William Smith Gill

Colonel William Smith Gill CB VD DL (16 February 1865 – 25 December 1957) was a Scottish Volunteer Force officer and paint manufacturer. He was the great-grandfather of Diana, Princess of Wales.

Early life
Born at Old Machar, Peterculter, Aberdeenshire, Gill was the son of Alexander Ogston Gill (1832–1908) and his wife, Barbara Smith Marr (1843–1898). His father was a first cousin of his namesake Alexander Ogston. His sister Sarah Ogston Gill was the wife of Francis Grant Ogilvie.

Career
In the 1880s, Gill became an officer of the Aberdeen Volunteers, and between 1908 and 1910 he was Colonel Commanding the Highland Division Royal Engineers (Territorial Force). By 1896, Gill was a partner with his father in Farquhar & Gill, paint manufacturers.

In 1925, Gill was appointed as a Deputy lieutenant of Aberdeen.

Gill died in 1957 at Dalhebity in Bieldside, Aberdeenshire, aged 92. He was buried in Peterculter Cemetery, Aberdeen.

Marriage and issue
On 30 June 1898, at Queen's Cross Church, Aberdeen, Gill married Ruth Littlejohn, a daughter of David Littlejohn (1841–1924) and his wife, Jane Crombie (1843–1917). They had five children:


 * Alexander Ogston Gill (1900–1982)
 * Jean Forbes Gill (1901–1987)
 * Elizabeth Penelope Gill (1904–1995)
 * Ruth Sylvia Gill (1908–1993), mother of Frances Shand Kydd and grandmother of Jane, Lady Fellowes, Lady Sarah McCorquodale, Diana, Princess of Wales, and Charles Spencer, 9th Earl Spencer
 * William David Littlejohn Gill (1915–1999)