Issue No.

33

Oct 2012

St. Bartholemew patron saint of leatherwork- ers, painted for the Glovers incorporation just before

the Reformation. He carries a skinner’s knife symbolis- ing his traditional martyr- dom by flaying (see Mark Hall’s article on page 4)

Detail from a portrait in Perth Museum and Art Gal-

lery.

Chairman’s Notes and Archive News Page 2 Medieval Perth brought to life by its archaeology 4 Book Review; Bernard Byrom’s Gentlemen of Honour 10 The Murray Mausoleum at 12 Review: The Lost gardens of 14 The Story of Council Housing in Perth 15 The Rescue ship SS Perth 18 The Kenneth Young Collection 20 The Pavilion 21 Tracing Ancestors before 1750; Professionals’ Advice 22

Notes from the Chair

Although the weather has been somewhat mixed, I hope that you have enjoyed the annual break and feel able and keen to participate in our winter season. As usual, there will be an interesting and varied programme of talks, ranging from the ar- chaeological exploration of Kenneth MacAlpine's capital to military family history, and featuring talks on Sir Robert Pullar; the Perthshire estates of Lord Lynedoch, the manufacture of parchment and vellum and the railways of Breadalbane.

During the break we had two most enjoyable out- ings, blessed on both occasions with reasonable weather. The first, on Tuesday 26 June, was to , where Catriona McLeod gave us an ex- cellent walking guided tour of this handsome and historical town. I found it challenging to imag- ine much of the area I know in Kinross under the waters of Loch Leven. Then on Thursday 16 Au- gust, we had the pleasure of walking up the River Ericht and admiring the buildings, many now picturesque ruins, of the former mills and mill properties of Blairgowrie. On this occasion we had two very knowledgeable guides, Margaret Laing and Heather Gray, who have kindly invited us to participate in the Blairgowrie Blethers . This is a group meets on Wednesday mornings in the Victoria Hotel over tea or coffee.

As I write, the Friends' Committee is actively considering various projects, including the production of a booklet for each division of Perthshire,and Kinross-shire giving guidance on records of local interest held in the Archive. Also being considered is an exhibition in 2014 to mark the centenary of the start of the First World War. If anyone with any documents or photographs dating from, or relevant to, the Great War, and is willing in some way to share them with us, please do get in touch.

Finally, The Friends have just published Dr David Munro Robertson's second book on a Perthshire subject, The Lost Gardens of Perthshire, reviewed on page 14. This is beautifully illustrated and has been seriously researched using a lot of archi- val material. It is on sale for £6.

With every good wish, Margaret Borland-Stroyan

2 Archive News

This summer the Archive has been taking part in the Olympics! Well, actually, not running or jumping, but we were encouraging people to send in their photographs of the Olympic Torch relay as it came through Perth & Kinross and help create a brand spanking new digi- tal archive collection. Not content with this, we also asked for photos of the Queen’s Jubi- lee visit to Perth, so not only have we two new collections here in the Archive, but many of the images can be seen on our Flickr page.

We also had the pleasure of working with Nora, an intern from RCAHMS, who came to us to find out the range of work that keeps an archive like ours running. Although only with us a fortnight, Nora managed to arrange and list two collections, one of which, MS312 Horti- cultural Society, is now available on our online cata- logue. She wasn’t the only one working hard; Jackie and Graham have been doing sterling work in pro- ducing catalogues too. So now we also have the Ken- neth Young papers (MS308), City of Perth Co- operative Society (MS311) and a more complete Stu- art of Annat (MS115) collection all available online. And I mustn’t forget Alisdair, who came to us for some work experience before starting the Archive course in Glasgow – he listed and arranged the pho- tographic collection, Snapshot (MS309), which was actually created by his grand- dad!

While all these volunteers have been beavering away, the staff have been busy too (honest!) Apart from the daily routines of searchroom duty, answering enquiries that come in, accessioning and managing the new collections that have been coming in, we’ve also been working on a new-look website, which should be live just before Christmas. Actually, I think we could all do with a nice little holiday…..

Jan Merchant

Friends of PKC Archive, AK Bell Library, York Place, PERTH PH2 8EP Scottish Charity No. SCO31537 Tel:(01738) 477012 Email: [email protected] Hon. Presidents; The Provost : Sir William Macpherson of Cluny and Blairgowrie : Mr Donald Abbott

Editor: David Wilson

3 On 22 March 2012 we heard a fascinating talk from Mark Hall (History Officer, Perth Museum & Art Gallery) on Medieval Perth and Mark has kindly given us a summary of his talk for this edition of the Newsletter.

Medieval Perth by Mark A Hall

This is a summary view primarily based on the archaeology collection of Perth Mu- seum & Art Gallery, the repository for all the finds excavated in the town. I will look at the following themes: Origins, Port of Trade, Craftsmen and Pilgrimage.

Origins: All the evidence we have indicates that Perth is a medieval foundation. The name Pert implies that where Perth stands was a low-lying area of woodland in Pictish times. It was probably situated by a ford over the Tay within an area contain- ing a number of important Pictish and Picto-Scottish settlements: Moncrieffe Hill, Abernethy, Scone, and possibly Bertha, which may have been called In- veramon then.

The settlement of Perth seems to have begun and thrived as a port of trade, initially for goods and luxuries destined for Scone, a little up-river from Perth but not acces- sible to sea-going vessels. By 906 AD Scone was an important royal centre. It was the crowning place of kings and in 1120 Alexander I founded an Augustinian Priory there, which became an Abbey in 1164. The early town of Perth probably consisted of a harbour near the bottom of the high street, merchants’ houses along the water- front of Watergate and probably an early church on the site of St John’s kirk. The harbour is thought to have been in use long before its first mention in 1124 when English ships were recorded as bringing supplies up the Tay for scone Priory.

As a crossing point across the Tay, Perth would have started out as a ford, waded across in the summer and, if necessary skated over in the winter. By the late 1100’s a timber bridge was in place, running off the end of the High Street. It was washed away many times. In 1209 a great flood washed away both the bridge and its chapel and also the royal castle. By 1214 the bridge had been rebuilt for it was crossed by the funeral cortege of William the Lion, on route to Arbroath abbey, where the king was buried.

Once we reach the 12th century and beyond, we have a much clearer picture of Perth as a thriving centre of trade and commerce. David I made Perth a royal burgh in c.1124 and that status was confirmed by William the lion c.1205-10. Burgh status brought with it a privileged class of wealthy merchants and craftsmen, the Bur- gesses. Their wealth and privileges were based on trade monopolies granted by the Burgh charter. They served the king through the provision of goods and luxuries and by defending the Burgh in times of war. The king made profits through rents from burgage plots, tolls, burgh court fines and customs taxes on certain imported goods.

4 In addition to the burgesses there would have been their families, poorer craftsmen, apprentices, labourers, servants, priests and clerics all living in the burgh. The wealthier burgesses – generally the members of the Merchant Guild or Guildry – gradually took over the government of the burgh from the king’s officials, electing their own provost, bailies and a council to advise them.

The successful growth of the burgh depended on its weekly markets. Food and raw materials would be brought into the town from the surrounding countryside and the goods of craftsmen and merchants would be put up for sale. Excavations have shown that the High Street was then some two metres wider than it is today, giving plenty of space for a thriving market. Tolls on trade were levied at the toll booth, at the end of the high street. Here the burgh council also met and occasionally the king’s Parliament as in 1445 and 1459, under James II.

A Port of Trade: Perth’s trade in the Middle Ages was largely controlled by the Guildry, the wealthy burgesses who protected trade in the burgh in their own in- terest. Burgesses paid to enter the guild and had to provide wine for its feasts. In re- turn the Guildry did good works for its members: caring for the elderly, the poor and the infirm and also their widows and orphans. The guild also had religious duties – before the Reformation it kept an altar in St John’s kirk dedicated to the Holy Blood of Christ. Perth’s merchants exported goods from the surrounding countryside, espe- cially wool, sheepskins and cattle hides. Wool from Perth was amongst the most highly valued in , in the later Middle Ages much of it was sold in the staple ports of Bruges and Middleburg, in the Low Countries.

Imports to Perth included grain from Eastern England (notably King’s Lynn) and also from Normandy (Dieppe) and Eastern Europe. The Baltic region increasingly supplied raw materials through the 14th century, including timber, pitch, tar, iron, wax and hemp. Manufactured goods such as brass pots, ewers, cauldrons and iron- bound chests were imported from Bruges and elsewhere. Pottery from excavations in Perth came from many places including the Low Countries, , East Anglia, Germany, Spain and France. As far as food stuffs were concerned wine was expen- sive and much n demand, coming principally from Normandy and Gascony. In 1253 Alexander III took delivery of 100 barrels of claret, from Gascony, imported for him by John Fleming of Perth.

Craftsmen: Perth was clearly an important craft centre in the Middle Ages. By the 1450s craftsmen made up over one third of the Guildry. The Hammermen were probably the largest of the nine craft incorporations in Perth, the others being: the Baxters (Bakers), the Glovers, the Shoemakers, the Fleschers (Butchers), the Tailors, the Wrights, the Weavers (Websters) and the Fullers. The Hammermen Incorporation was the guild body for metal workers which sought to ensure the welfare and reputa- tions of their crafts. By the 16th century Hammermen could join the burgh council, and it became customary to elect at least two craftsmen to the council of twelve burgesses. 5 Gold and silver smiths were always men of wealth and importance in the town. The goldsmith Henry the Bald had two booths near the Mercat Cross in the reign of Wil- liam the Lion. In 1431 another goldsmith, Andrew Luffe made a reliquary for St. John’s kirk, to hold a relic of the Hammermen’s patron saint, Eloy.

Brooches of gold and silver and a gold ring with a sapphire have been found in exca- vations in Perth. We can not be certain that these items were made in Perth but we can be certain that the silver coins bearing the name of the burgh were minted in Perth in the periods 1165-1296 and 1373-1460.

Coins minted in Perth

Blacksmiths provided many of the iron tools and fittings needed by people in the town to carry out their crafts and to build and equip their houses or to harness and shoe their horses. Smelted bog iron was probably brought in from NW Perthshire for forging in the town. Excavations in Meal Vennel discovered a late medieval smithy, with a hearth and an anvil base still in place.

Bronze-smiths worked on a smaller scale, casting copper alloy objects from molten metal using moulds, and also working sheet metal and wire when cold. Two-part moulds for casting brooches and rings were found by excavators on the High Street.

Leather workers in Perth included skinners, tanners, shoemakers, saddlers and glovers. By the 1500s these trades were regulated by the Shoemaker and Glover In- corporations. Thousands of leather objects – shoes, straps, knife sheaths, pieces of clothing and off-cuts – have been preserved, water-logged, in the town’s medieval 6 middens which lie beneath the present town. By the 16th century, Perth Glovers were supplying royalty; James IV brought a pair of hawking gloves here, and Mary of Guise, his queen, was supplied with shoes and gloves from Perth.

St Bartholomew, by association with his own fate was regarded as the patron saint of tanners and leather workers. He was an apostle said to have been a missionary in Armenia and India. He is traditionally held to have been martyred in Armenia by be- ing flayed alive with a skinning knife before being beheaded. Just before the Refor- mation the Glover Incorporation had a portrait of St Bartholomew painted, probably for their altar in St John’s Kirk, which the glovers kept down to the mid- 19th cen- tury. It shows Bartholomew holding a skinning knife, and is one of the most impor- tant paintings in the Museum’s collection. A detail is shown on the front cover.

Evidence for bone working in medieval Perth comes from finished objects recovered by excavation and also the waste bits left behind by workers in antler, horn, ivory and bone. Combs made from the antlers of red deer have been found on a number of Perth sites and also sawn antler tines and off-cuts which point to antler working on the PHS site in particular. Although only one horn object has survived, large num- bers of horn cores probably represent the raw material and waste from horn working. .

Combs from Medieval Perth

It is sometimes possible to show which animal skeleton supplied which bone for different object types. For example, the femur heads of cattle were often used to make spindle whorls and the long leg bones of horses were ideal for ice skates. Walrus ivory was used for luxurious items such as a knife handle decorated with the head of someone enjoying May games. 7

A pair of medieval skates made from horse long bones, Perth

Cloth fragments found in Perth by excavation form by far the largest collection of medieval textiles from Scotland – over 400 pieces. Some of these were imported, such as rich silks from Spain and the Middle East; most, however, were made locally from wool. Medieval cloth has been preserved thanks to the waterlogged conditions of Perth. The one common fabric that has not been preserved is linen, which is probably affected by the acidity of the waterlogging. We do know that linen was made here, because archaeological finds include a flax-breaking mallet and glass linen-smoothers, and both indicate production and use.

Pilgrimage: I would like to finish with a brief look at this important aspect of medieval religion.

In the medieval period pilgrimage was the key expression of popular devotion. It involved the visiting of shrines of holy saints to pray and gain cures or to build up good stock in heaven for the day of judgement. Wealthier members of society could travel far afield – to the Holy Land, to Rome or to Santiago de Compostela – or nearer to home there were important shrines at Canterbury (St Thomas a Beckett) Walsingham (Our Lady) and , to name but three. As part of one’s visit a range of souvenirs were available, such as badges and ampullae (very small flasks for holy water or holy oil), which also worked as protective amulets.

Finally, Perth produced its own saint in the 13th.century. St. William of Perth was supposedly a local baker who set out on pilgrimage to the Holy Land in 1201. On the leg of his journey between Rochester and Canterbury he was murdered, and soon after was widely regarded as a martyr: His shrine in Rochester cathedral became very popular, and a chapel and a cross were also set up on the site of his murder. The 13th century calendar of Rochester cathedral gives his day as 23 April.

8

Those who could not travel abroad could always visit the shrine of St Andrew nearer to home. St Andrew was amongst the first-called of Christ’s disciples, and became patron saint of Scotland (something he shared with Margaret). He is said to have been crucified on an X-shaped cross or saltire. Perth pilgrims brought back exam- ples of badges showing him crucified, one of which was excavated on the High Street. Some pilgrims visited the shrine of the Virgin Mary at Walsingham in Nor- folk; an ampulla, probably from this site, was also excavated on the High Street, along with a pair from the shrine of St Thomas Becket in Canterbury Cathedral. He was a popular saint in Scotland because of his opposition to King Henry II of Eng- land (the King who had Thomas murdered in Canterbury Cathedral in 1170). William the Lion dedicated Arbroath Abbey to St Thomas in 1178.

There is also evidence that pilgrims from Perth and around reached the shrine of St James in Santiago in NW Spain – they brought back scallop shells, the symbol of St James (and worn as pendants to symbolise their journey) and a jet rosary bead found at nearby Elcho nunnery also comes from the Santiago area. By the end of the 15th century there was an altar in St John’s kirk dedicated to St Thomas Beckett and St James, showing their popularity in Perth.

Scallop shells from Santiago, excavated in Perth.

Text and images copyright Perth Museum & Art Gallery, Perth & Kinross Council, Scotland.

For those eager to learn more about Perth’s archaeology the final two volumes in the Perth High Street monograph series are set to appear over the coming months, joining the two volumes that appeared last year. The series is full of fantastic ob- jects. The books are available from various outlets including Perth Museum and via the TAFAC website (www.tafac.org.uk)

9 A Review of Bernard Byrom’s Gentlemen of Honour: The Robertson Williamsons of Balgray and

‘Clogs to clogs in three generations’ was the sour Lancashire prophesy.. No Wil- liamson or Robertson would have recognised a clog, but the fortunes of their great joint estate followed the same trajectory; founders were followed by spenders. In their case it took just a century, from the end of the Napoleonic Wars to the last year of the Great War, and Bernard Byrom meticulously explores the human strengths and weaknesses of the large cast of actors in this drama.

Among the founders was General Archibald Robertson, whose profitable career in both the American and Napoleonic wars enabled him to buy the 35,000 acre Lawers estate outright on his retirement. His contemporary, Alexander Williamson, was a man of business for great landowners. One of his engagements was to administer the estates of an aristocrat who had been certified insane, after which Alexander ended up very wealthy indeed. A third major contributor to the family’s fortunes was a lawyer, David Williamson, who became a Judge as Lord Balgray, and left the then vast fortune of £34,000 to his Robertson Williams descendants.

One of the more engaging of the host of characters we meet in his book is Charles Williamson, who was employed by a rich syndicate to develop a 1,600 square mile tract of virgin land, freshly taken from the original inhabitants, in Western New York state. He laid out an extensive network of roads, cleared forests for farmland, built inns, founded towns, and attracted thousands of settlers, but in doing so lost a for- tune for his employers. When they belatedly sacked him, he turned secret agent for the British government, stirring up trouble for the Americans and attempting to set up spy networks to combat French influence across the Atlantic.

In describing the life of the extraordinary Colonel David Robertson Williamson, Mr. Byrom doesn’t pull his punches. Nor for that matter did the Colonel. His attach- ment to gratuitous violence was legendary in his day. As a young man (and even later) he had a reputation for bare-fist fighting, and remarkably for a landed gentle- man of that period, twice ended up in court for assault. He narrowly avoided trans- portation for a savage attack on a minister who he thought had behaved improperly towards his sister. He was still sentenced to nine months’ imprisonment, but was released after serving only six weeks after his friends mounted a successful petition for a (rarely granted) royal pardon.

He was widely regarded as a daredevil all his life; a formidable hunter, horse-racer, four-in-hand driver, and immensely competitive all-round athlete who could never

10 The original Lawers House, completed in 1744 by William Adams for General Sir James Campbell. The unlucky general spent only one night there, as at the age of 78 he was ordered abroad to fight on the continent, and was killed at the battle of Fontenay.

Picture courtesy of Bernard Byrom

resist a sporting challenge. At the same time, he was widely respected for his public spirit and his ample generosity towards the local community, so long as they didn’t challenge his firmly autocratic rule (or support the Liberals).

The great tragedy of his life was that he longed for a son who would follow in his footsteps and produce a chain of descendants. Instead, his son Charles was his op- posite in every way, preferring art, literature and music to foxhunting and estate management, and was devoted to a lifelong coterie of homosexual fellow Etonians, who gave him much moral and financial support when his father disowned him.

But the greatest shocks of all were Charles’s decisions, first to turn Catholic, and even more outrageously, to become a priest. It spelled the end of his father’s dynas- tic ambitions, and in a spirit of cold, vindictive revenge he purposefully set out to destroy the estate so carefully built up, solely to deprive his son of a worthwhile in- heritance. He succeeded all too well, and Charles ended up owning a bankrupt es- tate. As he had been living on borrowed money for decades, he was forced to sell almost all the remaining land to pay off his debts. By 1919, the century-old estate was no more.

Bernard Byrom has written an unusual account of a great family based on thorough research into the original documents, letters and diaries. It brilliantly describes a so- ciety whose preconceptions and motivations are now foreign to us. It makes com- pelling reading.

As a long-term member of the Friends, Bernard is offering fellow members copies of his book at the reduced price of £12.50.

11

The Murray Mausoleum at Ochtertyre

While researching the history of the Robertson Williamsons reviewed above, I went to see their family vault, erected in 1800, in the abandoned churchyard of Monzieviard , which in 1809 become the site of the mausoleum of the Murrays of Ochtertyre. It can be seen from the A85 main road just west of .

The location of the Mausoleum on the ruins of Monteviard church was deliberate. In 1511, a long-standing feud between the Drummonds and the Murrays had culmi- nated in a battle between the two sides at Knock-Mary, south of the Earn, in which the Murrays were the winners. They began to make their way back home, but the Drummonds happened to meet up with Campbell of Dunstaffnage, who was out to avenge the killing of his father-in-law and his two sons by the Murrays. This sort of neighbourly behaviour was quite common in Scotland at the time.

The Drummonds and the Campbells joined forces and pursued the Murrays, who took refuge in the church at , taking with them their wives and children. The pursuers had no idea where they had disappeared to and the Murrays could have remained in the church in safety, but one of their number stupidly fired a musket shot at the passing Drummonds. This gave away their hiding place, and when they refused to surrender, the Drummonds set fire to the thatched church, which burned

The mausoleum surrounded by the old churchyard. Although first impressions are that it is roofless, the roof is still intact, but with foliage growing on and around it. The large memorial in the left-hand corner of the churchyard is the vault of the Robertson Williamsons of Lawers (Picures courtesy of B.Byrom)

12 fiercely. One hundred and sixty men,women and children were burned to death in the church that night, and during the construction of the mausoleum nearly three hundred years later, a large quantity of charred bones and timber were discovered.

This branch of the Murrays owned the Ochtertyre estate for centuries and were major benefactors to the town of Crieff, but they left the area in the twentieth century and the estate was sold, its latest owner being Sir Brian Souter. In 2003 he gave me permission to visit the mausoleum, which over recent years had been van- dalised, and the entrance doors were padlocked.

The accompanying pictures tell their own sorry story; apart from plaster having fallen from the walls over the years, all the memorials have been wantonly smashed and anything of value stolen. In 2009 the mausoleum was placed on Perth & Kinross Council’s register of “Buildings at Risk” and the entrance has since been securely boarded up. Bernard Byrom

The view from inside the mausoleum looking towards the entrance doors with rubble on the floor and window panes smashed. I was bombarded by roosting pigeons!

The board at the far end of the mausoleum which reads “The names of Moray or Murray of Ochtertyre descended from …” and then gives their names with three panels giving details of their birth, marriages and deaths.

13

Review:

The Lost Gardens of Perthshire

Friends of Archive have just published a booklet by David Robertson on The Lost Gardens of Perthshire. Profusely illustrated with old

photographs and postcard pictures, it tells the stories of a selection of old gardens from around the County which are now either entirely lost or greatly diminished.

There were a host of reasons why these gardens died. Some succumbed to develop- ment; many were attached to large 19th century houses which were demolished or left unoccupied, and their gardens abandoned. Even where a house has remained in occupation, the owners would rarely be able to afford the teams of gardeners that served the grand houses of the past.

David has carefully investigated the histories of the foundation, heyday and decline of the ten gardens which are featured in the booklet. They include the former pleas- ure grounds of the Dukes of Atholl which attracted visitors to in the 18th and 19th centuries, the Japanese Gardens created at Dundarach House in at the beginning of the 20th century, and the stunning terrace gardens which graced the mansion of Dunira near Comrie between the two World Wars.

Other featured gardens are those of Fisher’s Hotel in Pitlochry, Methven Castle, and Strowan near Comrie, as well as Seggieden (once the home of one of Perthshire’s leading naturalists, Colonel Drummond Hay). Also included are accounts of the former Perth Nurseries on the slopes of Kinnoull Hill; the largest vine in Great Brit- ain which grew near Killin, and the story of the Great Michael plantation at which has been the subject of recent archaeological research.

Mr Robertson says his aim has been to introduce Perthshire residents to this previ- ously neglected aspect of their heritage, and to capture something of the spirit of these old gardens from the few traces of them that remain. He hopes that readers may be prompted to come forward with information about other long lost gardens which could be included in a further selection .

Copies of the booklet can be purchased for £6.00 from Local Studies at the AK Bell Library; from various bookshops and other heritage and visitor centres around the County; or by contacting the author by telephone on 01529 497354 or by e-mail to [email protected]

14

Council Housing: a movement to provide healthy and decent living conditions for the lower-paid

Council Housing has a rich history, which has transformed the housing conditions of millions of people, and massively contributed to the health and wellbeing of the community.

It owed its origins to a small number of visionary pioneers who realised that some- thing had to be done to the atrocious living conditions too long accepted as normal and inevitable. In Perth the high status accorded to Medical Officers of Health (CC1/10) projected housing and sanitary problems into local newspaper headlines through their reports and publications. And after the first world war, the slogan ’Homes for Heroes’ was useful in forcing the treasury to make money available for housing (even if underlying motivation was to damp down the social unrest of that period)

Some earlier gestures had been made; the Housing for the Working Classes Act of 1890 consolidated earlier slum clearance measures and allowed councils to initiate new housebuilding scemes on a small scale. But it was not until the Housing, Town Planning etc (Scotland) Act of 1919 obliged local authorities to survey housing needs and submit plans for improvement to the Department of Health, that a modest start was made on providing at least some of the promised ‘homes for heroes.’

At this point John Wheatley, the leader of an independent group of Labour MP's emerged as the key figure in the development of housing policy in the UK. As a di- rect result of his great Housing Act 1924, half a million council houses were built between the wars, and it put council housing on a firm financial and political basis for the next fifty years.

Wheatley's total commitment stemmed from his own impoverished background as a son of an Irish miner in the Lanarkshire coalfields, and who lived in a one-roomed terrace house with his eight brothers and sisters, parents and a lodger. The children all slept together in a bed which was rolled out at night. There was only one commu- nal toilet, and water had to be hauled from a common tap. Wheatley managed to es- cape from the pits through self-education, and eventually became a successful busi- nessman with his own printing firm, which gave him the freedom to pursue a cam- paign of persuasion. Wheatley argued that only government bodies, rather than pri- vate landlords, could supply the answer to the problem by building decent, reasona- bly priced housing for workers. In 1924 he was given a chance to put his ideas into practice when he was appointed Minister of Health in the first Labour government. Under Wheatley's plans, local authorities would receive long-term 40-year subsidies to build homes under municipal control with a government guarantee against losses.

15

Pictures courtesy of SCRAN

The Perth Improvement Act of 1893 authorized the Town Council to build dwelling houses for working men and the council proceeded to erect two blocks of houses in the centre of the City: St. Catherine's Court and St. Johnstoun's Buildings. By 1913 some 114 families (about 1% of the population) had been housed, well in advance of most burghs in Scotland, but it was not until 1919 that house building was given any sort of priority, as Perth Town Council Minutes (PE1/1) reflect.

The Corporation's housing efforts did not get seriously underway until well after the first World War. Even then the results were modest until the 1923 Act, which mas- sively encouraged slum clearance, was adopted by Perth to clear out the Castle Ga- ble area. This set a trend, accelerated by the Slum Clearance Act of 1930, which identified unfit housing in many areas of Perth: Longcauseway, Thistle Lane, Guards Vennel, George Street, Watergate, High Street, Meal Vennel, Clayholes, South Street, and Carrs Croft, to name but a few.

This modernisation programme did not progress without opposition, as the records in collections PE7 and PE73 illustrate. At the Enquiry into the Thimblerow Re- construction in1924, some objectors voiced deep disapproval to welfare of any kind, as this contributor made clear:

The State, that is to say, the tax payer and ratepayer is to get another lusty financial baby to hold in order that certain fortunate individuals who may by the luck of the ballot or by another fortuitous chance become tenants at an economic rent. It is of course recognised that the Government has been driven to bolster up a thoroughly

16 unsound State scheme as a propitiation - if it can be so called - of clamour. If this scheme were wholly one of State policy or recognition of particular individual sacri- fice during the war period, one might appreciate the situation, but where is the guar- antee that the municipal houses will pass into the hands of deserving parties? Again, if the Government is to subsidize the rents of a few people in the community at the expense of the many, is anything to be done for the unfortunate who saved enough to provide for themselves?

Irrespective of objections, the tempo of building began to increase, and by the time of the 1935 Act to abate overcrowding, Perth's housing programme had been de- veloping fast, with ground being bought and plans approved for future building. But the problem of housing shortages persisted, even with the introduction of a points system in 1927. In 1929, for instance, there were 700 applications for 96 houses, and it was estimated that Perth required 200 houses annually and had a current back- log of 600 houses. Throughout this period there were constant battles for control of housing policy and finance as council minutes (PE1/1) illustrate, but it was perhaps surprising that many independent-minded thinkers within all the parties supported the concept of providing affordable houses for working men.

The story of council house development in Perth can be summarized as follows. Between the 1893 and 1938 Acts, 30 one-apartment, 359 two-apartment, 1080 three-apartment, 471 four-apartment, 44 five-apartment, and 2 six-apartment houses were built, a total of 1986. The estates included Dunkeld Road, Darnhall, Craigie, Friarton, Gray Street, Hillyland, Riggs Road, Crieff Road, Cromlix Road, Scott Street, and Muirton.

Between 1946 and 1951, 1,600 houses were built in Dunkeld Road, Muirton, Tul- loch, Moncrieffe, Darnhall, and Letham. They comprised 12 two-apartment, 503 three-apartment, 989 four-apartment and 96 five-apartment houses.

In 1971 plans were in place for two phases of the North Muirton scheme which in total provided 1500 new homes, and which effectively completed the council’s am- bitious building programme.

But faced with Thatcher's "right to buy " legislation of the 1980s, the council de- cided to plough all its available resources into the modernisation of existing housing stock, and council house building effectively stopped, even going into sharp reverse. In Perth, almost 10,000 houses were removed from stock as a result of ‘right to buy’ sales. With no attempt by the government to provide funds to replace them, the council was left with only 7,500 homes on its books to meet a demand that increased year by year. Perth & Kinross Council's Strategic Housing Investment Plan 2010 - 2015 shows that there is now an unmet ‘affordable housing’ need for 557 houses an- nually. We’ll have to wait and see what happens next.

Jim Ferguson 17 The Rescue Ship “Perth”

The Dundee, Perth and London Steamship Company’s 2,208 ton ves- sel SS Perth, the fifth of that name, had been built in 1915 at the Caledon Ship- yard in Dundee for service as a passenger and freight coaster between Dundee and London, but was almost immediately conscripted for naval duties. She was Com- missioned as an ‘Armed Boarding Steamer’ serving mostly in the Red Sea. When acting as the sole armed escort for a convoy heading from Gibraltar to England, she saw off a German submarine whose Captain had decided to merely use his deck gun against this former merchant ship. The doughtiness of the seamen serving on SS Perth was misjudged by the skipper of the submarine, and after a five-hour fight, the submarine withdrew. Meanwhile, the convoy escaped.

But SS Perth’s greatest fame came in WWII, when she served as a rescue ship, trail- ing behind convoys on 30 round voyages across the North Atlantic to pick up the victims of U-boat attacks. She had been conscripted by the Admiralty for this job because she had a low freeboard, space for hospital services and accommodation for RN medical and gunnery staff on board, but otherwise was crewed by Merchant Navy Officers and seamen, flying the Blue Ensign of a fleet auxiliary. During her service she saved from the depths no less than 455 stricken sailors whose vessels had been torpedoed and airmen who had ditched in the ocean.

The SS Perth between the wars in the livery of the DP&L Steamship Company

(Picture courtesy of DPL Travel Agency, Dundee) 18 She was commended by the Fleet Commodore for her excellent work in the use of her high frequency direction-finding equipment. He also commended her master for his “great gallantry and recourse, firstly in rescuing 57 out of 58 from the SS Em- pire Spenser in a sea aflame, and secondly rescuing 12 out of 48 from the SS Charles L.D. in bad weather and heavy seas, to say nothing of the dangers accepted from enemy action”.

A few awards arose from their exploits - two Masters of the Perth, namely Captains A .Williamson and C.K. Williamson were each appointed Officers of the British Em- pire; Martin Cully, donkeyman, and David Low, ship’s carpenter, both of Dundee, were each awarded the British Empire Medal, and Surgeon Lieutenant Kelly and Ra- dio Officer T Macdonald, were Mentioned in Despatches. Martin Cully was over 60 years of age at the time, having been born in 1883, but still undertook all 30 round trips across the Atlantic.

A D.P. & L. coaster in civilian life, SS Perth thus made magnificent contributions to British efforts in both World Wars and should never be forgotten, particularly in her home port of Dundee and her namesake city.

Until recently, a fine Builder’s model of her could be seen in the DP&L travel agency’s office in McEwan’s of Perth. It is now on display in their Dundee branch. DP&L has long since ceased to be ply the seas, so these models are presumably their only remaining vessels!

Donald M. Abbott, FSA Scot,

An Atlantic convoy in winter; appalling conditions faced rescuers and rescued alike

19 Picture courtesy of AK Bell Local Studies Department Exploring an Archive with Jackie Hay:

The Kenneth Young Collection, MS308

Kenneth Gibson Young, WS, (1913-2000) worked as a solicitor in Auchter- arder for many decades, held the offices of borough chamberlain and town clerk, and acted as licensing clerk for the district. He is also remembered for his keen interest in, and extensive knowledge of, the history of the area.

Kenneth Young's papers – which included personal and business records as well as local history research – were distributed between family members and other inter- ested parties. Over time, many of these materials have come to Perth & Kinross Council Archive as the Kenneth Young Collection (MS308), and have been arranged to reflect their provenance.

Papers relating to the Young family business in Auchterarder reach back to William Young (c1798-1870), solicitor, banker and Commissary Clerk of Perthshire.

A selection of papers concerns the Young family home of Belvedere, Auchterarder, including the purchase of the land, building specifications for the house and addi- tional works (1849-1870), together with a furniture inventory (c1878). As well as shedding light on contemporary architectural and design features, this batch of re- cords provides details of local suppliers and craftsmen.

Indeed, in addition to research papers and correspondence, many of the original documents in the Collection offer evidence of the local and family history of the Auchterarder area. A bundle of charters and sasines (1560-1585), describes titles of lands and teinds in the parish of , particularly relating to Newraw, Thorny- hill, Woodend, Smiddycroft and the Wood of Incheviot. Mostly in Latin on vellum, one with the seal of and another with a partial Great Seal, these documents have now been rehoused in archive-friendly envelopes [MS308/1/1]. There is a cartulary of properties in the Auchterarder area (c1841-1968), and an out- size plan of the barony of Auchterarder in 1775.

Individual documents can be of use to family historians. A grant of 1774, for in- stance, names the interested parties, including David Darling, shoemaker in Miln- town of Ochterarder, and carries the signatures of witnesses [MS308/1/3/4]. An ear- lier deposit by K G Young relates to the claims by inhabitants for losses sustained in the burning of Auchterarder in 1715 [MS14/149].

The Kenneth Young Collection extends to almost a linear metre of shelf space in the strong room, but its potential value to researchers of local history and genealogy is immeasurable. 20 Exploring an Archive with Marjorie Howat

The Pavilion, DGP/1928/11

Looking through the Dean of Guild plans continues to be interesting, but there was one plan which brought back a happy memory. DGP/1928/11 is a plan for an Entertainment Pavilion to be built for James Currie Esq. on the Lesser South Inch, drawn by architect A.K. Beaton of 9 Charlotte Street, Perth.

A writer in the Perthshire Advertiser of 1928 said ‘the City will at last be provided with a permanent place of entertainment where Pierrot Shows can be enjoyed.’ There was to be seating for 600patrons and ‘everyone will have a tip-up seat’.

I will not be alone in remembering this Pavilion and its final use as a transport cafe; but my particular memory goes back to childhood. I had been taken to a variety show and one item was a ballerina dancing a solo as the Sugar Plum Fairy, with the familiar music by Tchaikovsky. I had never seen anything like it, and to me it was real magic. The dancer was probably third rate, but it introduced me to a dance form which I have continued to enjoy watching. Since domestic television did not then exist, a visit to a variety show was more exciting than it would be now.

Perth Town Council purchased the Pavilion From James Currie in 1936 and in 1939 agreed a three year lease to Bernard Frutin of Glasgow so that summer entertain- ment for visitors could be provided. Summer shows extended beyond the three years, but I have not found out exactly when they stopped.

By 1960, ex-Bailie D.K. Thomson was describing the pavilion as a ‘picture of deso- lation and ugliness and a black spot in the town’ It had become a transport cafe and hostel and was eventually closed down in 1969, and then demolished.

The listing for MS308 (opposite page) has recently been made available via the online catalogue at http://archivecatalogue.pkc.gov.uk. – Ed. Quick question:

‘Does anyone remember collecting ship ha'pennies (halfpennies which had a sail- ing ship on one side) during the War, or know which charity they were for? I remember collecting them when I was at Kinnoull School, and Mr. Melville Gray of Bowerswell was involved; but I know nothing beyond that. Any information would be welcome.’ M.M.H

Contact the Archive staff if you can help

21 Tracing your ancestors before 1855 ‘Every Scotchman has his pedigree. It is his national prerogative, as inalienable as his pride or his poverty.’ Sir Walter Scott

The splendid attendance at Dr Robert Fenwick's talk on 17 April 2012 showed the interest which genealogical subjects generate. Family history is a huge and time- consuming subject. The old, and probably apocryphal, story of the man who gave up his research -- after finding that all his ancestors had been hanged for sheep-stealing -- acts as a warning to potential family researchers. That said, I suspect that most re- searchers are more likely to enjoy, rather than find distressing information about scandalous or criminal relatives of three or more generations ago.

Professional genealogists such as our speaker assure amateurs like myself that it is possible to dig far back into history, yet most of us come to a grinding halt in the latter part of the 18th century. What, then, are the genealogists' secrets? In Dr. Fen- wick’s experience, there are three essential books for guidance. These are:

Tracing Your Scottish Ancestors: a guide to ancestry research in the Na- tional Records of Scotland and ScotlandsPeople , edited by Tristram Clarke (Birlinnie, 2011) A Directory of Landownership in Scotland circa 1770, by Loretta R Timper- ley (Scottish Record Society, 1976); and Scottish Handwriting 1150-1650, by Grant G. Simpson.

Dr. Fenwick’s talk contained much valuable advice. For example, although county and parish boundaries are assumed to be static, many were changed in the 1890s. Some parishes to this day have enclaves. Maps of about 1870, showing "detached" areas, can be viewed in the National Library of Scotland in . The census returns of 1841-1891 list "detached" parishes, but researchers should be aware that communities were likely to worship in their nearest church, even when this was lo- cated in another parish. Another pitfall may be the difference in some cases between civil parishes and the quoad sacra (purely ecclesiastical) parishes.

Dr. Fenwick warned us that the Old Parish Records (OPRs) so beloved of amateur genealogists are very incomplete. They record perhaps half of the christenings, mar- riages and funerals which occurred. Session minutes sometimes record burial and mortcloth fees and marriage fees. Until 1830 Sessions were also responsible for par- ish welfare. Communion rolls are another useful source of information, with some even listing all households and naming the head of the household. Estate records, now often held in local or national archive collections, can be a treasure for gene- alogists, and the Statistical Accounts list the principal landowners of each county.

The first of Dr. Fenwick’s recommended books, Tracing Your Scottish Ancestors, is

22

Registry House Edinburgh, home to the National Records of Scotland

Picture courtesy of SCRAN an invaluable manual for amateurs prepared by experts in the National Records of Scotland (NRS), formerly the National Archives of Scotland (NAS) and the General Records Office Scotland (GROS). It is easy to read and packed full of facts.

It features an Index to categories of individuals containing information on records relating to occupations - including masons, picture restorers and midwives - and dozens of other categories, including suffragettes, royal officials and insane persons.

Appendix A, entitled Useful Addresses, contains contact details (the postal and web- site addresses and telephone numbers) of National Institutions, Local Archives, Uni- versity Archives, Medical Archives and Genealogical Societies. Most of the books listed in Appendix B, entitled Useful Books, concentrate on Scottish genealogy, but some cover Irish and military ancestors.

In addition, it contains a plethora of useful tips, such as;

• Use the Scottish Archive Network (SCAN) website: www.scan.org.uk for in- formation on which records are held in local archives. The website also offers advice on aspects of research and a glossary of legal terms.

• For further information on Post Office directories for 28 towns covering the period 1773-1991, consult the National Library of Scotland webpages at www.auth.nls.uk

23 • Consult either the NLS or your local library for information about collections of local newspapers, and your local library for copies of surveys of local graveyards carried out under the Monumental Inscriptions Project.

• Consult www.ScotlandsPlaces.gov.uk for detailed guidance on both the loca- tion and history of settlements.

• Scotland’s People keeps wills and testaments dating from 1513, ‘Minor Re- cords’, including marine registers from 1855, Roman Catholic records from 1703 and Valuation Rolls . • When searching electronically for a surname beginning with Mac, Mc or M', use m*c.

• The wealth of information on Census records includes such details as the dates of each census from 1841-1911 and the fact that ages in the 1841 census could be rounded down by up to five years. Information about census surveys before 1841 can be found on the website www.scotlandspeoplehub.gov.uk

• Although the manual explains many legal terms, it recommends its readers to get into the habit of using a dictionary, such as The Concise Scots Dictionary.

A Directory of Scottish Landownership in Scotland circa 1770 accurately reflects the type of information which can be gleaned from original records. The author uses the land tax records available for 1770 to list named landowners and the names and values of their estates. The publication is available in the NRS search rooms and good reference libraries. Very few records survive of property taxes before the in- troduction of the Valuation Rolls in 1855. Surviving records of the Land Tax, intro- duced in 1667, are held at the NRS (Exchequer series, NRS ref E67). They record the names of landowners, but not those of tenants or occupiers.

Scottish Handwriting 1150-1650 is clearly an essential tool for anyone fortunate enough to have early documents to read (many Friends of the Archive will recall David Wilson's article on Secretary Hand in our Newsletter No 16). In addition to the publication, researchers can also take advantage of an online tutorial at www.scottishhandwriting.com

As those of us who have tried can testify, it is very difficult to try to condense a huge and complicated subject into one talk or one article, so we are most grateful to Dr Fenwick, a life member of the Friends, for sharing his vast experience with us in an important aspect of Scottish archives. On a personal note, I must thank him for in- troducing me to the NRS manual, which is proving particularly valuable. We look forward to further talks on genealogical subjects both from within and without our membership. Margaret Borland Stroyan. 24