In Robert Lindsay and Co. George Beattie presents the next article in his series on Dunfermline’s Industrial Past. This series shows clearly how in the 19th and early 20th Centuries, Dunfermline, like many towns of a similar size, had manufacturing businesses of all types to support the local economy. The Lindsay business produced a wide range of ceramic products for builders, architects, gardeners, farmers and others. In addition the owners and managers, like Robert Lindsay, were often active in local politics and the community.
Walter Scott’s Abbey Haul
Many of you will have visited Abbotsford House near Melrose, extravagantly built and furnished by Sir Walter Scott. But did you know that much of the ancient wooden panelling was “salvaged” from the old Dunfermline Abbey Church, when the new church was opened in the 1820’s. In “Sir Walter Scott and his “Hawl” from Dunfermline Abbey“, Jean Barclay explains what happened.
Harriebrae Mill
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 Mill
In The Millport Spinning Mill, Sue Mowat tells the story of the varied uses of a building which once stood in Bruce Street, on the site of a medieval meal mill. It was built as a yarn spinning mill and we learn of it’s construction and of what it was like to work there. Later it became a damask weaving shop and finally, a rather insalubrious lodging house.
An Edwardian Day Out
In “The Auld Weavers’ Drive” 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.