1830  John Hay builds a mansion at Letham Grange.

1830  The south-west spired tower of the Abbey, in a ruinous state, is taken down.

1830  (?) Auchmithie fisher folk move to Arbroath. 'Spinks', 'Swankies' & 'Cargills' are the people who bring the 'Smokie' to Arbroath. In the 1800s the Smokie is known as 'close-fish', the 'lucken' & the 'Auchmithie Cure'.

1830  Dr Guthrie is the minister at Arbirlot.

1830  John Hume is MP for the 'Montrose Burghs'  i.e. Montrose, Arbroath, Brechin, Forfar & Bervie, which together return one member of Parliament.

 

1830-1840  Shipbuilders Alexander Stephen & Sons operate next to the harbour. The company will produce a total of 32 vessels. A naval press gang is hoodwinked when Mr Stephen allows his men to hide in the 'steaming-box' until they have gone.

1830  Expansion in the linen industry (requiring more flax) means Arbroath now has around 70 vessels registered. More timber is also being imported.

 

1831  (Apr 20) Capt Stien takes the 'Ebenezer' out of Arbroath carrying a cargo of canvas bound for Drammen in Norway.

1831  (May 21)  The vessel 'Union' arrives at Arbroath from Riga.

1831  (May 23)  The vessel 'Laurel' arrives at Arbroath from Riga.

1831  (May 24)  The vessel 'Superior' (under Captain James Reid) arrives at Arbroath from Riga.

1831  (June 1)  The vessel 'Clio' arrives at Arbroath from Riga.

1831  George Hay born in Edinburgh. He will become editor of the Arbroath Guide.

1831  Population (census) is 11,211.

1831  A 'handsome Gothic spire', (152 ft), is added to the Parish Church at a cost of £1,300.

 

1832  Frasers, it's beginnings the mechanics workshop of a sailcloth & canvas factory, is founded by Douglas Fraser.

1832  John MacDonald, Town Clerk, buys Windmill House, it's front door at this time facing Millgate Loan. It will remain in the family until 1919.

1832  A new school is opened in Market Place, but has limited success & exists only until 1839.

1832  In the Parliamentary Reform Act, the town is described as 'Aberbrothwick', which offends the local authorities.

1832  Arbirlot Parish Church is rebuilt.

1832   Reform Street, a further extension of Maule Street is built, named after the Reform Act.

1832  Horatio Ross of Rossie is the 1st MP to be returned from the Montrose Burghs to this year's new Reformed Parliament.

1832  The Parish Church's present steeple is constructed. (?)

1832  There are 16 spinning mills in the town.

 

1833  John Kirk is born in Arbirlot. He will be remembered as 'the suppressor of the east African slave trade'.

1833  Some wages are: Mason 1sh.8 1/2d., Carpenter 2sh.0d., Blacksmith 2sh.6d.  House rent: 55sh.

Food prices: Oatmeal (peck) 1sh., Wheatbread (quartern loaf) 0sh. 8d., Cheese (lb) 0sh. 4d.Beef 0sh. 5d.

1833  Thomas Moonlight (the surname derived from the night time abandonment of a young ancestor in 1650) is born in Boysack Muir. An apprentice draper for a year in Arbroath, he walks to Dundee aged 13 & joins the crew of a boat bound for Philadelphia. At first a farm worker, at the age of 20  he  joins the U.S. Artillery & is Captain by 1857. He buys a farm in Kickapoo, Kansas, but joining the northern states in the Civil War, is present at the Battle of Pea Ridge in 1862.  He becomes Colonel in April 1864 & commands the 2nd Kansas Brigade at the Battle of Westport in October that year. Moonlight is promoted to Brevet Brigadier General in Feb '65 & later fights against the indigenous Wyoming 'Indians'. Returning to farming in 1868, he also becomes involved in politics & in 1887 is appointed Governor of Wyoming. His whirlwind  life is rounded off  as U.S. Ambassador to Bolivia 1893-97 & he dies in 1899.  (Source: Angus Archives / A. Mowatt).

1833  The Factory Act states that children under the age of  9 should not be employed and those under 12 should not work more than 9 hours per day. Poverty, however, sees to it that the law will be broken.

 

 

 

1834 (Aug) James Chalmers invents the adhesive postage stamp & sells them in his brother's bookshop in Castle Street, Dundee.

 

1835  Clearing out of the church area is completed in the ongoing Abbey conservation. It is found that the coffin which was discovered in 1816 & assumed to be that of King William the Lion, is  flanked by two others - of a lady and a bishop.

1835  A new manse replaces the old one at Arbirlot.

1835  Patrick Chalmers of Aldbar is MP for the Angus Burghs.

1835-1842  Shipbuilder Arthur Smith operates between the Sig.Tower & harbour.

 

1836 (May 19) The Dundee & Arbroath Railway Police are formed. With between 10 and 25 officers, their headquarters are at Dundee East Station. This year also, Arbroath Burgh Police are formed.

1836  The Arbroath Journal & Forfarshire Political & Critical Review is founded. It will exist for about 6 years, published by Ann (Orkney) Anderson, printed in Horner's Wynd (later Commerce Street) & edited by John Sim Sands, lawyer. The Journal will be the predecessor of the Arbroath Guide.

1836 (-1839)  Robert Allan is Provost.

 

1837 (1839 ?)  James Chalmers (MP for the Angus Burghs) sends his adhesive stamp to Sir Roland Hill, chairman of the committee considering the idea of a uniform penny postage. The Penny Black will be issued in January 1840, but Hill will claim credit for the invention.

 

1838  Ladyloan Church is built on the north side of Lady Loan just west of Bell Rock Lane.

1838  (Oct 6)  The first railway station in the town (the former poorhouse on Ladyloan) is opened near the Signal Tower. The Arbroath & Dundee Joint Railway Company's line runs from Craigie Sta., Dundee to here, passing seaward of Seaforth House, passing between the Signal Tower & Ladyloan & terminating between the Signal Tower & the Harbour. Their Railway Hotel is on Bell Rock Lane's corner.

1838 (Nov 24) Trains first run from the harbour to Leysmill, the line from Arbroath Station having been built this year to allow fish to be loaded & sent to Scottish destinations.

1838 (Nov 30) The Arbroath Herald is first published. The newspaper from this date to the present is available on microfilm.

 

1839 (Jan 3) Catherine St. Station, terminus of Arbroath & Forfar Railway, opens.

1839  Alex. Stephen builds the first full-rigged ship, the 'John Mitchell', of 402 tons.

1839  James B. Craig's china shop opens at 37 Millgate. Three subsequent owners will retain this trading name for 155 years.

1839  Alexander Mann becomes Provost of Arbroath.

1839  The school in Market Place is converted to a private day school (run by Mr. Pyatt) & this exists until 1875.

1839  ( - 1842 ?)  The harbour is enlarged & improved. Subsequently the town council try again to encourage fishermen from Auchmithie & Shetland to relocate to Arbroath. Up until this reconstruction, the line of the old harbour pier, marked by it's foundation of large boulders, has existed curving SW from Danger Point.

1839  The Arbroath & Forfar Railway is completely open.

1830 - 1839

Alexander Stephen

The Auchmithie Smokie

Thomas Moonlight

Arbroath 1838

Aberbrothock & district : 1832

Below are two examples of silverware by Arbroath's Andrew Davidson from between 1830 & 1840