John More Dall, pictured above, was born in 1863 in Elie to blacksmith John Dall and his wife Agnes More. He grew up at the smithy on the back dykes at Elie, but by the 1881 census John was living on the High Street with his maternal grandmother and two older sisters, while employed as a 'Law Clerk (apprentice)'. His employment was in the offices of William Robinson Ketchen (pictured below from the 1902 Fife News Illustrated Almanac). Ketchen was a banker and solicitor who had come to Elie in 1857 to act as National Bank agent for the branches at Elie and Largo. Ketchen was also prominent in public life, being instrumental in forming Elie Golf Club and acting as Provost of Elie for six years. Ketchen provided John More Dall with a firm grounding in both law and banking.
John More Dall later moved on to spend eight years as a bank clerk in the head office of the National Bank in Glasgow. A promotion saw him re-transferred to Elie where he became joint agent with Ketchen. The move coincided with his marriage in 1891 to Catherine Sime. The couple lived at Seafield Bank on The Toft, pictured above. Their children were Catherine (b. 1894), Agnes (b. 1895) and Maggie (b. 1897), John (b. 1899, d. 1900) and Winifred (b.1901, d. 1902). Like Ketchen, John took an interest in the furthering of Elie as a tourist destination and in 1897 complied the publication 'Guide to Elie, Earlsferry and Neighbourhood'. He was also a house agent, who managed the list of properties for let to visitors to the area (see advert below from his published guide).
Following the death of William Robinson Ketchen in October 1901, John was made joint agent of the National Bank at Largo (see 16 November Fife Free Press extract above). The family moved into the Bank House at Upper Largo (shown below). However, the following year, tragedy struck when his wife Catherine died there of tuberculosis aged 37. The family remained in Upper Largo and in 1903 John was made 'sole agent' at Largo.
Dall also introduced a Savings Bank for Largo and District. This was overseen by a group of directors drawn from the local community and was available to locals at set times each week at locations across the three villages - the Bank in Upper Largo, the Baptist Church Session House in Lower Largo and the Temperance Hall in Lundin Links. The directors included local clergymen, builders and other prominent men who were active in the public sphere. This included Inspector of the Poor Robert Black and Largo Estate gardener Robert Smith.
In 1909, John remarried, to Margaret Graham. They went on to have four children together - Mary (b. 1907), John (b. 1909), Helen (b. 1913, d. 1914) and Christina (b.1916, d. 1917). The 1911 census records the family at Bank House. The household comprised, John, his wife Margaret, his three eldest daughters, two younger children (aged 4 and 1) and a servant. A decade later, the couple were in the same home together with four children and servant. John was then aged 57 and still described as a 'bank agent' with National Bank of Scotland Limited.
During his years in Largo, John became an active member of Largo Curling Club, Largo Bowling Club and Lundin Golf Club. He wrote the history of Largo Curling Club when he was club secretary there. He was joint secretary and treasurer of Lundin Golf Club for fourteen years. The 15 July 1924 Leven Advertiser told of how "Mr's Dall's minute book was as neatly kept as his cash and other books, and he grudged no time in the performance of the duties which came under the combined offices".
John Dall continued to reside at Bank House until his retirement in 1930. The 18 March 1930 Dundee Evening Telegraph above describes the deputation that presented him with a gold watch and cheque to mark the occasion. John and Margaret then moved to 'The Retreat' on Upper Largo's St Andrews Road (next door to William Dawson at Lyndhurst). John lived out the rest of his life at The Retreat, passing away there on 27 February 1940 aged 76. His widow Margaret continued to reside there for more than two further decades, passing away in the house aged 90 years in 1966. John's daughter Agnes, from his first marriage, became a long-serving teacher at Kirkton of Largo Primary School. She completed 49 years service at the village school before her retirement in 1967. She lived at The Retreat until her death in 1973.