Gray & Harrower Ltd, Grain Millers, Harriebrae Mill, Baldridgeburn, Dunfermline By George Beattie Harriebrae Mill was originally built as a spinning mill during the early part of the 19th century. By the 1840s the spinning industry was in decline locally and Harriebrae Mill closed around the middle of that century. After lying empty for some time the mill was bought by a Dunfermline baker, James Walls, who converted it into a grain mill. At that time, the mill was water driven from the stream on the south side of the buildings. In 1910 Harriebrae was bought by Messrs Gray and Harrower, an Alloa firm of grain-millers, the business having been established in 1895 by Thomas Gray and Thomas Harrower. On the move to Dunfermline, they were joined in the enterprise by English born John Malcolm Smith who, at that time, was a Baillie in Dunfermline. Thomas Harrower was born in 1873, in Glasgow, the son of William Harrower, Marine Engineer’s Clerk, and his wife Janet. On retiring in 1945, Mr Harrower had been resident in Dunfermline for over 30 years, his home being ‘Tighvonie’, 123 Rose Street. He bought Tighvonie in 1915 for the sum of £1,000 from the Bath Street Congregational Church, and sold it in 1946 to the Dunfermline Carnegie Trust for the sum of £3,300. He was a prominent member of Gillespie Memorial Church, an elder for 30 years, preses of the congregation for a period and at one time was superintendent of the Sunday School. During his time in...
The Millport Spinning Mill
by Sue Mowat When a twelfth century Abbot of Dunfermline Abbey built his burgh of Dunfermline he included in his plans at least two water mills, powered by an elaborate system of leads (water channels). One of the Abbey’s mill sites was on the slope between the Abbey precinct and the Tower Burn, but the mill we are concerned with was situated at the top of what was then called Collier Row (now Bruce Street). At some point one of the town’s ports (gates) was built next to this mill, after which it was known as either the Collier Row or the Millport Mill. This section from a plan of Dunfermline made in 1771 shows the mill with its mill Dam (pond) and lead. (A Tesco store now occupies the site of the Dam.). We pick up the story in 1824, when the grain-grinding mill was replaced by a new building with a totally different purpose. Among the papers of the Hunt family of Pittencrieff, held in the Dunfermline Local Studies Library (Reference EB1/3), is a small packet of letters, invoices and other items that document the transformation of the mill. In March 1824 James Hunt of Pittencrieff, who owned all the Dunfermline mills, the Dam and the leads, leased the Millport Mill for 21 years to a Bridge Street baker, John Malcolm, who was planning a career move. Under the terms of the lease Malcolm would demolish the old barley mill and build a yarn spinning mill on the site, mill-spinning being an important industry in Dunfermline at the time. The new mill would be partly powered by a...
Old Weavers Comprehensive List
OLD WEAVERS AND OTHER OLD PEOPLE OF DUNFERMLINE, 1900-1915 – A LIST FOR THE FAMILY HISTORIAN. Compiled by Jean Barclay This is a list of the names, addresses and ages of the old men and women who attended the `old weavers` drive` each July from 1900-1915. They are taken from reports in the local press, which sometimes included group photographs. The drives were originally just for old hand-loom weavers but from 1906 invitations were extended to `any respectable man of 60` and from 1909 to women. There are some discrepancies in the lists due to incorrect reporting of ages and addresses and because several people shared the same name. 1900: Visit to Glensherup Reservoir, the source of Dunfermline`s water supply. `Dunfermline Hand-loom Weavers Drive to Glensherup`, Dunfermline Press, July 21 1900, Dunfermline Journal (Supplement), July 28 1900. Attendees (names, addresses and ages). No addresses were originally given but they have been added from later lists, Changes of address and the year recorded are indicated in brackets: Anderson, Alexander, Baldridgeburn, 74, Anderson, Andrew, 82, Anderson, Robert, Pittencrieff St, 88, Bernard, Andrew, 62, Beveridge, George, Moodie St, 77, Boag, Robert, 82, Bowie, James, Albany St, 80 (Castleblair Lane 1905), Brand, John, Bothwell Place, 74, Brown, William, 82, Burt, John, 84 Golfdrum St, 70, Christie, Thomas, 73, Clark, John, 74, Clark, Thomas, Maygate St, 63 (37 Bridge St.1907), Coutts, Charles, 67, Cummings (or Cumming), John,...
An Edwardian Day Out
Jean Barclay tells us how the elderly, former handloom weavers of Dunfermline were treated to an annual outing. Hundreds of men and women were taken by fleets of horse drawn carriages for visits to "big houses" around Fife. This fascinating article gives us all sorts of insights into life and social attitudes one hundred years ago. The Auld Weaver's Drive By Dr. Jean Barclay At the end of the 19th century there were many old handloom weavers in Dunfermline, who had experienced the ‘four stoups o’ misery’ with the coming of power looms from the early 1850s. Some had found employment in the new textile mills but many were in poor circumstances having faced years of unemployment or doing what odd jobs they could find. In 1897 Councillor John Dick and Mr. Edward Watt, burgh rate collector, organised a collection to provide ‘Old Handsel’ suppers for old hand-loom weavers (1). These took place in January 1898 and 1899 and it was suggested at the time that it would be nice to give the old men a summer outing into the countryside. Courtesy of The Carnegie Library and Galleries Money was raised and an ‘Auld Weavers’ Drive’ was arranged to Glensherup Reservoir, the source of Dunfermline’s water supply. On the morning of Thursday July 19th 1900 some 70 old weavers assembled at the cannon near the townhouse and took their seats in four large, horse-drawn brakes. To the sound of the bagpipes, the brakes left the town via Douglas Street, halted at the post office for cigars...
Elders with feet of Clay
Tales from the Kirk Session by Dr. Jean Barclay The Elder at the Plate by H C Preston In the early 1720s the Dunfermline kirk session consisted of the two ministers and 25 elders who were subject each year to ‘privy censure’ to ensure they were ‘circumspect in their walk and conversation’. The elders were responsible for taking the collection on Sundays, accepting or giving testimonials of good behaviour from people coming or going, relief of the poor and Sabbath visiting. This last to ensure that no-one was drinking or carrying out household tasks or other activities when they should have been at church. The ‘elders at the plate’ were regarded with some awe but in 1726 two of them, Robert Couston and Robert Ferguson, fell from grace. With Robert Couston it was drink. On November 20th 1726 it was reported to the kirk session that Robert Couston, one of their number, was scandalously drunk at Wednesday’s market. When Robert was questioned he acknowledged that he had been somewhat mistaken with drink that day but denied reports that he had also been fighting and rankling (wrangling). On December 7th several elders reported that they had heard that on market day after daylight was gone, Robert had been in a public change house (inn) in the town and that he was not only mistaken with drink but was offensively kissing both men and women. Robert admitted that he ‘kisst a young woman who might become his good-daughter’ (daughter in law) and that he also ‘kisst William...