John Caldwell (1873 – 1954), postman from Beith who served for 46 years and was the first postman in Scotland to use a bicycle to deliver letters.
On Tuesday 23 May 1933 Postman John Caldwell, of 19 Middleton Drive, Largs was awarded the Imperial Service Medal in King George V’s birthday honours, in recognition of 46 years’ Post Office service, mainly in the Glasgow General Post Office.
John was born 15 April 1873 in Wilson Street, Beith, the first of four children born to parents David Caldwell, a currier, and Margaret Templeton. He was named after his grandfather John Caldwell.
His parents were married 08 June 1872 in Beith, and his siblings were: David, born 1876 and died 1879; Margaret Smith, born 1880 and David, born 1884. It was quite normal in the 19th century for a deceased child’s name to be reused, especially where they were trying to keep the forename in the family. In John’s family David was not only the name of his father, but also of his maternal grandfather David Templeton, a member of the Beith Free Church.
The 1891 Beith census reveals that John, aged 17, was employed as a Postman and that his father David was now employed as a Seed Merchant. The family were still living in Wilson Street, Beith in a home with 2 rooms. Also living with the family was John’s 84-year-old paternal grandmother Martha Stewart.
Shortly before he moved from Beith to Glasgow, John had the distinction in 1899 of being the first postman in Scotland to use a bicycle to deliver letters. In 1901 John married Susan Galt Arthur Boyd at Blythswood, Glasgow. They moved to Largs between 1930 and 1933, where Susan later died in 1951. John died 07 February 1954 between the hours of 9pm on 06 February and 8.30am when his body was discovered at the Kings Arms Hotel, Irvine. The ‘Register of Corrected Entries’ reveals that the procurator fiscal ruled his death as suicide by coal gas poisoning. He was aged 80 years old. His death was registered by his son J. B. Caldwell who lived at 47 Battlefield Avenue, Langside, Glasgow.