Walking with the Ancestors - Cecil Lawson

Fountain Place

Cecil Lawson was born at Fountain Place, Wellington, a small area of the town that took its name from the public water-pump located on the junction of Glebe Street, New Church Road and High Street. Lawson, who was described by his biographer Edmund Gosse as an 'excitable and rather morbid little child', appears to have been devoted to art from an early age and it was while living in Shropshire that he is said to have first sketched in the open air. The fledgling artist received his initial training from his father William, a Dundee-born portrait artist of some note, while his mother Elizabeth Ruth, a native of Wellington, was apparently well known for her 'flower pieces'. It is probable that her local roots explain the family's presence in the town and it was while living here that Cecil's elder brothers Wilfred and Malcolm were also born in 1842 and 1849 respectively. Wilfred also achieved notoriety as an artist in the illustration revival of the 1860s while Malcolm made his name as a composer, arranger and editor, particularly of traditional Scottish music. His credits include The Skye Boat Song.