
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.
