Robert Lochore was descended from a branch of a Norman family of that
name, long established in the neighbourhood of Biggar, and of which the
representative was the House of Lochore de Lochore in Fifeshire. He was
born at Strathaven, in the county of Lanark, on the 7th of July 1762,
and, in his thirteenth year, was apprenticed to a shoemaker in Glasgow.
He early commenced business in the city on his own account. In carrying
on public improvements he ever evinced a deep interest, and he
frequently held public offices of trust. He was founder of the "Annuity
Society,"--an institution attended with numerous benefits to the
citizens of Glasgow.
Mr Lochore devoted much of his time to private study. He was
particularly fond of poetical composition, and wrote verses with
facility, many of his letters to his intimate friends being composed in
rhyme. His poetry was of the descriptive order; his lyrical effusions
were comparatively rare. Several poetical tales and songs of his youth,
contributed to different periodicals, he arranged, about the beginning
of the century, in a small volume. The greater number of his
compositions remain in MS. in the possession of his family. He died in
Glasgow, on the 27th April 1852, in his ninetieth year. Of a buoyant and
humorous disposition, he composed verses nearly to the close of his long
life; and, latterly, found pleasure in recording, for the amusement of
his family, his recollections of the past. He was universally beloved as
a faithful friend, and was deeply imbued with a sense of religion.