Allan Menzies grave monument in Dean 2b Cemetery, Edinburgh, Lothian, Scotland

Allan Menzies grave monument: legible names and details

full name	burial date	age	birth date	relationship	notes
Allan Menzies	1856	51	1805	first name on monument	Re William Pearson, father of Karl Pearson (1857-1956): .... However after three years of apparent success, life for William in Edinburgh seemed to go seriously wrong. For his university records terminate abruptly in early 1848 with an enigmatic note written by Professor Allan Menzies (1805-1856): “I certify that Mr Pearson attended with perfect regularity until 28 January 1848, when he left Edinburgh, & that in all the Examinations he was highly distinguished by the extent and accuracy of his knowledge” (UCL:PP). Thus at the age of 25 years and 3 months, William Pearson mysteriously abandoned the law course which until that moment he had been completing excellently, and “left Edinburgh”. One can only speculate what triggered this sudden departure. Was there a crisis of some sort - a scandal perhaps? Or was his rapid departure from Edinburgh linked to other matters? (Campbell (1884:12) described Menzies as “extremely deaf”, information which I copied in Bibby (2013). However, it seems to have been his son, also Allan Menzies (1845-1916), who was deaf – he was born at 32 Queen Street, barely 200 yards from Broughton Street where William Pearson resided, and later became Professor of Theology at St Andrews and developed links with Germany. Menzies père played an interesting role in Scotland’s development of ‘open schooling’, so central to its “Democratic Intellect”, as the first Visitor appointed by the Trustees of the Dick Bequest – see Menzies (1835, 1854), and Cruickshank (1965). So the Menzies-Pearson link may be important in the development of William’s career.
Jane Menzies	1908	69	1839	daughter of Allan Menzies
Helen Cowan	1875	69	1806	wife of Allan Menzies

For more information on one of the individual named above, please click on their name.

Please note that all ages and dates of birth in red have been calculated and are probably not on the monument.

The calculated dates of birth should be treated with caution as in many cases it can be one year out.

The calculated dates of birth should also be treated with caution as the ages given on monuments are often inaccurate.

The names above are all the names that are listed on the grave monument. It is most likely that only the entries with dates and ages are interred in the grave.