By George Robertson. Recently, whilst researching the history of Middlebank House near Dunfermline, I stumbled across details of the death of a Polish soldier named Jan Wagner. In 1945 he had been shot and killed while attempting to escape from Middlebank, officially known at that time as No. 2 Court Martial Detention Barracks. Wagner was one of over 50 Polish military personnel being held at the Barracks, who awaited, or were there as the result of, court martial proceedings. I felt this required further research since this young man had travelled a long way from his homeland, only to die such an ignominious death in Fife. I was unable to find any trace of Wagner’s burial in Fife records, but was eventually successful while trawling through the website of Glasgow photographer Derek Crowe. This provided me with the information that he was buried at Wellshill Cemetery, Perth and also provided a photograph of his grave stone. I contacted the Ministry of Defence, Polish Enquiries Department, which forwarded to me Wagner’s service records, including his photograph, his death certificate and also gave confirmation of his place of burial. These service records described Jan Wagner as being born on 15th June 1922 at Turka, Lwow, Poland (now Ukraine). His mother was named as Anna Wagner but there was no mention of his father. His civilian occupation was given as fisherman, he was unmarried and his religion was Greek Catholic. He was shown to be 5’5” tall, weighed 10 stones 4…
Re-burial of King Robert the Bruce
It is well known that King Robert the Bruce is buried in Dunfermline Abbey, but the story of the discovery of his remains in the 19th Century and the ceremonies surrounding his re-burial are not so well known. In this article Sue Mowat presents to us a fascinating newspaper article from the time and tells us about the large gathering of Scotland’s “great and good” who were present on the day. Robert the Bruce Buried Again By Sue Mowat This story really begins in January 1807, when the Heritors of the parish (local landowners) and representatives of the Town Council met in the session house of the kirk (the old nave) to discuss the state of the building, which was `incommodious and in bad repair`. At first they thought they would just have repairs done and the pulpit and seating re-arranged. A competition for a suitable plan was won by the architect William Stark and in July a committee of the Heritors was formed to get the alterations carried out. Less than a month later however the southwest tower collapsed, emphasising the perilous state of the building and by October the Heritors were considering an estimate for repairs (£3310 3s. 10d) along with one for building a new church (£3700 16s. 2d). It will surprise no-one who has experience of committees that nothing further was done about a new building and over the next eight years, apart from the essential rebuilding of the tower, money was wasted on a series of ineffectual repairs. Finally, in February…
Dunfermline’s Cokete Seal
The Chequered History of Dunfermline’s Cokete Seal by Dr. Jean Barclay Much interest was aroused among antiquarians, patriots, politicians and others when Dunfermline`s medieval cokete seal – or rather the matrices that created it – came up for sale in 2014, especially when the purchaser turned out to a foreigner who wished to take his purchase home with him. A cokete (or cocket) seal was used on documents by customs officials in medieval times. The seal was created by a beeswax mixture being placed between two carved matrices of different designs, so that its two faces had different patterns. The seal was then affixed to the document by a strip of parchment. The matrices were of legal standing, kept securely and normally destroyed when obsolete or damaged. Dunfermline`s seal is of particular interest as it was commissioned by Robert the Bruce in 1322. Made of a copper alloy, each matrix is 55mm (about 2 ¼ inches) in diameter and weighs 337g. They are in a good condition apart from slight cracking at the edges resulting from pressure from the seal press in forcing the wax fully into the design. It is possible that they were discarded (but somehow not destroyed) when the damage became evident. The obverse (facing) matrix depicts St. Margaret robed and crowned, holding a sceptre in her right hand and a book in her left, She is standing between two shields, one bearing the arms of Dunfermline Abbey (a cross among five martlets – Margaret`s birds), the other the…
The Dunfermline Foundry
by George Beattie The Dunfermline Foundry Company had its origins in the Maygate, Dunfermline, when, in 1815, Robert Campbell commenced ironfounding on a small scale in the smithy premises of Tam Thomson.1 “Viagraphy Dunfermlynensis” speaks of Fishmarket Close (later known as Music Hall Lane) which ran from Abbot Street up to High Street and states:- “At the corner angle of the east side of this close with Abbot Street there is a house once used as a smithy and, according to a letter written about 30 years ago, ‘This smeddie is notibil as being the first place whair in 1816 a foundrie on a sma skale was begun be Mr Cambil and as the first of the kind ever attempit in Dunfermline.’ Abbot Street, of course, is a continuation of Maygate and both above entries appear to be referring to the same enterprise. Henderson further reports2 that in 1816:- ‘Mr Campbell abandoned his founding premises in the Maygate, and commenced “the Dunfermline Foundry”, in Clayacres, on a large scale. Fifteen hands were employed’. Clayacres was the name given to the area surrounding the street now known as Foundry Street (almost certainly named after the Dunfermline Foundry). The exact location of the foundry is shown on the O.S. map of 1854. Mr Campbell appears to have traded successfully until 1842 when the business ran into financial difficulties, resulting in Campbell being declared bankrupt, with creditors meetings being held in the Spire…
Michael Tod, Engineers
Michael Tod and Sons Ltd., Engineers by George Beattie A native of Kirkcaldy, who spent his early years in the West of Scotland, Michael Tod came to Dunfermline around 1870. Shortly thereafter, in April 1872, he formed a partnership with Alexander Bennett, founding the firm of Tod and Bennett, Millwrights & Engineers, with premises in Foundry Street. It is likely that Messrs Tod and Bennett chose the Foundry Street location because of its close proximity to the Dunfermline Foundry where much of the raw engineering material would be cast. In June 1876, the partnership was dissolved and both men set up millwright/engineering businesses on their own. Mr Tod set up Devon Works, Campbell Street, Dunfermline, where he concentrated on mechanical engineering. By that time Michael’s son, John, had joined the business, which was thereafter known as Michael Tod & Son. John had served an engineering apprenticeship with Alex More & Son in Glasgow. A reference given by Messrs More in 1870 indicated that John had served 3 years in the pattern shop and 2 years as a fitter. In the early days the Tod enterprise built all types of engineering equipment for mills, mines and bleach-works in the area, including steam winding engines, haulages, and pumping and screening machinery for the collieries of the Fife Coal Company and for many of the collieries in the Lothians area. On the death of his father in 1894, John Tod took control of the business which was greatly developed…