Robert Graham Cochrane

Robert Graham Cochrane lived at No. 1 between 1881 and 1884.¹ In 1885, he was recorded as a proprietor.² He was secretary at the Scottish Provincial Assurance Company, whose Edinburgh office was at 10 North St David Street. Robert G Cochrane was born on 16 May 1848 at Covington, Lanarkshire, son of farmer John Cochrane and his wife Jean Aikman.³

In 1871, aged 22, his occupation was recorded as insurance surveyor, living with his parents at Rosneath, Dumbartonshire.⁴ When he occupied No. 1, he was Secretary of the Scottish Provincial Assurance Company.⁵ He was listed at Rose Villa, Juniper Green until 1886,⁶ but by 1891 was living in London, when he was described as an Insurance Manager (1891).⁷ In 1911, he was living in Hampstead and the sub-manager of an insurance company.⁸ He died at Smedley’s Hydro, Matlock, Derbyshire on 26 January 1912.⁹

On 25 May 1870, at Glasgow, Robert Cochrane married Elizabeth McWhinnie Young, daughter of William Young (1819-1896) and Jane MacArthur Barr (1825-1902).¹⁰ They had 8 children. Elizabeth Young or Cochrane and the children may not have lived at No. 1 Malta Terrace, which would have been small for the large family of a prosperous businessman. In the 1881 Census, she and the children were recorded living at West Mill, Cockpen.¹¹

1. PO Directories 1881-82, 1882-83 and 1883-84.
2. Valuation Roll 1895.
3. Births (OPR) Scotland. Covington, Lanarkshire. 21 May 1848. COCHRANE, Robert Graham. 634/ 20 39. https://scotlandspeople.gov.uk: accessed 21 November 2020.
4. Census records. Scotland. Rosneath, Dumbartonshire. 2 April 1871. COCHRANE, John (Head). ED 3, p. 6. Ancestry. Collection: 1871 Scotland Census. https://ancestry.co.uk: accessed 21 November 2020.
5. PO Directories.
6. PO Directories.
7. Census records. England. Leyton, Essex. 5 April 1891. COCHRANE, Robert G. (Head). RG 12, Piece 1346, Folio 9, p. 14. Ancestry. Collection: 1891 England Census. https://ancestry.co.uk: accessed 21 November 2020.
8. Census records. England. Hampstead, London. 31 March 1901. COCHRANE, Robert G. (Head). RD 8 ED 26, Piece 616. Ancestry. Collection: 1911 England Census. https://ancestry.co.uk: accessed 21 November 2020.
9. Probate index.
10. Births (CR) Scotland. Glasgow. 25 May 1870. YOUNG, Elizabeth McWhinnie. Family Search. https://familysearch.org: accessed 21 November 2020.
11. Census records. Scotland. Cockpen, Midlothian. 3 April 1881. COCHRANE, Elizabeth. ED 1, p. 32. Ancestry. Collection: 1881 Scotland Census. https://ancestry.co.uk: accessed 22 November 2020.