| William's house at
11 Allan Park, Stirling |
William was born in November 1810 at Tunnoch, Cumbernauld, Dunbartonshire, the eldest child of George Kinross and Janet Main. He died on 20th April 1874 at his house 11 Allan Park, Stirling, aged 63, after a short illness. He is is buried at Old Mar Cemetery, which is next to The Church of The Holy Rude.
|
|
He left Tunnoch, Dunbartonshire in 1825 to come to Stirling to work for his uncle Henry at the Shore Road carriageworks.
In 1837 his uncle Henry's partnership with William Croall was dissolved and Henry ran the carriageworks alone. In 1838 William Kinross, as foreman, was presented with a silver snuff-box by the workers as a mark of respect. The following report appeared in the Stirling Observer on 10th January 1839, page 4.
"MARK OF RESPECT. - The workmen employed in the Stirling Shore-road Coachwork, met in one of Mr Kinross' new buildings, where an excellent supper was served, on the occasion of presenting Mr William Kinross, their foreman, with an elegant silver snuff-box, as a mark of their respect for him - Mr James Adam in the chair. The box bears the following inscription :- “Presented to Mr William Kinross, of the Stirling Shore Road Coachwork, as a mark of respect from his fellow workmen. - Stirling, 31st Dec. 1838.” Mr Kinross returned thanks in very feeling and appropriate terms. His fellow-workers are happy to avail themselves of the present opportunity of testifying how much they esteem Mr K. He is a man greater by his genius and his virtues, than by his dignities or his fortune; always employed, and always above his employ; capable of regulating the present and foreseeing the future; of improving prosperous events and repairing bad; vast in his designs; sagacious in his counsels; judicious in his choice; and fortunate in his enterprise; a servant without passion and interest; a favourite without insolence and arrogance; he always endeavours to subdue the enemy, and not to destroy him; he keeps all classes of men to a strict observation of their respective duties; yet all, in a well-regulated liberty, he never appears with any of the wretched symptoms of servility; his highest ambition is to conquer without anger, and to triumph without vanity, and to observe no other rule for his actions, than virtue and wisdom. The evening was spent in a very agreeable manner, several good speeches were delivered, and some excellent songs were sung and the party separated highly gratified with each other."
He was recorded as a "smith, journeyman" in the 1841 Census.
He married Janet Buchanan on the 20th March 1842 at St.Ninians, Stirling and they had two sons:
|
5 Windsor Place, Stirling.
|
When his Uncle Henry died in 1845, William took over the running of the carriage works forming William Kinross & Sons.
William's wife Janet was killed on 15th December 1847 by a runaway farm cart whilst holding her two year old baby James Kinross, but she just managed to put him to safety on the tailboard.
On 4th November 1851 William married again, to Ann Marshall, at Glenhover. Ann, the daughter of farmer William Marshall and Elizabeth Russell, was baptised on 7th July 1822 at New Monkland, near Paisley, Lanarkshire. She died, a widow, on 23rd April 1899, aged 77, at 5 Windsor Place, Stirling and is buried with William at Old Mar Cemetery.
William and Ann had four sons, born at Shore Road:
There is a memorial window, dedicated to four of William's sons, in the Allan Park South Church.
"From the departure of the last of his brothers for Melbourne in 1852, William carried on the business alone", The Stirling Observer, 27 May 1908. William had one sister Isabella and three bothers: John, Henry and Thomas who emigrated to America or Australia.
William was admitted “Burgess as Neighbour", Stirling on 8th November 1871, occupation "master coachbuilder.”
The Stirling Observer published William's obituary on 23rd April 1874, page 4.
"THE LATE BAILIE KINROSS.- Our obituary of this day contains an announcement that will be read with deep regret by the whole community. We refer to the demise of Mr William Kinross, of the Stirling Coachworks, one of the Magistrates of Stirling, who died on Monday evening last, in the 64th year of his age. Bailie Kinross's illness was of so short duration, that the news of his death came quite unexpectedly on the general public. He looked hale and robust, though, we believe, he was not a strong man, having never entirely recovered from the effects of a severe illness in 1868. Mr Kinross was born at Tunnoch, Dumbartonshire, in 1810, and came to Stirling in 1825, to be attached to the business with which be has been so long and honourably connected, under his uncle, the late Mr Henry Kinross who, along with the late Mr William Croall, of Edinburgh, had carried on a considerable coachbuilding trade in Stirling from the beginning of the century. At the death of his uncle in 1845, he succeeded to the business, which had grown to large proportions, and up to within the last three or four years, had continued to take the management of it. He was the first to introduce steam power to the purposes of coachbuilding. Since his election to the Town Council in 1871, he had given much of his time to municipal matters, leaving his business to be conducted by his sons, who succeed him. At the municipal election in November last, be was made junior Bailie, and was presiding in the Burgh Police Court as late as Thursday last, when he was seized with the illness which, as we have said, terminated fatally on Monday evening. Out of respect to his memory, the ordinary monthly meeting of Stirling Town Council, which was fixed for Tuesday evening last, was postponed. Mr Kinross was greatly respected by his workmen, as well as by the general community."
| To The Family Tree | Index | To The Memorial Window |
