William Hamilton Kidston
Client
William Hamilton Kidston (1852–1929) was director of merchant and insurance broker A. G. Kidston & Co., and in an obituary was described as 'one of the most respected men in the iron and steel trade in ... Scotland'. 1 His extended family ran several inter-connected companies in shipping, banking, and metal-broking, and were notable benefactors to, and provosts of, the coastal town of Helensburgh. 2
Kidston was orphaned aged five on the father's (William Kidston, 1819–57) early death from tuberculosis, and was raised by his paternal grandparents . His grandfather, Archibald Glen Kidston, 1794–1875) had established the family firm. 3 William's uncles Richard (1830–1898) and John Pearson Kidston (1828–1894) assumed him as partner in A. G. Kidston & Co. in 1875. 4 Later in his career, William held directorships in numerous firms, including a Canadian asbestos firm, goldmines in Australia and Nova Scotia, the Langloan Iron Co., Californian copper workings, and the Royal Insurance Co. 5 The Kidston firm had a transatlantic reputation: in 1903, it received an order from Canada for '25,000 tons of steel rails' against fierce international competition. 6 William's business associates included the rich Orr Ewing and Denny commercial dynasties, and his father’s half-brother, G. J. Kidston of Finlaystone, chairman of the Clyde Shipping Company. 7
William Kidston was a Glasgow Justice of the Peace, and was a sports enthusiast, playing rugby (representing Scotland against England in 1874), golf, curling and bowls. 8 He was active in the social and civic life of Helensburgh along with his cousins Richard, Catherine, Charles and (another) William of Ferniegair, and Andrew Bonar Law (the future Prime Minister), all descendents of Archibald Glen Kidston. 9 He chaired the building committee for the new Helensburgh Conservative Club, and supported the construction of the infirmary (William Leiper, 1895), and public baths. 10
William married Jessie Cecilia Little in 1878 and had six children. Their eldest son, William, was killed at Ypres in 1917. 11
Notes:
1: Scotsman, 10 June 1929, p. 7.
2: John Johnston, 'The Kidstons' in S. Noble, ed., 200 Years of Helensburgh, Glendaruel: Argyll Publishing, 2002, pp. 218–26; Glasgow Post Office Directory, 1859–60, p. 146; 1880–1, p. 293.
3: Edinburgh Gazette, 5 April 1853, p. 278; Glasgow Post Office Directory ,1856–7, p. 136; Glasgow Herald, 14 September 1857, p. 2; death data, www.scotlandspeople.gov.uk [accessed 5 April 2013]; census data, www.ancestry.co.uk [accessed 4 April 2013]; Glasgow Herald, 26 June 1875, p. 1.
4: Edinburgh Gazette, 1 January 1875, p. 1.
5: Scotsman, 27 July 1891, p. 1; 5 April 1902, p. 6; 10 October 1929, p. 10; Glasgow Herald, 8 April 1895, p. 7; 27 July 1896, p. 4; Dundee Courier, 30 October 1897, p. 1.
6: Sunderland Daily Echo, 5 March 1903, p. 2.
7: George Eyre-Todd, 'George Jardine Kidston', Who's Who in Glasgow in 1909, Glasgow: Gowans & Gray, 2007, online edition, unpaginated, www.gdl.cdlr.strath.ac.uk [accessed 18 March 2013].; Glasgow Herald, 10 December 1895, p. 7.
8: Scotsman, 15 July 1896, p. 5; 10 June 1929, p. 7; 10 October 1929, p. 10; Glasgow Herald, 14 August 1894, p. 9; 21 September 1896, p. 9; W. H. Kidston in 'The Kidston Family', www.helensburgh-heritage.co.uk [accessed 11 April 2013].
9: John Johnston, 'The Kidstons', in S. Noble, ed., 200 Years of Helensburgh, Glendaruel: Argyll Publishing, 2002, pp. 218–26; Glasgow Herald, 27 December 1894, p. 4; 5 January 1895, p. 4; 7 June 1929, p. 13; Scotsman, 16 October 1906, p. 7.
10: Glasgow Herald, 17 September 1894, p. 6; 28 September 1895, p. 3; 10 December 1895, p. 7; 26 October 1900, p. 6.
11: Scotsman, 10 August 1917, p. 8; Glasgow Herald, 7 June 1929, p. 13; marriage record, www.scotlandspeople.org.uk; census data, www.ancestry.co.uk [accessed 4 April 2013].
