William Lindsay of Edinburgh, Scotland , started his cooperage business in 1829. He made wooden tubs for housewives to do their laundry. His cooperage was situated at the banks of the river Leith . In 1874 the business was taken over by William Lindsay's son James, who went to Germany to buy the machinery to produce casks for the export of beer. The business was expanding rapidly. On James Lindsay's death his two sons James and William took over the business. James was killed in 1916 and his brother William became the sole partner.
The firm of William Lindsay & Son Ltd became a private limited company in 1923 and William Lindsay was managing director until 1941. Mr Kenneth Lindsay then took over until he sold out to Scottish Brewers Ltd , Edinburgh, in 1942. By 1968 the use of metal casks had cut down the demand for oak casks by the brewing industry, but the whisky industry still needed oak casks. Thus most of William Lindsay's cask production in the 1960s was for Mackinlay-McPherson Ltd , wine and spirit merchants, Edinburgh, Scotland. No more is known about the company's history.
Source: Archer, James . By the Water of Leith in The Essanden (Spring 1968)
From the guide to the Records of William Lindsay & Son Ltd, coopers, Edinburgh, Scotland, 1931-1970, (Glasgow University Archive Services)
