Served on the Club Committee
1912, 1913
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Alex became a member of ‘Let it Blaw’ in 1910.
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He was born in Edinburgh in 1874 and, after completing his education, qualified as a draftsman working initially with the Ordnance Survey. He was transferred to Chester where he married in 1900. Immediately after the wedding, he returned to Edinburgh with his new wife and they settled in Juniper Green where they stayed in a cottage called “Cairnbank” in Baberton Avenue.
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He was a Sergeant in the Royal Engineers and spent time stationed in Kilmarnock, Ireland and France. His service during World War I is acknowledged in the ‘Let it Blaw’ minutes. On return from the War, Alex went back to his job with the Ordnance Survey and was responsible for drawing up plans for the proposed Edinburgh City Bypass ….. in the 1930s ! 40 years later work started and 50 years later it finished.
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Alex was a very keen gardener and photographer. There was a third of an acre of garden at his cottage and he won countless awards in local shows and those run by “Dobbies” in the good old days when Dobbies was a small local business before it became just another supermarket.
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It’s believed that Alex became a member of ‘Let it Blaw’ in 1910 but he was in contact with the Club before that as a photographer. On several occasions, there is mention in the Club Minutes of Founder Members and other significant characters being awarded for their services with their “portrait.” What they were receiving was in fact a photograph and it’s believed most, if not all, were taken by Alex Montgomery.
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Alex Montgomery died in 1940.
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Our thanks to Alex’s granddaughter, Margaret William of Nuneaton, Warwickshire, for the details of his life and the two photographs.
