|
|
A REPUTATION FOR EXCELLENCE
A History of the Perth Printing Industry
1 2
3
4
5
6
7
8 9
10
11 12
13
14 15
Perth
The printing scene in Perth during the latter part of the nineteenth
century and the beginning of the twentieth century was largely influenced
by the Perthshire Advertiser and its eminent publisher and printer
Samuel Cowan. Cowan was a native of Monkton, in Ayrshire, where
his father was a schoolmaster. He was trained on a newspaper in
Ayr, afterwards owned a newspaper in Stirling, and finally acquired
the Perthshire Advertiser. He developed a considerable reputation
as an author and historian and was for a time a town councilor and
magistrate of the city.
Cowan greatly developed the printing side of his business at Watergate.
It is said that at one time he employed around 100 compositors,
many of them women. The staff was mainly employed in printing books
for London publishers. However, business was adversely affected
in 1890 by the strike directed by male employees against the continued
employment of female labour in the printing office. In 1907 the
firm, then named Cowan & Co. Ltd. went into voluntary liquidation.
The business was first acquired by Donald Matheson, then subsequently
taken over by the partnership of William Mackay and Kenneth Davidson.
The outbreak of war in 1914 ended the business and the property
was bought in 1915 by Henry Munro of Henry Munro Ltd, publishers,
Glasgow and Aberdeen. He formed a subsidiary company to run the
enterprise under the name of the Munro Press. The restrictions imposed
by the war meant that it was not until the 1920s that the newspaper
began to develop and prosper.
In 1929 the Perthshire Courier was purchased from John McKinlay
and incorporated into the Perthshire Advertiser and this was followed
in 1949 by the acquisition of the Perthshire Constitutional and
Journal. In the Spring of 1995 it was announced that Scottish and
Universal Newspapers was planning to centralise its printing operations
in Lanarkshire. By late 1996 all titles, including the Perthshire
Advertiser, would be distributed from a new factory on a greenfield
site between Hamil-ton and East Kilbride.
The present company, John McKinlay, was founded in 1903 by Cohn
McDonald Smart, edi-tor of the Perthshire Courier at premises in
Charterhouse Lane. At that time John McKinlay was in Kowboon installing
a newspaper press which he went on to operate for a few years. On
receiving the offer of a partnership from Smart, John McKinlay returned
to Perth and when the company moved to its present premises in King
Street in 1909 it became known as Smart & McKinlay. On the death
of Smart, McKinlay became editor and proprietor of the Perthshire
Courier for a brief period. When he died at a comparatively early
age, the business was taken over by his 18-year-old son and has
continued in the fam-ily since.
Mention has already been made of Woods of Perth founded in 1830.
Another of Perth’s existing printers founded last century is
Farquhar & Son Ltd who commenced business in 1870. The company
was best known as bookbinders and paper rulers but moved into continuous
stationery and general printing in the early 1950s.
Founded in 1901, Milne, Tannahill & Methven moved from their
original premises in Mill Street to Glover Street in 1981. In 1978
Munro & Scott were incorporated into the company but still retain
their own identity. In 1970 the company changed over from letterpress
to litho printing and now undertake the printing of journals, annual
reports, catalogues, etc.
Although now reduced in numbers, the printing community in Perth
still plays an important role in the life of the town. What has
not diminished, however, is the high standard of its products and
its ability to maintain a reputation for excellence.
|
|
Volume 3 published 1996
Buy a
copy of the illustrated book?
Download a PDF (8MB)
|
