Author: Park, Andrew
Biography:
by
Ragaz, Sharon (SR)
PARK, Andrew (1807-63: ODNB)
The son of James and Bridget (Campbell) Park, he was born on 7 Mar. 1807 at Renfrew and baptised on 21 Mar. He was educated at the parish school and, according to the ODNB, at Glasgow university. His parents died when he was very young and he was cared for by an aunt. At the age of fifteen he began working in a warehouse in Paisley and thereafter his working career was mixed and largely unsuccessful: he tried his hand at a hat business in Glasgow, attempted to make a living as a writer in London (from where in 1839 he applied to the RLF for relief but was rejected), and in 1841 bought up the book stock of Dugald Moore (q.v.) and operated a shop in Glasgow. He then retired from business to focus on literature. His most popular work was Silent Love (1843), published pseudonymously as by “the late James Wilson” of Paisley; it includes an imagined biography for Wilson. He was also known for his patriotic songs, including “Banks of Clyde.” His poem Veritas (1849) is autobiographical. The 1861 Census shows him living in Glasgow with a sister and her family. He died on 27 Dec. 1863 at 66 Portland Street, Glasgow. Although he was buried at Glasgow there is a memorial to him in Paisley. (ODNB 19 Aug. 2020; ancestry.co.uk 19 Oct. 2020, 22 Sept. 2025; Glasgow Morning Journal 28 Dec. 1863; PP; LPS; AA; RLF file 962) SR