Deirdre Grieve at Glasgow Cathedral.

I was fortunate today to meet up in Glasgow with the great, great, great, great grandniece of William Macintosh, Deirdre Grieve, and her son Dorian. Deirdre has for some time been interested in William Macintosh, from whose sister she is descended, and has done some fantastic genealogical research. Deirdre, Dorian, and I were able to share some snippets and stories before visiting the grave of William’s brother, George, and George’s son Charles (the eponymous inventor of the Macintosh waterproofing process), in the grounds of Glasgow Cathedral.

George Macintosh (1739–1807). Glasgow Museums.

George Macintosh was a successful industrialist who owned a large cudbear dying works in Glasgow, which operated for more than three quarters of a century from the 1770s. George and his wife, Mary (née Moore), are commemorated on their son’s gravestone. The inscription reads

Here is interred,
Charles Macintosh.
Of
Campsie, and Dunchattan.
And Fellow of the
Royal Society of London.
Son of George Macintosh,
and Mary Moore,
both also here interred,
and the great grandson
of the last Provost
John Anderson of Douhill.
Born 1766. Died, 1843.

Deirdre’s neighbour, who joined us later to chat about William Macintosh, is Nigel Leask, Regius Chair of English Language and Literature at the University of Glasgow.