🥃 The Mystery Man
Email newsletter originally sent to subscribers on 1 August 2024
One of the most challenging aspects of researching my book has been navigating the conflicting accounts found in newspaper reports. These discrepancies can complicate the process of establishing an accurate account.
On the surface, it might appear that these discrepancies lack any real importance to the overall narrative. Sometimes, though, they just bug me 😉 And, sometimes, my instinct tells me that if I dig deeper, their importance might become apparent.
As an example, let’s take Robert Pattison’s arrest at Ardhallow House near Dunoon. Here, we read that when he was taken to Edinburgh by police officers, he was accompanied by a friend.
Credit: The Scotsman - 09/04/1901
But here we read that it was his brother who went with him.
Credit: North British Daily Mail - 09/04/1901
Other reports have mentioned that the presence of another gentleman, who bore a striking resemblance to Robert, had caused great confusion amongst the police officers. Apparently, they weren’t sure which one to arrest 😆
So, if we work on the basis that this mystery man was, in fact, Robert’s brother, we can eliminate Walter. He was busy in North Berwick at that time being arrested himself.
There were two other brothers: William Laing Pattison and John Peterswald Pattison. And both had played roles in the company.
William had already left the country by the time of the arrests. His story is a cracking one to tell and almost deserves a book in its own right.
John, on the other hand, remained in Scotland.
From this letter, we can see that John was involved in Pattison, Elder & Co. To what extent is still unclear. Even at this stage, I’m still digging. But his name never came up during the trial, so his involvement after 1896 was probably not that great.
Credit: National Museums of Scotland
Years later, John set up his own business in Leith as a ‘dealer in excisable liquors’. Now, even though this was a good while later in 1903, the Pattison name was still not one to be trusted and the business failed.
Credit: Edinburgh Evening News - 03/04/1903 (Licence applications)
A complete career change for John now beckoned. He ended up in Galashiels, via Bathgate, selling bicycles and then, later, motorbikes.
So, was John this mystery man accompanying Robert after his arrest? I have photos of both and they do really resemble one another. And as Robert’s mother and sisters were also with him at Ardhallow at the time, I’m more inclined to think that it was John rather than an unnamed friend.
This is just one example of how I've interpreted newspaper reports using my knowledge of the Pattisons gleaned from various other sources. While some may agree and others may not, this interpretation is based on years of research and represents my very best effort to uncover the truth.
Slà inte!
Justine