James Petrie Kay

1839 - 1922

About MeObituary taken from the Chemist & Druggist, 15th April 1922:

"At his residence, 9 Lawn Crescent , Kew, on 6th April, Mr James Petrie Kay, retired chemist & Drggist, senior partner in the firm of Davidson & Kay, Aberdeen. the business with which Mr Kay was associated for practically the whole of his life was opened in 1851 by the late Mr Charles Davidson, the first secretary of the Aberdeen Pharmaceutical Association. Mr Kay began his apprenticeship there in 1854, and ten years later, after a London experience, joined Mr Davidson as a partner. the firm has held Royal Warrants to five generations of his Majesty's family, beginning in 1857 with the later Duchess of Kent, who usually ordered 28lb of Scottish Chamomiles on going south. Mr Kay was held in high esteem for his rectitude and courtesy in business. He took no active part in public affairs, but was a generous supporter of the funds of St. James' Episcopal Church and other institutions. A Parmacist who knew the later Mr Kay well sends us the following tribute:

Mr Kay was the oldest member of the Aberdeen Pharmaceutical Association, having reached his jubilee year in 1922, in recognitions of which the Association elected him an honorary member. for a long period Mr Kay took an active interest in the Association and was also a generous supporter of the junior associations, taking a lively interest in their affairs and encouraging them in their work. He was a well-known figure in the circle of the British Pharmaceutical conference, and took an active part in the Conference meetings in Aberdeen in 1885 and 1908. Mr Kay had outlived most of his contemporaries, and was not so well-known to the present generation as the past; but to those who knew him and enjoyed his personal friendship there will remain the memory of a man of strict integrity of character, or courtly and refined manners, who throughout his whole life, upheld and maintained the highest characteristics of British Pharmacy."

Married Mary, elder daughter of Henry William Harvey of Tottenham at the parish church, Tottenham on 27th september 1864.
Son, Frederick Kay (dates unknown)
Daughter Alice Margaret Mary (born 1867)