PerthshireCrieffStrathearn Local History

AGRICOLA AND STRATHEARN By the time Agricola had reached the Forth - Clyde isthmus, he had completed three seasons of operations in Britain and as a result Roman occupied territory had been advanced all the way from North Wales. The permanence of the Roman Walls came after this. Hadrian’s Wall was not started until 122 AD whilst Antonines was later at 142 AD. Agricola based his frontier on marching forts and camps. Agricola’s initial Governorship should  have been for a three year period . In fact it extended to six years much of which was  spent campaigning in the north beyond the Forth /Clyde isthmus. After he defeated Calgacus at Mons Graupius ( see below )  , he set about establishing his defences. It was however his successor built the forts north of the Forth. There are two main groups of forts north of the Forth. The outer line hugs the edge of the Highlands, the forts usually being placed within the very mouths of the glens. The forts stretch north -east fro

The McEwan Family – Woollen Manufacturers in Crieff   The following was published in Porteous’   “History of Crieff ” and gives a contemporary account of the growth of the McEwan business . Towards the end of the eighteenth century a small company carried a woollen manufactory at Dallerie which came into the hands of John McQueen but he was unsuccessful. At the beginning of the last century, Mr James McEwan when a boy, came to Crieff with his father, who engaged in woollen manufactures. On his father's death Mr McEwan entered into partnership with Mr William Hamilton and they started a woollen manufactory in a building at the foot of James Square on the east side of King Street . This building was then known as “The Warehouse “but in after years it attained the unenviable sobriquet of “Mount Rascal “.   Messrs McEwen and Hamilton carried on the business with much success for several years, but at last they dissolved partnership. Mr McEwan took over the compa

Tom na Chastille Fully a mile south of the old kirk of Monzievaird lies Trowin or Trewin . Today it is dominated by Baird’s monument sitting atop Tom a Chastille or Castle Hill . Once it was the site of the castle of Earn . In by gone times it was at the north east edge of the Glen Artney deer forest   . From its summit beacon fires would proclaim the Earl’s rule over the whole of Strathearn . In 1329 John de Warrens , Earl of Surrey and his wife Joanna , Countess of Strathearn were condemned to imprisonment for life in the castle for complicity with various other lords against King Robert Bruce .. The judgement was given by the Parliament at Scone . Tradition states that castle was burned down in the later part of the 14 th century and some noble ladies confined therein were consumed by the flames . About 1790 most of the old stones of the castle were removed to be used as building material for the farm dykes and other enclosures. When excavations were being carried out

Democracy Arrives ! Having  taught genealogy or family history for  more than fifteen years  to further education students here in Strathearn, I have been aware  of the importance of providing adequate  research sources  for those attempting to find that direct  route back to Adam ! The 1832 Voters Roll was something quite unique aand is not generally available on the internet genealogy web sites . Why was it so important ?  The Scottish Reform Act 1832 was an Act of Parliament that introduced wide ranging changes to the election laws of Scotland. the Act was passed at approximately the same time as theReform Act 1832 which applied  only  to Wales and England .Before the Act six small Counties elected an MP Only in alternate Parliaments .The Act changed things . Kinross and Clackmannanshire became a  single constituency . Edinburgh and Glasgow  had two MPs whilst Aberdeen , Dundee, Greenock, Paisley and Perth had one each . The effect of the reform Act was considerab