Old Photograph School Darvel Scotland

Old photograph of the school in Darvel, a small town situated ten miles East of Kilmarnock in East, Ayrshire, Scotland. James Morton was born at Gowanbank in Darvel in Ayrshire on 23 March 1867 the second son of Alexander Morton. His father founded the weaving company of Alexander Morton and Company, employing 600 persons in the late 19th century.He was educated at Darvel School then Ayr Academy. He did not go to university and was trained as a chemist at Morton Sundour Mills in Carlisle, when his family purchased Denton Mills in that city. The company greatly expanded the use of Arts and Crafts designs in the late 19th century. James specialised in permanent light-fast dyes and moved to Scottish Dyes Limited around 1895. He went on to direct the dyestuffs section of ICI. Morton aimed to make ' fast dyes ' that would not fade in sunlight , even if that meant sacrificing the variety of colours available to the consumer. He sent out sample test cards of dyed fabricto his brother-in-law, Patrick Fagan, who was working for the British colonial civil service in India, with instructions to leave the fabric exposed to direct sunlight for weeks and even months at a time. He was knighted in June 1936 by King George VI, and died on 22 August 1943 at Dalston Hall near Carlisle.



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