Old Photograph Biggar Scotland

Old photograph of Biggar, Scotland. A town and former burgh in South Lanarkshire. It is located in the Southern Uplands, near the River Clyde, around thirty miles from Edinburgh. John Brown, born 22 September 1810, died 11 May 1882, was a Scottish physician and essayist. He was the son of the clergyman John Brown, born 1784, died 1858, and was born in Biggar, His mother, Jane Nimmo, died when he was only six. Brown was the half-brother of the organic chemist Alexander Crum Brown. John Pairman, born 1788, died 1843, was a Scottish portrait and landscape painter operational in the 19th century. He was the second son of Robert Pairman, a farmer at Staine by Biggar. He was educated at the local schools in Biggar then sent to Glasgow as an apprentice draper. He returned to Biggar and opened a drapers shop around 1808. He spent much of his time painting and drawing. His portrait of his brother Robert drew the attention of the local minister, who gave him his first commission. This led him to abandon his shop and seek work as an artist, first in Glasgow, probably around 1815, and then to Edinburgh probably around 1820.



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