Erskine Beveridge & Co. The Origins of a Famous Dunfermline Business by Donald Adamson Dunfermline in 1914 – A linen town At the outbreak of the First World War, Dunfermline had ten major damask linen mills. They employed over 7,000 people. Erskine Beveridge & Co had the largest factory with 1,000 looms at the St Leonard’s Works, and in addition had another 900 looms in Cowdenbeath, Ladybank and Dunshalt. The company, incorporated in 1893, also had warehousing operations in London, Manchester, New York and Montreal, as well as agencies all across the British Empire. Other notable companies in Dunfermline included Hay & Robertson, Andrew Reid & Co, Henry Reid & Son, Inglis & Co and J & T Alexander. In 1867, it was said that “Dunfermline is the chief seat of the manufacture of table linen in Britain – indeed, it may be said, the world.” The commencement of Erskine Beveridge & Co: retail draper Erskine Beveridge came from a family of trades people, long established in Dunfermline. His father was David Beveridge, master baker, deacon of the Dunfermline baxters, and in due course Convenor of Trades in Dunfermline. David married Margaret Thomson in 1794. They had five sons; John (born 1797), Henry (born 1799), David (born 1801), Erskine (born 1803) and Robert (born 1805). There was also one daughter, Elizabeth (born 1795), who married a wheelwright, James Adamson from Crossgates. Henry was the grandfather of Lord Beveridge, the author of the…
The Tradesmen’s Library
The History of the Tradesmen’s Library By George Robertson, FSAScot. The Library which exists today in Dunfermline is well known and looked upon with much pride by those who frequent it, whether that be when carrying out family or local research, visiting the museum, the art gallery, the café, or simply borrowing a book. This pride is well placed since the library was the first in the world to be gifted by Dunfermline’s own, Andrew Carnegie, who went on to gift 2,811 libraries worldwide. (1) However, Carnegie’s Dunfermline library was not the first in the town and we are fortunate to have Alexander Stewart’s book Reminiscences of Dunfermline – Sixty Years Ago, (2) where we find the story of an earlier library which existed in the town, this being The Tradesmen’s Library. What follows is extracted verbatim from Stewart’s book. An early, c1905, view of the original Carnegie Library. Author’s collection. “The Dunfermline Tradesmen’s Library, which long obtained a prominent position in the town, originated, according to Dr E. Henderson’s account, in 1808. (3) At that period, books were very scarce and dear. There were no shilling volumes and cheap editions such as there are now. There were no cheap weekly and monthly journals, no penny newspapers, nor the endless literary attractions that now exist on all sides amongst us. Like many important undertakings, it had its origins in a very humble way. Richard Gossman, William Carnegie (Andrew Carnegie’s…
Adam Low – Dunfermline’s Bonesetter
Pattiesmuir College and Adam Low, the Dunfermline Bonesetter by George Robertson, FSAScot. In his book Reminiscences of Dunfermline – Sixty Years Ago, Alexander Stewart tells a short story which refers to a former Provost of Dunfermline who, it seems, was blessed with a particular talent. His name was Adam Low and he was Provost of the town from 1787 till 1789. Stewart begins his tale in Pattiesmuir, a small village on the south side of Dunfermline and what follows is related in Stewart’s own words – Adam Low by Sir Henry Raeburn, Courtesy of Fife Council. (c) Fife Council; Supplied by The Public Catalogue Foundation “Although Dunfermline could never boast of having a College or University, the little neighbouring village or hamlet of Pattiesmuir could boast of that. Not only was there a so-called College, sui generis, but there was also a veritable professor. The most of the ‘collegians’ belonged to Dunfermline, and a very lively set they were. The introduction or installation of new ‘collegians’ was observed with all due decorum, yet with much genuine humour. In Pattiesmuir they adhered more to the French and German ideas of what the functions of a ‘college’ really are than those attached to it in England. It was in reality “Collegium,” merely a collection or assemblage of persons; and the one at Pattiesmuir was intended for recreation and amusement. Those who figured at these gatherings have mostly all passed away, “as a tale that is told”, and the…
“Gude” Mr Erskine and his Fiddle
Jean Barclay starts a new series of short pieces based on a 19th Century compilation of writings about Dunfermline, the “Folio of Oddities”. In “The ‘Gude’ Mr Erskine and his Fiddle” she presents the story of a new father searching for the perfect minister to baptise a new-born child.
`Our Autumnal Remittent’: Dr John Stedman and the influenza epidemic of 1758
As we continue to cope with the current pandemic, it is interesting to learn how epidemics were managed in the past. In “Our Autumnal Remittent: Dr. John Steadman and the Influenza Epidemic of 1758”, Dr Jean Barclay recounts the life of one of the doctors involved in treating those affected by an outbreak of influenza, in the time between the identification of that disease and any real understanding of its causes.