Drysdale, Alexander

Deaf either at birth or at a very early age; educated at the Braidwood school in Edinburgh, then worked there as assistant to the principal for some years. Married a teacher at that school. Unsuccessful in applying for a teaching position at the Aberdeen Institution for the Deaf and Dumb, he and his wife instead established their own new school for the deaf at Dundee in 1846. This school was very successful, growing rapidly. He died of a heart attack, 35 years after opening the school, just as he and his wife were planning their retirement.