The Old Family
and how we got here
Daniel Mackay was also known as Donald or at least that was the name used in his birth record or, more correctly, his Christening record as it was before compusory registration. I had a problem locating his birth record as that is the only time I have found that he was referred to by the name Donald. It is supposedly an alternative Gaelic form of Daniel and I suppose that with his parents' Gaelic background we have an easy explanation for the alternative spelling. I knew someone from the Highlands who went under both names Danny and Donny and it is certainly feasible that Daniel was the Sunday name and our man was known as Donny or suchlike in day-to-day matters.
I said he had a Gaelic background because his parents had recently moved to Edinburgh from Tain, a Gaelic-speaking part of the country, and some censuses recorded whether people spoke English or Gaelic or both. His parents spoke both. He was also baptised in the Free Gaelic Church (photo - church is on the right going up the street) in Edinburgh, which stood where the Traverse Theatre now stands. There is no indication as to whether Daniel spoke the old language although if his parents spoke Gaelic to each other at times I'm sure he would have picked up some of it.
The house where he was born was between the West Port and Laurieston Place, beside the cattle market, which contributed to it being a fairly unhealthy place to live. It was an even more dangerous place to be in just a few years previously as Burke and Hare were operating in the area. Their base was Tanner's Close, just a few steps away from Lady Lawson Wynd and Stevenson's Close where the Mackays lived. The whole area was dotted with tanneries which suggests that it could have been a smelly area as well. Certainly the authorities thought so and tried to improve the area, moving people out to better housing such as the Rosemount Buildings where they found much-improved accommodation, as shown below.
There is an interesting article describing how the Colonies in Edinburgh came about as an answer to the overcrowding and unsanitary conditions in the Old Town. Rosemount Buildings gets a mention on page 11 as being an exception to the Edinburgh rule, being built of brick rather than stone. Although the Mackays didn't live in the Colonies they have a special place in my past as I have lived in two, at Woodbine Terrace down Leith way and Violet Terrace in Shandon with Sandra (and Rosalyn, for eighteen months). Rosemount Buildings have a North of England appearance to them and it's worth a visit into the central quadrangle to feel the sense of community created by the enclosed structure with front doors on the inside of the quad, connected by walkways. Daniel had his own home next-door to his parents which would have added to that feeling.
For some reason Daniel moved his family through to the West End of Glasgow to West End Park Street (photo), in an area which, though tenemented, was a reasonable place to live, being between Charing Cross and the University. It can be assumed it was for work purposes as Daniel was coming up in the world, the son of a joiner who had found an opening in office work. He was a clerk at this time and although that may not sound much it was a job for someone with an education. He did rise to become a manager by the time he was 40 so his parents would have been proud of him. He only had one brother and one sister so it's possible that there was enough money in the house to allow Daniel to stay on at school. On the other hand maybe he was just clever enough to impress someone who could give him a chance.
When he did return to Edinburgh, by now a manager, he lived in Angle Park Terrace in a four-roomed flat with a relatively high rateable value, signifying status. He was still in a four-roomed flat there but with a different number at the next census but that could simply be a renumbering as new properties were built in the street in that period.
Sadly he died young, aged 52, but already his own children were making their way in reasonable jobs, William following his father into a clerk's position and eventually management as well. Daniel died not at home but in St Vincent Street in the New Town, an address which was, according to the Valuation Roll, the workshop and yard of William S Brown, an upholsterer of St Vincent Street with, it seems, a shop in George Street. I then located this in the Post Office Directory.
Daniel had been an upholsterer's clerk in 1881 but had been in cabinet making since his return to Edinburgh. It seems certain he was working for this company which covered all aspects of furniture manufacture. Strangely he went from manager in 1891 to clerk in 1901 but I feel confident that this is just a case of alternative titles for the same job rather than demotion. The George Street premises were until recently occupied by Bonhams Auctioneers and the photos below might give a flavour of what his company's premises looked like then. Certainly it would have been a high-class establishment.
Nowadays it is occupied by Jack Wills (or Jack Wlls, according to Google Street View).
Note - I found this advert in the Scotsman archives, dated June 8, 1896. I have no other evidence of Daniel setting up on his own but it certainly looks like he was in business under his own name and in a prestigious location. He looks like an employee of someone else in the censuses on either side of this date though. Maybe a failed solo venture?
