This is the story of the occupants of 12 Marywood Square, and formerly known as 5 Princes Square. The terrace was built by Robert Weir in 1878-9 but the project led to financial ruin and Robert’s tragic suicide. The houses and debts passed to his father William, but the family never recovered, as detailed in this blog about the Weirs.
William Fenton
Once the terrace was complete in 1879, the first tenant was William Fenton, a wholesale jeweller with premises at 15 Gordon Street. He didn’t get an auspicious start in Strathbungo however; he was declared bankrupt in June of the same year . In July he failed to turn up for his bankruptcy proceedings and an arrest warrant was issued . No more was heard of him.
Robert Samuel Fischer
The next tenant was Robert Samuel Fischer.
Fischer was an intriguing figure. He was in the house by 1881, as he appears in the census, though how long he stayed is unclear; no resident was recorded in the PO Directory for the next ten years, and neither did he appear anywhere. His low profile means that, other than him being a warehouseman, we don’t know his line of business, who he worked for or where he worked. Fortunately, we can learn something about him from Ancestry records and contemporary newspapers.
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