Captain Gilbert Rae, OBE

During the Second World War, the newly formed BOAC continued flying civilian services to several countries, including neutral Portugal and Sweden. These flights could be of great importance to the war effort and of course, could be very hazardous. In “Captain...

The Collier’s Bearer and the Stolen Child

by Dr. Jean Barclay Part 1 – the Child-Stealing. In May 1817, in the harsh times after the Napoleonic Wars, a young woman, Janet Douglas of Gilmerton near Edinburgh, aged about 18, found herself out of work as a collier`s bearer.  The job, which involved hauling hewn...

Mitchell’s Soft Drinks

In the next in our series on Dunfermline’s Industrial Past, George Beattie relates the history of another of the soft drinks manufactures. They latterly operated from Garvock Hill, having built the factory which later became the Vine Centre. The firm operated...

The Schweppes of Scotland?

Gilbert Rae’s Aereated Water Works Baldridge Works, Golfdrum Street, Dunfermline by George Beattie Gilbert Rae Gilbert Rae was born in 1841, at Marchwell Farm, Rullion Green, near Penicuik.  He was the son of James Rae, who was then a tenant farmer, and his wife...