Elizabeth1,
The store 'at the bottom of the Kingsway' was actually on Arbroath Road ........next to Scot Fyffe Garage, at the eastern end of the Kingsway, and having been brought up in Craigiebank it was how we, as a family, used to locate it
Regarding the picture I hope to have my new printer/fax/scanner up and running soon (computer dinosaur) but thanks for the help offered.
Kathleen,
Yes please, William and Mary's information would be excellent please.
Regarding the stores locations I don't know whether they included G.A. Johnstons or not.
I was always under the impression that the stores were taken over by William Low &Co., but as I say it was only an impression and has no factual evidence.
The following is a copy of an e-mail sent to me by the Dundee City Achives Dept. regarding George A. Johnston and might be of interest.
Dear Mr Johnston,
I have looked through Dundee street directories and property valuation
rolls
and have picked up some information about his business. The earliest
directory
I have found him in is the one for 1884/5 where he is described as a
grocer and
tea dealer with a shop at 19 Stirling Street and living at 68 James
Street. By
1891, he is living at Flowerdale Cottage, Downfield (at that time just
outside
Dundee's northern boundary). His business expands over the years. By
1900,
the directories record him as having five shops. By 1910, he has
moved to
"Bellavista", Adelaide Terrace. Around 1922/3, the business is
re-formed as
George A. Johnston Ltd.
George A. Johnston Ltd. continues in business for a few years after
George
Johnston's death. About 1946/7, a Wm. Johnston and Co. appears as
proprietors
of one or two of the former George A. Johnston shops and this business
lasts
till c.1950 (the directory for 1942/3 shows a Wm. Johnston of G. A.
Johnston
Ltd. living at 6 Adelaide Terrace). In the years after George
Johnston's death,
the business gradually disposes of its various shops.
Johnston's Stores Ltd. appears from the directories to be a totally
separate
business with its own portfolio of shops. The directories indicate
that it
originated with a John Johnston, grocer and wine merchant who,
c.1918/19 is
living at Sunnyknowe, 14 & 16 Lawside Road. By the late 1920s, this
business
has been formed into Johnston's Stores. Although there appears to be
no direct
connection between the two businesses, Johnston's Stores acquires a
couple of
George Johnston's shops on the breakup of that business in the late
1940s.
I can send you copies of a selection of pages from the directories
showing the
main developments. If you wish to find out more about the family
members, you
might check the entry for George Johnston's Downfield address in the
census
records for 1891 and 1901. The 1881 census shows him as lodging with
the
family of Peter Cook, coachman, at Barkers Lane, Dundee. He is
described as
"grocer - manager". Microfilm copies of the census records are held
by the
Local Studies section of Dundee Central Library, email <local.
studies@dundeecity.gov.uk>
Yours sincerely
Richard Cullen
Regards
Gordon