Item DC 120/1/12 - Rough sketch for drawing of Marsco

William Meldrum was the son of a designer and born in Glasgow in 1865. According to the registers of students, he studied at The Glasgow School of Art from 1883 to 1892, enrolling in September 1883 at the age of 18. His address is listed as 16 Mordaunt Street, Glasgow. However, there is no record of his attendance for 1888-1889, suggesting he may have temporarily left the school during that time. From 1885 to 1892, he possibly continued his learning by attending evening classes, as recorded with the repeated registration numbers "144" and "282" each for three years in his final two courses.

The primary subjects of Meldrum's artworks are city views of Glasgow and scenes of nature in Scotland, for which he usually created pencil drawings and watercolour paintings. His striking artistic feature is depicting diverse views with muted tones of blues and purples. Many of his watercolour paintings were later printed as black-and-white or sepia-toned photographs.

Besides, he befriended many of the Glasgow Boys and John Quinton Pringle because he studied with them at the GSA of the time and he also had his artistic endeavours rooted in Glasgow. In particular, he was close to Pringle as he recorded that Pringle used to devote three summer months and two hours every morning to complete "The Loom (1891)" of his paintings. Pringle also made a portrait of Meldrum around 1890; the portrait is exhibited in Kelvingrove.

In his later years of artistic activity, he created a few works using seaweed from the Scottish seas. He died in Glasgow in 1942, and the possession of a few of his works was passed by his will to his son, James Meldrum. Those artworks were later presented to Glasgow Corporation in 1966.