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Significant Scots
William Harvey


WILLIAM HARVEY J.P. F.S.A. Scot.,
(1874, Stirling – 1936, Dundee)
‘Son Of The Rock’

William Harvey was born on the 8th of June, 1874 in 44 Baker Street, Stirling, but the death there of his Stirling born father, Charles Harvey [Coach Painter] from Pulmonary Tuberculosis, on the 9th of September, 1874, aged 28, immediately put the whole burden of rearing William and his elder sister Margaret Galbraith Harvey (b. 25th of October, 1872 in Stirling) on to his 33 year old, Bo’ness born, mother, Helen (Robertson) Harvey.

Death of Charles Harvey

In the 1881 Census, the family appear thus ….
Dwelling: 4 Bank Street
1881 Census Place: Stirling, Stirling, Scotland
Helen HARVEY, Head , Widow, aged 39, born Bo’ness, Linlithgow, Scotland
Margaret HARVEY, Daughter, Scholar, aged 8, born Stirling, Stirling, Scotland
William HARVEY, Son, Scholar, aged 6, born Stirling, Stirling, Scotland

After having received what schooling it was compulsory for him to take, William had to apply himself to work, and, at eleven years of age, in 1885, he was apprenticed to a hatter. On the expiry of his apprenticeship, which took place in his early teens, he expressed a dislike for the occupation, and so was apprenticed to a craft. He entered a large carriage-building establishment at Stirling, and was initiated into the 'mysteries' of coach-trimming.

In the 1891 Census, William is alone with his mother, thus ..
1891 Scotland Census
Address: 4 Bank Street, Stirling
Helen Harvey, Head, aged 49, Widow, born Bo’ness, Linlithgow, Scotland
William Harvey, Son, Coach Trimmer, aged 16, born Stirling, Stirling, Scotland

Here, however, William was also dissatisfied with this calling, and in his spare moments, while serving this coach-trimmer apprenticeship, he engaged in the study of shorthand; and, when just about to be considered a full-fledged tradesman, he was offered a job in one of the principal law offices in Stirling, which he accepted.

His first literary effort, around 1892, was an essay on "Joseph," which he then entered in a competition sponsored by the lst Stirling Company of the Boys' Brigade. His essay was awarded first prize! Then, shortly afterwards, he began writing articles and verses, most of which were published in the Stirling Sentinel. These articles and poems, mostly of a legendary character, under the title "Scottish Lays and Legends,” were followed by a series of essays dealing with certain changes in Scottish Presbyterian worship, under the title "Scotland’s Romeward Career.”

In 1893 he edited a volume by David Taylor, the St. Ninians poet, which gained very favourable receptions both at home and abroad. From 1894 onwards he contributed a series of articles to the Stirling Journal and Advertiser concerning poets who had either been born, or had, at some time, lived in Stirlingshire. This completed work was published in 1897 under title "The Harp of Stirlingshire? But meantime in the spring of 1896 he had issued a book dealing with Scottish life and character, entitled "Kennethcrook; Some Sketches of Village Life." [Most opinions suggest that the context for this publication was the village of Cambuskenneth, just over the River Forth to the east of Stirling.] Thereafter before the turn of the century, he not only produced a collection of anecdotes on the same subject entitled "Scotch Thistles”, but also a series of songs in the vernacular, called " Doric Lilts.”

However, a significant event of a different nature occurred in William’s life in Stirling in 1899 - He became a Freemason when initiated in Stirling Royal Arch No. 76 in that year. Thus, at this point in his story, it seems appropriate to record his progress in Freemasonry up to his death in 1936, as well as the titles of some of his published articles about Freemasonry completed before his death in 1936 v.i.z.

Founder Member of Lodge 967 in 1904.
R.W.M. of Lodge 967 in 1914 to 1916.
Founder Member of Lodge 1149 in 1915.
P.Z. of Royal Arch Chapter No. 421.
Provincial Grand Bard of Forfarshire 1915.
Founder Member of Lodge 1192 in 1919.
Sub Provincial Grand Master of Forfarshire.
Provincial Grand Master Depute of Forfarshire.
Right Worshipful Provincial Grand Master of Forfarshire 1935

Articles

“THE ANCIENT SCOTTISH CRAFT and the Third Degree”
“The Altar of Freemasonry”
“THE DEIL AMONG THE MASONS”
“The Wages of an Entered Apprentice”
“THE STORY OF HIRAM ABIFF”
“The Lodge and its Furniture”
“THE MASON’S APRON”
“Robert Burns and Masonry”
“THE MASON’S MALLET”
“The Third Degree In Freemasonry – Its Ornaments and Emblems”
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
To return to William's life journey ....

As can be seen from the 1901 Census, he left Stirling to take up an appointment as a journalist in Dundee before April, 1901 …

1901 Scotland Census
Name: William Harvey
Age: 26
Birth Year: 1874
Relationship: Son
Mother's Name: Helen [Robertson] born Bo'ness
Gender: Male
Where born: Stirling, Stirlingshire
Registration Number: 282/2
Registration district: St Mary
Civil parish: Liff and Benvie
County: Angus
Address: 55, Milnbank Road
Occupation: Journalist
Household Members:
Helen Harvey 59
William Harvey 26

Popular publications issued by his printers up until his mother, Helen (Robertson) Harvey died aged 64 years in St Peter Dundee Angus in 1909, and with whom he had lived for 35 years, were,

The 164 page, “Scottish Chapbook Literature” in 1903
and the 544 page, “Irish Life And Humour” in 1909.

Then, in 1910 William married Marjorie Annie Gray Mackay, and, in 1911, they were blessed with a son, whom they named, William Robertson Harvey.

Marriage 

William clearly progressed in his journalistic career as it is known that he soon became the editor of a Dundee Newspaper. But this probably did not occur until after the publication in 1911 of one of his most popular books, the 545 page opus, “Scottish Life and Character in Anecdote and Story”. He clearly was a highly regarded citizen when we note that he served as a Justice of the Peace; and he must also have been well respected by his fellow contributors to the arts when he was awarded a Fellowship of the Scottish Society of Antiquaries. However, little appears to have been recorded about the details of his life in the 1920s and 1930s …. apart from his Freemasonry activities. The certificate of his premature death on the 5th of July, 1936, following a coronary thrombosis, shows that he had been predeceased by his wife Marjorie, but that he at least had had the company of his son, William, at 11 Blackness Avenue in his latter years.

Death of William Harvey 

Kennethcrook: Some sketches of village life
By William Harvey (1896).

In 1893 William Harvey edited a volume by David Taylor, the St Ninians poet, which gained very favourable receptions both at home and abroad. From 1894 onwards he contributed a series of articles to the Stilling Journal and Advertiser concerning poets who had either been born, or had, at some time, lived in Stirlingshire.

This completed work was published in 1897 under title "The Harp of Stirlingshire? But meantime in the spring of 1896 he had issued a book dealing with Scottish life and character, entitled Kennethcrook: Some Sketches of Village Life."

[Most opinions suggest that the context for this publication was the village of Cambuskenneth, just over the River Forth to the east of Stirling.]

Contents

Note: These chapters are provided in adobe reader format.

THE VILLAGE AND ITS WAYS.

THE VILLAGE CALENDAR.

Chapter I. The Village Calendar
Chapter II. The Fair
Chapter III. Hallowe'en
Chapter IV. Hogmanay
Chapter V. Handsel Monday

THE VILLAGE TRAGEDY.

Chapter I. Blighted Hopes
Chapter II. Forgiveness
Chapter III. The Village Sitting in Judgment
Chapter IV. A Welcome Letter
Chapter V. Father and Son
Chapter VI. The End of the Tragedy

Scottish Life And Character
By William Harvey (1911)

Scottish Life and Character

Scottish Life and Character

Contents

Scottish Chapbook Literature
By William Harvey (1903)

PREFACE

The diffusion of knowledge by means of the Chapbook practically began with the introduction of printing into Scotland. From the days when the Glide and Godlie Ballates of the Wedderburns were put in circulation, down to the middle of last century, the chapman was a travelling publisher of much importance. In crowded mart and on solitary moor he plied his calling: there he sold his broadsides by the ream, here he tempted the reading rustic to a judicious selection from his pack: in both cases he did what he could to spread knowledge and line his pockets.

The object of this volume is to provide a brief account of the chapman and his literary wares: to present a short survey of the literature of the common people during a period of three centuries, to trace the rise and influence of the Chapbook, and to mark its decay, or rather its blending into the cheap publication of the present time. The most important of the Chapbooks are discussed at length, and as many of them are valuable for the light they throw upon the life and customs of the people among whom they circulated, the extracts that have been made will doubtless be read with interest and enjoyment.

Much biographical and bibliographical information concerning authors and printers and publishers is given. The greater part of this is presented in footnotes, which have been introduced freely with the view of enhancing the usefulness and value of the work, and at the same time preventing the text from becoming overloaded with details. To facilitate reference, an alphabetical list of all Chap- books referred to in the volume is included. It will be found at page 145. A Glossary and General Index have also been added.

In the matter of Illustrations the book is well supplied. A number of the quaintest pictures are reproduced, many of which show at once the crudities of art and the pictorial limitations with which early printers had to contend. No pains have been spared to make the volume worthy the subject of which it treats, and it is hoped that it will be of value both as a contribution to the literature of the social life of Scotland, and as supplying, in the absence of an exhaustive history, a hitherto unwritten chapter of the literary annals of our country.

55 Milsbank Road,
Dundee, July 1903.

You can download this book here

Some Chap Books from the Paisley Repository

Book 1  |  Book 2  |  Book 3


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