On Thursday evening, the 8th December 1892, a deputation of twelve, representative of the officials and others connected with Auchinraith Colliery, waited by invitation on Dr and Mrs Grant at their residence, Croftpark (on Broompark Road, Blantyre), and presented them with a marriage testimonial, which was in the form of a handsome drawing-room clock and ornaments, inscribed—
“Presented to Doctor and Mrs Grant by the employees of Auchinraith Colliery, Blantyre, as a token of esteem and respect on the occasion of their marriage; 23rd November, 1892.”
Mr John Menzies, manager, presided, and after introductory remarks, asked Mr John Stewart, cashier, to make the presentation. There is a great account of this visit in the local newspapers as follows:
“Mr Stewart said the doctor’s professional connection with the important works of Auchinraith, extended over their lifetime, a period of about eighteen years, and during that time, first last, and all through, there had been but one unvarying, undying opinion on the part of every one connected with the works as to their medical attendant, and that was that they could not possibly have been in better hands.
In addition to his valuable services to the district as a medical man, the doctor is a member of many of the public bodies, such as the School Board; he is associated with several lodges or societies, is a Justice of the Peace, and in divers ways, which is unnecessary for me to particularise at the moment, gives all his time and talents unstintingly for the general good.
Above and beyond these, the doctor is a gentleman in the best sense of the word. His unfailing courtesy and generosity, the same to all the different ranks and conditions of people in the busy community in which he has lived so long, and his most exemplary and irreproachable private life, have gained for him the esteem and friendship of all who love that which is good. In the present circumstances they do even more. They shed a light on the marriage solemnized in Glasgow on the 23rd of last month, and coupled with all that we know of Mrs Grant, who has been long in our midst, we are enabled to prophecy of happiness, and happiness only, in the union.
Now, Dr and Mrs Grant, in name of the donors, allow me to seek your acceptance of this beautiful clock and ornaments. It may be the last, but certainly not the least of the many tokens of amity and friendship you have received at this important period in your history. While our gift proclaims in your home the progress and flight of time, may it also, my dear friends, be a witness to an all-bountiful Providence meting out constantly to you and yours the utmost felicity.”
The Doctor replied—Mr Menzies, Mr Stewart, and gentlemen, I wish I could find words adequately to express my thanks to the workmen of Auchinraith Colliery for the very handsome gift they have, through you, presented to me and my wife to-night. All I can say is, I thank you from the bottom of my heart.
I think I may safely say that I am the oldest official connected with Auchinraith Colliery. When I came to Blantyre eighteen years ago, Auchinraith Colliery was being sunk, and I had medical charge of the sinkers, and have had charge of the colliery ever since. I am pleased to be able to say that my relations with the officials and the workmen have at all times been of the most cordial and pleasant kind. I have always been well received by the men, and have been most courteously treated by them. Indeed, I may safely say that there is no colliery in Lanarkshire where the relations existing between the medical officer and the workmen have been more cordial than that between myself and the workmen of Auchinraith.
I believe I have made some enemies—but they are few. The man who thinks he can get through the world without making enemies lives in a fool’s paradise. This renewed token of your confidence in me will make me strive in the future to do my level best for you, as I have endeavoured in the past. In conclusion, I have again to ask you as representative of the workmen to convey to them on behalf of myself and my wife, my most heartfelt thanks for this most handsome gift.
Afterwards the deputation was entertained by Dr and Mrs Grant and left about midnight all being unanimous in thinking the occasion had been a happy one.
Croftpark is pictured about a decade later at the turn of the 20th Century. Margaret Seller (the second wife of Dr Grant who married in 1892 is pictured beside the doctor)
