18/06/2025
We are approaching a few big milestones over the next few years as a business, the first coming later this month.
But before we look to the future, let’s have a peedie look back to where the business first started.
A Westray man, David M. Kirkness, moved to Kirkwall to serve his apprenticeship as a joiner. He and his brother, William, went on to set up in business as joiners and undertakers in around 1880.
In 1888 William left and David began to trade as D. M. Kirkness and introduced a sideline which made the name famous - Orkney chairs!
In 1936 David Kirkness passed away, just a few weeks after his retirement, but the business continued by Mr Kirkness’s friend and long service employee, William Price.
In fact it seems that another employee, William Hay, kept the D. M. Kirkness name alive.
According to the Kirkwall Valuation Roll, he rented the workshop on Palace Road from David Kirkness’s son William until 1942 and then bought the premises. He carried on the joinery and undertaking business into the 1950s but the chair making was stopped by World War II.
In 1956 the business was bought by Reynold Eunson, Reynold re-introduce the making of Orkney Chairs to the joinery workshop on Palace Road.
The photos below show the workshop on Palace Road under Reynolds ownership.
Reynold ran the business as a joiners, Funeral Directors and Orkney chair maker until he passed away in 1978.
The Funeral Directors part of the business was bought over by a local serving policeman coming close to retirement by the name of John George Corse (snr).
John G Corse Funeral Directors was established, more updates on that to follow. We’d love to see any photos and hear any stories from the above era of the business.
