HAMILTON & INCHES: A REMARKABLE HISTORY
n 1852, an Edinburgh stabler, Robert Inches, died at the age of 45, leaving his family with no father and then, in 1856, their mother, Sarah (nee Hamilton), died of tuberculosis. By 1861 the four Inches children were living with their aunt and uncle, Elizabeth and James Hamilton, at 7 East Adam Street. James Hamilton worked as a goldsmith’s assistant (or salesman) for the long-standing jewellers of Mackay Cunningham & co, situated at 54 Princes Street. It was around this time that the oldest of the children, Robert Kirk Inches, moved to London, training as a clock and watchmaker, before returning to Edinburgh in about 1866. In May 1866, Robert Kirk Inches and his uncle, James, opened the business of Hamilton & Inches at 90a Princes Street. On 1 June 1866, the new company registered their hallmark with the Edinburgh Assay Office. It cannot have been easy in the early days of the business because, as Robert Kirk Inches’ obituary noted,
