John Paterson & Co.
Plumbers
John Paterson & Co., plumbers and gasfitters, of 40 Candleriggs, Glasgow, commenced as 'Paterson & Livingstone', at 13 Brunswick Lane and 148 Trongate, around 1859. 1 Within three years, John Paterson (born Renfrewshire, c. 1827–1878) went solo, continuing trading from the same addresses, and by 1871, he was living in Lenzie, and employing eight men and five boys. 2 The firm moved to 40 Candleriggs just before his death in 1878, after which it adopted the style '& Co.', and was run by John McIntyre, on behalf of Paterson's widow. 3
Paterson's daughter, Martha, married stationer William Edward Huie Wood (c. 1857–1899) in 1882. 4 Despite having no apparent plumbing experience, he and his father, draper William Wood (born Orkney, c. 1828–c. 1898) took over the business around 1883. 5 Wood simultaneously ran his tobacconists, while his father acted as a plumber's clerk. 6 When Wood joined full-time in the late 1880s, the firm began advertising, acquired a telephone and opened further branches in Great Eastern Road and Duke Street. 7 During the 1890s, they intalled electric bells, drains were 'examined by smoke testing ... [and] wash-hand basins, jaw-boxes etc. fitted up'. 8
John Paterson & Co. tendered successfully for the plumber work for the People's Palace, Glasgow Green. 9 They also won the contracts for 'plumber work' at Kelvingrove Art Galleries (1896), the Southern Christian Institute, Pollokshaws Road (R. Miller, 1896), and H. & D. Barclay's Govan Combination Hospital extension, Merryflats (1899; now the Southern General Hospital). 10 Wood died in Dennistoun in 1899, and his widow Martha, like her mother before her, ran the business until at least 1920. 11 Patersons moved to Hutcheson Street in the mid-1900s, and became a limited company in 1921. 12
Notes:
1: Glasgow Post Office Directory 1859–60, p. 221; 1861–2, p. 239.
2: Glasgow Post Office Directory 1862–3, p. 238; 1875–6, p. 356; Census Data, www.ancestry.co.uk [accessed 28 July 2013].
3: Glasgow Post Office Directory 1878–9, p. 388; 1879–80, p. 328; 1880–1, p. 343.
4: Marriage and Death Dates, www.scotlandspeople.gov.uk [accessed 28 July 2013].
5: Census Data, www.ancestry.co.uk [accessed 28 July 2013]; Glasgow Post Office Directory 1883–4, pp. 453, 591.
6: Glasgow Post Office Directory 1884–5, pp. 486, 629; 1887–8, pp. 483, 627; Census Data, www.ancestry.co.uk [accessed 28 July 2013].
7: Glasgow Post Office Directory 1888–9, pp. 486, 636, Appendix p. 238; 1895–6, pp. 453, 588, Appendix, p. 267.
8: Glasgow Post Office Directory 1897–8, Appendix, p. 272.
9: Glasgow Herald, 7 December 1894, p. 4.
10: Dundee Courier, 26 March 1896, p. 6; Glasgow Herald, 25 March 1896, p. 6; 14 November 1896, p. 8; 16 June 1899, p. 8.
11: Glasgow Herald, 20 February 1899, p. 1; Glasgow Post Office Directory 1901–2, pp. 487, 659; 1910–11, pp. 574, 714; 1920–1, pp. 527, 709.
12: Glasgow Post Office Directory 1907–8, p. 535; 1910–11, p. 574; Scotsman, 8 January 1921, p. 6.
