Sir Robert Pullar (18 February 1828 – 9 September 1912) was a

Scottish Scottish usually refers to something of, from, or related to Scotland, including: *Scottish Gaelic, a Celtic Goidelic language of the Indo-European language family native to Scotland *Scottish English *Scottish national identity, the Scottish ide ...

Liberal Party politician in the

United Kingdom The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, commonly known as the United Kingdom (UK) or Britain, is a country in Europe, off the north-western coast of the European mainland, continental mainland. It comprises England, Scotlan ...

Life

Pullar was born at Burt's Close in

Perth Perth is the list of Australian capital cities, capital and largest city of the Australian states and territories of Australia, state of Western Australia. It is the list of cities in Australia by population, fourth most populous city in Aust ...

on 18 February 1828, the eldest of nine children of

John Pullar John Pullar (22 April 1803 – 16 December 1878) was a 19th-century Scottish businessman, and founder of J. Pullar and Sons (later J & J Pullar Ltd and Pullars of Perth). He went into local politics in later life, becoming Provost of Perth. He ...

(1803-1878), a dyer, and his wife Mary Walker.Article by John McG. Davies. His father founded the firm Pullars of Perth and was also at one point Provost of Perth. In the summer of 1828 the family moved to 36 Mill street in Perth. This was as a reaction to complaints regarding noxious smells while they were working at Burt's Close, Mill Street being further out of town. He was educated in Perth at Stewart's Academy in Atholl Street, Greig's Academy in Stormont Street, and at Perth Academy, also doing continuation classes in

French French (french: français(e), link=no) may refer to: * Something of, from, or related to France ** French language, which originated in France, and its various dialects and accents ** French people, a nation and ethnic group identified with Franc ...

and German. Shop sign for Pullars of Perth, Perth Museum

He was apprenticed under his father in 1841, a junior partner in 1848 and ultimately senior partner in the local family firm of Pullars Dyeworks.1988 reprint In 1857 the firm formed a relationship with the inventor

William Perkin Sir William Henry Perkin (12 March 1838 – 14 July 1907) was a British chemist and entrepreneur best known for his serendipitous discovery of the first commercial synthetic organic dye, mauveine, made from aniline. Though he failed in trying ...

to be the first manufacturer to successfully introduce purple aniline dye. The firm also branched into dry cleaning, a technique he learned from Germany, establishing a plant in Tulloch in 1882. He was known as an extensive and generous donor to local charities and other local causes and a benevolent employer, although in the last year of his life there was a major strike in the firm when he refused to discuss wage rises. He was a J.P. for the

County of Perth Perthshire ( locally: ; gd, Siorrachd Pheairt), officially the County of Perth, is a historic county and registration county in central Scotland. Geographically it extends from Strathmore in the east, to the Pass of Drumochter in the no ...

. He travelled widely in Russia, Scandinavia, America and the Middle East. He was elected a

Fellow of the Royal Society of Edinburgh 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 letters, judged to be "eminently distinguished in their subject". This s ...

in 1880. His proposers were Sir James Falshaw, William Lauder Lindsay, John Duns and James Sime. At this time he lived at 6 St Leonards Bank in Perth and ran the North British Dyeworks on Kinnoull Street. He was knighted by

Queen Victoria Victoria (Alexandrina Victoria; 24 May 1819 – 22 January 1901) was Queen of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland from 20 June 1837 until her death in 1901. Her reign of 63 years and 216 days was longer than that of any previ ...

in the 1895 Birthday Honours. Although his family were originally Baptists he seemed to favour the Free Church and in 1900 joined the newly created

United Free Church of Scotland The United Free Church of Scotland (UF Church; gd, An Eaglais Shaor Aonaichte, sco, The Unitit Free Kirk o Scotland) is a Scottish Presbyterian denomination formed in 1900 by the union of the United Presbyterian Church of Scotland (or UP) and ...

worshipping at St Leonards Church on Marshall Place facing the South Inch. In 1905 he received an honorary doctorate (LLD) from St Andrew's University. He was elected unopposed at a

by-election A by-election, also known as a special election in the United States and the Philippines, a bye-election in Ireland, a bypoll in India, or a Zimni election ( Urdu: ضمنی انتخاب, supplementary election) in Pakistan, is an election use ...

on 12 February 1907 as the

Member of Parliament A member of parliament (MP) is the representative in parliament of the people who live in their electoral district. In many countries with Bicameralism, bicameral parliaments, this term refers only to members of the lower house since upper house ...

(MP) for

. In his politics he was a radical Liberal and supported free trade and

Irish home rule The Irish Home Rule movement was a movement that campaigned for Devolution, self-government (or "home rule") for Ireland within the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland. It was the dominant political movement of Irish nationalism from 1 ...

. He stood down in January 1910. At the time of his election, he was six days short of his 79th birthday, making his possibly the oldest parliamentary debut of an MP in the 20th century. He rarely spoke in debates and was criticized by local trade unions for failing to support measures to help the unemployed. In 1911 he received Freedom of the City of Perth. He died at home, "Tayside" on Isla Road, of a seizure on 9 September 1912 aged 84. He was buried with his wife at

Wellshill Cemetery Wellshill Cemetery is a 19th-century cemetery in the Scottish city of Perth, Perth and Kinross. Located on Feus Road, the cemetery is still operational and is under the control of Perth and Kinross Council. In general the grounds are well-landsc ...

, Perth, close to his parents. The grave nears at the southern end of the terraced step midway across the southern east–west path.

Family

He was older brother to Laurence Pullar,

James Pullar James Ferguson Pullar FRSE (1835–1912) 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 in Britain, and establishe ...

and

Edmund Pullar Edmund Pullar DL JP (26 October 1848–8 May 1926) was a 19th-century Scottish businessman and philanthropist. He ran the Bridge of Allan branch of the family firm of J & J Pullar Ltd later known as Pullars of Perth. Life He was born at 3 ...

, and uncle to

Frederick Pullar Frederick Pattison Pullar FRSE FRGS FRSGS (20 January 1875–16 February 1901) was a 19th century Scottish meteorologist who served as Sir John Murray's right-hand for his short career. He is often referred to simply as Fred Pullar. Life He ...

. In 1859 he married Helen Mary Daniell (1829–1904), daughter of Charles Daniell of Wantage,

Berkshire Berkshire ( ; in the 17th century sometimes spelt phonetically as Barkeshire; abbreviated Berks.) is a historic county in South East England. One of the home counties, Berkshire was recognised by Queen Elizabeth II as the Royal County of Be ...

, England, by whom he had two sons, Rufus Daniell Pullar (1861–1917) and Albert Evans Pullar (1865–1945). Rufus and his family are buried alongside his parents.

Artistic recognition

His portrait was painted by John Everett Millais.

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Pullar, Robert 1828 births 1912 deaths Fellows of the Royal Society of Edinburgh Knights Bachelor Members of the Parliament of the United Kingdom for Scottish constituencies Scottish Liberal Party MPs UK MPs 1906–1910 People educated at Perth Academy