May Fairbairn Dibdin

     
     May Fairbairn Dibdin was born on 4 May 1886 at 4 Duncan St, Drummond Pl, Edinburgh, Dist of St Andrews, MLN, SCT, cert. shows May Fairbairn as b 7:30pm to James Caxton Dibdin concert manager and Barbara Fairbairn m.s. Reid who married 1885 Jul 23, Edinburgh, inf. father, Jas C Dibdin, present, reg. May 26th Edin.^3,4 Some sources show May as born cir. 1900 in Edinburgh, MLN, SCT, but this family "memory" had to be a little later than the actual date as she was found in the 1891 census with her father and step mother, and the eventual finding of her birth cert verified that (it was marginally incorrectly indexed as Mary, rather than May).^2,5
     May Fairbairn Dibdin died on 10 Jun 1914 at 20 Jordan Lane, Edinburgh, Dist of Morningside, MLN, SCT, at age 28; cert shows her as a science teacher, single 28 d 4:15pm of glioma of cerebellum (appears to be the fancy term for brain tumour), cert by T J Thomson M.D; d/o James Dibdin concert manager and Barbara Fairbairn m.s. Reid, both dec'd; inf Aunt Helen Reid, present, reg Jun 12th (this is the same doctor who attended most of the Reid family deaths, and the address of Helen and her siblings for many years).^2,1,5,6
     May F Debdin appeared on the census of 5 Apr 1891 at 5 Merchiston Bank Tce, Edinburgh St Cuthberts, Dist of Newington, MLN, SCT, in the household of James Caxton Dibdin and Margerat F Debdin as daughter of James.³ May F Dibdin appeared on the census of 1901 at 8 Howard Pl, Edinburgh St Cuthberts, Dist of St Andrew, MLN, SCT, in the household of James C Dibdin and Margaret F Dibdin as daughter of James.⁷
     The American Fairbairn family have what must be a graduation photo of May prob. in Edinburgh, MLN, SCT, say 1907 showing her in her gown with her diploma (shown above if you are reading this on the right web site).⁸
     May Dibdin is remembered by Grandma Viele "Barbara married a noted orchestrra leader named Oldenham Walter Dibdon. The Dibdons had one daughter May who died during World War One. Nellie Reid had raised her. Her mother, Barbara, died some years before her. May was a brilliant student and died of what was called brain storm from too much study. I have a photograph of May Dibdon taken in her college robe and her diploma. I've always thought she had a beautiful face." (May's father was actually James Caxton Dibdin, and the informant for her death in 1914, was her aunt Helen Reid, who must only have taken her over after 1901, as May was still with her father and step mother at age 14 in the 1901 census. Melinda added: When our parents wanted us to study we used to say "Remember what Grandma said happened to her cousin May").^9,5,1,7,10
     May's father appears to be an oft quoted authority on Edinburgh musical life if web searches are to be believed ("Annals of the Edinburgh Stage with an account of the rise and progress of dramatic writing in Scotland (1888)". A quick check of the contents of the book indicate there may have been some family reason for the production of the book, as it mentions both James father Henry Edward Dibdin (noted as a harpist who moved to Edinburgh 1833. He was born London, and a Professer of Music, or as ancestry transcribed in one census Teacher of Hurtic), and his grandfather, C Dibdin Jnr, also Tom Dibdin (Charles' brother) and extensively mentions Charles Dibdin, who looks very like his great grandfather (described online as an "English songwriter and theatrical entrepreneur 1745-1814")
     He also appears to have edtited a book on lifeboats, (the why possibly being explained by its dedication to the Secretary of the Royal National Lifeboat Association, Mr Charles Dibdin), and one called "Scottish Border Life - A Series of Original Sketches" (1897 Methuen & Co, London). As far as my brief research into James is concerned, his only connection to the Borders would appear to be his first wife's mother (Hannah Forsythe Reid nee Fairbairn) who was born there in 1824 and was already in Edinburgh by 1851. Admittedly her life did overlap that of James, as she died in Edinburgh in 1904, in fact, I suspect she actually outlived him.^{11,12,13,14,15,16}