Old Photograph Carstairs House Scotland

Old photograph of Carstairs House in South Lanarkshire, Scotland. This Scottish house was built by the Edinburgh architect William Burn between 1820 and 1823 for Henry Monteith MP. It replaced the previous building on the site. It then passed to his son Robert Monteith, and on his death to Joseph Monteith who built a hydroelectric plant at nearby Jarviswood, and the Carstairs House Tramway to transport guests and family to and from Carstairs railway station. In 1899 it was purchased by Sir James King, 1st Baronet who had been Lord Provost of Glasgow between 1886 and 1889. In 1924 Carstairs House was sold to the Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Glasgow and renamed as the St. Charles Institution. The children moved here in 1925. The St Charles Certified Institution for mentally defective Catholic children was opened in June 1916 at Marham House, Broomhill, Glasgow. The Daughters of Charity of Saint Vincent de Paul staffed the institution and there was provision for 63 children. St Charles' institution closed in 1983.



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Old Photographs High Street Dunfermline Fife Scotland

Old photograph of shops, buildings, people and cars on the High Street in Dunfermline, Fife, Scotland.



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Old Photograph Priory Lane Dunfermline Scotland

Old photograph of children, cottages, houses and Fish, Fruit, and confectionery shop on Priory Lane in Dunfermline, Fife, Scotland. Dunfermline's most famous son is the entrepreneur and philanthropist, Andrew Carnegie who was born in the town in 1835. Among the gifts he gave to his home town, include a free library and public swimming baths. Most important of all, was the donation of the Pittencrieff Estate which he had purchased in 1903 to be converted into Pittencrieff Park. In 1888, two Dunfermline men, John Reid and Robert Lockhart, first demonstrated golf in the US by setting up a hole in an orchard, before Reid set up America's first golf club the same year, St. Andrews Golf Club in Yonkers, New York, with Andrew Carnegie one of the first members.



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Old Photograph Arrol Johnston Motor Car Factory Scotland

Old photograph of the Arrol Johnston Motor Car Factory at Heathhall just outside Dumfries, Scotland. Arrol-Johnston, later known as Arrol-Aster, was an early Scottish manufacturer of automobiles, which operated from 1896 to 1931 and produced the first automobile manufactured in Britain. The company also developed the world's first " off-road " vehicle for the Egyptian government, and another designed to travel on ice and snow for Ernest Shackleton's Nimrod Expedition to the South Pole. George Johnston was by training a locomotive engineer from Neilson, Reid and Company Limited of Springburn, Glasgow. Johnston was commissioned by Glasgow Corporation Tramways in 1894 to build an experimental steam-powered tramcar to replace their fleet of horse drawn trams. In 1895 Johnston formed a joint venture with Sir William Arrol, an engineer of the Forth Bridge to form the Mo-Car Syndicate Limited, which was to produce his car. Sir William was Chairman and Johnston was Managing Director, and the Syndicate included a Mr. Archibald Coats, and a Mr. Millar of Paisley, while Norman Fulton was Works Manager. Sir William's main interest in the business was as the financial backer. The first Arrol-Johnston car was a six-seater " Dogcart " a vehicle with two transverse seats placed back to back, which went into production at a factory at Camlachie, in the East End of Glasgow. The company's Camlachie premises were destroyed by fire in 1901, and production was moved to Paisley. In 1913 Arrol Johnston bought land at Heathhall, just outside Dumfries, and commissioned an American firm to build a factory. This is said to be the first factory in Britain to use ferro-concrete, concrete reinforced with metal bars, and was designed by Albert Kahn, architect of the Ford factory at Highland Park, Michigan, USA, where the Model T was produced.



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Old Photograph Orkneyman's Cave Bressay Scotland

Old photograph of the Orkneyman's Cave and cliffs on the Island of Bressay, Shetland Islands, Scotland. Bressay lies due south of Whalsay, west of Noss, and north of Mousa. At 11 square miles, it is the fifth largest island in Shetland. The population is around 360 people, concentrated in the middle of the west coast, around Glebe and Fullaburn. The island is made up of Old Red Sandstone with some basaltic intrusions. Bressay was quarried extensively for building materials, used all over Shetland, especially in nearby Lerwick. There are a number of sea caves and arches.





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