James Ferguson Pullar

FRSE Fellowship of the Royal Society of Edinburgh (FRSE) is an award granted to individuals that the Royal Society of Edinburgh, Scotland's national academy of science and Literature, letters, judged to be "eminently distinguished in their subject". ...

(12 August 1835–19 September 1912) was a 19th-century Scottish businessman, and main partner in J & J Pullar Ltd later known as Pullars of Perth. He was the first person to introduce benzene based

dry cleaning Dry cleaning is any cleaning process for clothing and textiles using a solvent other than water. Clothes are instead soaked in a water-free liquid solvent (usually non-polar, as opposed to water which is a Solvent#Solvent classifications, polar ...

in Britain, and established one of the world's largest dry cleaning firms. Some records give his name as James Frederick Pullar.

Life

Pullar was born at 36 Mill Street in

Perth Perth () is the list of Australian capital cities, capital city of Western Australia. It is the list of cities in Australia by population, fourth-most-populous city in Australia, with a population of over 2.3 million within Greater Perth . The ...

on 12 August 1835, the son of John Pullar (1803-1878) a dyer who went on to found J Pullar and from there Pullars of Perth. His father went on to be Provost of Perth. In 1867 he married Adelgunde Spindler (1840-1907), daughter of Wilhelm Spindler, the German inventor of benzene-based dry cleaning. He introduced dry cleaning into his existing family firm (which largely dealt with dyeing of cloth). The process quickly gained popularity and collection stations were created all over Scotland to take garments to Perth for cleaning. The Perth workforce peaked in 1909 at over 2800 persons. In 1885 he was elected a Fellow of the

Royal Society of Edinburgh The Royal Society of Edinburgh (RSE) is Scotland's national academy of science and letters. It is a registered charity that operates on a wholly independent and non-partisan basis and provides public benefit throughout Scotland. It was establis ...

. His proposers were William Carmichael McIntosh, Thomas Miller, Sir Peter Redford Scott Lang and Sir John Murray. He was the first of the Pullar brothers to be elected a Fellow. Pullar gifted a

bandstand A bandstand (sometimes music kiosk) is a circular, semicircular or polygonal structure set in a park, garden, pier, or indoor space, designed to accommodate musical bands performing concerts. A simple construction, it both creates an ornamen ...

that stood near the southern end of the

North Inch North Inch is a large public park in Perth, Scotland, Perth, Scotland. About in size, it is one of two "Inches" in Perth, the other being the smaller, 31-hectare South Inch, located half a mile across the city. The inches were granted to the ci ...

during the first part of the 20th century.''Official Guide to Perth and Its Neighbourhood by the Tramway Car Routes'' – Perth Town Council (1907), p. 8 He died on 19 September 1912. He is buried with Adelgunde next to his parents in

Wellshill Cemetery Wellshill Cemetery is a 19th-century cemetery in the Scottish city of Perth, Scotland, Perth, Perth and Kinross. Located on Feus Road, the cemetery is still operational and is under the control of Perth and Kinross Council. History The cemetery ...

in Perth, slightly north of his brother Sir

Robert Pullar Sir Robert Pullar (18 February 1828 – 9 September 1912) was a Scotland, Scottish Liberal Party (UK), Liberal Party politician in the United Kingdom. Life Pullar was born at Burt's Close in Perth, Scotland, Perth on 18 February 1828, the elde ...

on the lower side of where the cemetery steps up.

Family

His siblings included Laurence Pullar and Sir

. He was uncle to Frederick Pullar.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Pullar, James Frederick 1835 births 1912 deaths People from Perth, Scotland Fellows of the Royal Society of Edinburgh 19th-century Scottish businesspeople 20th-century Scottish businesspeople