Background
George Small was born on 26 May 1782 in Edinburgh, Scotland, the son of George Small and Ann Spalding.
philanthropist treasurer Edinburgh magistrate
George Small was born on 26 May 1782 in Edinburgh, Scotland, the son of George Small and Ann Spalding.
As a youth Small joined a fencible regiment raised to fight Napoleon Bonaparte, serving for a time in Gibraltar. In 1802, when that unit was disbanded, Small was approached to join the regular army but opted to leave the military to pursue business endeavors. George Small married Elizabeth Grindlay in Edinburgh on 13 February 1808.
The couple had several children, including Review
James Grindlay Small, a noted Scottish hymnist and the author of the hymn, "I"ve Foundation A Friend, Oh! Such A Friend."
Muir, Wood and Company was a piano manufacturing and music publishing firm in Edinburgh, Scotland. The firm had been started in 1798 by John Muir and Andrew Wood.
In addition to pianos, the firm made organs (church, chamber and barrel), harps, violins, cellos, tambourines, triangles, drums and serpents. In 1804, George Small joined the firm to run the retail end of the business.
Muir, Wood and Company operated until John Muir"s death in 1818.
After Muir"s death, Andrew Wood and George Small continued in business, but on a reduced scale, under the name Wood, Small and Company. Wood, Small and Company operated until Andrew Wood"s death in 1829, after which George Small formed Small, Bruce and Company. During the cholera outbreak in the city, Small suspended his business activities, and with his family, went daily to work in the soup kitchen, the clothing store and other charitable operations associated with the (temporary) cholera hospital in Edinburgh.
After the cholera outbreak subsided, he was named treasurer of the Charity Workhouse.
In 1848 he retired from business and public life, moving to a cottage in Dunkeld. Small died on 11 July 1861 in Bervie and is buried in the Old Kirk cemetery there.
Small also served as a member of the Board of Health.