Alexander Orr (1838-1918)

Arguably of all the children of John and Magdalene (Bird) Orr, Alexander left the largest footprint on recorded history.  He had a successful business, he traveled to more countries than any of his siblings and much more printed material about him has survived .  I will leave to philosophers whether this makes him more important or more successful than the others.  It does mean, however, that others have written about him and I will try not to rework their efforts.  Where we overlap, we have probably traveled the same paper trails, and where we differ they probably did better research than I.  But with the large amount of publicly available material concerning him, it is impossible for a story teller like myself to resist chronicling his life
If I were to sum up Alexander in one word, I would have to choose entrepreneur.  But of course one word doesn't capture any man.  From everything I have read about him he was a cabinet maker, an engineer (electrical and mechanical), a business owner, an inventor and a proponent of women's suffrage.  He traveled the world (to perhaps 5 continents).  He fathered eleven children by three different women and managed to take care of his mother in her later years and his brother Richard through his mental difficulties (See separate article on Richard Orr.)  He was a man who readily saw opportunities and had the engineering, business or political acumen to take advantage of them.

Early Life

For information on Alexander's early life I must rely on three sources.

• The 1841 and 1851 Scotland Census, 
• Ancestry of W. M. Richards and A. Elizabeth "Betsey" Gwinner by Mary Beth Dunhaupt Figgins, 2013, lulu.com, and 
• a biographical posting in ancestry.com, tree 20213987 by user avporter1.

The '41 and '51 Census entries show him residing with his father, mother and siblings at Drumbathie, New Monkland Parish, Lanarkshire, Scotland at the ages of 2 and 12 respectively.  The Figgins book cites correspondences in her research with a birth date of 14 July 1838 which would track with this.  As with other folks, there are other years given with other source material.
Both the Figgins book and the ancestry.com bio, state that he moved around quite a bit as a young man.  The bio says he

• left home at 18 (ca. 1856),
• lived in several places in Scotland, England and Ireland over the next five years and
• arrived in Edinburgh at age 23 (ca. 1861) and lived there the rest of his life (although he traveled extensively).

I have been unable to find Alexander in the 1861 Census.

Marriages and Family Life

Alexander's married life was a bit unconventional by Victorian standards, so we will take his family life from beginning to end before going on to his business and public life.  (There is a summary at the end of this section in case you want to skip the details.)
On 30 Apr 1862, he married Margaret (Graham) Brown, the daughter of William and Agnes/Ann (Park) Graham.  Margaret was born on 25 Jul 1827 and was the widow of David Brown a Collier whom she had married in 1846.  The marriage record for Alexander and Margaret gives 33 Thistle St. as the marriage location.  This is also given as the usual residence of both Alexander and Margaret and lists their ages as 26 and 30 although she was more like 34.  A year before their marriage, Margaret (listed as Margaret Brown, a widow) is found in the 1861 Census living at 33 Thistle St. as well.  They continued to live at this address for the birth of their first two known children.  John was born on 23 Jan 1863. (Alexander was listed as a journeyman cabinetmaker.)  Thomas was born 22 Aug 1864 with his father listed as a master cabinetmaker.
On Christmas Day of 1868 another son named Alexander was born at "2 New Broughton".  He only lived about 4 months and died on 15 Apr 1869.  As near as I can tell (see Figure 1) the cause of his death was "Tabeo Mesenterissa Congenitat"  which probably was some sort of congenital condition perhaps related to the intestines.  The address is given as 4 Broughton Ct., Edinburgh.

Figure 1: Scotland Civil Death Records.

The next child was born on 30 Apr 1873 and, as was the custom, was named Alexander as well.  The birth took place at 8 North Pitt St. in Edinburgh.  Pitt St. and cross streets of Fettes Row and Henderson Row were to be the location of the family residence and the business for the rest of the Alexander's life.  One must be a little careful when researching the location in that what was called Pitt St. in Alexander's day is now called Dundas St.  An 1852 map of Edinburgh is available from the National Library of Scotland showing Pitt St. at it location during his lifetime.
It is at this point that the family life took on more unconventional dimensions.  As far as is known, Alexander and Margaret had no more children.  On 20 Oct 1879, George Marshall Orr was born to Alexander Orr and Mary Carter.  All indications are that they were not married.  This is cooraborated with the notation on the birth record that this was an "Illegitimate" birth. 

    George's mother's full maiden name was Mary Sarah Carter. She was the daughter of Richard and Janet Carter and was listed in the 1851 Census as 9 months old, making her birth probably in the latter half of 1850, thus she was about 12 years younger than Alexander. Her mother Janet had remarried a man named George Marshall (hence the name of Mary and Alexander's son) in 1858, Mary is listed as Mary Marshall in the 1861 Census. On her son's birth record she is listed as Mary Carter, a "Housekeeper". Since the birth took place at 8 North Pitt St., she may have been Alexander's housekeeper. Mary registered the birth and indicates that Alexander Orr was the father and was present at the birth. The relationship between Alexander and Mary continued for some time. On 19 Jun 1883, Mary Marshall Orr was delivered at 11 Haddington Pl., and on 19 May 1885 Elizabeth Marshall Orr arrived at 44 Pitt St. Alexander is listed as the father on both with the mother's name given as Mary Carter Marshall. Both births were annotated as Illegitimate.

The fractured state of this family is shown in the 1881 Census.

• Alexander is living at 8 North Pitt St, married with no wife listed. Living with him are two sons, Thomas and Alexander, his brother Richard (see separate article on Richard Orr) and his mother Magdaline who is now 77.  Also in the household are Catherine Rennie (24) a servant and Harriet Law (47) a visiting lecturer.
• Margaret Orr (married) is living with a couple (Peter and Catherine Monteith) at 2 Glanville Place, in Edinburgh.  (Peter is a tailor by trade.)
• Mary is not living on Pitt St., but living at 5 Frederick St., Edinburgh under the name Mary Marshall (unmarried) and her son George, age 1.  Mary is still a housekeeper.

Sometime in the next five years Alexander became involved with a third female companion for on 22 Feb 1886 William Gordon Orr was born to Alexander and Clara Eliza Gordon.  William was followed by siblings Clara Gordon Orr on 7 Nov 1888 and Margaret 21 Jun 1890.  Clara would be Alexander's companion for the rest of his life.  She was the daughter of William (an actuary) and Eliza (Hayles/Hales) Gordon, born abt 1855 in England, thus she was about 17 years younger than Alexander.
Once again the Census (1891 this time) is illustrative.

• Alexander (52) is at 20 Pitt St. with Clara Gordon (36) listed as a unmarried domestic servant despite the fact the three children living with them (William, Clara, and Margaret) are all hers.  
• Margaret (66) is still listed as married and boarding with Helen Neilson a 60-year-old widow.  They are living at 19 Jamaica St. and living by "private means."
• Mary, now 40 and using the last name Orr, is living at 243 Morningside Pl., with son George (12), and two daughters Mary (8) and Elizabeth (6).  She is not only using the last name Orr, but also is listed as married and attaches Orr to all three children.  It appears to me (see Figure 2 below) that the census taker started to write in Alexander Orr as the head of household and then marked it out.

Figure 2: 1891 Scotland Census, St. Cuthberts, Morningside, Edinburgh

Mary and her son George continued to use the Orr surname for the rest of their lives.  I can find no evidence that Mary and Alexander were ever officially married.
The relationship between Alexander and Clara continued and produced more children: Jane on 30 Nov 1891 and James 19 Sep 1896.  On 28 Apr 1895 first wife Margaret (Graham) Orr, passed away at "Queensbury House on Canongate, Edinburgh".  The death record states she was "Married to David Brown, Collier" and "Alexander Orr, Carpet Cleaner."  Her death seems to have changed things, and Alexander and Clara were married on 2 Jun 1899 at 10 York Buildings, Edinburgh "By Declaration in presence of Thomas Orr, Cabinetmaker and Emily Rowes or Harman"
Finally on 23 Feb 1903, Alexander and Clara Orr gave birth to Richard Orr at 10 Henderson Row as an officially married couple.  It would be their last child (Clara would have been about 48 at the time).  Here are a few final notes on the family.

• The 1911 Census shows Alexander, Clara and family living at 10 Henderson Row.  Interestingly the information shows them married 27 years.  This would put their "marriage" date about 1884, i.e. 2 years before the birth of their first child.  
• Alexander died on 30 Sep 1919. (More on that later.)
• Mary Carter/Marshall/Orr died 25 Nov 1927.  The record (provided by informant George Orr) claims she is the "Widow of Alexander Orr, MachineMaker"
• Clara Eliza (Gordon) Orr died 10 Mar 1947 at Queensberry Lodge, Holyrood Road, Edinburgh as the "widow of Alexander Orr, Carpet Cleaning Specialist."
• Thomas Orr and George Marshall Orr (half-brothers) ran the carpet business after Alexander's death.
• Alexander's will left his wife Clara, her son William and Thomas (son of first wife Margaret) as trustees.
• William (son of Clara) apparently married, lived and died in Chile.  He also went by the last name Gordon-Orr in some official records there. 

So in summation Alexander Orr first married Margaret (Graham) Brown, and they had four children, one dying young.  He then had three children by Mary Carter/Marshall but there is no definitive record of their marriage.   Alexander then had six children by Clara Eliza Gordon, marrying her after the birth of 5 of them and the death of his first wife.

Early Business Career (1864-1879)

Having covered his family life, let's role back the calendar to the 1860s and chart his business career.  As has been noted earlier Alexander moved around quite a bit in his late teens and early twenties.  He probably worked at several different types of jobs.  Upon settling down in Edinburgh, he lists his occupation as journeyman cabinetmaker and then (after 1864) master cabinetmaker.  He continued to list that as his occupation although as we will see he was much more.
As can be seen in Figure 3 below, shortly after his elevation to master level, he hired on some help.  His business appears to be on Nelson Place at this time.

Figure 3: The Scotsman, Sep 21, 1864, pg 1, col 4

Figure 4 further describes the address.  Note that apparently he has expanded his business a bit by offering unused space for storing "furniture, etc."

Figure 4: The Scotsman, 4 Jun 1869, pg 1, col 5

Later that month the following ad appeared adding upholstering to his business services.

Figure 5: The Scotsman, 17 Jun 1869, pg 4 col 2

Then in 1870, the first mention of his business on North Pitt Street is given.

Figure 6: The Scotsman, 13 Aug 1870, pg 1, col 6

The 1870-71 Post Office Directory for Edinburgh shows his business located at both Nelson Pl., and Pitt St. confirming the time-frame that the move took place.

Many more advertisements appeared throughout the 1870s showing much the same mixture of services and products.  In 1879 early on a Sunday morning a fire broke out in an adjoining shop on Pitt St. owned by James Clark. (It is the second of two fires described in the following article.)

Figure 7: The Scotsman, 29 Sep 1879, pg 4, col 6

Figure 7: The Scotsman, 29 Sep 1879, pg 4, col 6

Another article on the fire in the Edinburgh Evening News indicates that Mr. Clark was fully insured but that Mr. Packer had "neglected to renew his fire policy" and "will suffer a considerable loss."  Shortly after the fire, the following ad appeared.

Figure 8: Edinburgh Evening News 8 Oct 1879 pg 1, col 6

Some Legal Proceedings (1883-1884)

The "Oliver and Boyd's Edinburgh Almanac" of 1891 contains a footnote on page 1119 stating that

"According to the Police Rules and Regulations 'no carpet, crumbcloth, or hearthrug shall be beaten or shaken at any other time than between 7 and 9 o'clock A.M., and between 9 and 11 o'clock P.M., and that only in back lanes and private places, excepting in private parks and places similarly situate, 50 yards at least apart from dwelling-houses and thoroughfares.'"

Alexander had added carpet beating (a.k.a. carpet cleaning) to his business services so maybe he was unaware of the rules but at any rate the following court action was taken.

Figure 9: Edinburgh Evening News 1883 May 16 pg 3, col 4

More charges were filed and appeals made and employees brought in to testify.  There are several story updates during June and July.  The following seems to wrap up the affair.

Figure 10: Edinburgh Evening News, 1883 Jul 25, pg 2, col 3

The next legal episode puts Alexander as sort of a victim.

Figure 11: Edinburgh Evening News, 1884 Mar 11, pg 11, col 2

As a part of Alexander's carpet service, his crew would pick up the carpet at the owner's house, bring it in for beating and cleaning and then take it back and reinstall it.  Sometimes the hard part was securing healthy transportation.

Figure 12: Edinburgh Evening News, 31 May 1887, pg 2, col 5.

Alexander Orr -- Inventor

According to the avporter1 biography mentioned at the beginning of this sketch, Alexander won patents on inventions for machines to dry clean upholstery and shampoo and beat carpets.  I have not done research into UK patents, but I have seen a mention in Fife Herald of Jun 22, 1887 that a patent had been applied for by Alexander for "carpet beating machinery."  He eventually won a patent for it and not only used it in his business, but promoted it literally around the world.  The biography also states that he traveled to set up machines "throughout Great Britain, Europe, Canada, New Zealand, South Africa and to Russia  in 1900, then aged 62."  I have seen a copy of his visa to Russia and there is mention (in The Scotsman, 3 Apr 1891, page 1) of his return from Germany where he set up machines and "cleaned some of the Emperor's Carpets to the satisfaction of all concerned."
An ad appeared in the Board of Trade Journal showing a sketch of the machine.

Figure 13: Board of Trade Journal, Vol X, No. 59, pg ii, June 1891.

As mentioned in Figure 13, he was an exhibitor at the Edinburgh International Exhibition of 1890.  He was at other exhibitions as well.  He was among those at the Third Annual Laundry and Sanitary Exhibition at the Royal Agricultural Hall, at London in Nov 1895.  The following report describes the machines operation at that event.

Figure 14: From "The Sanitary Record" Volume 17 Nov 22, 1895 pg 433-4. 

Two years later at the same Exhibition his display included other items.  "The Sanitary Record" Vol 20, 10 Sep 1897, pg 286. says that besides the carpet beating machine, "there was a small machine for cleaning coats, curtains, and skin mats, and is much used by dyers.  Several novelties were exhibited by Mr. Orr, and those in search of a ventilating fan would do well to examine the new and improved fan for washhouses and ironing-rooms, which he has introduced."

Business Realities

As with any business there are times and situations that don't go smoothly.  Luckily one can learn from these setbacks and go on.  This first case seems to show that despite Alexander's business success, some neighbors were not thrilled with proposed expansions to his Fettes Row facility and sought an injunction to stop it.

Figure 15: Edinburgh Evening News, 1891 May 16, pg 4, col 5

I don't know Scottish Bankruptcy Law enough to interpret the following story, but at least two things are clear -- (1) Alexander's business was in the red but not badly so and (2) from other sources we know his business continued.  Note that he not only has an operation in Edinburgh but one in Glasgow as well.  Perhaps he had expanded too fast.

Figure 16: Edinburgh Evening News 1892 Apr 19, pg 3, col 4

Another lesson to be gleaned is that you can't satisfy every customer every time.

Figure 17: Edinburgh Evening News 1900 Jul 11, pg 4, col 6

A Short Visit to America

As time wore on and the business prospered, his sons Thomas and George took over the daily operations.  As noted Alexander went on promotional tours for his invention but he also got to be involved in other pursuits.  In late 1897 he took a trip to visit his brother James in southeastern Kansas.

Figure 18: The Severyite (Severy, Kansas) 5 Nov 1897; Transcription: Mr. James Orr's brother, a millionaire, of Edinburgh, Scotland, surprised him with a visit last week.  They had not met in forty years.  Mr. Orr only staid a few days, returning last Monday.

        James had left Scotland in 1870 (less than thirty years before) so the "forty years" mentioned may mean that they had not seen each other since Alexander left home around 1856.   Also given the bankruptcy filing from 1892 I doubt Alexander was a millionaire, but he had enough money to make a trip to America for pleasure.  For the folks in rural Kansas at the turn of the century he might as well have been a millionaire.  I would love to know if he visited his other brothers -- Thomas in North Carolina and Matthew in Oklahoma -- or if he did any advertisement for his inventions while in the U.S. If he did, it would have been before visiting James for he returned to Scotland almost immediately.  He is listed on the passenger lists in the second class cabin on the Cunard line ship 'Lucania' which left New York on 30 Oct and arrived at Liverpool on 5 Nov.  The entry lists him as Alex Orr, 58, married, an engineer from Scotland.

Alexander and the Suffragists

The next chapter of Alexander's life is a light brush with fame.  The story starts far removed from his Edinburgh life.  Thirty-eight-year-old Emily Wilding Davison was a "militant Suffragist."  On June 4, 1913 she was attending the Derby at Epsom Downs (south of London).  At some point during the race she dashed onto the track, collided with a horse and was knocked unconscious.  A few days later on June 8 she died never having regained consciousness.
There was in coroner inquest and two theories of the incident were put forward.  Some thought she saw friends on the other side of the track and, as some horses had passed, thought the track was clear and ducked under the rail to cross the track to join her friends.  Witnesses said she seemed surprised when the she saw the horse bearing down on her.
The other theory was that, in an act of protest, she intentionally put herself in harm's way to disrupt the race.  In favor of the latter theory, it was pointed out, that the horse in the collision was the "King's horse" and that would add importance to her act.  The verdict ruled the death as accidental (the coroner called it a "misadventure") but it didn't really matter.  The activist in the women suffrage movement began to elevate her as  a martyr and rallied round her selfless act for the cause.
Emily's funeral was a big affair.  There was a large procession that accompanied the body from Victoria Station in London to a brief service at St. George's, Bloomsbury before continuing on to Kings Cross railway station on Saturday 14 June.  The next day the body was placed on a train for the trip north to her hometown of Morpeth where another huge gathering attended the funeral and burial.  On the train was an actress and fellow suffragist Maud Arncliffe Sennett representing the Actresses' Franchise League.  Among others she delivered a speech at the funeral in Morpeth.  And it was there she met Alexander Orr.
In her autobiography 'The Child' (1936, C.W. Daniel Co., Ltd.) Mrs. Arncliffe Sennet describes Alexander as "a quiet old Scotsman" and says he was one "whom we all grew to love most dearly."  He seems to have won her by his dependability and keeping his word when others shrank away.
I don't know Alexander's or his wife's previous connections with the Women's Suffrage movement but he and Clara had traveled down to Morpeth for the funeral.

The profound shock following Davison's death, possibly compounded by spurious  comments from some quarters of the press, had apparently convinced men like Orr that it was time to do more to press for an immediate women's suffrage measure.  Arncliffe Sennett was urged by Orr to visit Scotland to enlist the support of male voters for her plans to march on Parliament. -- from "The Men's Share?: Masculinities, Male Support and Women's Suffrage in Britain, 1890-1920" edited by Claire Eustance, Angela V. John; published by Routledge, Dec 16, 2013, pg 185

The encounter and subsequent conversations had two consequences.  First Arncliffe Sennett organized the Northern Men's Federation for Women's Suffrage (NMF).  She appointed Alexander as "Hon. Treasurer for Edinburgh".   Second, a deputation including some prominent men from Edinburgh was organized to travel to London to try to get an audience with the prime minister H. H. Asquith.  Alexander served as the "Hon. Secretary" on this deputation.
Although they made the trip with about thirty folk, they were unable to meet personally with the prime minister as seen below in Figures 19a and 19b.

Figure 19a : Aberdeen Press and Journal, 19 Jul 1913, pg 5, col 5

Figure 19b : Aberdeen Press and Journal, 19 Jul 1913, pg 5, col 5

Alexander served only a few years in the NMF (he was about 75 years old at the time.)  But even at 75, he was willing to pitch in and help as shown in the following snippet from page 88 of Arncliffe Sennett's autobiography.  This brief story is from their time organizing the deputation to the Prime Minister (a.k.a. the "attacks on London.")

The Press notices of the meeting out, I ordered two or three hundred copies of the issue and together with a sort of preliminary manifesto of the coming attacks on London, got the men who were now drifting to the deputations to meet me at the tea rooms and set them to work to dispatch them to reach London on the Monday.  Our beloved Mr. Orr, Mr. Cuthbertson, the "Moderator."  Mr. Brunton, Councillor Crawford the cheery, and others all took off their coats, rolled up their sleeves and, directed by the autocrat of the tea-table (that's me!), set to work.  "Oh, Mr. Orr," said I, as I saw him rolling up the newspapers swiftly and carelessly all awry.  "If you roll them all up crooked they'll say: 'Just like a woman,' and it will disqualify us for the vote!"

One More Setback.

On 18 Aug 1918 another fire caused considerably more damage to the facility on the corner of Fettes Row and Pitt St.

Figure 20: Scotsman 19 Aug 1918 pg 4 col 6

Of course for Alexander there was nothing else to do but rebuild and effectively start over.  But he was 80 years old and the body sometimes cannot sustain what the mind can conceive.  On September 30, 1918 he succumbed to "Cerebral Thrombosis and Heart Failure."  His death record also identifies him as a "Cabinetmaker, Carpet Beater and Machine Maker Married to Clara Eliza Gordon."  Here are three memorials to his life.

Figure 21: Scotsman  1 Oct 1919 pg 6 col 5

 Figure 22: "The Caledonian" Volume 19, Caledonian Publishing Co., 1919 at page 352

Figure 23: The Vote, 10 Oct 1919, pg 1.

The sons carried on for a while but in about 10 years, the Orr Carpet beating empire had come to an end as seen in these two clips from the Scotsman.

Figure 24: Scotsman 29 Dec 1928 pg 3 col 3

Figure 25: Scotsman 2 Mar 1929 pg 1 col 7

Alexander's story is rich with items that show a man who was articulate, driven and had a keen mind.  He outlived all his siblings by several years and left some marks that outlasted him.  It is hard to sum up the life of such a man, so I will let the above clips speak for themselves.