Basic Biographical Details

Name:	William Robertson
Designation:
Born:	13 August 1825
Died:	11 July 1899
Bio Notes:	William Robertson was born at Crathie, Aberdeenshire on 13 August 1825. Early in life he moved to Dundee where he became a leading draughtsman under Peter Carmichael in the engineering department at Baxter Brothers's Dens Works. In 1856 Robertson formed a partnership with James Guthrie Orchar, also born in 1825, who had had similar experience with Kinmond, Hutton & Steele and at Portsmouth Dockyard. They took over the recently built Wallace Foundry of the now dissolved partnership of Kinmond Hutton & Steele and were very successful at once. In the following year they were commissioned to design and build J & A D Grimond's Bowbridge Works and John Smieton's Panmure Works at Carnoustie; and in 1859 D Thomson's giant spinning mill and weaving shed at Seafield Works, quickly followed by other major complexes at Brechin, Perth and Kirkcaldy. The partners also excelled in the design and manufacture of textile machinery, patents forming a significant part of their income. After about ten years in business both partners were able to build large houses, Robertson's being Balmore, Newport, a very stylish Italianate villa with a tower. Whether he designed it himself through Robertson & Orchar 's drawing office is unclear. Robertson was active in municipal affairs. He became interim town councillor for Dundee's First Ward on the death of Baillie Foggie in 1869, and was elected to the seat in November. He quickly made his name by promoting the augmentation of the Monikie water supply from the Fithie Burn and the Crombie reservoir and strongly advocated the acquisition of the Loch of Lintrathen as a lasting solution to Dundee's water supply. He was however defeated on the route of the pipeline by Provost Yeaman, the latter's direct route proving to have too steep a fall as Robertson had predicted. In 1874 Robertson was elected a magistrate and from 1875 to 1878 he was provost. Thereafter he severed his connection with the Council but continued to play an active role in the affairs of the Royal Lunatic Asylum, Dundee Infirmary, the Mars Training Ship and Dundee High School to which he gifted the gymnasium and the technical workshops. Like his partner Orchar he was a significant art collector and a supporter of the building of the Victoria Art Galleries. Robertson's health failed in 1898. Although he resumed attending business in the spring of 1899, his health became too precarious for him to travel thereafter. He died at Balmore on 11 July 1899, survived by his wife Elizabeth Petrie, and was buried at the Western Cemetery in Dundee.

Private and Business Addresses

The following private or business addresses are associated with this :
	Address	Type	Date from	Date to	Notes
	Wallace Foundry, Dundee, Scotland	Business	1856	1899
	Balmore, Newport, Fife, Scotland	Private	c. 1869 *	1899

* earliest date known from documented sources.

Employment and Training

Employers

The following individuals or organisations employed or trained this (click on an item to view details):
	Name	Date from	Date to	Position	Notes
	Robertson & Orchar	Before 1861		Partner

Buildings and Designs

This was involved with the following buildings or structures from the date specified (click on an item to view details):
	Date started	Building name	Town, district or village	Island	City or county	Country	Notes
	1856	Wallace Foundry			Dundee	Scotland	Alterations and extensive additions, including turning shop, 1871 and kilns and pattern shop 1882
	1857	Bowbridge Works			Dundee	Scotland	New buildings as specified in 'events'
	1857	Panmure Works	Carnoustie		Angus	Scotland
	1860s(?)	Albany Works, linen factory	Dunfermline		Fife	Scotland	Original building
	1860s	Canmore Works	Dunfermline		Fife	Scotland
	1860s(?)	Castlebrae Works	Dunfermline		Fife	Scotland
	1860s(?)	Pilmuir Linen Works	Dunfermline		Fife	Scotland	Parts of the works
	c. 1860	Linen Works	Forfar		Angus	Scotland	Possibly
	1861	Seafield Works			Dundee	Scotland
	1863	Johnstone's Factory	East Wemyss		Fife	Scotland
	1864	Den Burn Works	Brechin		Angus	Scotland
	1864	South Street works	Forfar		Angus	Scotland
	c. 1864	Eden Valley Linen Works	Freuchie		Fife	Scotland	'Probably' (HS)
	1865	Larchfield Works			Dundee	Scotland	'Probably' (HS)
	1865	Pleasance Works	Falkland		Fife	Scotland
	1867	Canmore Works	Forfar		Angus	Scotland	Attribution by Mark Watson
	1867	Marywell Brae Works	Kirriemuir		Angus	Scotland
	1868	Wallace Works	Perth		Perthshire	Scotland
	1869	Gairie Linen Works	Kirriemuir		Angus	Scotland
	1870	St Margaret's Works	Dunfermline		Fife	Scotland
	1872	Caldrum Works			Dundee	Scotland	Spinning mill and factory
	1872	Dundee Flour Mills			Dundee	Scotland	Office and dwelling house
	1874	The Victoria Road Calender			Dundee	Scotland
	1874 or 1885	Camperdown, Calender			Dundee	Scotland	Designed the Calender machine (originally in Bowbridge Works) but mioved to Camperdown.
	1876	Victoria Works (Castleblair Ltd)	Dunfermline		Fife	Scotland
	1879	Trades Lane Calender			Dundee	Scotland	Addition
	1882	Caldrum Works			Dundee	Scotland	Sheds extended to Main Street frontage. Bag factory and mechanics shop
	1883	Jamaica Street powerloom factory			Dundee	Scotland
	1886	Trades Lane Calender			Dundee	Scotland	Additions
	1887	Caldrum Works			Dundee	Scotland	Sheds extended to Main Street frontage
	1894	Mid Wynd Works			Dundee	Scotland	Cloth warehouses in Hawkhill
	1895	Mid Wynd Works			Dundee	Scotland	Four powerloom sheds
	Before 1898	Unspecified works	Kirkcaldy		Fife	Scotland

References

Bibliographic References

The following books contain references to this :
	Author(s)	Date	Title	Part	Publisher	Notes
	Dundee Yearbook	1899
	Johnston, W T		Scottish Engineers and Shipbuilders
	Scotlands People Website		Wills & Testaments			Cupar Sheriff Court Sc20/50/79, 80, 81

Periodical References

The following periodicals contain references to this :
	Periodical Name	Date	Edition	Publisher	Notes
	The Piper of Dundee	26 July 1899