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A REPUTATION FOR EXCELLENCE
A History of the Perth Printing Industry
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Dundee
At
the beginning of the nineteenth century the Valentines were an important
Dundee family mainly connected with the weaving industry. When his
own textile company failed, John Valentine set up cutting wood blocks
for another local textile firm. In 1822 the firm became known as
John Valentine & Son when his son James became a partner.
The partnership ended in 1840 with John continuing in woodstamp
cutting whilst his son ventured into printing, engraving and photography.
James became interested in daguerreotype during the 1840s, and his
photo survey of the Highlands won him the Royal Warrant Order in
1868.
Two of James’ sons, George and William, entered the business;
the latter succeeding to the firm and raising it to international
status. When William died in 1906 in St Andrews the company’s
labour force in Dundee had risen from 30 in 1886 to 600. William’s
son H. J. Valentine mastered the collotype and photochromic processes;
the latter had been developed in Switzerland. The picture postcard
as we know it was invented in the 1890s and Valentines used both
processes in its production. In 1903 the postcard craze was at its
height and Valentines claimed around 25 per cent of the entire market.
Valentine’s Kingsway factory, occupied in 1937, was built on
the second postcard boom of the 1930s, but after the Second World
War the business became less profitable. As business declined, control
of the company weakened and the firm merged with Waddington in the
1960s. The postcard line ended in 1970 and for a period the firm
concentrated on greeting cards. Sadly, after further management
changes the firm closed down finally in October 1994.
In 1829 John Pellow, the son of a dock gateman, was born in Dundee
and served his apprenticeship at the Courier. Shortly after completing
his apprenticeship he moved to Glasgow, but in 1851 he returned
to Dundee and founded the business of which he was the sole proprietor
until his death. His first business premises were in the New Inn
Entry, but as trade developed he moved to larger premises in Murraygate
and then later to the High Street. When his business expanded further
he returned to a larger building in Murraygate.
Pellow published annually an almanac widely known as Pellow’s
Dundee Almanac. He was also the publisher of the Dundee Register
and the History of the UP Church in Dundee.
Although deeply involved in public affairs, undoubtedly Pellow’s
chief interest was in the work of the Good Templars. For many years
he was on the General Committee of office-bearers of the Dundee
Gospel Temperance Union. This active interest in temperance work
may well have sprung from the tragic life of his brother, Peter,
who had served his apprenticeship with him at the Courier. By all
accounts Peter was a colourful character who, among other activities,
was to be seen frequently playing his fiddle at local dances. Peter
died of apoplexy, his failing health not helped by heavy drinking.
John Pellow had four sons, three of whom were printers. One of these,
James, on leaving his father’s company, moved to Edinburgh
where he set up business with a friend called Harvey, naming the
firm Harvey Ltd. When Harvey died James Pellow carried on the business
himself at 13 Forth Street in the city. After his death in 1935,
the business was taken over by the Dickson family and is now located
at Loanhead in Midlothian.
John Durham, a native of Portobello, near Edinburgh, came to Dundee
in 1835 and set up his printing business at 49 High Street, later
moving to Argyll’s Close, off the Overgate. After a successful
career, John Durham died in 1877 and left the business to his son
James who was already a partner. James is perhaps best known for
his work as a geologist. He wrote many papers on geology and this
work was recognised when he was elected a Fellow of the Royal Society
of Edinburgh.
On John Durham’s death, John Kinnoch, who had been with the
company for several years, became a partner. He had served his apprenticeship
in the office of Perthshire Constitutional and moved to Dundee in
1858 when he was twenty years old. For the next fifty years he was
the active manager and did much to develop the business. When John
Kinnoch died in August 1911 the business passed to his son George
and his partner William Lamb in premises at 11—19 Overgate.
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Volume 3 published 1996
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