Anne Wood Dunlop, born on 19 November 1824, was the daughter of Robert Dunlop, a Writer to the Signet who had fallen on hard times. Anne’s application was supported by William Patrick, WS, who had been her father’s apprentice master. Anne and her family, consisting of her parents and three brother and a sister all under the age of ten, resided with her grandfather in Irvine.

Patrick noted on Anne’s application that

It is well known that Robt Dunlop W.S. the father of the Child having got into bankrupt circumstances was obliged to leave Ednr. He was lately imprisoned in Ayr Jaill, during which his wife & Children were greatly destitute & supported by kind friends. He was lately liberated, and residing in Irvine but without any means of support for his wife and family who I understand are in very Destitute circumstances.

Anne’s documentation included a certificate of health, a birth certificate, and a clipping of announcement of her birth as reported in the Edinburgh Courant.

Anne arrived at the school in 1832.

The 1861 Census found her (as Anna) at 30 Reform Street, Dundee, with her sister Helen and their widowed mother, also Helen. Her sister was married to George Girdwood, an engraver, printer, and stationer.

Anne married George Girdwood’s brother David, an engraver of 38 Castle Street, Dundee, on 14 June 1862, ‘according to the forms of the Independent Church’ in Dundee, giving her address as 101 Nethergate, Dundee. Their son George was born on 18 April 1864 at Thomson’s Buildings, Nethergate, Dundee. He followed into the family business becoming a wholesale stationer in Glasgow.

Anne died aged 73 on 2 November 1902 at 5 Hawkhill Place, Dundee.