When Alexander Philp was born in St Andrews in 1846, his father Benjamin was a baker there. However, the family moved to Largo in the 1850s - initially to Strathairly but then to Drummochy House (pictured above). Benjamin Philp was now a commission agent / grain merchant. This house was ideal in terms of both size (the family had many children) and location (overlooking the harbour). It had previously been the Petheram family home. Benjamin was involved with the Largo Granary Company and was proprietor of the granary around this time - see 1865 valuation roll below.
Not long after the Philp family's move to Largo, the old flax spinning mill was taken over by David Russell of Silverburn, who in 1860 converted it into an oil and cake mill. A young Alexander Philp began a job there around this time. It would be an opportunity which would set him on course for a life-long career in the industry. The 1861 census shows Alexander working as a clerk there and a decade later, in 1871, he was recorded as a 'seed crusher's clerk' at the mill. A keen interest in golf also saw Alexander becoming one of the founders of the Lundin Golf Club in 1868.
Some years later, David Russell acquired the old sugar mill at Burntisland and converted it also for seed crushing and the manufacture of linseed oil and cotton cake. Many of the workers at his new mill were brought over from Largo when the Burntisland venture opened in 1877, one of them being Alexander Philp, who became 'seed crusher master' (another 'import' from Largo was David Wallace).
It was in Burntisland that Alexander met his future wife - Helen MacDougal Wallin. She was working at the Forth Hotel in the town, as an assistant to hotel keeper Agnes Horsburgh. The hotel was located right next to the railway station, docks and the mill where Philp worked. The Burntisland Heritage Trust website says of the hotel: " the 'swells of the town made it their rendezvous and 'commercials' made it their lodging because of its comforts and its proximity to the station". The daughter of a vet, Helen hailed from Berkshire, and it was down there that the pair married on 27 December 1882.
It was in Burntisland that Alexander met his future wife - Helen MacDougal Wallin. She was working at the Forth Hotel in the town, as an assistant to hotel keeper Agnes Horsburgh. The hotel was located right next to the railway station, docks and the mill where Philp worked. The Burntisland Heritage Trust website says of the hotel: " the 'swells of the town made it their rendezvous and 'commercials' made it their lodging because of its comforts and its proximity to the station". The daughter of a vet, Helen hailed from Berkshire, and it was down there that the pair married on 27 December 1882.
The Philps would go on to have eight children and remained in Burntisland for another couple of decades. Alexander was active in public life there too, being a town councillor and harbour commissioner, and having involvement in the golf and curling clubs. However, a new century brought change for the Philps and, in 1901, they returned to Largo. They bought 'The Mount' on Woodlands Road from David Lindsay the grocer and purchased the machinery within the old mill beneath the viaduct (see clip below from the 24 August 1901 Fife Free Press), where Alexander had begun his career forty years before.
The mill restarted production as the adverts from the St Andrews Citizen below from 1902 (top) and 1905 (below) show. The business continued for several further years but petered out around 1912. Alexander retired and in 1928 an article in the Fife Free Press (8 Dec) reminisced about Mr Philp's time in Burntisland..."better known as 'Sandy' Philp in the circles in which he moved", it noted that he was "homely, plain-going and unaffected". Sandy (pictured inset) passed away on 23 April 1931 at The Mount aged 84. His wife Helen lived to the age of 90 and died in 1947.
With thanks to a relative of the Philp family for sharing the photograph of Alexander Philp (taken 1907).
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