert, an engine fitter, and Isabella Muirhead Collins. She died in Leith in 1950.⁶

Two sons of Charles F. Wilson and Isabella L. Grosert were listed at 7 St Bernard’s Row in electoral registers of the 1930s. Charles Fortune Wilson, junior, born on 26 February 1910, was there between 1931 and 1934. When he married Harriet Strain on 14 September1934 his address was 7 St Bernard’s Row.⁷ He followed his father into the printing trade as a letterpress printer, working for the same company, Morrison and Gibb at Canonmills. He died on 12 March 1986.⁸

Joseph Grosert Wilson, who was born on 04 August 1913, was listed in electoral registers between 1935 and 1938.⁹ He married Jessie Gibb Fruish on 08 July 1938¹⁰ Edinburgh and died in 1988.¹¹

Their daughter Agnes Fortune Wilson died at 7 St Bernard’s Row on 17 October 1937.¹² She was listed at 7 St Bernard’s Row in electoral registers from 1930 as Agnes F. Arnall. She was born in Edinburgh in 1898.¹³ In 1918, she married Francis Arnall, a research chemist and lecturer. In 1921 they were living in Wandsworth, London. Francis Arnall was killed by an exploding test tube during an experiment at Cardiff Technical College on 07 February 1930.¹⁴

Agnes F. Wilson and Francis Arnall had a daughter, Muriel, born in London in 1921.¹⁵ She was nine years old when her father died and is likely to have lived at 7 St Bernard’s Row with her mother and grandparents.

1. PO Directories 1930 to 1939-40.
2. Births (SR) Scotland. St George, Edinburgh. 04 June 1871. WILSON, Charles Fortune. 685/1 869. Ancestry collection ‘Scotland, Select Births and Baptisms, 1564-1950.’ https://ancestry.co.uk: accessed 17 August 2024.
3. ‘Raid Victims.’ Edinburgh Evening News. 02 October 1940. p. 5, col. 3. https://britishnewspaperarchive.co.uk: accessed 17 August 2024.
4. Marriages (SR) Scotland. Newington, Edinburgh. 13 December 1897. WILSON, Charles F. and GROSERT, Isabella L. 685/5 575. https://scotlandspeople.gov.uk: accessed 17 August 2024.
5. Births (SR) Scotland. St Andrew, Edinburgh. 12 April 1873. GROSERT, Isabella Lugton. 685/2 395. Ancestry collection ‘‘Scotland, Select Births and Baptisms, 1564-1950.’ https://ancestry.co.uk: accessed 17 August 2024.
6. Deaths index (SR) Scotland. Leith, Edinburgh. 1950. WILSON, Isabella. 685/8 445. https://scotlandspeople.gov.uk: accessed 15 August 2024.
7. Marriages (SR) Scotland. George Square, Edinburgh. 18 September 1934. WILSON, Charles Fortune and STRAIN, Harriet Rae. 685/5 104. https://scotlandspeople.gov.uk: accessed 06 April 2019.
8. Death announcements. Scotland. Edinburgh Evening News. 14 March 1986. WILSON. p. 2, col. 3. https://britishnewspaperarchive.co.uk: accessed 15 August 2024.
9. Electoral registers 1935-36, 1936-37, 1937-38 and 1938-39.
10. Marriages index (SR) Scotland. St Andrew, Edinburgh. 1938. WILSON, Joseph Grosert and FRUISH, Jessie Gibb. 685/2 280. https://scotlandspeople.gov.uk: accessed 15 August 2024.
11. Deaths index (SR) Scotland. Morningside, Edinburgh. 1988. WILSON, Joseph Grosert. 744/ 741. https://scotlandspeople.gov.uk: accessed 15 August 2024.
12. Death announcements. Scotland. Edinburgh Evening News. 18 October 1937. p. 12, col. 6. https://britishnewspaperarchive.co.uk: accessed 16 January 2024.
13. Births index (SR) Scotland. St Andrew, Edinburgh. 1898. WILSON, Agnes Fortune. 685/2 522. https://scotlandspeople.gov.uk: accessed 15 August 2024.
14. ‘College Laboratory Explosion.’ Western Mail. 08 February 1930. p. 9, col. 6. https://britishnewspaperarchive.co.uk: accessed 15 August 2024.
15. Births index (CR) England. Lambeth, London. Q2, 1921. ARNALL, Muriel. vol. 1d, p. 618. https://gro.gov.uk: accessed 15 August 2024.