Mrs W. M. Urquhart occupied No. 2 between 1906 and 1910.[1] She was the widow of William Mackie Urquhart (1846-1897) who operated the bookstall at Waverley station for 30 years before establishing his own stationery shop.[2] She and her son Edward A. Urquhart, who also lived at No. 2, were both involved in running the stationery business William M. Urquhart & Son at 11 Queensferry Street.
Mrs Urquhart was born Elizabeth Gordon O’Donnell on 20 March 1844, in Edinburgh.[3] She was the daughter of Edward O’Donnell and Charlotte Frances Mason. Edward O’Donnell was an upholsterer and carpenter, born in Ireland.[4] She married William Mackie Urquhart in 1876[5] with whom she had four children.[6] In 1911 she was described as a senior partner in a stationery business living at 31 Darnell Road.[7] She died in 1927.[8]
The eldest son of William Mackie Urquhart and Elizabeth Gordon O’Donnell was Edward Alexander Urquhart, born in Edinburgh in 1879.[9] He was listed at No. 2 Malta Terrace from 1906 until his marriage to Celia Abbott in 1909,[10] when he moved to 99 Harrison Road.[11] He died in 1965, in Dundee.[12]
The only daughter of William Urquhart and Elizabeth O’Donnell was recorded in the 1911 census living with her mother and is likely to have lived with her at No. 2. Frances Erskine Urquhart was born in 1886[13] and was a book-keeper in the family’s stationery business in 1911. She married John Fairweather Fleming, a solicitor, on 21 September1912[14] and died in Edinburgh on 18 January 1934.[15]
Frances Erskine Urquhart died on 18 January 1934 (Haymarket. 685/1 52; The Scotsman. 20 January 1934. P. 22, col. 7) Married in 1912 [685/4 773] St Giles
[1] PO Directories 1906-07, 1907-08, 1908-09 and 1909-10.
[2] ‘Death of Well-Known Citizen.’ Edinburgh Evening News. 15 September 1897. p. 2, col. 4. https://britishnewspaperarchive.co.uk: accessed 19 February 2024.
[3] Baptisms (OPR) Scotland. Edinburgh. 20 August 1844. O’DONNELL, Elizabeth Gordon. Ancestry collection ‘Scotland, Select Births and Baptisms, 1564-1950.’ https://ancestry.co.uk: accessed 24 February 2024.
[4] Census records. Scotland. St Andrew, Edinburgh. 30 March 1851. O’DONNELL, Edward (Head). 685/1 01/ 24. Ancestry collection ‘1851 Scotland Census.’ https://ancestry.co.uk: accessed 24 February 2024.
[5] Marriages index (SR) Scotland. St George, Edinburgh. 1876. URQUHART, William and O’DONNELL, Elizabeth G. 685/1 165. https://scotlandspeople.gov.uk: accessed 04 March 2024.
[6] Births index (SR) Scotland. Edinburgh. 1877-1886. URQUHART. https://scotlandspeople.gov.uk: accessed 24 February 2024.
[7] Census records. Scotland. Leith, Edinburgh. 02 April 1911. URQUHART, Elizabeth G. 692/1 26/ 06. https://scotlandspeople.gov.uk: accessed 24 February 2024.
[8] Deaths index (SR) Scotland. Canongate, Edinburgh. 1927. URQUHART, Elizabeth Gordon. 685/3 182. https://scotlandspeople.gov.uk: accessed 24 February 2024.
[9] Births index (SR) Scotland. St George, Edinburgh. 1879. URQUHART, Edward Alexander. 685/1 515. https://scotlandspeople.gov.uk: accessed 24 February 2024.
[10] Marriages index (SR) Scotland. St Andrew, Edinburgh. 1909. URQUHART, Edward Alexander and ABBOTT, Celia. 685/2 227. https://scotlandspeople.gov.uk: accessed 24 February 2024.
[11] Electoral register 1909-10.
[12] Deaths index (SR) Scotland. Dundee West. 1965. URQUHART, Edward Alexander. 282/2 994. https://scotlandspeople.gov.uk: accessed 24 February 2024.
[13] Births index (SR) Scotland. St Andrew, Edinburgh. 1886. URQUHART, Frances Erskine. 685/2 723. https://scotlandspeople.gov.uk: accessed 04 March 2024.
[14] Marriage announcements. The Scotsman. 24 September 1912. FLEMING, John Fairweather and URQUHART, Frances Erskine. p. 10, col. 8. https://britishnewspaperarchive.co.uk: accessed 04 March 2024.
[15] Death announcements. The Scotsman. 20 January 1934. FLEMING, Frances. p. 22, col. 7. https://britishnewspaperarchive.co.uk: accessed 24 February 2024.