Robert Pullar

Sir Robert Pullar (18 February 1828 – 9 September 1912) was a Scottish Liberal Party politician in the United Kingdom.

Life

Pullar was born at Burt's Close in Perth on 18 February 1828, the eldest of nine children of John Pullar (1803–1878), a dyer, and his wife Mary Walker. His father founded the firm Pullars of Perth and was also at one point Provost of Perth. In the summer of 1828 the family moved to 36 Mill street in Perth. This was as a reaction to complaints regarding noxious smells while they were working at Burt's Close, Mill Street being further out of town. He was educated in Perth at Stewart's Academy in Atholl Street, Greig's Academy in Stormont Street, and at Perth Academy, also doing continuation classes in French and German.

He was apprenticed under his father in 1841, a junior partner in 1848 In 1857 the firm formed a relationship with the inventor William Perkin to be the first manufacturer to successfully introduce purple aniline dye. The firm also branched into dry cleaning, a technique he learned from Germany, establishing a plant in Tulloch in 1882. He was a J.P. for the County of Perth. At this time he lived at 6 St Leonards Bank in Perth and ran the North British Dyeworks on Kinnoull Street. He was knighted by Queen Victoria in the 1895 Birthday Honours. worshipping at St Leonards Church on Marshall Place facing the South Inch.

In 1905 he received an honorary doctorate (LLD) from St Andrew's University. At the time of his election, he was six days short of his 79th birthday, making his possibly the oldest parliamentary debut of an MP in the 20th century. He rarely spoke in debates and was criticized by local trade unions for failing to support measures to help the unemployed.

In 1859 he married Helen Mary Daniell (1829–1904), daughter of Charles Daniell of Wantage, Berkshire, England, by whom he had two sons, Rufus Daniell Pullar (1861–1917) and Albert Evans Pullar (1865–1945).