Shoe worn by Rose Anderson in Perth in ca 1800
The author of Ladies' dress shoes of the nineteenth century, Captain Thomas Watson Greig, was the owner of two estates in Perthshire, those of Glencarse, near Perth, and Lassintullich in Rannoch. His obituary of July 1912 described him as a man with 'many-sided interests' which is one way of glossing over an unusual interest in ladies' shoes. He also wrote an earlier volume, 'Ladies' old-fashioned shoes' which was published in 1885.
Thomas Hay Marshall belonged to one of Perth's eminent eighteenth century families and is generally credited with the building of Perth's 'new town', the areas to the north and south of the central area where can be found some fine examples of Georgian architecture. He served two terms as provost.
In 1792 Thomas Hay Marshall married Rose, the daughter of Thomas Anderson who owned the Blackfriars lands where the 'new town' was destined to be built. The marriage failed, partly owing to Rose's brief affair with the Earl of Elgin, and the couple divorced in 1803.
As Greig rather wordily says, referring to the shoes depicted, 'Let us hope this actual pair of shoes did not carry their fair owner away to a chimerical happiness from the path of duty which appeared prosaic in the face of flattery and attention from one whose position far exceeded that of the burgher's wife'. Well, quite!
