People of Angus
John M Dunn, Provost of Brechin 1934 - 1937
John M. Dunn was a professional photographer who had a shop in Bank Street, Brechin, and another in Perth. Dunn was originally from Glenbervie, and began his working life at 13 on the railway, based at Craigo Station. He later moved to Brechin where he held a number of jobs, many simultaneously including press photographer, photographer and art dealer He was a cousin of J. Nicol Dunn, a newspaper editor. This perhaps led to his appointment in 1905 as a photo correspondent for the Brechin district for the Daily Mail. Initially Dunn only had a few photographs accepted for publication. In 1908, during a slow news week, he took studies of suffragettes at the Kincardineshire bye- election. These studies were the turning point in his photographic career. He became a freelance photographer, commissioned by many of the illustrated press. One commission required him to make a dash to the summit of Ben Nevis. This entailed many adventures including illegally riding a freight train, taking a pony ride and going on foot, so that he could photograph the first ascent of the mountain by a Ford car. Dunn took many photographs in his career including political gatherings, railway accidents, shipwrecks, snowstorms, strikes, floods, garden parties and the activities of Brechin Town Council. Much of his work has been positively identified within the photographic collections of the Angus Archives.
In 1919 Dunn was elected to Brechin Town Council. In 1921 he became Dean of Guild, in 1925 Junior Baillie, and then Senior Baillie in 1928. He was elected Provost in 1934 and served to 1937.
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