Edward Baird

Who was Edward Baird?

Edward Baird was born in Montrose in 1904, the son of a sea captain. He was descended from a long line of seafarers, but poor health throughout his life meant that he was unable to follow his forebears to sea. His father was lost at sea when he was a small child, and so he was brought up by his mother, living at various properties on Montrose High Street.

He was educated locally at Montrose Academy, and was accepted into Glasgow School of Art in 1924. He studied there for a total of four years, finishing as an undergraduate in 1927, and winning the Newbery medal as the top student of the year. After a year's postgraduate teaching diploma, he spent four months- from December 1928 to March 1929, travelling and studying in Italy, funded by a travelling scholarship provided by Glasgow School of Art.

On his return from Italy, Baird moved back to Montrose and began a career as a portrait painter For a time, he was involved in the nascent "Scottish Renaissance" movement in the town, and with early Scottish nationalist politics. Alongside the author Fionn MacColla, and local businessman such as Allan Ogilvie and Andrew Dalgetty, Baird participated in a lively branch of the newly founded National Party of Scotland in the town, until the early 1930s, and designed one of the earliest extant logos for the NPS, which was used locally in Angus.