Georgian Teapot
Charles Adam’s (father of Margaret Campbell Adam /Whyte) Royal Warrant (1790) and 1796 Georgian silver teapot (above) are both in my collection.The teapot memorizes the standing down of the1st Battalion, Dundee Volunteers
They were both passed down (within the Manor House, Forfar) from Anne Ure /Adam (his wife), to Margaret Adam/Whyte (daughter - see opposite text ), then to Elizabeth Whyte (daughter), to Will Whyte (nephew), and finally to John R Whyte (cousin).
William Whyte (1793 - 1849)
The Tan Yard was noted as the only place of the nature of a factory in Forfar in the 1830’s (Forfar Herald 1906). But William, 2nd son of the family, clearly did not want to be in the family tannery business unlike like his father (Patrick) and forebears. His father and brother (4th son) Thomas (b1799) were left to run the business for many years. Thomas’ two older brothers (David b1790 & Patrick b1795) had both left Forfar to seek life elsewhere. His father Patrick finally sold the Tan works, a year before his death, to Thomas for £750 - possibly to avoid any family inheritance issues. (I have the contract and related letters.)
William became a Writer (solicitor) practicing in Forfar and later also a Forfar Bank Agent. At 18 he was apprenticed to William Roberts, Solicitor (perhaps the brother b1763 of his mother Margaret Roberts). He married in 1827 into the well-connected Forfarshire Adam & Ure families, when she was 25. He died at the age of 56 and his wife lived for another 44 years! In his testament he mentions his wife and all his children.
His wife:
Margaret Campbell Adam (c1802-1893). From the age of 26 to 41 she bore 9 children – with the last only living a few months. After William’s death she lived in the Manor House, Forfar with her sisters. She lived to be 91 and left a long testament. She was surely the major pivotal figure in what had become large, extended Whyte and Adam families in Forfar, Dundee, England and India and her influence probably spread over several generations.
She was the daughter of Charles Adam (1768-18) a Forfar Burgess and Dundee merchant, and Ann Ure (1771-1829) ) - married in 1796. He died at 37. He was also a Lieutenant in the Dundee Volunteers, and was appointed Adjutant of the 1st Battalion of the Dundee Volunteers in August 1790 (French Wars of the period). Her mother’s & Campbell families have been traced back to Forfar merchants in the early 1600’s - see button opposite
Their children:
William (1828), John (1830), Robert (1831), Ann (1833), Margaret (1834), George (1837), Elizabeth (1838), Jane (1840), Charles (1842 – died as an infant).
His siblings:
St Annes
William's house in Forfar