Cranston, Kate (1850–1934)
Cranston, Kate (1850–1934)
Scottish tea-room proprietor and patron of arts. Name variations: Catherine Cranston. Born Catherine Cranston in 1850 in Glasgow, Scotland; died 1937 in Glasgow; dau. of George Cranston (hotelier); sister of Stuart Cranston (tea dealer, caterer, tearoom proprietor); m. John Cochrane (businessman), 1892 (died 1917).
Beloved entrepreneur, a trendsetter in turn-of-the-century tearooms and influential patron of designers from Glasgow School of Art, was the daughter of a hotelier with a reputation for innovative hotel management, running a chain of high-class temperance hotels which provided alcohol-free accommodations; followed in his footsteps by opening chain of highly successful tea rooms in Glasgow, providing alternative social environment to pubs; opened 1st tearoom on Argyle St. with brother Stuart (1878), eventually operating 4 tea rooms (1878–1904); commissioned decorative schemes and furniture fittings by such artists as George Walton, Charles Rennie Mackintosh and Margaret Macdonald Mackintosh; organized and ran tea rooms for Glasgow International Exhibitions (1901 and 1911); sold Argyle and Buchanan St. branches upon husband's death (1917); retired (1919); left two-thirds of estate to the poor.