In this, the third of her articles on shopping, Sue Mowat gives us a vivid insight into the home lives of a wide range of our predecessors in the town, as well as a description of the many shops and businesses which catered for their increasing prosperity. Shopping for the Home in Victorian Dunfermline by Sue Mowat Before we get into the business of buying for the home we’d better look at what that ‘home’ was like in Victorian Dunfermline. As was the case until quite recently, very few people owned their own homes, the majority living in rented accommodation. A dwelling was usually described as a ‘house’, which in Scotland could mean anything from a ‘room and kitchen’ in a tenement to a mansion with several public rooms, bedrooms, servants’ rooms, garrets, kitchen, bathroom and other offices. The majority of ‘houses’, however, consisted of two, three or four rooms, which might comprise an apartment in a large building or be contained in a small cottage. The very poor lived in just one room the usual rent being £1 10s to £2 a year, although some were available for as little as £1. Much of the single-room occupation was concentrated in the area of Pittencrieff, Woodhead, Golfdrum and William Streets. In Pittencrieff Street single rooms comprised 38% of the available housing, many of them occupied by single women or widows. Ground floors were occupied by weavers living in a ‘room and loom stance’. Paupers who were on the official ‘outdoor relief’ roll of the Parochial Board…
John Goodall and Co Motor Engineers
by George Beattie In 1868, at the age of seventeen years, Mr John White Goodall set up his horse and cab business in a single stall stable in what is now known as Commercial School Lane, off East Port, Dunfermline. His assets at that time comprised one horse, one cab and a set of harness. The horse cost £3.00, the cab £19.00 and the harness 30 shillings. Soon afterwards he added, at a cost of £3.00, a dog cart – a two wheeled carriage with seats back-to-back. Recognising the possibilities of expanding this trade, which was then virtually in its infancy, he soon acquired more extensive stabling accommodation in New Row, to the rear of the East Port Hotel, which at that time was owned by his sister Mrs Tullis. Mr Goodall’s business rapidly expanded and, in 1875, he obtained a lease of the Royal Hotel Stables at 58 Queen Anne Street, these being the premises from where the Goodall family would conduct business for the next 100 years. Later, Mr Goodall took advantage of an opportunity to become owner of the Queen Anne Street property which he subsequently converted into one of the largest, and best appointed, stabling yards in Scotland. It was commonplace that Mr Goodall, during the years of his ever growing business, was never known to send out a yoke (horse and carriage) to which the slightest exception could be taken. Horse, harness, cab and driver were, so to speak, of a piece. During the later part of the nineteenth century the resources of Mr…
Victorian Clothes Shops in Dunfermline
In the second of her articles on shopping in Victorian times, Sue Mowat describes the wide range of tailors, milliners, boot-makers and others trading in Dunfermline in the 1860s. Shopping for Clothes in Victorian Dunfermline By Sue Mowat Setting out to buy clothes in Victorian Dunfermline there were so many possible outlets it’s hard to know where to start, but probably the best place is Bridge Street, home of seven of the town’s ten drapery shops. There were ‘clothiers’ in the town who sold ready-mades for gentlemen but if you wanted clothes with a really good fit you would choose your fabric at a draper’s shop and have it made up to your own measurements, by a tailor or dressmaker employed by the shop or by an independent worker. The choice of fabrics was wide; for instance in the Spring of 1863 John Davie (8 Bridge Street) offered the ladies a typical stock of black and coloured silk for dresses, mantles and bonnets in Glaces, Gros de Naples, Chenes and Foulards. Other fabrics were Mohairs, French de Laines, French Merinoes, Lawns, Poplins, Poplinettes, Coburgs and Bareges ‘in new styles’. For the gentlemen there were Scotch Tweeds, Union Tweeds, Moleskins, Cords and Velveteens. Davie also advertised ‘Gentlemen’s Clothing, Children’s Kilt and Knickerbocker Dresses and Servants’ Liveries made to order’ and in the following year announced that millinery and dressmaking were now ‘done on the Premises in the Newest Style, under the management of a thoroughly experienced…
William Adamson MP
Born in Halbeath, The Rt. Hon. William Adamson, PC, MP was a miner, trade union leader and MP for Fife West from 1919 to 1931. He was a member of the first Labour Cabinet and became Secretary of State for Scotland. In this short biography, George Robertson summarises his political achievements but also describes his early life and how it influenced politician he was to become.
The ‘Pernicious’ Society of Wheepmen
Did you know.. …about the ‘Pernicious Society of Dunfermline Wheepmen? By Dr. Jean Barclay In May 1735 Bailly John Lindsay, maltster of Dunfermline, was a worried man. As First Baillie of the Town Council he deputised for the Provost, the Marques of Tweeddale, who was rarely present, and he had had nothing but trouble. There was rivalry for the provostship between the Marques and Sir Peter Halkett, who had been elected provost in 1705, and a power struggle between the Halkett family and James Erskine of Grange, leading to vociferous arguments between councillors from the various camps. Erskine had been chosen in May 1734 to represent the Council at the election of the Member of Parliament for the district and the Halketts hinted at bribery, corruption and leading the councillors astray. There was also a legal dispute underway between the Council and Sir Alexander Murray of Melgum and Lochgelly for an unpaid family debt which seemed to have been going on for ever, and in addition Bailly Lindsay was preoccupied with building a new malt barn north of the Rottenraw, near the Rottenraw port. Now on Tuesday, May 6th the servants or workers of the town were refusing to work and Bailly Lindsay felt obliged to call a special meeting. It appeared that there had been a fracas, between the weavers and the servants, and each side had summoned the other before the Baillie or Magistrates Court. Lindsay reported to council that `several of ye servants in ye Town` had…