The first son of the marriage, Henry James Stuart Brown, was born on 1^st March 1871. Peter was designated as a druggist at this time.

A few weeks later, at the time of the 1871 census, Peter, Elizabeth and their son Henry James were living in Jarvey Street, Bathgate, in a house with four rooms having one or more windows. Peter was 29, and a chemist employing one assistant. Elizabeth was 18 and her place of birth was entered as Bathgate. Henry’s age was entered as one month.

Peter was once again entered as a druggist on the birth certificate of his son Mungo in 1872.

When son Charles was born in 1874, Peter was designated, apparently by his brother-in-law Mungo Chapman, a ‘vitriol maker’.

The 1877 Deed of Settlement of his uncle, the Rev. Harry Stuart, provided for a legacy of £500 in Peter’s favour, postponed to the death of Harry’s surviving brother George, which, in the event, occurred on 12^th June 1880.

Peter was designated a chemist on the birth certificate of his son George in 1879.

In the 1881 census, Peter’s son George is unaccountably entered as having been born in Irvine, Ayrshire. This is in contradiction to the evidence of his birth certificate, which gives his place of birth as Bathgate. However, some kind of connection with the Irvine area is indicated. A newspaper report carries the following reference:

Glasgow Herald, 17th March 1873 IRVINE. Garnock Chemical Works Reunion.- A concert, soiree, and assembly of the workers at the above works took place in the Eglinton Arms Hotel on Friday evening. Mr Peter Stuart Brown occupied the chair, and was supported by several gentlemen of the town. The concert was a great success, and the assembly was carried on till an early hour the following morning.

This is admittedly in isolation, as the family appears to have resided in Bathgate throughout this period. However, the reference to a Mr Peter Stuart Brown who was in a position of prominence within a chemical works seems too much to be coincidence.

On the birth certificate of his son George Stuart Brown in July 1879, Peter was designated as a ‘chemist’.

In November of the same year, he was referred to as ‘Peter Stuart Brown Chemist at present in Leven Fife’, in the context the Trust Disposition and Deed of Settlement of his father-in-law, Mungo Chapman.

In this light, item 8 in the 1880 Inventory of Peter’s uncle, George Stuart, relating to a sum of £100, must be taken as referring to him:

Amount due to deceased by Messrs Cochran and Anderson Advocates in Aberdeen being amount of debt due deceased by P. S. Brown Leven Fifeshire & recovered by them

Presumably, at this phase of his career, Peter Stuart Brown required substantial investment capital for his business enterprises and drew heavily upon his older relations for the necessary funds.

Peter and Elizabeth were perhaps out of Scotland in 1881, as there is no sign of them in that year’s census, although their children were to be found living with a governess in the village of Dubbyside, Markinch, Fife.

When his daughter Helen Eva was born in 1885, Peter again described himself simply as a chemist. She was born at 2, Glenbank Terrace, Lenzie, and this may indicate that the family was now living at this address.

At the time of son Huntly’s birth in 1889, a change of career was indicated; Peter was now an ‘iron manufacturer’. This event took place at Braeside, Rutherglen, which was now presumably the family home.

In 1891, Peter S. Brown was residing at 2, Braeside Avenue, Rutherglen. He was an iron fence and roof maker, aged 49. His wife, unaccountably, is entered as ‘Isabella’ instead of Elizabeth. This is quite certainly a clerical error. Henry, now aged 20, and Charles, 16, were both draughtsmen. George, 11, and Helen Eva, 6, were both scholars. Huntly was one. The final member of the household was Agnes Fleming, a ‘general servant’, aged 22.

The nature of the neighbourhood in which they were now living is reflected by the fact that Peter’s immediate neighbours appearing on the same page of the census return were a produce merchant (whose two unmarried sons were a solicitor and a shipowner respectively), a spindle manufacturer and a publisher.

A useful synopsis of Peter Stuart Brown’s business activities is included, by way of background, in a feature by Christopher C. Lee concerning Peter’s son, Charles, in the Dictionary of Scottish Business Biography 1860-1960, Vol. 2 (Aberdeen University Press, 1990), at p. 115:

Peter Stuart Brown was by training an industrial chemist and spent some time in Inverness. From 1908 he resided in Lochwinnoch, Renfrewshire. By his grandson’s admission Peter was the ‘bright spark’ of the family, both innovator and entrepreneur he had many interests. At one stage he owned a chemical plant near Irvine on the Ayrshire coast where he produced sulphate of ammonia. He also had an interest in agricultural fencing. For the Acme Tea Chest Company he patented and produced a plywood tea chest. This was an important innovation for the tea trade as a whole, which had previously relied on hand sawn planks which tended to split. The chests were previously lined with lead which made them very heavy. From Germany, Peter Stuart Brown brought the original method for making aluminium foil which was a much more suitable lining for the plywood chests.

A further series of insights into Peter Stuart Brown’s corporate and commercial activities is provided by various notices posted in the newspapers. In 1894, The Acme Package Company (Limited) was incorporated in order to take over the business of The Acme Tea Chest Syndicate (Limited) which had preceded it. The address of Peter Stuart Brown F.C.S., the managing director of the new concern, and of Henry James Stuart Brown - to whom the invention of a revolutionary new form of tea chest was jointly attributed - was entered as Egremont, Cambuslang. Peter’s place of business was given as 55, John Street, Bridgeton.

The Standard, 25th April 1894 NEW COMPANIES, COMMERCIAL, &c. The LIST of APPLICATIONS for SHARES will CLOSE on or before TUESDAY, 1st May, 1894. A New Package for the Cheap and Safe Carriage of Tea. THE ACME PACKAGE COMPANY (Limited). - In corporated (sic) under the Companies Acts, 1862 to 1890. Capital £75,000; in 15,000 Shares of £5 each. Of these one third are to be issued to the Vendors as fully paid, in part payment of the purchase price. The remaining 10,000 Shares are now offered for Subscription, payable:- 10s. per Share on Application, 20s. on Allotment, and the balance in calls not exceeding £1, at intervals of not less than three months. DIRECTORS. JAMES T. TULLIS. Esq., J.P., St. Ann’s Leather works, Glasgow, Chairman. John Bennie, Esq., hydraulic engineer, Glasgow. James Couper, jun., Esq., J.P., of James Couper and Sons, City Glass Works, Glasgow. Robert Hart., Esq., tea planter, Sylhet, India, and 45, Leadenhall-street, London. Thomas Henderson, Esq., of Walter Duncan and Co., East India merchants, Glasgow. Wm. McKenzie, Esq., tea planter, Castlereagh, Ceylon. Arthur Mechan, Esq., Neptune Iron Works, Cranston-hill, Glasgow. Thos Piper, Esq., of Piper Bros. and Co., tea merchants and importers, Fore-street, City, Peckham, &c., London. P. Stuart Brown, Esq., F.C.S., 55, John-street, Bridgeton, Managing Director. BANKERS. – Bank of Scotland, Glasgow. SOLICITORS. – Brownlie, Watson, and Beckett, 225, West George-street, Glasgow. SECRETARY (pro tem.). – John M. Murray, C.A. Registered Offices (pro tem.). – 82, West Regent-street, Glasgow. PROSPECTUS. OBJECTS OF THE COMPANY. This Company is formed to acquire the business and patent rights, together with the special machinery, plant, and other assets owned by the Acme Tea Chest Syndicate (Limited), which was incorporated on 31st December, 1891, for the purpose of testing the practicability of manufacture, cost of production, and commercial value of tea chests and similar packages constructed in accordance with the inventions of Messrs. P. and H. J. Stuart Brown, Egrement, Cambuslang. This object has been attained, the works (at John-street, Bridgeton, Glasgow) equipped with machinery which perfectly answers its purpose, and the patent rights secured in India and Ceylon, where valuable connections have been opened up. Prior attempts to produce metal packages (whose superiority for the carriage of tea has been long recognised) have failed in respect of cheapness, convenience, lightness, simplicity or strength; but, in the opinion of the trade and others interested, extracts from whose reports are enclosed, the Acme Package fulfils all conditions. The Chests are made of lead-coated sheet metal under hydraulic pressure, and are illustrated in the drawings. As will be seen, they consist of (1) a sheet which forms the four sides, with panels and corrugations which ensure both strength and rigidity; (2) an ingenious “slip knot” for fastening and clamping; (3) a top and a bottom; and (4) a top band and a bottom band – in all six pieces, to which there are added only four scerw-nails (sic), two each for securing the top and bottom bands respectively. When it is stated that a pressure of 220 tons is required to produce the panels and corrugations on each sheet for an Acme Chest, it will be understood that only the best and softest steel will stand such a test, but, having stood it, the strains and even the accidents to which it may be subjected when filled with tea, are as nothing. The Advantages are:- (1) They dispense with the costly employment of lead-leaf. (2) They can be stored in small space ready for immediate use, and are rapidly put together by Coolie labour without special appliances. (3) They ensure even tares (a most important technical point), and thus minimise warehouse charges. (4) They may be opened or closed in two minutes (but are easily sealed against pilferage) and so facilitate Customs’ examination while avoiding the expense of cooperage. (5) They prevent loss of tea and preserve its fragrance in transit. (6) Steel being so much thinner, they hold more than wood chests of the same outside size, and therefore effect a large saving in freight; being lighter, they also save in inland carriage. (7) They are preferred by retailers on account of their neat and attractive appearance, and because the empties have a high return value, or may be used again for tea and other merchandise. The requirements of the tea trade in India and Ceylon alone run up to about two and a-half million packages per annum (calculated to 100lb. chests) and are rising at the rate of 10 per cent. yearly. But the present factory, even working overtime as it has done for some weeks, to cope with orders in hand, can turn out no more than 90,000 to 100,000 per annum, and many large buyers hesitate to discard their present sources of supply without an assurance that their orders could be executed with reasonable despatch. On the understanding, however, that arrangements shall be made for an adequate future supply, planters representing more than one-fourth of the entire trade have placed orders with the Syndicate for the present season, it being their intention to work off, as far as possible, their stocks of wood and lead during 1894, so as to take their requirements in Acme Packages for season 1895. An exact trial of six weeks was made, when 11,469 chests were made and sold, showing a net profit of 268l. – equal to a profit of 19.0l. on the year of 45 weeks, after deducting oncost (sic), which, on an estimated output ten times larger, will represent a surplus of 18.979l. or sufficient to pay 30 per cent. on 60,000l., after allowing for depreciation. Even though only half the output should be reached, the profit would still be over 13 per cent. The Vendors have agreed to accept as the consideration for the patent rights, goodwill, plant, and machinery, &c., shares in the new Company to the number of 5000, the largest holding allowed by the rules of the Stock Exchange. These are to be issued as fully paid, but shall rank for dividend only to an amount corresponding with the sum paid on the other Shares. In addition, and to cover expenditure already incurred, the Vendors are to receive 8000l. in cash, and the whole of the expenses in connection with the formation of the new Company, up to and including the date of its incorporation, will be borne by them. The stock will be taken over at a valuation. Three of the Directors of the Syndicate whose names appear above, as well as the Managing Director, have agreed to serve on the Board of the new Company so as to secure continuity of action and the benefit of the experience they have gained. The following contracts have been entered into relative to the Company:- (1) Agreement between the Acme Tea Chest Syndicate (Limited) and John Maclay Murray, C.A., Glasgow, on behalf of the Company, and Peter Stuart Brown and Henry James Stuart Brown, Egremont, Cambuslang, dated 2d and 3d April, 1894. (2) Agreement between Peter Stuart Brown and John Maclay Murray on behalf of the Company, dated 2d and 3d April, 1894. There are also contracts of various kinds, including agreements relating to orders in course of execution by the Syndicate, which, in whole or in part, may fall to be taken over by the Company. As these may be considered contracts within the meaning of the 38th Section of the Companies Act, 1867, applicants shall be deemed to have had notice of all such contracts, and to have waived the specification of dates thereof, and names of parties thereto, and allotment will be made only on those conditions. Copies of the contracts, as well as of the Memorandum and Articles of Association, can be seen at the office of the Solicitors. The foregoing statements in the separate sheet enclosed with the Porspectus (sic) are founded on information supplied by the Managing Director of the Syndicate, and the Directors believe them to be in all respects true. It will, however, be a condition of allotment that applicants agree with the Company, as Trustees for the Directors and all other parties liable, to waive any claim under the Directors’ Liability Act, 1890, for compensation in respect of any mis-statement in the Prospectus made by the Directors or others in the belief that it was true. Application will be made for a Stock Exchange quotation. Applications for shares on the form accompanying the Prospectus should be forwarded to the Company’s Bankers, accompanied by a cheque for the first payment of 10s. per Share, or may be lodged with the Secretary, as explained on the Application Form. In allotting the Shares preference will be given to applicants connected with the tea trade. Prospectuses and Forms of Application may be obtained at the offices of the Company, or from the Solicitors. Where no allotment is made the deposits will be returned in full, and when the number of Shares allotted is less than the number applied for, the surplus of the deposits will be credited in reduction of future instalments.

Glasgow Herald, 26th December 1894 THE ACME TEA CHEST SYNDICATE, LIMITED (IN LIQUIDATION). The Business of the above Syndicate having now been Transferred to the Acme Package Company, Limited, all Persons having Claims against the said Syndicate are required to lodge the same, duly vouched, with Mr Peter Stuart Brown, 55, John Street, Bridgeton, Glasgow, the Liquidator thereof, within 21 Days from this date. BROWNLIE, WATSON & BECKETT, Agents for the Liquidator, 225 West George Street, Glasgow. 19th December, 1894.

A further expansion of business led, three years later, to the business of The Acme Package Company (Limited) passing to The Acme Tea Chest Company (Limited). One of the key innovations involved the new company manufacturing its own sheet steels, to avoid the necessity of having these materials brought from South Wales. Peter Stuart Brown retained his position as managing director and he and Henry James Stuart Brown were stated to be now residing at Bothwell Park, Bothwell.

Glasgow Herald, 5th May 1897 The LIST of APPLICATIONS OPENS TO-DAY (WEDNESDAY), 5TH MAY, and will be CLOSED on or before FRIDAY, 7TH MAY, 1897. THE ACME TEA CHEST COMPANY (LIMITED). INCORPORATED UNDER THE COMPANIES ACTS, 1862 TO 1890. CAPITAL………………………………………….. £150,000 In 75,000 SIX PER CENT. CUMULATIVE PREFERENCE SHARES OF £1 EACH (preferable in regard both the Capital and Dividend), And 75,000 ORDINARY SHARES OF £1 EACH. Of these, one-third of each are to be issued to the Vendor Company as fully paid in part payment of the purchase price. The remaining two-thirds, viz., 50,000 Six per Cent. Cumulative Preference Shares, and 50,000 Ordinary Shares, are now Payable 2s per Share on Application, 3s on Allotment, 5s on 30th June, and the Balance within One Year from date of Allotment. The Directors may accept payment in full from any Applicant at or after Allotment, subject to interest at the rate of 4 per cent. per annum. DIRECTORS. JAMES T. TULLIS, ESQ., J.P., St Ann’s Leather Works, Glasgow, Chairman. JOHN BENNIE, ESQ., Hydraulic Engineer, Glasgow. JAMES COUPER, JUN., ESQ., J.P., City Glass Works, Glasgow. ROBERT HART, ESQ. Tea Planter, Sylhet, India; and 45 Leadenhall Street, London. THOMAS HENDERSON, ESQ., of WALTER DUNCAN & CO., East India Merchants, Glasgow. ARTHUR MECHAN, ESQ., Neptune Iron Works, Cranstonhill, Glasgow. WILLIAM WALKER, ESQ., of JAMES FINLAY & CO., East India Merchants, Glasgow. P. STUART-BROWN, ESQ., F.C.S., Managing Director. BANKERS. THE UNION BANK OF SCOTLAND, LIMITED, GLASGOW, AND BRANCHES. BROKERS. MESSRS HOLMS-KERR & HEDDERWICK, 79, St George’s Place, Glasgow. SOLICITORS. MESSRS BROWNLIE, WATSON & BECKETT, 225 WEST GEORGE STREET, GLASGOW. INTERIM-SECRETARY. C. D. R. WALKER. REGISTERED OFFICE. 82 WEST REGENT STREET, GLASGOW. PROSPECTUS. THE ACME TEA CHEST COMPANY, LIMITED, has been formed to acquire, as at 17th March, 1897, the business of manufacturing and selling Steel Tea Chests hitherto carried on by The Acme Package Company, Limited, together with the works, plant, machinery, patent rights, contracts, and whole other assets of that Company. The business of the Vendor Company since its formation in 1894 has developed to a remarkable extent and is still rapidly increasing. The Company recently acquired in feu extensive and very suitable works, with convenient railway connections, at Polmadie, Glasgow, which previously formed the Glasgow Steel Works. These works having been reconstructed and equipped with special and valuable machinery, are thoroughly adapted to their purposes, and are equal to an output of from 20,000 to 24,000 chests per week. The formation of a new Company with larger capital has been resolved upon mainly with the object of putting the Company in a position to manufacture its own steel sheets, not only for the sake of the large profit to be earned by so doing, but also to ensure an ample supply of high-class steel sheets – the output of chests being now so large that it has been found extremely difficult to buy a sufficient quantity of sheets of the special quality of practically unpuncturable steel which is necessary to make a thoroughly satisfactory metal chest. The most suitable sheets hitherto used by the Company have been manufactured in South Wales from Scotch steel bars. When the Company is able to manufacture its sheets at Polmadie, the whole expense of carrying the sheets from Wales, and the buying and selling commissions that are incurred under the present system, will be saved. These items alone amount, on the basis of the present annual output, to over £4000 per annum, and the savings thus effected, irrespective of the anticipated development of the Company’s business, will of itself form a substantial addition to the annual profits. Arrangements for securing suitable premises immediately adjoining the works at Polmadie are now in progress, and, on the completion of these arrangements, the necessary plant will be laid down without delay. Valuable connections have been established by the Vendor Company with important tea growers in India and Ceylon, and with wholesale tea dealers in London, all of whom are of one opinion as to the superiority for tea-carrying purposes of the Acme Metal Chest as compared with any kind of package hitherto brought under their notice. As, however, the present large output of the Company does not represent more than one-twelfth of the requirements of India and Ceylon alone, and as the vast possibilities of China and Japan are still practically untouched, it will be seen that the field for further development is an exceedingly wide one. The Chests are made of lead-coated sheet steel under hydraulic pressure, and they consist of (1) a sheet which forms the four sides; with panels and corrugations which ensure both strength and rigidity; (2) an ingenious “slip-joint” for fastening and clamping; (3) a top and a bottom; and (4) a top band and a bottom band in all six pieces, to which there are added only six screw-nails, three for securing each of the top and bottom bands respectively. When it is stated that a pressure of 220 tons is required to produce the panels and corrugations on each sheet for an Acme Chest, it will be understood that only the best and softest steel will stand such a test, but, having stood it, the strains and even the accidents to which it may be subjected when filled with tea are as nothing. (1) The Chests dispense with the employment of costly lead-leaf. (2) They can be stored in small space ready for immediate use, and are rapidly put together by Coolie labour without special appliances. (3) They ensure even tares (a most important technical point), and thus minimise warehouse charges. (4) They may be opened or closed in two minutes (but are easily sealed against pilferage), and so facilitate Customs’ examination while avoiding the expense of cooperage. (5) They prevent loss of tea in transit and preserve its fragrance for a much greater length of time than wooden chests. (6) Steel being so much thinner, they hold more than wood chests of the same outside size, and therefore effect a large saving in freight; being lighter, they also save in inland carriage. (7) They are preferred by retailers on account of their neat and attractive appearance, and because the empties have a high return value, or may be used again for tea and other merchandise. The Vendor Company’s financial year closes and the season ends on 30th June (the Company’s first season having, however, for bookkeeping purposes been closed on 31st May). For season ending 31st May, 1895 (being the first in the existence of the Vendor Company), on sales amounting to £14,139, 2s 9d, a profit of £1102 6s 1d was obtained. For season ending 30th June, 1896, on sales amounting to £26,592 14s 10d, a profit of £3425 16s 10d was reached. For season ending 30th June, 1897, orders have already been obtained to the amount of £42,000, from which, according to previous experience, a profit of £8200 should be made. For season ending 30th June, 1898, it is confidently expected that the total sales will considerably exceed this figure; but assuming that no increase upon sales is attained, and that the saving before referred to arising from the Company manufacturing its own sheets – viz., £4000 – is effected with sufficient expedition to make itself apparent next year, the total profit would, at the same rate as in the previous year, amount to £12,200 – sufficient to pay 10 per cent. on the Ordinary shares, after making provision for the dividend of 6 per cent. on the Preference shares. This is believed to be a moderate estimate based on past and present working, but if business continues to prosper as it has done and is doing, these figures may be largely exceeded. The foregoing statement of profits realised has been examined by Messrs Kerr, Andersons, Muir & Main, C.A., Glasgow, who certify as follows:- 149 WEST GEORGE STREET, GLASGOW, 28th April, 1897. To the BOARD OF DIRECTORS of the ACME PACKAGE COMPANY, LIMITED, 52 West Regent Street, Glasgow. GENTLEMEN, We have examined the Books of the Acme Package Company, Limited, for the two periods – (1) from the commencement of the Company until 31st May, 1895, and (2) from the latter date until 30th June, 1896. We find that the sales for the period ending 31st May, 1895, amounted to £14, 139 2s 9d, on which a profit of £1102 5s 1d was obtained, and the sales for the period ending 30th June, 1896, amounted to £25, 592 14s 10d, on which a profit of £3425 16s 10d was obtained. In these results, however, no deduction has been made for depreciation of plant or for expiry of patent rights, and we have assumed the correctness of the valuation of stock as certified by the Managing Director and the Works Foreman, and by Mr John Norman, M.L.E. and S. Consulting Engineer and Valuator, Glasgow, a copy of whose certificate is appended hereto. The above statement of profit for the period ending 30th June, 1895, is also arrived at without making provision for liquidation of a balance amounting to £382 of preliminary expenses. We are, Your obedient Servants, KERR, ANDERSONS, MUIR & MAIN, C.A. 131A ST VINCENT STREET, Glasgow, 27th April, 1897. MESSRS THE ACME PACKAGING COMPANY, LIMITED. GENTLEMEN, Having gone over and carefully examined the rates charged for the various articles as enumerated in your Stock Book for the years 1895 and 1896, I hereby certify that the rates are all reasonably and correctly charged. Your obedient Servant, JOHN NORMAN. The purchase price has been fixed at the sum of £112,500, payable as to £25,000 in Ordinary fully-paid Shares, as to £25,000 in 6 per Cent. Cumulative Preference fully-paid Shares (being the largest proportion allowed by the Rules of the Stock Exchange), and the balance of £62,500 in cash. The Directors of the Vendor Company have all agreed to act as Directors of the new Company. The Vendor Company will pay all debts due by it and discharge all sums due to it as at 17th March, 1897, and the new Company will be entitled to all profits after that date. The Vendor Company will pay all the expenses attending the formation of the Company up to the date of registration. The following contract has been entered into, viz.: - Agreement between the Acme Package Company, Limited, and John Maclay Murray, C.A., Glasgow, as Liquidator thereof; Curison Deans Rankin Walker, 32, West Regent Street, Glasgow, as Trustee on behalf of this Company, and Peter Stuart Brown and Henry James Stuart Brown, both residing at Bothwell Park, Bothwell, dated 25th April, 1897. There are also contracts of various kinds, including agreements relating to orders in course of execution which, in whole or in part, may fall to be taken over by the Company. As these may be considered contracts within the meaning of the 38th section of the Companies Act, 1867, applicants shall be deemed to have had notice of all such contracts, and to have waived the specification of dates thereof, and names of parties thereto, and allotment will be made only on those conditions. Copies of the Contract, as well as of the Memorandum and Articles of Association, can be seen at the office of the Solicitors. Application will be made for a Stock Exchange quotation. Applications for Shares on forms enclosed with the Prospectus should be forwarded to the Company’s Bankers, or may be lodged with the Secretary, accompanied by a cheque for the first payment of 2s per share, as explained on the Application Forms. In allotting the Shares preference will be given to applicants connected with the tea trade. Prospectuses and Forms of Application may be obtained at the Offices of the Company, or from the Solicitors. Where no allotment is made the deposits will be returned in full, and when the number of shares allotted is less than the number applied for, the surplus of the deposit will be credited in reduction of future instalments. Glasgow, 1st May, 1897.

On the evidence of the Post Office Glasgow Directory, Peter was resident at Bothwell Park, Bothwell, from 1896. He was living there at the time of the 1901 census, in a dwelling having twelve rooms with one or more windows. There was also a gatehouse having two rooms with one or more windows, occupied by George Thompson, a gardener, with his wife, four children and one boarder. It might be surmised that Mr Thompson was Peter Stuart Brown’s gardener but this is not made explicit on the face of the record.

The full record for the Stuart Brown household runs as follows:

Peter S. Brown, head, married, 59, steel tea chest manufacturer, employer, born Aberdeenshire, Aboyne Charles, son, single, 26, manager of case works, employer, born Linlithgowshire, Bathgate George, son, single, 21, lawyer’s clerk, worker, born Linlithgowshire, Bathgate Huntly G., son, 11, scholar, born Lanarkshire, Rutherglen Duncan Chisholm, servant, single, 23, groom, worker, born Edinburgh Catherine Fyfe, servant, single, housemaid, worker, born Renfrewshire. Govan

Left: Auchengrange, Lochwinnoch, Renfrewshire, February 2014 When he subscribed his Trust Disposition and Settlement in 1907, he was styled ‘Peter Stuart Brown, Manager of the Acme Tea Chest Company, Limited, Glasgow, and residing at Bothwell Park, Bothwell’. He continued to reside there until 1909 or 1910, after which he removed to the even more salubrious surroundings of Auchengrange, a Georgian country house at Lochwinnoch, Renfrewshire. At the time of the 1911 census, Auchengrange, having no fewer than twenty rooms with one or more windows, was the family home. Peter and Elizabeth were stated to have been married for forty-one years, with seven children born alive, of whom six were still living. The full entry reads:

Peter Stuart Brown, head, 69, married, Managing Director Tea Chest Manufacturing Coy, employer, born Aberdeenshire, Aboyne Elizabeth, wife, 61, born Linlithgowshire, Bathgate Charles, son, 36, single, manager tea chest factory, worker, born Linlithgowshire, Bathgate Elizabeth, daur, 34, single, born Ireland George, son, 31, single, clerk, tea chest works, worker, born Ireland Helen Eva, daur, 26, single, born Lanarkshire, Lenzie Huntly Gordon, son, 21, clerk, aluminium rolling works, worker, born Lanarkshire, Rutherglen Henry James, son, 40, married, manager tea chest factory, worker, born Linlithgowshire, Bathgate Ada, daur-in-law, 30, married to Henry for five years, one child born alive and still living, born Lanarkshire, Govan Claire Courtier Stuart Brown, granddaughter, 3, born Glasgow Matthew Barr Baird, visitor, 29, single, manager iron rolling mills, worker, born Lanarkshire, Uddingston Anna Morrison, servant, 26, Gaelic & English speaker, single, general servant domestic, worker, born Invernessshire, Duiranish Christina Macfarlane, servant, 18, Gaelic & English speaker, general servant domestic, worker, born Argyllshire, Ardrishaig Agnes Smith, servant, 22, single, general servant domestic, worker, born Wigtownshire, Glenluce

At the time of his daughter Helen Eva Stuart Brown’s marriage to Matthew Baird on 28^th September 1911, Peter Stuart Brown was designated the ‘managing director of the Acme Tea Company.’

When he acted as informant on the 1915 death certificate of his son Huntly, Peter was designated an aluminium manufacturer.

At the time of George’s marriage in 1919, Peter was again designated as a veneer factory director (deceased). On the death certificate of his widow in 1927, Peter was recalled somewhat vaguely as a ‘manufacturer’.

Mountain climbing was a favourite family pastime. Here Peter appears with two of his sons and his two daughters. Left to right: Betty, George, Peter, Eva, Charles.

Peter Stuart Brown died on 3rd August 1916, at Auchengrange, Lochwinnoch, Renfrewshire. He was aged 74, and the causes of death were certified by J. W. Stephen MB CHB as ‘congestion base right lung’, ‘cerebral thrombosis with hemiplegia’, and ‘progressive weakness’. The death was registered at Beith by Charles Stuart Brown, his son, who was present.

A obituary appeared in the Hamilton Advertiser, 12^th August 1916:

We are sorry to note the death, toward the end of last week, of Mr Peter Stuart Brown, a former resident of Bothwell Park, Bothwell. Mr Stuart Brown, who died at his residence, Auchengrange, Lochwinnoch, had been in failing health for some months. The funeral took place last Monday to Lochwinnoch Cemetery. Mr. Brown’s favourite recreation was riding to hounds, a sport for which his spare, tall, sinewy figure well adapted him, and he was able to indulge it with greater facility on his removal some years ago to Lochwinnoch, in the centre of the fox-hunting district. Two of his sons enlisted for the War. The youngest of these, it will be recollected, died at Stobhill Hospital, of wounds about fifteen months ago ; and the other, after being in the trenches for some months, is at present in Great Britain invalided.

The two sons referred to are of course Huntly and George respectively.

A monument stands over the family lair of the Stuart Browns in the cemetery above Lochwinnoch, Renfrewshire. A hexagonal section bears inscriptions dedicated to various members of the family, including Peter Stuart Brown, his wife Elizabeth Chapman and their children Henry, Charles, Elizabeth and Huntly.

The Acme Tea Chest Company (Limited) apparently continued in existence until 1956:

Scottish National Congress News Sheet (Forward Scotland), February, 1958 ACME TEA CHEST CO., LTD., of Glasgow, has been taken over by Venesta Ltd., of London, who needed an extension of their aluminium foil works. The Chairman of Venesta Ltd. has just given details about this. The Acme Tea Chest Co. was founded in 1897 and was interested in production of aluminium foil through its subsidiary the Empire Aluminium Co. of Glasgow. The “take-over” which was little noticed took place at the end of 1956.

Captain Douglas Wimberley concluded his study of the Gordons of Terpersie (p. 16) thus:

The late Peter Stuart Brown, her (i.e. Helen Gordon’s) great grandson, who died in 1916, was the originator of the plywood chest lined with aluminium foil; these are manufactured today (1935) by his sons, Henry James, Charles, and George.

Testamentary Writings

Peter Stuart Brown’s final disposal of his estate was effected by means of a Trust Disposition and Settlement (Wills and testaments Reference SC58/45/22, Paisley Sheriff Courts Wills, pp. 128-32), subscribed by the testator at Glasgow on 5^th September 1907. The witnesses were ‘William Beckett, Writer Glasgow and Barrhead, and James Cruickshanks Smith, Clerk to Brownlie Watson and Beckett, Writers, Glasgow and Barrhead.’

Whilst it may have been preceeded by other writings, this deed was never revoked or amended, by codicil or otherwise.

Inventory

The following entry appears in Confirmations & Inventories, 1916, at p. 90:

BROWN, Peter Steuart (sic), Managing Director, Acme Tea Chest Coy., Ltd., Glasgow, residing at Auchengrange, Lochwinnoch, died 3 August 1916, at Auchengrange aforesaid, testate. Confirmation granted at Paisley, 10 October, to Elizabeth Chapman or Brown, Auchengrange aforesaid, his widow, and Charles Steuart Brown, 402 Sauchiehall Street, Glasgow, Henry James Steuart Brown, 40 Highburgh Road there, and George Steuart Brown, Auchengrange aforesaid, his sons, Executors nominated in Will or Deed, dated 5 September 1907, and recorded in Court Books of Commissariot of Renfrew, 10 October 1916. Value of Estate, £21,369, 19s. 7d.

This is particularised as follows (Wills and testaments Reference SC58/42/85, Paisley Sheriff Court, pp. 383-84):

I. SCOTLAND	£    s.    D.
1. Cash in the house	-    5    -
2. Household furniture, personal effects, live stock and implements at Auchengrange Lochwinnoch, conform to Inventory and Valuation made by Messrs J. & R. Edmiston, Licensed Valuators, Glasgow, dated 18th August, 1916.	645    5    6
3. The following shares in the Acme Tea Chest Company Limited namely: (1) 1,150 Ordinary Shares of £1 each valued at 18/-	1,035    -    -
(2) 8,487 Ordinary Shares of £1 each valued at 18/-	7,838    6    -
(3) 6,000 Ordinary Shares of £1 each valued at 18/-	5,400    -    -
(4) 3,294 Preference shares of £1 each valued at 16/- per share	2,635    4    -
(5) 500 Preference shares of £1 each valued at 16/- per share Note:- Lots 2 and 4 are held by Union Bank of Scotland Ltd. in security of a debt of £5666  7  9 and lots 3 & 5 are held by the Bank of Scotland in security of a debt of £1475	400    -    -
4. Money in Bank, namely:- (a) Cash at Credit on account current with the Union Bank of Scotland Limited (Head Ofice)	168    7    8
(b) Cash at Credit on account current with the British Linen Bank (Union Street Glasgow Branch)	281    8    9
5. (a) Salary due to the deceased by the Acme Tea Chest          Company Limited at £1,200 per annum - 1st          August to date of death.	9  17    3
(b) Commission due to the deceased for the half year          ending 4th August, 1916	200    -    -
6. Sum in Policy of Assurance of the Law Union and Rock Insurance Company on the life of the deceased No. (left blank) dated (left blank) for £1000 Note:- This Policy is held by the Bank of            Scotland in security of advance	1000    -    -
7. Amount payable to deceased by the Acme Tea Chest Co. Limited in event of death:- £2000 in three instalments (1) £666-13-4 payable at Martinmas 1916 £666 13   4 Less:- discount at 5% from date of death       9   2   8 £657 10   8 (2) £666-13-4 payable at Whitsunday 1917 £666 13   4 Less discount at 5% from date of death     26   0   6 £640 12 10 (3) £666-13-4 payable at Martinmas 1917 £666 13   4 Less:- discount at 5% from date of death     42   9   5 £624   3 11	1922    7    5
8. Deceased’s share or interest in the estate of his son Huntly Gordon Stuart Brown, who died on 7th March 1915 (Inventory of his estate recorded at Paisley on 25th January 1916)	33  18    -
Total of moveable estate wheresoever situate (Signed) Charles Stuart Brown. F. Gilmour J.P.	£21369 19   7

The applicable rate of duty was 5%; the net estate duty paid was £664 13/8d, with interest of £2 19/-, totalling £667 12/8d. Whether this was subsumed in ‘Amount of Debts and Funeral Expenses’ or represented a further deduction is not made clear.

Trustees & Executors

The following parties were appointed as Peter Stuart Brown’s trustees and executors:

Mrs Elizabeth Chapman or Brown my wife, Charles Stuart Brown, Bothwell Park Bothwell my son, Henry James Stuart Brown nine Spring Gardens, Kelvinside, Glasgow, my son, and George Stuart Brown Bothwell Park Bothwell, my son, and the survivor and acceptor of them

The trustees were charged with a great deal more than merely ingathering and distributing the estate. From the terms of Trust Disposition and Settlement, it was in contemplation that their administration of the estate would continue over a potentially protracted period, beginning with the death of the testator and ending with the death of his relict, and which, in the event, was of ten and a half years’ duration. Authorised activities included buying, selling, lending and borrowing, as well as excambing (excambion is the bartering of one piece of heritable property for another), investment, the hiring of factors or agents and the commissioning of valuations, always with a broad discretion granted to them.

The greater portion of the will’s technical complexity inheres in the provisions determining the powers and immunities of the trustees in their intromissions with the estate but these are of little or no consequence for present purposes, with one possible exception;

it shall be in the power of my Trustees to encroach on and pay to her absolutely such part of the Capital of my Estate as may in their opinion (my said Trustees being the sole and absolute judges in the matter) be necessary for the maintenance of my said wife... in the event of the income of my estate being insufficient for this purpose

All four trustees nominated in the Trust Deed and Settlement survived the testator and signified their acceptance with their signatures on 7^th August 1916. The witnesses thereto were William Beckett, writer, Glasgow, and Lizzie Stuart Brown, of Auchengrange, Lochwinnoch. Their is some question concerning this lady’s precise identity, since Peter Stuart Brown’s daughter, Elizabeth, was more usually familiarly known as Betty. It is noted that Charles’s wife also bore the Christian name Elizabeth.

The Trust Deed and Settlement was presented for registration for preservation in the Books of the Lords of Council and Session on 9^th August 1916.

Charles Stuart Brown, acting on behalf of himself and the other trustees and executors, appeared at Glasgow on 22^nd September 1916, in presence of Francis Gilmour Esq., Justice of the Peace for the City of Glasgow, and on being solemnly sworn and examined, emitted the requisite depositions.

The Trust Deed and Settlement was presented at Paisley for registration for preservation in the Court Books of the Commissariot of Renfrew on 10^th October 1916; the Inventory of the Personal Estate was presented at on the same occasion by Brownlie, Watson & Beckett, Writers, 225, West George Street, Glasgow.

Beneficiaries

Behind its ostensible complexity, the general scheme of the Trust Disposition and Settlement is relatively straightforward. The testator disponed and assigned in trust, under reservation of a liferent in favour of himself:

All and Sundry the whole Means and Estate, heritable and moveable, of every kind and description, and wheresoever situate, that shall belong to me at the time of my decease; Together with the writs and vouchers of the same

On the testator’s death, following the conventional direction respecting ‘payment of all my just and lawful debts and sickbed and funeral expenses’, the trustees were directed to give his widow ‘the free liferent use and enjoyment of my whole estate’. In the event, Elizabeth Stuart Brown MS Chapman survived her husband by more than a decade, so that this provision did indeed apply.

The trustees were further directed:

On the death of my said wife or on my death should I survive her I direct my Trustees to pay divide and make over my whole Means and Estate equally to and among my whole surviving children, the issue of any predeceasing child taking equally among them per stirpes the parents share, the shares of my children being payable to them respectively on their attaining majority

The five children who survived both their father and mother were Henry, Charles, Elizabeth, George and Helen Eva, all of whom had long since attained majority; the two sons predeceasing the testator had both died without issue. The deed contains a considerable body of provisions to meet the contingency of the testator dying before any of his beneficiaries had attained majority but these can be disregarded.

The estate therefore fell to be divided equally amongst the five named, upon the death of their mother, in 1927.

Brothers and Sisters

Peter Stuart Brown was apparently the ninth of ten children.

Barbara Urquhart Brown, born c. 1827, died in June 1844, aged 17, as recorded on the family gravestone in Cluny Kirkyard. (Monumental Inscription No 114, The Kirkyard of Cluny, compiled by Sheila M. Speirs, published by Aberdeen & North-East Scotland Family History Society, first published 1991, 2008 reprint, p. 12)

Charlotte, born c. 1832, is also known from the 1851 census at which time she was unmarried and living at home.

Charlotte, who married John McPetrie in 1857, was named as a beneficiary in the 1877 Deed of Settlement of her uncle, the Rev. Harry Stuart of Oathlaw. She was to receive the interest on £500 for the rest of her life, her husband receiving the same after her death, in the event that he should survive her, which, it appears he did, the principal sum thereafter to be divided equally among their children.

Jessie was born c. 1833 and her death in March 1836, aged 2, is recorded on the family gravestone.

Robert was born c. 1836. He was living at home at the time of the 1851 census, entered as aged 14.

Robert was the informant on their father’s death certificate in 1859.

Robert was bequeathed the sum of £500 under the terms of the 1877 Deed of Settlement of his uncle, the Rev. Harry Stuart, postponed to the death of Harry’s surviving brother, George, which occurred on 12^th June 1880.

Robert Brown married Agnes Wishart and died on 30^th May 1920, aged 84; Agnes died on 21^st July 1930, aged 88 as recorded on the family gravestone (Monumental Inscription No 115, The Kirkyard of Cluny, compiled by Sheila M. Speirs, published by Aberdeen & North-East Scotland Family History Society, first published 1991, 2008 reprint, p. 12):

In memoriam. ROBERT BROWN jun. d. 28 Jan. 1904 aged 35; his sister ANNIE d. 3 Oct. 1889 aged 30. ROBERT BROWN sen., 60 years tenant of Birselawsie Farm d. 30 May 1920 aged 84; his wife AGNES WISHART d. 21 July 1930 aged 88. R. S. His sons FRED WISHART d. 16 Feb. 1922 aged 36, CHARLES d. 8 Sept. 1926 aged 37, PETER STUART d. 4 Nov. 1928 aged 65. His dau. HELEN STUART d. 18 May 1929 aged 57. Back: Also their dau. MARY WISHART d. 10 Jan. 1939 aged 64; their son WILLIAM WISHART BROWN Birselawsie d. 1 Dec. 1945 aged 73. BARBARA ABEL BRODIE d. 21 Oct. 1972 aged 84, wife of the late FRED BROWN Birselawsie, Midmar.

James, born c. 1839, was also living at home at the time of the 1851 census, entered as aged 11 and born in Birse.

James Brown Junior married Jane Reid on 3^rd July 1868 at Badygaun, in the Parish of Cluny, in the County of Aberdeen, After Banns according to the Forms of the United Presbyterian Church. The Register was signed by John Peden Bell, United Presbyterian Minister, Midmar, and by witnesses David Urquhart and Andrew Reid.

James was a farmer (bachelor), aged 28, usually resident at Birselausie, in the Parish of Cluny.

Jane was a ‘farmer’s daughter at home’ (spinster) aged 31, usually resident at Balygaun, also in the Parish of Cluny. Her parents were entered as Andrew Burnett Reid, farmer, and Jane Reid MS Davidson.

James and Jane’s daughter, Helen Stuart Brown, was born on 28^th September 1869 at 3^h 45^m pm, at Birselawsie. The informant on 19^th October 1869 at Cluny was the child’s father, James Brown, entered as not present.

Jane Brown, married to James Brown, farmer, died on 6^th November 1871 at seven in the morning, at Birselausie. Her aged was entered as 35. Her parents were recalled as Andrew Burnett Reid, retired farmer, and Jane Reid MS Davidson (deceased). The cause of death was certified as tubercles in both lungs, from which she had been suffering for ‘about 12 months’. The informant on the following day at Cluny was the deceased’s husband, James Brown, entered as present.

James and Helen’s daughter, Helen Stuart Brown, died on 18^th December 1873 at three in the afternoon, at Birselausie. Her age was entered as four. The cause of death was certified as tubercular meningitis, from which she had been suffering for ‘a few months’. The informant on the 20^th at Cluny was the child’s father, James Brown, entered as present and designated as a farmer.

James was the informant on the 1875 death certificate his mother, Helen Gordon Stuart.

James Brown contracted a second marriage; he married Isabella (Menzies) Fraser on 7^th March 1877 at the United Presbyterian Church, Midmar, After Banns according to the Forms of the United Presbyterian Church of Scotland. The Register was signed by James N. Dodds, of the United Presbyterian Church of Midmar, and by witnesses Charles Fraser and Ellen Brown.

James was a farmer, widower of Jane Reid, aged 37, usually resident at Birslassie, Cluny Parish.

Isabella was a domestic servant (spinster), aged 38, usually resident in the Town House, Aberdeen. Her parents were recalled as Charles Fraser, crofter, and Margaret Fraser MS Gillespie, both deceased.

James and Isabella’s daughter, Charlotte Cattanach Brown, was born on 22^nd July 1879 at 10^h 30^m pm at Birselausie. Her parents were entered as James Brown, farmer, and Isabella Menzies Brown MS Fraser. The informant on 5^th August at Cluny was the child’s father, James Brown.

Their daughter, Charlotte Cattanach Brown, was born in the summer of 1879 and died on 7^th October 1879 at 10^h 45^h, at Birselawsie. Her age was entered as eleven weeks. The cause of death was certified as bronchitis, from which she had been suffering for fourteen days. The informant on the 9^th at Cluny was James Brown, again entered as present and designated as a farmer.

The deaths of Jane (dated 12^th?), Helen and Charlotte were all recorded on the family gravestone. (Monumental Inscription No 114, The Kirkyard of Cluny, compiled by Sheila M. Speirs, published by Aberdeen & North-East Scotland Family History Society, first published 1991, 2008 reprint, p. 12).

James was bequeathed the sum of £500 under the terms of the 1877 Deed of Settlement of his uncle, the Rev. Harry Stuart, postponed to the death of Harry’s surviving brother, George, which occurred on 12^th June 1880.

Helen Stuart Brown, also born c. 1839, was also living at home at the time of the 1851 census, entered as aged 11 and born in Birse.

James and Helen were apparently twins and were born at Birse. All the other children of the family known from the 1851 census were born in Aboyne.

Her uncle, the Rev. Harry Stuart, may have entertained doubts concerning Helen’s competence, for insteand of simply bequeathing her £500 in his 1877 Deed of Settlement, he directed his Trustees and Executors to lay out that sum for the purchase of an annuity from an Insurance Company, the proceeds to be paid to her yearly or half-yearly.

Helen’s death on 14^th March 1902, aged 62, is recorded on the family gravestone.

A younger sister, Anne Urquhart Brown, born c. 1846, was also living at home at the time of the 1851 census, entered as aged 4. Bulloch refers to her, in House of Gordon, Volume II (p. 351), in connection with her marriage to Henry D. McCombie, son of the founder of the Aberdeen Free Press.

Henry D. McCombie, farmer (bachelor), aged 24, married Anne Brown, housekeeper (spinster), aged 26, on 12^th November 1873 at Birselausie After Banns according to the Forms of the United Presbyterian Church. Henry’s usual residence was entered as Milton Kenmay and Anne’s as Birselausie Cluny. The Register was signed by John Peter Bell, Minister of United Presbyterian Church, and witnesses P. H. McPherson and John McCombie. Henry’s parents were entered as William McCombie, Editor of the Aberdeen Free Press (deceased) and Ann McCombie MS Robertson.

‘Ann Brown or McCombie’ was bequeathed the sum of £500 under the terms of the 1877 Deed of Settlement of his uncle, the Rev. Harry Stuart, postponed to the death of Harry’s surviving brother, George, which occurred on 12^th June 1880.

The Pedigree of the Gordon Family, from about 1050, lists Robert, Charlotte, James, Helen and Annie.