William Ritchie (c.1790-1837), scientist and mathematician, born at Monzie, educated at Perth Academy and then Edinburgh University (graduated 1811). Ritchie became assistant master at Perth Academy in 1816 and two years later published System of Arithmetic. By 1820, Ritchie was Rector of Tain Royal Academy. In this post, he had time to […]
Alexander Balmain Bruce (1831-1899) Minister and Theologian was born at West Lodge, Dupplin and initially educated at the parish school in Auchterarder before attending Edinburgh University (1845). This was just after the Disruption of 1843 and whether as a result of this or some other factor, Bruce’s study of theology resulted […]
“Martyr, born at Perth; died about 1201. Practically all that is known of this martyr comes from the “Nova legenda Anglie”, and that is little. In youth he had been somewhat wild, but on reaching manhood he devoted himself wholly to the service of God. A baker by trade, he […]
John MacDiarmid: John MacDiarmid (1779-1808) was born the son of the minister of Weem at Perthshire. A writer amongst which his body of work is found: An Inquiry into the System of Military Defence of Great Britain (1803) Inquiry into the Nature of Civil and Military Subordination (1804) Lives of British […]
David Mallet (Malloch): Born near Crieff around 1705, David Mallet, a farmer’s son rose from being janitor of Edinburgh High School to an acclaimed poet and songwriter; though a less than successful playwright. He attended St. Andrews University whence he became a tutor (1720) and gained employment as such to the […]
David Octavius Hill: This painter and pioneering portrait photography was born in Perth in 1802, the son of a local bookseller. Educated at Perth Academy he studied subsequently at the Edinburgh School of Design. He became interested in railways as a young man and produced a set of engravings of the Garnkirk […]
Hugh Haliburton (the Pseudonym of the minor poet James Logie Robertson): Born in Milnathort by Kinross in 1846 and educated at Orwell ParishSchool. Hugh Haliburton began as a student-teacher at Haddington before studying at Edinburgh University and teaching at Heriot’s Hospital. He became the first English master at Edinburgh Ladies’ College […]
Jane Findlater & Mary Findlater: “Jane Findlater was born at Lochearnhead, Perthshire, on 4 November 1866. She and her sister were educated together at home and had a close relationship which would even extend to the co-writing of several books. Their father died in 1886, and the family moved to Prestonpans, […]
John Duncan Fergusson: Painter born in Perthshire in 1874. Fergusson took up painting after studying Medicine. He is part of the Scottish Colourists Group that includes Samuel John Peploe and Francis Cadell. The Colourists came out of the Glasgow School of Painting with the mantra of the importance of colour […]
James (Gillespie) Graham: An architect born in Dunblane in the County of Perthshire in 1776. Of note are his churches – St. Mary’s RC Cathedral in Edinburgh (1813-14); St. Andrew’s Cathedral in Glasgow (1814-17); and, the Tolbooth Church in Edinburgh – collaboration with A. W. N. Pugin (1839-44). These building invoke […]