Item NMC/1931Y - Life drawing of man

Jessie Dunlop McCulloch Wilson was born on 24th January 1888 in Cupar, Fife. She was the daughter of Gavin Laurie Wilson, a draper and clothier, and Janet McCulloch. Her mother died of complications from childbirth, after which her father re-married to Alison Johnston Russell, and the family settled in Netherfield, Newton (Fife). Between those two marriages, Jessie D. Mc. Wilson had two brothers, one half-brother and two half-sisters.

Her father established a drapery business in Cupar, which he moved to Dundee and developed into a successful department store. Jessie’s older brother Garnet Wilson was Lord Provost of Dundee and was knighted in 1944; he published a book about his career, which described the family as close-knit and emphasises the importance of their religious observance. Jessie Wilson attended school in Dundee before starting at a boarding school in Edinburgh. At the age of 13 she and her step-family went to Bridge of Allan, and she resided with the family of fellow GSA student and co-owner of The Studio, Strathyre, Mary Anderson Ramsay, possibly due to poor health.

Jessie D. Mc. Wilson was a day student at The Glasgow School of Art from session 1912/13 to session 1916/17. She studied mostly Drawing & Painting, but also Modelling & Sculpture and Design. During most of her time as a student she listed her address as 488 Cathedral Street. During her studies she excelled in embroidery and was taught by Ann Macbeth; like Macbeth she often combined her work across both mediums, and The Studio stocked her work in both forms. In 1915 she participated in the Belgian Tryst, a fundraising effort on behalf of Belgian Refugees displaced during the First World War, volunteering in the Tea Room. She was awarded the Diploma in Design & Decorative Art by The Glasgow School of Art in session 1916/17. She also qualified as a Teacher of Art at The Glasgow School of Art, completing her professional training in the 1920/21 session.

During September 1916, her half-brother Gavin Arthur Wilson enrolled to the 14th London Regiment, London Scottish Battalion in a Short Service for the duration of War. While serving in France, he died on the 31st August 1918 at the 46th Casualty Clearing Station in Bac-du-Sud, Bailleulval (Pas-de-Calais), where he is interred at the British Cemetery. He was 19 years old and had attained the rank of Lance Corporal.

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Sources:

• Ancestry Website: http://www.ancestry.co.uk
• Lawrie Family Genealogy Website: http://www.susansite.org/ancestors/laurie_016.php#Janet_McCulloch
• Commonwealth War Graves Commission – Bac-du-Sud British Cemetery Website: http://www.cwgc.org/find-a-cemetery/cemetery/2000/BAC-DU-SUD%20BRITISH%20CEMETERY,%20BAILLEULVAL
• Jack, Heather. "Strathyre Revisited". Scottish Pottery Historical Review, vol. 27.