KINGHORN

DESCRIPTION:

CHALMERS, CONDIE: boot & shoemaker; is listed Pigot (1825 & 37); succeeded by ANDREW CHALMERS (b Kinghorn c 1800), whose name appears in Slater (1852) & Westwood (1862)

KIRKCALDY

DESCRIPTION:

CHALMERS, MISS: grocer, 228 HS, Kirkcaldy, c 1834-37; listed Thomson (1834/35) & Pigot (1837)

CHALMERS, ALEXANDER (d 1829): medical practitioner, HS, Kirkcaldy, c 1819-29; s of John Chalmers (d 1818), merchant, Anstruther, & Elizabeth HALL (d 1827); listed Pigot (1825); d April 22 1829 aged 35; m Nov 16 1819 Helen Pratt, dau of James Pratt, Captain of late Royal Veteran Battalion; brother of Thomas Chalmers, celebrated Scottish Churchman

CHALMERS, CHARLES (b Kirkcaldy c 1817): vintner, 412 HS, K, c 1861 - ; Cen (1861); Westwood (1862/66)

CHALMERS, WM (b Dundee c 1806, s of David Chalmers, toll- keeper): cabinet-maker & upholsterer, HS, Kirkcaldy, 1829-46, afterwards timber merchant, Tolbooth St; commenced business in 1829 (FA Dec 19 1846 - "17 yrs in business"), & was admitted to Wright & Mason Incorp, March 30 1830; Thomson (1834/35) lists him at 108 HS; Pigot (1837); by 1845 his shop was situated at 168 HS, where he acted as agent for Messrs F & WM Cooper Hay, Leith Walk, Edinburgh, dyers (FA March 22 1845); in Oct 1846 he was giving up business as a cabinet-maker & upholsterer, & was selling off stock & adv let of shop at 168 HS, immediate entry, together with the goodwill of the business - "Timber on sale at the Yard (Foot of New Wynd), as usual" (FA Oct 24 & Nov 7 1846); was succeeded in this business in Dec 1846 by his shopman, Rbt Oliphant (FA Dec 19 1846); Chalmers cont as a timber merchant in Tolbooth St, & was emp 4 sawyers, 1 clerk & 1 engine-keeper in 1861; in March 1862 he announced that he was retiring from business & was selling off whole stock by roup, March 31 1862 (FA March 29 1862), as well as adv let of wood- yard & Saw-mill, situated between George Brown Wynd & Tolbooth Wynd - "The yard is large & commodious...the machinery has been erected at great expense within the last 5 years" (FA FC April 5 1862); with no suitable successor, he cont in business until June 1866, when his business was acquired by Henry Lindsay (FA June 2 1866/FH June 14 1866); m June 1 1829 Mgt Black, relict of Magnus Manson, flax-merchant, & dau of late Roger Black, mason, Pathhead; prob the Wm Fyfe Chalmers, late wood merchant, who d Dec 9 1876

CURRIE, ANDREW (1802-1859): wholesale tea, wine & spirit merchant, HS, Kirkcaldy, founder of the firm of A CURRIE & SON (c 1826-1900); was b Kinghorn, Oct 22 1802, s of Thomas Currie, manager, Kirkcaldy Distillery, & Anne Sharp; had commenced business as a tea & spirit dealer at 124 HS (East Port) by 1826 & is listed Thomson (1834/35) & Pigot (1837); Conolly's Dictionary (p 137) describes him as "the architect of his own fortune" - he built up a sizable competency, which enabled him to purchase the estate of Glasmount, in Kinghorn Parish; d Oct 10 1859 aged 57 (FA Oct 15 1859); on June 6 1826 he had m Elizabeth Frisken (d July 31 1865 aged 63), of the Middle Parish, Perth, dau of late Thomas Frisken of Port Morant, Jamaica; son, ANDREW CURRIE (d 1874), cont the tea, wine & spirit business at 429 HS, under the firm of A CURRIE & SON; he d Feb 28 1874 aged 45 (FH March 5 1874); the firm was then acquired by James Chalmers Ramsay (qv), who had succeeded to Messrs Russell & Co's wholesale wine business at 370 HS, K, in 1864; he cont the business of A CURRIE & SON under the old name, taking into partnership the latter's head clerk, RBT H HOOD (d 1887), who had come to Kirkcaldy from Brechin in 1867 as assistant to J C Ramsay; this partnership was dissolved on Aug 6 1885 through Ramsay's death, & Hood cont as sole partner until his death, March 18 1887 aged 38 (FFP March 19 1887); firm cont in business until c 1900

GOW, ALEXANDER (1807-1882): innkeeper & hotelier, afterwards bottler & soda water manufacturer, Kirkcaldy, c 1849-82; was b Kirkcaldy, Oct 23 1807, s of John Gow, hairdresser, & Agnes Williamson; from at least 1849 (FA Dec 1 1849) he had been landlord of the Ship Inn, Harbour Head, & is listed Slater (1852); in May 1853 he took a lease of the Railway Hotel, lately occupied by Andrew Philp, "which he has fitted up in a style combining elegance with comfort" (FH May 19 1853/FA May 21 1853); in June 1855 he opened the Victoria Hotel, 299 HS, opposite the FA Office - "The House has undergone a thorough renovation, is newly & comfortably furnished, & forms a convenient home for commercial gentlemen & others" (FA June 2 1855); the carriage & posting adjuncts of his hotel business suffered badly from railway competition, & in Nov 1854 he was selling off his horses & carriages by roup, Dec 2 1854 (FH Nov 23 1854), & in Dec 1856 he was giving up the posting business & selling the "horses, carriages, harness, etc," at the Victoria Hotel, Dec 29 1856 (FA Dec 13 1856); thereafter he concentrated solely on his hotel business & "to the ale & porter store, & wholesale ale & porter trade" (FA Dec 27 1856); in Feb 1857 he purchased from Messrs R & J Salmond, bakers & confectioners, Kirkcaldy, "the large engine for manufacturing aerated soda water & lemonade" (FA Feb 14 1857); with John Chalmers Ramsay & Thomas Wilkie, commenced soda water manufacture & ale & beer bottling, under the firm of ALEXANDER GOW & CO; Ramsay left the partnership on Oct 1 1862, but Gow & Wilkie cont in business under the old firm name (FA Oct 18 1862); in Aug 1871 they acquired the stock-in-trade of Thomas Ronald & Co, & cont this business at 158 HS under the style of Thomas Wilkie & Co (FC Aug 26 1871); Gow d Jan 1882 aged 74, & Wilkie succeeded to Gow's hotel & bottling interests in Kirkcaldy

LINDSAY, HENRY: timber merchant, Tolbooth St, 1866-77; succeeded to Wm Chalmers' business in Tolbooth St in June 1866 (FA June 2 1866/FH June 14 1866); premises adv for sale, Jan 1877 (FA Jan 27 1877); widow, Joan Anderson, d Tolbooth St, April 16 1898

MOYES, JAMES (b Abbotshall c 1772): meal-dealer, HS, Kirkcaldy; was a grocer in Kinghorn, prior to coming to Kirkcaldy; listed Thomson (1834/35) at 131 HS; Pigot (1837); still alive in 1861; m to Eupham Chalmers; son, CRAWFORD MOYES (b Kinghorn, Oct 17 1812), was a grocer & prov dealer at 124 HS, Kirkcaldy, from at least 1861 - ; adv FA Oct 4 1862; Westwood (1866)

OLIPHANT, RBT (b Auchterderran c 1822): cabinet-maker & upholsterer, HS, Kirkcaldy, 1846- ; was in the employ of Thomas Chalmers (qv) for 12 yrs, as app & shopman, & in Dec 1846 succeeded to the latter's business "at the foot of New Wynd" (FA Dec 19 1846); was at 106 HS in 1851, emp 1 journeyman & 3 app; 10 yrs later he was at 227 HS, & was emp 2 men & 2 boys; by 1866 he had removed to 318 HS

RAMSAY, JAMES CHALMERS (d 1885): wholesale & retail grocer, & wine & tea merchant (1864-85); was a native of Pitlessie; in 1852 he came to Kirkcaldy, where, as a boy, he served an app with Messrs Russell & Co, 370 HS; later, for c 2 yrs, he was in the service of Alexander Gow (1807-1882), innkeeper & hotelier, Kirkcaldy; he then returned to his former employer, & on the death of Thomas Russell, sole partner of Russell & Co, on Feb 18 1864, he succeeded to the business, which he carried on under his own name; later he added branch retail outlets in Loughborough Road, in Mid St (June 1869) & in St Clairtown (June 1879); in 1874 he acquired the firm of Andrew Currie & Son, which he cont under the old name, with Currie's head clerk Rbt H Hood, as partner; both businesses were separate concerns; Ramsay d Aug 6 1885 (FFP Aug 8 1885); following his death, Hood acquired Currie & Son, & Ramsay's business at 370 HS, together with the retail branch ests, were cont by WM SMITH RAMSAY & James Kenwick Beveridge, under the firm of J C RAMSAY & CO (FFP July 10 1886), until c 1st World War

RUSSELL, JOHN (d 1849): tea, wine & spirit dealer, Kirkcaldy, c 1825-49; s of Wm Russell, brewer, West Bridge, Kinghorn; listed Pigot (1825) in HS; Thomson (1834/35) gives address as 135 East Port; Pigot (1837); d Oct 1 1849 aged 59; widow, MARY ORR (b Leslie c 1799), dau of James Orr, innkeeper, Leslie, whom he had m July 8 1828, cont the business; she took her brother-in- law, Wm Russell (b Abbotshall c 1798; d 1864), into partnership in Dec 1849, under the firm of RUSSELL & CO (FA Jan 5 1850); by 1861 Wm Russell was the sole partner in the Co, in business at 370 HS; he d Feb 18 1864 aged 66, & the business was acquired by James Chalmers Ramsay

TAYLOR, WM (1809-1881): stone carver & monumental mason, Head of Kirk Wynd, 1851-81; was b May 11 1809; opened premises at Head of Kirk Wynd for "monumental work, ornamental stone- cutting, lettering, etc" in May 1851 (FA May 24 1851); adv FA April 16 1853 & June 12 1858; Westwood (1862/66); d March 11 1881; m to Susan Chalmers (Feb 24 1829-May 6 1901)

WILKIE, WM: millspinner, Linktown of Abbotshall, c 1837-38; originally in business with George Chalmers, under the firm of WM WILKIE & CO, this partnership was dissolved by mutual consent on Aug 4 1838 (FH Aug 9 1838), & Wilkie cont the business under his own name

LARGO

DESCRIPTION:

CHALMERS, ANDREW C (b Tannadice, c 1823): medical practitioner, Newburn, c 1851 (Cen)

LESLIE

DESCRIPTION:

KIDD, JAMES: grocer & spirit dealer, c 1866-70; name 1st appears in Westwood (1866); bankrupt, granting Trust Deed in favour of John Chalmers Ramsay & Thomas Hastie, grocers, Kirkcaldy, Feb 8 1870 (FA Feb 12 1870)

LISTER, JOHN, SNR: boot & shoemaker; listed Pigot (1825); succeeded by JOHN LISTER, JNR (prob son), who is listed Pigot (1825/37), Slater (1852/67) & Westwood (1862/66); he was m to Christian Jarvis, with Children: (1) Thomas - b July 20 1818 (2) James - b March 14 1820 (3) Mgt - b May 30 1822 (4) Jean - b Jan 4 1827 (5) Christian - b Aug 19 1829; m to Thomas Rae; d Holyoke, Mass, Nov 15 1893 (6) Wm - b May 5 1832; prob the Wm Lister, listed by Westwood (1866) as shoemaker, Leslie (7) David - b Oct 24 1834 (8) Helen - b Sep 22 1839; Note - there was also a JOHN LISTER, shoemaker, m to Janet Chalmers, with sons, David, b Jan 21 1822, & Thomas, b Feb 26 1824

MITCHELL, HENRY (b 1801): wright, c 1837 - , founder of the firm of D MITCHELL & SONS, joiners & undertakers, HS; was b July 5 1801 s of John Mitchell, W Coaltown of Wemyss, & Catherine Dewar; listed Pigot (1837), Slater (1852/67) & Westwood (1862/66); emp 5 men & 2 app in 1851; son prob Wm Mitchell, wright, who m Aug 11 1854 Chalmers Blyth; later adv for the firm of D Mitchell & Son (c 1960), state that the business was "established over a century"

SPENCE: family of tanners (prob journeymen); (1) John Spence (d Nov 16 1859); m to Barbara Low, with Children: (A) Andrew - b March 22 1817 (B) Helen - b Feb 13 1819 (C) Mgt - b July 16 1821 (D) David - b Aug 2 1823 (E) Elizabeth Miller - b Sep 24 1825 (2) James Spence; m to Mary Chalmers, with Children: (A) David - b April 15 1836 (B) Andrew - b Oct 12 1838

MARKINCH

DESCRIPTION:

FRASER, ALEXANDER: sometime master baker in Markinch; emigrated to USA in 1832; widow, Elizabeth Chalmers, d Chicago, April 30 1892 aged 80

ST ANDREWS

DESCRIPTION:

EDIE, JAMES: watchmaker (prob journeyman); m July 13 1825 Christina Chalmers

SCOONIE

DESCRIPTION:

BLACKIE, ALEXANDER CAMERON (b Edinburgh c 1817): tailor, HS, c 1842 - ; listed Slater (1852 & 67), Westwood (1862 & 1866) at 44 HS; m to Catherine Chalmers, with Children (1) Christina Kinnear - b May 2 1842 (2) Benjamin - b March 16 1845 (3) Catherine Dingwall - b Nov 15 1846 (4) George Patullo - b Jan 31 1853

CHALMERS, JOHN (d 1915): tea merchant, Durie Broom; native of Dunfermline; came to Leven in c 1865 & for over 40 yrs resident & in business at Durie; d Dec 22 1915 aged 84 (LA Dec 30 1915)

HORNE, ANDREW (b 1807): tile-maker, c 1833-52; was b Leven, Dec 27 1807 s of Alexander Horne, weaver, & Mgt Turnbull; m Jan 12 1833 Isabella Chalmers, with Children: (1) Mgt - b Feb 9 1835 (2) Wm - b June 13 1837 (3) Thomas - b Nov 11 1841 (4) Isabella - b March 4 1844 (5) Christiana - b Feb 25 1847 (6) Janet - b Sep 26 1849 (7) Andrew - b March 24 1852