# General > General >  Wick Street Names

## trinkie

Do you know where your Street Name originated?

Who was the 
Smith of Smith Terrace?
Nicolson of Nicolson Street,
Huddart of Huddart Street - ( famous for Marine charts ??)
Murchison 
Kinnaird
Rutherford
Henrietta
Miller 
Dunbar
etc etc

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## Lavenderblue2

> Do you know where your Street Name originated?
> 
> Who was the 
> Smith of Smith Terrace?
> Nicolson of Nicolson Street,
> Huddart of Huddart Street - ( famous for Marine charts ??)
> Murchison 
> Kinnaird
> Rutherford
> ...


Another good one Trinkie - I wonder could the Smith be a link to William Smith the Boys Brigade founder. I know he was born in Thurso but it could be a County honour.   
The Dunbar possibly after the Duff Dunbars?  
Nicolson could be after John Nicolson of Canisbay who was a collector of Caithness antiquities.   
Once again born in Thurso, William Miller was a Free Church missionary of many honours, who was apparently, (quote) was one of the most inspiring men the county has ever produced.

I maybe quite wrong but it's fun to try.

LB

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## Dusty

I'm a Miller and I'm claiming Miller Street coz it was probably named after one of my ancestors so there...

Seriously, what an interesting subject for a post, our local street names, like a lot more in our lives are taken for granted by the vast majority of us.
At a guess, as Pulteneytown was named after the British Fisheries Society chief director Sir William Pulteney, the rest of the street names may also have a similar type of connection.
I look forward to being enlightened, for I am sure that there are Orgers who will have this information or will find it shortly.

Dusty.

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## Angela

This is a great topic! :Smile:  

Looking at my family history, I can see that while most of my relatives were crofters or farm servants, by the late 19th/early 20th century quite a few were living in Pultneytown. 

When my Mum retired and moved back to Wick in the 1970s, she lived in Dempster Street, my aunt and uncle were not far away in Lower Dunbar Street. I wonder who lives in their houses now?

I shouldn't think there was anyone important or famous enough in my family to have a street named after them  ::  but it would be interesting to know where the names came from - I must say I find those obviously named after women (e.g. Henrietta Street) particularly interesting.

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## brandy

ok what about vansittart?

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## Angela

> ok what about vansittart?


That's an unusual name isn't it, brandy?

I think I'll take a look at my family tree (I'd put it away for the summer) and maybe post some of the addresses my relations lived at -maybe some Orgers will be living there now  ::  or there again, perhaps the houses will have been demolished  ::

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## Lavenderblue2

> ok what about vansittart?


 
I wonder could this be a Dutch link - I am sure there was a trading link long ago - there certainly was with the flagstones because I think that's why there is a Rotterdam Street in Thurso..
Do you know if we could find out the true origins of these street names both Wick and Thurso it would make a great booklet with interest for both locals and visitors alike.  
I would also like to see a booklet in memory of all the old shops we've been recalling - anybody from NOSN looking in?

LB

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## trinkie

Brandy,  I have done a quick google  -   the peerage.com
and it came up with Henry Vansittart the first and last Baron of Bexley.... interesting.
He was a ship's captain.
Someone will tell us if this is the guy !

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## trinkie

By the way Brandy,  when I was young it used to be called Fancy Tart Street !!    
I was going to add that my grannie and her sisters lived there , but I dont think I'll bother now !

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## Rheghead

Does anyone know of Wick/Thurso street names with a connection to the Carribean?  Sad as I am, I've seen a number of Caithnessian gravestones with mentions of the West Indies in the 18th century.  I wonder if Wick had slave money to build the town? ::

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## Elenna

I was sure I had read someplace locally that the streets in Pulteneytown were named after the members of the British Fisheries Society. The entry in Wikipedia (sub-heading _Pulteneytown_, under the main entry _Wick_) says:

_As created by the British Fisheries Society, Pulteneytown consisted of Lower Pulteney and Upper Pulteney. Lower Pulteney was primarily a working area, built on a sandbank behind the harbour. Upper Pulteney was primarily a residential area, on higher ground. Street names in Upper Pulteney tend to be those of somewhat "upper class" individuals associated with the Fisheries Society, while Lower Pulteney street names tend to be more "lower class". Telford Street is in Lower Pulteney._

(link:http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wick%2C_Highland)

So it might be interesting to have a look at the list of the names of the British Fisheries Society members  :Smile: . I haven't been able to find one, though. Anybody else know where it can be found?

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## trinkie

Rheghead - I dont know about your question,  but there was a Black Man buried in Berriedale cemetery.  I believe there's a corner left for  'strangers'
Not that he was a Stranger for long.   I understand he was brought over as a Freed Slave, to help with the Sheep as he was something of an expert.    He later bought and ran Berriedale Inn.
Someone correct me if I'm wrong.

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## Ojibwa

Anyone know how Baron's Well got it's name ?

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## caroline

Love this topic.  My grandfather was born in Barrogill St which I am lead to beleive was named after Barrogill Castle which is now Castle Mey belonged to the Queen Mother. Grandmother was born in Vansistart St they eat fancy cakes in that street hahaha. I was also told it was known as Fancy Tart Street prefer to say fancy cakes.

Other Street Names I am interested in 
Grant Street 
Macrae Street 
McArthur Street 
Breadabane Terrace
Argyle Square
Bank Row may speak for itself as it is near the harbour
Just to name a few more all Putneytown.

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## peter macdonald

Grant St was named afterCharles grant who was diector of the British Fisheries Society Likewise was the Earl of Breadalbane the Duke of Argylle
Colin MacRae was the assistant secy of the Society MacArthur st I think was named after the Customs Officer at the time  Miller St was named after Alexander Miller who was the first to get a lot in the New building of Pulteneytown  Burn St was named after Burn the architect Dunbar St was named after Sir Benjamin Dunbar a member of the Societyas was George Dempster    Hope that helps!!

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## Angela

> Grant St was named afterCharles grant who was diector of the British Fisheries Society Likewise was the Earl of Breadalbane the Duke of Argylle
> Colin MacRae was the assistant secy of the Society MacArthur st I think was named after the Customs Officer at the time Miller St was named after Alexander Miller who was the first to get a lot in the New building of Pulteneytown Burn St was named after Burn the architect Dunbar St was named after Sir Benjamin Dunbar a member of the Societyas was George Dempster Hope that helps!!


Thanks a lot Peter, that has helped me a lot, great to get such useful info. 

Quite a lot of family history info has come my way today, all unexpected. I was going to put my Family Tree away over the summer, but this has sparked my interest again. 

Thank you!  :Smile:

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## cuddlepop

Whats the name of the shortest street in Wick?,I've forgotten its name but I do remember it was an interesting one.
Great topic for a thread. :Grin:

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## pat

Ebenezer place - at the end of Mackays hotel.  Shortest street name taken from it a good few years ago as they had filled in the entrance door (think it had been a hat shop) so was no longer a street, but got it back now that ebenezers has its entrance on the street.

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## trinkie

Thank you so much Peter MacDonald....
Now why Ebenezer......
I think I came across a fishing boat in Clyth with that name around 1876.

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## brandy

i know mackays hotel was orig. owned by two sisters ( i think) wasnt it at one time called the temperance hotel? or was that another one?
ebernezers place may be called that  a shte bar was called ebenezers.. but dont know.. i use to work there.. the hotel has a good bit of history. 
the sisters were mackays and i think that when it was sold in was in condition that the family name mackay be kept. 
i may be speaking out my ear but i think that is right.. you hear so many things its hard to know whats right and whats not! any one can back me up?

also i know that vansittart st. has changed a lot. 
as my hubbys mum and dad bought houses here years ago.. but right after they bought them, the council decided to tear down the houses and rebuild. 
now what i dont understand is how they did this. 
i have the documents where the house was bought and everything.. 
but some how the counicl had the power to tear down the houses and build new ones. they were given the choice of which house they wanted out of the new ones built, but they didnt own it and had to pay rent on it. 
my husband bought the house from the council in about 96ish.. and i know that he was born and raised in this house. 
i just cant figure out how the council could take private property away from someone.. and then make them pay rent on the new house!

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## Angela

Most towns did have a Temperance Hotel, was Mackays one?  ::  

And most had a Commercial Hotel, for "commercial travellers"...and sometimes a Station Hotel too...

sorry, I'm wandering way off topic here....but there was a very funny book written By Eric Newby in 1962 about his time spent as a commercial traveller.... just trying to remember if he got as far as Wick.... ::

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## brandy

well we def. had a station hotel , theres something written on the side of the building but no one can figure out what it is!

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## Rheghead

> Most towns did have a Temperance Hotel, was Mackays one?


I could be wrong but I thought all hotels were booze free in Wick until after WW1 such was the power of the temperance movement. ::

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## Angela

> I could be wrong but I thought all hotels were booze free in Wick until after WW1 such was the power of the temperance movement.


You could be right, Rheghead, I know a lot of my relations joined "The Band of Hope"  ::  in the early 1900s.

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## trinkie

Angela, The memories are flooding back.... My grandfather ran the Band of Hope and a group called the Rechabites.

Each year in the Barrogill Hall Sunday school we had a man come to preach on the evils of Strong Drink.......

" Ye will all go to the bottom of the bottomless pit, where all the Hottentots and the Cannibals go, and for why ? 
For ye have not been walking circumspectly.....  hev ye ever seen a cat walking ?   First he puts oot one paw and then he puts oot anither paw - and for why ?  Because he is walking circumspectly !"

Someone will correct me if I'm wrong.
Cheers !

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## golach

> I could be wrong but I thought all hotels were booze free in Wick until after WW1 such was the power of the temperance movement.


I was also told that the lack of Licensed premises in Week is how most of the rivalry between Thursa and Week started, so my father once told me.

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## trinkie

But we are wandering from the beaten path - back to streets....

why - 
Mount Hooly Lane,
McPhails Court,
Gowrie Place
Stafford Place 
Mathieson's Court


any know why they were so called?

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## Angela

> But we are wandering from the beaten path - back to streets....
> 
> why - 
> Mount Hooly Lane,
> McPhails Court,
> Gowrie Place
> Stafford Place 
> Mathieson's Court
> 
> ...


I think it's my mind that's wandering .....can't help with the others, but there is a Mount Hooly in Aberdeen, I think in Edinburgh also, and I'm sure it's just a corruption of "Mount Holy". Would that make sense in this case, do you think?  ::

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## Mizpah

> well we def. had a station hotel , theres something written on the side of the building but no one can figure out what it is!


I think it was Randall's Hotel

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## JAWS

Local History is always interesting. Keep it going folks, it's fascinating. 

The Duke of Sutherland was also the 2nd Marquis of Stafford, but I don't know if that has any link to Stafford Place.

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## trinkie

Just remembered the Skate Hive   or Sket Hive we pronounced it.

That was on the corner of Huddart Street and Wellington Street.

Were the Canadians there during the war?   

Where did the name come from - something fishy there.

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## caroline

Thanks Peter for the interesting information most of my descendants were either born lived and died in the named Streets.  Makes your family tree more interesting to.  Most of my family fishermen.

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## peter macdonald

No problem Caroline  I started out at the corner of Huddart St and Ducksie (Grant St) Skinners buildings was opposite with Tinwhistlies at the side  Joe Cassidy the painter was round the corner I just wish I knew more about the "Backside" 
All best
PM

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## caroline

That brings back memories Peter, Grant Street known as Ducksie remember this from my holidays staying with relatives in Grant Street.

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## trinkie

I have been asked where .....

Stafford Place mentioned earlier,  is that curved Terrace across from Woolworths.
Stafford Lane runs behind.

Gowrie Place is off Thurso Road - on the right heading for Thurso.

McPhails Court is behind Jim Christie's house in Louisburgh Street.

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## trinkie

Peter - you mentioned Skinner's Buildings.  It was built by John Skinner the Fish Curer.   His relatives ''Skinners the Plumbers''  had their office/workshop there too.      It had been called the ''New Buildings'' on the early records,  but then it became Skinners Buildings.       I see one part has now been converted into a house - and looks very nice.   I remember three flats being there.   

Grant Street was fondly called Ducksie because there had been a duck pond there at one time.  Is there not a story or poem about this Peter?  If you have it do you think you could let me have a copy please?

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## peter macdonald

Trinkie I dont have a copy at hand of the Seige of Ducksie but I think I know someone who has so Ill post it here if I get it !!  The one name Im not too sure about is Nicholson St   Kennedy Tce was that not after Dr Kennedy Albert St was after Queen Victorias husband    Loch st was after a shareholder in the Fishery Society as was Brown Pl after Isaac Browne another investor
PM

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## trinkie

Here's one I dont remember - 
Osborne Close,   on Coach  Road.    ??     any ideas?

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## Echidna

> ok what about vansittart?


In the Wick seaman's register of the 1890's my 2X great uncle David Alexander, fisherman born Keiss 1858, was living at 14 Vansittart St, Wick...

The register is available to view at ambaile.org.uk

I was having trouble deciphering the Street name from the handwriting and this excellent thread provided the answer.  Thanks heaps   :Grin:  

Echidna

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## trinkie

Echidna,

Most of Vansittart Street - as your grandfather would have known it - has now gone.
In the 1960s the old Fishermens' cottages were knocked down and 
new houses put up, with running hot and cold water and inside toilets !   Such luxury.

My grannie lived in Vansittart street - so she would have known your grandfather!      Her house was set in behind the main street.  There was a flagstone square and a ''green'' for the washing line etc. 
No flowers !   I may have said before,  that a horse came in to eat the grass each year !
At the other side a row of coal sheds and the outside loos - all beautifully white-washed.  At the back there was another outhouse - they were all stone-built with tiled roofs -  where her husband kept his Coopering Tools, all beautifully cleaned and stored.

There was a pub down the road - near to No 14.
At the end of Vansittart Street was the    ''Wallie''   where all the old Fishermen would sit and chat and look out for the Herring Boats coming in.      Of course the Fishermen knew each boat - even at a distance and could tell what their load was like.     Soon word was sent to the Fishing Yards that a certain boat was landing it's catch, and all the Fisher Lassies would be informed..... There would be a mad dash to get to the Yards,  the Lassies now dressed in their Fishing Outfits complete with ''clooties'' on their fingers - no rubber gloves at that time,  the clooties protected their fingers from sharp bones etc.

The Fishing Yard was now working flat out, with the Coopers banging away and the Lassies Gutting and Packing.   There was constant chatter and singing....... and the SMELL !!!

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## peter macdonald

Here's one I dont remember - 
Osborne Close, on Coach Road. ?? any ideas?
 It is on the left hand side as you go up toward the North School set in at 90 deg and just about as far as Gibby frasers old shop  i dont know who lives in there now but Jimmy Carter that was skipper of the ben Loyal WK3 lived in there for a few years   Hope this helps
PM

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## Echidna

> Echidna,
> 
> Most of Vansittart Street - as your grandfather would have known it - has now gone.
> In the 1960s the old Fishermens' cottages were knocked down and 
> new houses put up, with running hot and cold water and inside toilets ! Such luxury.
> 
> My grannie lived in Vansittart street - so she would have known your grandfather!


Hi Trinkie 

thanks for the very interesting information, it great reading stories about the auld days and the herring industry of Caithness.  It is always a shame when progress destroys the heritage.  Do you know of any photos of this area?

However, the David Alexander of Vanisttart St was my _great uncle_, a brother of my 2xgreat grandfather Andrew Bremner Alexander, born Keiss 1853, died Drummoyne NSW Australia 1923.  My grandfather was also a David Alexander and lived his whole life in NSW without ever having visited the auld country. His father was also David Alexander, another native of NSW.  It appears the name David came down from the Nicolson forbear David Nicolson of Slickly and Strubster.

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## henry20

A lot of people have been commenting on how great/interesting this thread is ........... would it be so interesting in 50 ... 60 ... 70 years time??  Are there meanings behind the names of new streets being built?  I don't know Wick at all, but have been trying to think of Thurso streets that will turn out to have interesting meanings behind the names.....

Also, I'm assuming Bexley Terrace is named after the Bexley mentioned previously??

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## trinkie

Oh dear ! sorry I made a mistake with your relation Echidna.   The rest of what I said is nearly all correct !

Henry20 - The streets mentioned here are indeed 70++    years ago !
And the modern street names will undoubtedly be of interest in 70 - 80 time !   It's where you live.   The history of the place is in the making all the time - you wont notice until many years to come.

We took outside toilets, cold water ,  Fishing boats and Herring Gutters as the norm at that time.   It's not until the scene changes drastically that you realise.    There will come a day when you too will be saying   "Div ye mind?  "    (so pay attention to what you've got around you now !)

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## henry20

The reason I ask is the only new street name (in Thurso) that springs to mind is Primrose Avenue - which I assume is named after the flower (although I may be wrong!) and therefore, will have no historical relevance in 50+ years (IMO)

As it is, I don't know the significance of the street names now, so doubt I'd be much use to the younger generation in 50+ years  :Confused:

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## trinkie

Henry20.  Primrose Avenue is a pretty name  - it may not mean much to you now,  but in years to come when (Heaven forbid)  there are no Primroses,  then it will at least remind you that Primroses once grew there.      You can take pride in telling your granchildren about the swathes of Primroses around your door in springtime!

There are many Street names which just name the area - in Wick there was Shore Road, Harbour Place,  Rope Work Park,  no explanation needed there !

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## trinkie

I'm usually a grand sleeper, early to bed etc works just fine with me. But not last night ! I tossed this way and that but could not settle.
What was the matter? I'd finished the crossword at teatime, so there was nothing left there for me to puzzle about.
Oh dear ! Teatime on the stroke of 4pm - that must be it - I'd enjoyed a generous helping of rhubarb crumble just waiting to be used up. Yes, that must be it - Rhubarb's Revenge !!
And what a price that rhubarb was, £2.99 for three stalks from our friendly T... store. My mother would have had a fit.
For she never paid a penny for rhubarb in the old days it all came from the Manse garden in Miller Lane.
Round about this time each year mum would say "If it's a fine day tomorrow, ye can go over to MILLER LANE to collect the Rhubarb."
I'd been to church on Sunday and heard the Rev Samuel Ballantyne announce from the pulpit that once again this year he had been blessed with a bumper crop of rhubarb, which was there for one and all to come and collect !
The next morning weather permitting, I was up and dressed in no time at all having gathered together an assortment of bags and old newspapers to put the Rhubarb in.
"I'm off" I shouted as I left VANSITTART STREET and skipped, hopped and jumped my way across the OULD BACKIES. In HUDDART STREET Jack Bremner was sweeping the pavement in front of his shop. "Good morning Bambi - you're off early today" I waved to Jack as I crossed the road and made my way up DUCKSIE.
I slowed down as I passed Mr Henderson's house, as he kept Alsatian dogs who would bark if anyone passed their house. I crossed over and had a look in Mr Taylor's Bike shop window....... one day I hoped to get a Raleigh bike of my own.
I ran through the ARGYLE SQUARE GREEN happy to see the trees in full bud and the montbretia and hardy fuscia's well up for the time of year.
I chatted to a couple of friends in DEMPSTER STREET, but didn't stop long for I was on a most important errand.
I slowed down as I turned the corner and passed the CLIFF BAKERY..... if only I had a couple of pennies to buy one of their delicious fancy cakes.
Further along I came to the Library and made a mental note to return my book the very next day, or else I would get another black mark from that wiffie who never smiled or said thank you..... Crocodile personified !
Reaching Mrs Black's dress shop I stood and gazed at all the beautiful dresses in the window! When I'm big I'm going to buy all my dresses from Mrs Black.
Her window looked so nice with a pink dress in the middle and a blue one to the right, and that leg with a silk stocking leaning against a pretty box. In the front there was a box of nice lace hankies.
Next door, Mr Gall was doing his window. This was Fred Shearer's Gents' Outfitters - for very smart gentlemen I supposed. In his window he had that head, which was always there, with a paddy hat and a yellow silk paisley cravat, and a pair of leather gloves sitting at an angle beside it. I never liked that head, so hurried down the CLIFF and crossed the road.
I made my way along the river path all the way up to the little bridge, then LOVERS' LANE and soon I was in MILLER AVENUE.  The Manse looming large above me !.
The Rev Ballantyne saw me coming and gave me a nice welcome. Soon he had filled all my bags and piled as much rhubarb that he thought I could carry.
I was a bit slower on my homeward journey. Down the HIGH STREET passed Woolworths and Beelie Banks' shop with all the clothes hanging outside - dungarees, caps, check shirts.... on to Cabrelli's how I wished I had a couple of pennies with me, I would really love an ice-cream cornet now.
Soon I was over the NewBridge and passed the Harbour and made my way up the steps beside the Co-op. I waved to some old men sitting round the Pilot House and soon I was home.
Mum was delighted with my load, and set about to stew some rhubarb to have with custard for our tea.
Later on she got ready to start making the Rhubarb and Ginger jam for the church sale of work.
The kitchen was full of the most delicious smells.

Blast !! the alarm has gone off and it's time to get up!! I sit up in bed and rub my eyes - what a night !
But who was MILLER LANE named after, one day I must find out.

Later I check my emails and there to my surprise is one from an old Wick friend....." I hear you're wanting till know aboot the Wick Street names" it begins, so I read on.

MILLER LANE ... John Miller, British Fisheries Society Shareholder.
VANSITTART STREET..... Nicholas Vansittart, 1st Baron Bexley.
HUDDART STREET .. Captain Joseph Huddart , Hydrographer and Manufacturer of Patent Cordage. BFS
GRANT STREET ........... Sir William Grant Director and Master of the Rolls. BFS Shareholder
DEMPSTER STREET .......George Dempster, MP Director of BFS. Promoter of the Society for the extension and protection of Scottish Fisheries.
ARGYLE SQUARE .......... .Named for George Douglas Campbell, Duke of Argyle, Governor of British Fisheries Society.

More Street Names to come - but that's another story.
With thanks to my old friend for all this wonderful information.

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## trinkie

There used to be    Traill Street in Wick  -  where was that ? can someone help here please?
Of course it was named after George Traill, Liberal M P  for County of Caithness.  Director of British Fisheries Society.

Loch Street  -  now here's a surprise - it was named after  James Loch,   Deputy Governor of BFS   MP for Wick Burghs.   ( I always thought there had been a loch there at one time! )

Burn Street -  named after George Burn, local Architect who built the bridge over Wick river in 1807,  which replaced the original wooden one.   ( again I thought there had been a Burn there - just shows how wrong one can be !)

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## Elenna

What about Saltoun St, Rose St, and Martha Terr.? 

I know Saltoun is a surname associated with the Frasers, so likely the street name is after someone important from the British Fisheries Society, but Rose and Martha...were they the wives of somebody or other? (I think in a previous post Henrietta St was mentioned, too, but I dont recall if anyone answered to that).

I'm very curious!  :Smile:

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## airdlass

Would be interested to know about Robertson Square - I believe its a relative newcomer compared to most of the ones posted.

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## johno

> That's an unusual name isn't it, brandy?
> 
> I think I'll take a look at my family tree (I'd put it away for the summer) and maybe post some of the addresses my relations lived at -maybe some Orgers will be living there now  or there again, perhaps the houses will have been demolished


Hi Angela, Dempster street is as exactly as it was when built .there has been little or no demolition there except where the garage [Dunnet,s] is and that was an old church but the houses are all still intact & lived in.

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## Angela

> Hi Angela, Dempster street is as exactly as it was when built .there has been little or no demolition there except where the garage [Dunnet,s] is and that was an old church but the houses are all still intact & lived in.


I'm delighted to hear that, johno :Grin:  ...must get back up to Wick soon and see for myself  :Wink:

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## trinkie

Hallo Elenna,

Saltoun Street .... named after   Gilbert Salton,  Secretary of Fisheries Society.


Rose Street..... George Rose, Treasurer of British Fisheries Socy.


Martha Terrace  and  Barbara Place  are named after female relatives of Directors of the British Fisheries Socy.


It's worth to try a    google search    on some of the names for more details if you wish.

Kind regards
Trinkie

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## trinkie

ROSEBANK.
Named after Rosebank House owned by the Henderson family.

"Miss Adelaine Florence Henderson of Rosebank,  the last surviving member of the family of the late James Henderson of Bilbster, died on 24 Oct 1926.  By her will she left among other bequests  to the Wick and Pulteneytown District Nursing Association, her house and grounds of Rosebank, along with a legacy of £15,000 for the purpose of establishing, equipping and particularly endowing a Nursing Home in Wick  to be known as the Henderson Memorial Nursing Home in memory of her sisters and herself,
She also left £2,000 for the purchase of an ambulance.  "

JOG Dec 1927

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## trinkie

for Dusty  -    Miller Street  /  Lane  -  

John Miller was a British Fisheries Socy  Shareholder.
_____________________________________________
for Caroline - 

McArthur Street  .....Charles MacArthur  Excise Officer and Agent.

MacRae Street  .......Colin MacRae,  Assistant Secretary to BFS 

Breadalbane Cres / Terrace .... The Earl of Breadalbane, Deputy Governor 

_______________________________________________

Mount Hooly .  Here is a nice article taken from John O Groat Journal 1933...
"Miss Isabella Bruce of Mount Hooly House ,  only daughter of the late Mr  Charles Bruce,  an estimable Wick Lady who passed away on Aug 15th 1933.
Miss Bruce had numerous friends,  and every year she purchased  about 100 copies of our Christmas Number, which she posted with her compliments and good wishes, to her correspondents in all parts of the world."

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## George Brims

OK a wee bit of trivia for you all - where would one find Brims's Buildings and what business (still in existence) used to sell out of it?

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## Echidna

> Hi Angela, Dempster street is as exactly as it was when built .there has been little or no demolition there except where the garage [Dunnet,s] is and that was an old church but the houses are all still intact & lived in.


Thanks good news johno, 

nice to know some of the old town remains

The book _Vintage Wick_ of Johnston studio pics has some nice photos of Dempster St, one in flood, showing the grocers of (William) Alexander and Keith on the corner. 

For those of us with Caithness roots separated by several generations and many thousands of miles this book is an excellent source for looking at the 'auld day' scenes and people.

Echidna :Smile:

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## trinkie

George - I dinna ken - you will have to enlighten us please !
________________________________________

More snippets.....The wonderful firm of MacEwans in Wick
(Furniture / Boat builders etc etc)  certainly left it's mark.

GEORGE STREET  ...  they had their Offices and Showrooms and several of their family houses are still standing.

ROBERT STREET  .... Here they built houses for the workers
and kept their horses and built stables.

KIRKHILL...... Foremen's houses

MILLER AVENUE  ..... More houses for the workers

A company to be proud of I'm sure !

----------


## burstbucker

This link will take you to the 1872 Ordnance Survey maps of Wick, I usually browse through these quite a bit. http://www.nls.uk/maps/townplans/wick.html

----------


## trinkie

Airdlass - 
ROBERTSON SQUARE......   Was build in the 1950s.
                                         I cant find where the name came from..
                                         There was a Rector of the High School
                                         and a chief Librarian by that name, but 
                                         I dont think the Street was named after
                                         either of them.

I may be wrong - I hope someone will come up with the correct person !

----------


## Elenna

> Hallo Elenna,
> 
> Saltoun Street .... named after Gilbert Salton, Secretary of Fisheries Society.
> 
> 
> Rose Street..... George Rose, Treasurer of British Fisheries Socy.
> 
> 
> Martha Terrace and Barbara Place are named after female relatives of Directors of the British Fisheries Socy.
> ...


Ohhh, so Rose wasn't a lady after all!  :Grin:  

And I am definitely intrigued about much of what is on this thread, so have taken some notes and will be doing some Googling in the odd spare moment.

Thanks, Trinkie!

----------


## trinkie

a few more  -  

ALBERT STREET..... named after Queen Victoria's consort  Prince Albert.

BARROGILL STREET....James Sinclair, Earl of Caithness,  Caithness Landowner, including Barrogill Castle and Mains.

RUTHERFORD  STREET .....Andrew Rutherford  Scottish Judge,  Solicitor General for Scotland.   British Fisheries Society Shareholder. 


Was there a Lemonade Factory there in Rutherford street ?
Certainly there were Fish Yards.

----------


## Echidna

What about Beufoy St?  This looks like another 'ring in', probably another BFS director....any clues?

----------


## trinkie

Yes.......
BEAUFOY  STREET  .... Henry Beaufoy M.P.   also BFS Director.



Was he once Chancellor of the Exchequer??   Or was  that his father ?    ( I cant find my notes ! )

----------


## MR J

Mowat Lane - named after Thomas Mowat. He was a tailor in the town in the early 1800's. He built the house at the top of the lane next to the Nethercliffe Hotel.

----------


## trinkie

BROWN STREET..... Isaac Hawkins Brown
                              MP Director of British Fisheries Society.

DUNBAR STREET...   Sir Benjamin Dunban of Hempriggs, 
                               Land proprietor who gave 390 acres 
                               for the development of Pulteneytown.

DUNDAS  STREET.... Henry Dundas, Viscount Melville
                                BFS  shareholder

DUNVEGAN STREET ..... General Norman MacLeod
                                     of MacLeod, Dunvegan,Skye. 
                                     BFS Shareholder

GLADSTONE PLACE...    William Ewart Gladstone,  Prime Minister,


HARROW  HILL.....     Part of the original land designated
                                for the building of Pulteneytown
                                 ( Owned by Sir Benjamin Dunbar.)

KINNAIRD  STREET... George William Fox Kinnaird,
                                9th Baron Kinnaird.    BFS Shareholder

MacLEAY  STREET ..... William MacLeay  Agent of BFS
                                   Provost of Wick.

MALCOLM  STREET..... Neil Malcolm,   BFS Shareholder.

MORAY STREET.......   Rt Hon The Earl of Moray.   BFH  Shareholder.

MURCHISON STREET.....  Kenneth Murchison.  BFS Shareholder

NICOLSON  STREET .....Provost William Nicolson, elected a Baillie
                                  in 1894.   Became Provost in 1896 until
                                  the amalgamation of Wick and Pulteneytown
                                  in 1902.   Elected Dean of Guild in 1907

NORTON  PLACE.....     John Bruce Norton, Advocate General.
                                  BFS Shareholder.

SINCLAIR  TERRACE.......Sir Tollemache Sinclair.  M.P.  
                                      BFS  Shareholder.

SMITH  TERRACE.........William Smith, Deputy Governor of Society.

WELLINGTON  TERRACE.  ..... Sir Arthur Wellesley,
                                             Duke of Wellington. 
                                              BFS Shareholder.

WILLIAMSON   STREET...... James Williamson, retired Soldier turned 
                                         Farmer,  Society's Agent

----------


## trinkie

Most of the streets named here have been from Pulteneytown !

What a time that must have been in the mid 1800s when they decided to build a NewTown on the south side of Wick !
The sight of all the building work must have been something to behold ! So many new houses and roads where before there would have been open fields.
What excitement and feelings of expectation !
Then gradually the houses became occupied with folks from further down the road..... country folk each one I'm sure, new to town living. I wonder how they felt living in streets with so many neighbours on each side. Did they get on well together?
It must have been so strange to them. 
I think I'm right in saying it was the first 'purpose built new town' in the country !

some notes.....

1824 The first locally owned ship carries exported herring.
1826 The Distillery and brewery opened.
1833 Cholera outbreak which seriously affects the fishing.

1844 Pulteneytown is now the biggest herring port in Europe.
The administration of the town is transferred from
the British Fishing Society in London to the locally-
elected Pulteneytown Improvement Commissioners.
The Police force, the smallest in Britain consisting of 
an Inspector and two Constables, is set up.

1846 Piped water from Loch Yarrow reaches the harbour.
1848 Thirty seven men drowned in a storm in the bay
1861-2 The largest ever fleet of about 1100 boats fished from the 
harbour. It is possibly the largest herring fishing port
in the world .

1863 - 71 Five attempts are made to extend the harbour by
building a breakwater but each time the sea destroys
it, at enormous cost.

1879 Wick Harbour Trust is created to manage
the affairs of the harbour.

1883 July was the heaviest fishing ever recorded in one month.

1889 Police force amalgated with the County Force.

1902 On February 25th the Commissioners vote 10-1
to amalgate the burgh with Wick and it ceases to exist 
on March 17th. This was the shortest existence of any
burgh in Scotland.

( notes from The Caithness Vintage Picture Show )

----------


## caroline

Anyone know if there was a Francis Street in Pultneytown around 1866.  Marriage certificate is very bad but certainly looks like Francis Street.  Any help greatly appreciated

----------


## Torvaig

http://uk8.multimap.com/map/browse.c...x=191&down.y=2

This shows Francis Street in Wick..

----------


## trinkie

Ojibwa asked about Baron's Well......
All I have found out is that there was a Well in or near Willowbank.
I wonder who owned that land  -  He would have been the Baron I suppose .

I'll continue to ask around..... but you could ask in the Wick Library Archives section.  They are usually very helpful.
Trinkie

----------


## trinkie

I understand Henrietta Street was once called Roseberry Street - is that correct?  
I wonder where the name came from.
Trinkie

----------


## johno

part of henrietta street is roseberry terrace, from the girnigoe st juction[ ex police houses] to where the new houses on the old n,o.s.m.m.b garage used to be ,on that side.
i think that those houses can go under either henrietta st or roseberry tce

----------


## lynne duncan

I just put back a book to the library on the history of wick, didn't finish reading ti all got up to about 1800, but I think I remember that the henrietta area not street at this time was named after one of the dunbar's wife's. will go back to the library and check.

----------


## trinkie

I've just spotted another street name .....    MARCH Road Wick.

Now why March?   Was there a famous March from this area sometime?
Or is it from the month ??

I bet from now on it will be remembered for the first spotting of the Grasshopper Warbler  June 2007    - wouldn't that nice?

----------


## Bill Fernie

I understand March Road was originally the March Dyke or ditch.  March is apparently commonly associated with boundaries.

----------


## horseman

Trinkie you come up with some facinating facts,(if thats grammatical) Great stuff. I only know about bridge st. I was born there.. :Smile:

----------


## trinkie

Thank you Bill  -  I should have guessed that,  as I now live near the Welsh / English border where the Marches run from top to bottom.
March  comes from an Anglo Saxon word  Mearc  meaning boundary - so I found out from a quick google. 
Locally it is thought  a March was the distance a troop of soldiers could do in a day.   I think there is a Castle or Fort at the end of each March.

Thank you too  Horseman........ Bridge street....... any good stories ?

----------


## plumber

Does anyone know if there was such a place as Farquars Lane, and where about it was. And does it still exsist

----------


## trinkie

I notice from an old map that Vansittart street was once called Royal street.

Not far from Royal Street, up over Shilling Hill was the Distillery Yard and wall.  There it says on my map   '' Nuge broke both his legs trying to fly from this dyke, using barrel staves as wings.  c. 1911''

Can anyone tell me more about Nuge  and his flying experiment ?
( Week's own Eddie the Eagle )

----------


## trinkie

Still looking at this wonderful old map - done by Iain Sutherland with invaluable notes - I find that Smith Terrace was once called The Front.

Marked is Jessie Clyne's Bakery  - the front of her little shop used to be tarred  -   I bet the new owners had great difficulty getting rid of that black tar !
Across the bottom of Huddart street is Big Meg Clyne's ?? - anyone know?
I think Mrs Flett had a little shop there in the 1950s

Further along Smith Terrace near the Post Office was the famous Mountain Dew !
Up in Huddart Street - where Jack Bremner had his shop, Iain writes '' This is where the Whisky was brought and the saying We are the Boys.....''
Blast  ....   I can't  make out the rest of it  -  any ideas ?

----------


## trinkie

At the top of Huddart Street, on the hill,  was the Barrogill Hall where we went to Sunday School.    Great times there with Mr Sinclair Lyall trying his best to put us on the Straight and Narrow.   At Christmas we had wonderful Parties and in the summer the annual bus trip...with baggies full of Jessie Clyne's delights !   happy days.
But, down from the Barrogill Hall was the Bakers shop.... Mr Miller,  Or Willdag Miller as we all fondly called him.    At the weekend he made ice-cream and I remember running up on Saturday to pay for our Sunday treat - as no money was exchanged on Sunday !   On the big day we went to collect our ice-cream each one carrying a jug or dish - Bring Your Own meant 'container' at that time,  so there was no problem with over packaging.
That hill was known to all as Willdag's Hillie,  and it was there we sledged as soon as it began to snow.  But first we had to get our sledges ready- runners shining and Stickies made .  We started off at the top near the Distillery, and ended further down.   What a speed - and heaven help us if a horse and cart passed along Kinnairdie - some just sledged right through the horses legs !
There would have been 30-40 children there all lining up ready for take off.
When it got too full we would make our way to the Shore Road  -  with the harbour at the bottom,  and more than once a sledger would end up in the water !   There was a knack to steering with the help of your stickie, but some of the boys got over-enthusiastic and just went for speed  -  Nothing changes !

----------


## trinkie

Not a street but a bridge  -  Coghill's Bridge.

Does anyone know which Coghill this is named after ?
There is an interesting article on caithness.org under History, the Coghills of Coghill.

----------


## trinkie

Another street for our List   -     Norton ,   off the South Road.

I find there is a Sir John Usher of Norton and Wells  with strong connections to Pulteneytown Library.    Indeed there was a Bust of his father standing in the Hall there at one time.   ( they had to move the crocodile to make room for it ! )     This article is once again on caithness.org    History.

Could Sir John Usher of Norton be the man ?

----------


## DlanoD

> Anyone know if there was a Francis Street in Pultneytown around 1866. Marriage certificate is very bad but certainly looks like Francis Street. Any help greatly appreciated


The present Francis Street runs on from The Cliff and onto South Road and I reckon it would be the same back then... Did you get the info off a paper certificate or via the archives? Its just some times they can read these things better than we can. Have to go into local records soon anyway if you want me to check up on specific person/ dates, etc?
Donald/Anne

----------


## trinkie

A reminder to folk interested in Genealogy,  here you will find the name of the street your ancestors lived in - and who the street was named after .

There has been a query about Davidson in Grant Street  -
Grant Street  (  or Ducksie as it is fondly called by the locals )  is listed on page 3 of this thread.
I'm sure if you want a picture of ''your street'' some kind person will be happy to oblige.

----------


## 2little2late

How about the street in Wick named after a Chinese welcome.........................




"HARROW" Hill.
 ::   :: .

----------


## Echidna

> MacLEAY STREET ..... William MacLeay Agent of BFS
> Provost of Wick.


Hi Trinkie

I would be grateful if you or any fellow orger could confirm or deny if this William Macleay of the BFS was Sir William Macleay, second son of Kenneth Macleay Esq. of Keiss Castle.

Curiously I discovered perchance only today in my genealogical cemetery meanderings a Tomb momument in Waverley Cemetery Sydney NSW Australia a Tomb in the memory of Sir William Macleay born Keiss Caithness 1820 died circa 1893.  The headstone made of magnificent red granite has stood the test of time for over one hundred years on a cliff over looking the Tasman Sea and looks like it was erected only yesterday!

The inscription has the curious lettering after Sir Wiliam's name and details it reads K.B.F.L.S.

Can anyone confirm or deny if my understanding of this acronym/acrostic? could be interpreted as 

'KEISS BORN FOREVER LOVED SCOTLAND"

I will take a camera on my next trip to the big smoke (Sydney) and post it somewhere for those interested to see.  Sir William is buried with his wife Emmeline who was the second daughter of the Hon Edward Deas Thomson the Colonial Secretary from 1837 to ? (more research needed.. maybe suggest a google for those interested in Caithness NSW links).  

I doubt whether my Keiss Caithness forbears who arrived in Sydney in 1882 would have had any contact with his illustrious former neighbour..such was and is Sydney "society" cirlcles..........

----------


## pat

Robertson Square - Would that be after local MP of the time - think it was David Robertson, lived on South Road.

Your monument 'in the smoke'  - KB - Knight of the Bath or Knight Bachelor, as he was a sir, do not know what the FLS can stand for, but someone may have an idea.

----------


## johno

> Brandy, I have done a quick google - the peerage.com
> and it came up with Henry Vansittart the first and last Baron of Bexley.... interesting.
> He was a ship's captain.
> Someone will tell us if this is the guy !


And doe,snt Bexley terrace lead into Vansittart street.

----------


## Torvaig

> Robertson Square - Would that be after local MP of the time - think it was David Robertson, lived on South Road.
> 
> Your monument 'in the smoke' - KB - Knight of the Bath or Knight Bachelor, as he was a sir, do not know what the FLS can stand for, but someone may have an idea.


Possibly this is the answer for FLS; it is very interesting society so do have a look....

http://www.linnean.org/index.php?id=147

----------


## pat

Agree with you Torvaig

FLS - Fellow of the Linnean Society

So sorry it does not mean Keiss born, forever loved Scotland.

Just found out there is also a William Sharp Macleay - check out above site, type in William Macleay, more info for you

----------


## Echidna

> Agree with you Torvaig
> 
> FLS - Fellow of the Linnean Society
> 
> So sorry it does not mean Keiss born, forever loved Scotland.
> 
> Just found out there is also a William Sharp Macleay - check out above site, type in William Macleay, more info for you


 
Thanks Pat and Torvaig

your explanations destroy my sentimentalism and make much more sense than my romantic notions!  Too much daydreaming....

William Sharp Macleay (the son of Alexander Macleay, also a Colonial Secretary of Elizabeth Bay House, Sydney) was the cousin of Sir William.  The Macleay Natural History Museum at Sydney University is one of the best in the world due to the efforts of all these men.

regards

Echidna :Smile:

----------


## domino

I was always led to believe that Telford Street was named after Thomas the engineer
Roxburgh Road was named after a surgeon who worked at the hospital in Wick

----------


## Chligh

What about the Wick side?

----------


## domino

> At the top of Huddart Street, on the hill, was the Barrogill Hall where we went to Sunday School. Great times there with Mr Sinclair Lyall trying his best to put us on the Straight and Narrow. At Christmas we had wonderful Parties and in the summer the annual bus trip...with baggies full of Jessie Clyne's delights ! happy days.
> But, down from the Barrogill Hall was the Bakers shop.... Mr Miller, Or Willdag Miller as we all fondly called him. At the weekend he made ice-cream and I remember running up on Saturday to pay for our Sunday treat - as no money was exchanged on Sunday ! On the big day we went to collect our ice-cream each one carrying a jug or dish - Bring Your Own meant 'container' at that time, so there was no problem with over packaging.
> That hill was known to all as Willdag's Hillie, and it was there we sledged as soon as it began to snow. But first we had to get our sledges ready- runners shining and Stickies made . We started off at the top near the Distillery, and ended further down. What a speed - and heaven help us if a horse and cart passed along Kinnairdie - some just sledged right through the horses legs !
> There would have been 30-40 children there all lining up ready for take off.
> When it got too full we would make our way to the Shore Road - with the harbour at the bottom, and more than once a sledger would end up in the water ! There was a knack to steering with the help of your stickie, but some of the boys got over-enthusiastic and just went for speed - Nothing changes !


Wore out the toes om tackety boots every winter. Preferred to use them instead of stickies. Belly floppers were the thing

----------


## domino

opposite the backside

----------


## trinkie

Chligh,   We have mentioned several Wick street names here.
Was there any in particular you would like to mention ?

Give a street name and we'll see what we can find .

Trinkie

----------


## silverfox57

> Chligh, We have mentioned several Wick street names here.
> Was there any in particular you would like to mention ?
> 
> Give a street name and we'll see what we can find .
> 
> Trinkie


trinkie great thread,as for wick side,might be wrong? is the street on thurso rd on right going in to langley park, called hens street.if so dose anyone know why.

----------


## trinkie

Silverfox57,    those streets are too new for me ! 
I'll ask around though.
Are you sure it's called Hens Street  -  anyone know ?

Trinkie

----------


## silverfox57

> Silverfox57, those streets are too new for me ! 
> I'll ask around though.
> Are you sure it's called Hens Street - anyone know ?
> 
> Trinkie


sorry trinkie was wrong as asked postman today ,that street which has only two houses,in it is called langley lane, still think there is a street in wick called hen st  ::

----------


## south view 7

> sorry trinkie was wrong as asked postman today ,that street which has only two houses,in it is called langley lane, still think there is a street in wick called hen st


 It may be langley lane now,but i always new it as hen st.

----------


## dogman

> Do you know where your Street Name originated?
> 
> Who was the 
> Smith of Smith Terrace?
> Nicolson of Nicolson Street,
> Huddart of Huddart Street - ( famous for Marine charts ??)
> Murchison 
> Kinnaird
> Rutherford
> ...


im still waitin 4 kennedy to recalled little baghdad!!!! :Smile:

----------


## Mosser

> Not a street but a bridge  -  Coghill's Bridge.
> 
> Does anyone know which Coghill this is named after ?
> There is an interesting article on caithness.org under History, the Coghills of Coghill.


Coghill Bridge opened in Sept. 1893 and was gifted to the town by Mr Harry Coghill of Hastings, a wealthy Merchant with Wick connections. He opened the bridge after the freedom of Wick was conferred on him in the Temperance Hall in Louisburgh.

----------


## trinkie

Thank you for that Mosser.

Sounds like an interesting story there.

Trinkie

----------


## Moira

I remember Coghill's Bridge being mentioned on a previous thread here.  I also remember mixing it up with what I thought to be "The Iron Bridge" - shame on me and my memory.  :Embarrassment: 

Good photo of Coghill's Bridge from Bill Fernie :-
http://www.caithness.org/atoz/wick/w...hillbridge.htm

----------


## domino

> There used to be Traill Street in Wick - where was that ? can someone help here please?
> Of course it was named after George Traill, Liberal M P for County of Caithness. Director of British Fisheries Society.
> 
> Loch Street - now here's a surprise - it was named after James Loch, Deputy Governor of BFS MP for Wick Burghs. ( I always thought there had been a loch there at one time! )
> 
> Burn Street - named after George Burn, local Architect who built the bridge over Wick river in 1807, which replaced the original wooden one. ( again I thought there had been a Burn there - just shows how wrong one can be !)


Before it was Loch street it was the ropeworks park,if my memory seves me

----------


## trinkie

The Ropeworks long building was in Brown's Place which ran parallel to what we know as Loch street.
Loch Street had Prefabs which were built after the war - they had a short life expectancy,  though they were indeed super little houses and outlived the expected time.
In the late 1960s or thereabouts,  the Prefabs were sold off at twenty-five pounds each  !!   We decided to have one,  but missed out as it took us so long to save the 25.
Some can still be seen around Castletown.   A farmer had bought a couple and put a stone wall around the outside,  now making grand weather-proofed houses.

What a great idea the building of prefabs was,  and no doubt helped the housing shortage just after the war.

----------


## trinkie

Recently someone mentioned Ducksie,  and the area around.
Now I cant find it,  but have to reply - 

Grant Street alone was called Ducksie,  because there had been a Duck Pond there at one time.  The surrounding streets did not included.

----------


## katarina

> The Ropeworks long building was in Brown's Place which ran parallel to what we know as Loch street.
> Loch Street had Prefabs which were built after the war - they had a short life expectancy,  though they were indeed super little houses and outlived the expected time.
> In the late 1960s or thereabouts,  the Prefabs were sold off at twenty-five pounds each  !!   We decided to have one,  but missed out as it took us so long to save the 25.
> Some can still be seen around Castletown.   A farmer had bought a couple and put a stone wall around the outside,  now making grand weather-proofed houses.
> 
> What a great idea the building of prefabs was,  and no doubt helped the housing shortage just after the war.


they should go in for it again - get the homeless off the streets.  Not that we've a problem here - but I could never understand why they pulled down the wooden houses at the drome.  they were much better homes than the caravans that house homeless now - but that's getting off the subject.
Why was Papigoe so called?  I've worked out Willowbank and Broad Haven - even Staxigoe.  And what about Lochshell?  there's no loch there and certainly not any shells.

----------


## trinkie

Hallo Silverfox57,
You were certainly on the right track ! well done to you.

I have now heard from a most reliable source that there is an area called Langley Park - a fairly new street with about three houses in it..
The houses are accesssed by Hen Street / Langley Lane, which is three lanes along from the Co-op.

It appears that Langley Lane was called Hen Street by the locals  it could be that Hen sheds were kept there.

It is not a new area ( as I had thought) A John OGroat Journal of 1847 mentions someone living there, 
But the 1841 census does not show any houses being there.

The derivation of the name Langley Park is not known, It could be geographical  Lang Lea perhaps.
It is certainly not named after anyone as are many of the Pulteneytown Streets.

I hope this helps - remember to tell the Postie !
Trinkie

----------


## trinkie

Hallo Katarina

We 're on to villages now !

However I'll send this link to help 


http://www.rcahms.gov.uk/papar/caithness2.html


What did you find on Willowbank ?  -  do tell us !

Regards
Trinkie

----------


## silverfox57

> Hallo Silverfox57,
> You were certainly on the right track ! well done to you.
> 
> I have now heard from a most reliable source that there is an area called Langley Park - a fairly new street with about three houses in it..
> The houses are accesssed by Hen Street / Langley Lane, which is three lanes along from the Co-op.
> 
> It appears that Langley Lane was called Hen Street by the locals  it could be that Hen sheds were kept there.
> 
> It is not a new area ( as I had thought) A John OGroat Journal of 1847 mentions someone living there, 
> ...


thanks trinkie was sure it was hens street,great thread as takes the old streets of wick back to life,your research is great, silverfox.

----------


## caroline

Reviving this thread for own satisfation have a marriage cert and one of the witnesses is stated as staying at what looks like to me Hill Avenue.  Very bad writing on marriage cert can anyone please confirm if there was a Hill Avenue in Wick 1950 and whereabouts it is in Wick.

Caroline

----------


## TBH

> Reviving this thread for own satisfation have a marriage cert and one of the witnesses is stated as staying at what looks like to me Hill Avenue.  Very bad writing on marriage cert can anyone please confirm if there was a Hill Avenue in Wick 1950 and whereabouts it is in Wick.
> 
> Caroline


And here it is:
http://maps.google.co.uk/maps?q=hill...num=1&ct=image

----------


## Kevin Milkins

> I was always led to believe that Telford Street was named after Thomas the engineer
> Roxburgh Road was named after a surgeon who worked at the hospital in Wick


Thank you for bumping this thread back to the top Caroline as it has given me ,as a relative newcomer to the org a chance to read through and enjoy  the whole thread.
What I am supprised at ,apart from the mention from domino that Thomas Telford has not had a bigger mention.
He had a very big input into the development of the Pultneytown and the harbour.*Thomas* *Telford* - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
What a history lesson, thank you. :Smile:

----------


## caroline

Thank You TBH 
I have another one Adam Lane Wick

----------


## caroline

> And here it is:
> http://maps.google.co.uk/maps?q=hill...num=1&ct=image





> Thank You TBH 
> I have another one Adam Lane Wick


Another one Queens Square is this in the Willowbank area all help much appreciated

----------


## pat

come in road to Wick from south turn left up first turning on left, Hospital Road, turn right half way along (after 4 Houses), Queens Square is on left at next small junction(after 2 houses!).  
Queens Square is roughly four houses on each side of the internal square - Seaforth Avenue being on the outside of square!!!

----------


## Mosser

> Thank You TBH 
> I have another one Adam Lane Wick


on the west side of Bridge Street between the Clydesdale Bank and Blythswood shop. No one lives in it today

----------


## silverfox57

there was barber shop in adam lane in the sixties,as got crew cut for a bet,can not remember name of barber,think it was man and his wife,sure some one well remember,

----------


## Margaret M.

> there was barber shop in adam lane in the sixties,


I think Jimmy Bain had a barber shop in the wee lane a little farther along from the Clydesdale -- the one without steps.

----------


## silverfox57

margaret, you are right, it was jimmy bains shop,and was the next lane along.

----------


## Mosser

> I think Jimmy Bain had a barber shop in the wee lane a little farther along from the Clydesdale -- the one without steps.


That one is Miller's Lane

----------


## 2little2late

Wonder if Rupert Vansittart (Lord Ashfordley in Heartbeat) has any connection with Wick?

----------


## trinkie

Digging out this old thread as I've just come across another street  I cant place - 

Farquhar Close -  I have it on a certificate dated 1894,  so it might not be there any more.  But where was it I wonder ?

Trinkie

----------


## silverfox57

hope some one finds this street as am sure there is no longer 
a Farguhar Close in wick now,

----------


## trinkie

I didn't have to wait long ...

I've just been told     ''Where Boots, McAllan's etc is,  was once a busy residential area with Alexandra Court, Farquhar Court and Farquhar's Lane,  all now swept away.''

I wonder if this is the Farquhar's Close mentioned on my certificate...
what d'ye think ?

Who was the Farquhar named here?

Trinkie

----------


## PantsMAN

Here is the link to an online map of Wick from 1872

This may help with some answers.

http://www.ltscotland.org.uk/scottis.../maps/wick.asp


BTW, it wasn't online in 1872  ::

----------


## Venture

> Here is the link to an online map of Wick from 1872
> 
> This may help with some answers.
> 
> http://www.ltscotland.org.uk/scottis.../maps/wick.asp
> 
> 
> BTW, it wasn't online in 1872


What a brilliant link PantsMan, the videos givng details of the town are excellent. :Wink:

----------


## Mosser

> Here's one I dont remember - 
> Osborne Close, on Coach Road. ?? any ideas?
> It is on the left hand side as you go up toward the North School set in at 90 deg and just about as far as Gibby frasers old shop i dont know who lives in there now but Jimmy Carter that was skipper of the ben Loyal WK3 lived in there for a few years Hope this helps
> PM


Going back over this old and still very interesting thread I came across the above. Osbourne Close in Coach Road was named because Henry Osbourne lived there in the mid 19th Century, he was the Jail Keeper in Wick at the time and his son, also Henry was a keen naturalist and friend of Robert Innes Shearer who wrote "Birds and Mammals of Caithness."

----------


## Mosser

Someone earlier mentioned Traill Street in Wick. this used to run from lower Northcote Street through to Agnes Street along the line of what is now the playing fields wall, it was closed off sometime around 1907.

Hope this helps.

----------


## Mosser

> Trinkie I dont have a copy at hand of the Seige of Ducksie but I think I know someone who has so Ill post it here if I get it !! The one name Im not too sure about is Nicholson St Kennedy Tce was that not after Dr Kennedy Albert St was after Queen Victorias husband Loch st was after a shareholder in the Fishery Society as was Brown Pl after Isaac Browne another investor
> PM


Here ye go Peter

*E Siege o Ducksie*



It chanced upon a Sabbath calm, ere closed the solemn day
That into Wick there winged its flight, a message of dismay,
Arrest a lazy tinker lout----- from the tribe o Macaphee 
A private in the Labour Corps, at present under me
A deserter of King Georges force, (thats how the message ran)
And send him by a strong escort forthwith to Nottingham.

Forth boldly went Inspector Mack; next Willie o the Reels
And piper Sandy following hard, wi noisy clinking heels;
And Donald wi the oily tongue, K--- Bof Poltney boys
A man forever on the make, but never where theres noise.
The Rosy Dawn brought up the rear as watch dog of the town
And Grantie wi the sinister look, once famed of Mey renown.

These heroes bold, no mortal feared who ever he might be
Their courage was well fortified by nips of Seven O.P.
The wooden bridge they safely crossed, then along the harbour quay
The Shore Road brae they hotly scale, and then  to Duckaree.
A classic spot of great renown, Cairndhunas Alma Mater
With loathsome garbage scattered round adorning every grater.

Forward they went in single file to Tarpots old abode
But as they reached the fatal scene they gathered on the road
A consultation then was held, how best to lay the mine
And not repeat the ugly scene they had with toe  the  line.
Two men to force the first blockade, two at the rear to watch
Two on the roof to keep look out and two the man to catch

But Donald with a cunning skill his plan of campaign set
With trenching tools and camouflage, their counter tactics met.
Ensconced within a narrow loft with bits of iron rods
And bricks and bools as trenching tools, for powder, -- sooty clods
His iron rod he swung aloft, mid oath and language vile
As rush on rush they pressed him hard in the Battle of the Nile.




Four weary hours they fought their way till trench by trench were won,
mid shouts and cheers of passers by who waited to look on
Some shouted get the water hose call out the fire brigade
And Joe can get a good supply out of the Pulteney Lade!
Some wanted snuff, some mentioned spice, some said take off the tiles
But hold! Whats caused that rousing cheer and faces wreathed in smiles?

An Officer in spotless cap of white (the Navys hat)
Is seen to enter the dug out, what cheek! The little brat!!
At Hatjies fire hed had enough attending his Commander
Which sent him at a later date in England warm to wander
No Trawlers here infringing rights, on Stolen Sweets to fatten;
Theyre trawling round their fishing Dan in deep sea Loch O Watten!

The darkness fast was closing down with still the foe at bay,
A truce was called, and Donald told, theyd fight another day
But Donald now threw in the sponge, and boldly sauntered forth,
The proud defender of the hut, and champion of the North
So friend and foe dined sumptuously, then counted up their losses
And hoped their chief would honour them with German Iron Crosses.

Thus ended a most glorious day in the Battle of the Nile,
Its deeds of derring neer will fade but travel many a mile.

----------


## jimbews

> Here is the link to an online map of Wick from 1872
> 
> This may help with some answers.
> 
> http://www.ltscotland.org.uk/scottis.../maps/wick.asp
> 
> 
> BTW, it wasn't online in 1872


The railway wasn't online then either  :Smile: 

JimBews

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## trinkie

Pantsman,  thank you for that wonderful map.  I still cant find Farquhar Close, but I'll have another look tomorrow.

Thank you Mosser for adding the Siege of Ducksie.... great stuff !

Trinkie

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## achingale

This has been fascinating. Keep it going please... :Smile:

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## Moira

> Pantsman, thank you for that wonderful map. I still cant find Farquhar Close, but I'll have another look tomorrow. 
> Thank you Mosser for adding the Siege of Ducksie.... great stuff ! 
> Trinkie


Trinkie

I've not been able to come up with an answer as to Farquhar Close either. Maybe the Archive Section at Wick Library or the Wick Society would be able to help.  

Good luck.  :Smile:

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## Mosser

> Trinkie
> 
> I've not been able to come up with an answer as to Farquhar Close either. Maybe the Archive Section at Wick Library or the Wick Society would be able to help. 
> 
> Good luck.


 
Trinkie and Moira,

The census of 1891 lists Farquhars Lane, by the 1900s the valuation rolls have it as Farquhars Court a simple name change. This is the only reference to Farquhar as a street name in Wick and because it was a very narrow area with an equally narrow access from High Street it is entirely possible that local usage was "Close," even today we call Harbour Terrace - Shore Road and Church Street - Kirkhill (so what's new?) My mother was born there and her birth Cert is Farquhars Court and she always called it the court.

Hope that this helps,

Mosser

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## golach

> This is the only reference to Farquhar as a street name in Wick and because it was a very narrow area with an equally narrow access from High Street it is entirely possible that local usage was "Close," even today we call Harbour Terrace - Shore Road and Church Street - Kirkhill (so what's new?) My mother was born there and her birth Cert is Farquhars Court and she always called it the court.
> 
> Hope that this helps,
> 
> Mosser


Mosser, many of the lanes on the Royal Mile in Edinburgh are called both "Closes" and "Courts", blocks of tenaments are often refered to as "Lands", these seems to be  common Scots terms.

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## Mosser

> Mosser, many of the lanes on the Royal Mile in Edinburgh are called both "Closes" and "Courts", blocks of tenaments are often refered to as "Lands", these seems to be common Scots terms.


Thanks for confirmation of those names Golach, they do seem to be common and interchangable

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## trinkie

Thank you for that Mosser.   I've looked at the death certificate again and it does say Farquhars Close,  but that could have been a mistake on the part of the Registrar. There was no number by the way.
 I agree with Golach regarding the names,  when I lived in Edinburgh I noticed folk saying 'up oor close'  etc. even if they lived in a tenament they seemed to refer to the Hallway as the Close.      I must say I dont remember this in Wick in my day - but who knows !

I've gone through my file for that family and didn't come across anyone else with that address.   I'll keep searching.

Many thanks for your help.
Trinkie

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## Mosser

> Thank you for that Mosser. I've looked at the death certificate again and it does say Farquhars Close, but that could have been a mistake on the part of the Registrar. There was no number by the way.
> I agree with Golach regarding the names, when I lived in Edinburgh I noticed folk saying 'up oor close' etc. even if they lived in a tenament they seemed to refer to the Hallway as the Close. I must say I dont remember this in Wick in my day - but who knows !
> 
> I've gone through my file for that family and didn't come across anyone else with that address. I'll keep searching.
> 
> Many thanks for your help.
> Trinkie


I have just come across writing from pre WW1 and the writer talks about Farquhars Close as being between Betsy Mowat's pie shop and Billy Sinclairs cycle shop, this is the exact location which today is between Hugo Ross' tackle shop and Boots Chemist, you can still see where the lane was. perhaps the Registrar knew it by that name?

Mosser

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## trinkie

Well, well... so it was there all the time.
Many thanks for spotting that Mosser.
Is that a very narrow lane opposite Cabrelli's?  There was once a Cobbler there ?
Would the hoosies have been 'high rise?'  sort of tenament, and very dark if I've got the right place.

Many thanks
Trinkie

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## Mosser

> Well, well... so it was there all the time.
> Many thanks for spotting that Mosser.
> Is that a very narrow lane opposite Cabrelli's? There was once a Cobbler there ?
> Would the hoosies have been 'high rise?' sort of tenament, and very dark if I've got the right place.
> 
> Many thanks
> Trinkie


when you worked in the insurance office it was directly across the road between Charlie Begg's and Bowle's bakery, maybe about 100 years ago!! just feels like that! the entry you were thinking about was Alexandra Court between Nicolsons and Dan Dunnett's.

Mosser

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## trinkie

Thank you Mosser ,  I think I know where you are now  -  and Thank you for reminding me about the old Insurance Office - now that would make a good Thread....
The shops that you mentioned prompted me to look up the old Shops Thread, and I have resurrected it for further reading !!
I think William Lyall wrote a poem about the old shoppies.

Trinkie

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## Chligh

Where does Moray Street come from?

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## jock leith

Lived in Owen Place for years and it was named after a doctor called Owen Owen yes he was so good they named him twice
J Leith

I'm claiming Leith Walk :Wink:

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## wicker8

dont really know about any off the names i was brought up in murchison st and i now live in upper dunbar st i seem to remember some one calld sir george dunbar and thats why the street was named after him he was on the council but im not dead sure

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## wicker8

hi just checked my title deeds and its named after a duff dunbar

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## Mosser

> Where does Moray Street come from?


Chilgh
The Right Honourable the Earl of Moray, BFS shareholder like almost all of the names in Pulteneytown

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## Mosser

> dont really know about any off the names i was brought up in murchison st and i now live in upper dunbar st i seem to remember some one calld sir george dunbar and thats why the street was named after him he was on the council but im not dead sure


wicker8

LOWER / UPPER DUNBAR STREET Sir Benjamin Dunbar of Hempriggs 

MURCHISON STREET Kenneth Murchison. BPS Shareholder. 

and someone mentioned Nicolson St and for a change this was not named after a BFS sharerholder but Provost William Nicolson elected a Baillie in 1894; became Provost in 1896 until the amalgamation of Wick and Pulteneytown in 1902 Elected Dean of Guild until 1907

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## MusicWicker

Think this website has been mentioned before but this link allows you to overlay todays map or satellite pic onto the 1872 map of Wick....

http://geo.nls.uk/maps/towns/wick/openlayers.html

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## wicker8

> wicker8
> 
> LOWER / UPPER DUNBAR STREET Sir Benjamin Dunbar of Hempriggs 
> 
> MURCHISON STREET Kenneth Murchison. BPS Shareholder. 
> 
> and someone mentioned Nicolson St and for a change this was not named after a BFS sharerholder but Provost William Nicolson elected a Baillie in 1894; became Provost in 1896 until the amalgamation of Wick and Pulteneytown in 1902 Elected Dean of Guild until 1907


hi mosser yes your right thanks for that

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## quality

Does anyone know where 13 Francis Street was I can not find it on any maps old or new?

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## Kevin Milkins

> Does anyone know where 13 Francis Street was I can not find it on any maps old or new?


 
There seems to be a great deal of interest at the moment in where 13 Francis Street used to be.  

I had a walk down the street today and I think the town side of the old West Church looks probable.

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## Mosser

> Does anyone know where 13 Francis Street was I can not find it on any maps old or new?


There were houses in behind the row of terraced housing on the Francis St Thurso St corner, access was from Thurso Street but I'm sure that they were included in Francis St numbering.

Mosser

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## quality

> There were houses in behind the row of terraced housing on the Francis St Thurso St corner, access was from Thurso Street but I'm sure that they were included in Francis St numbering.
> 
> Mosser


Thanks very much.

I think I may have found where it was now the link below shows No 10 to the right and a ally to the left which may have led to Nos 11,12,13.although I can not find anything late 1800s street map.




View Larger Map">
View Larger Map

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## quality

Here is the old map.

http://i118.photobucket.com/albums/o...1265006137.png

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## quality

Found it at last.

Its shown on the 1965 map as No 13 its actually on Dempster street about  12foot away from No 51 which is still standing.

The entrance was from Francis Street.

Here is a link to a photo of No 13 its just above the horse and cart if you copy it and blow it up you can see the side and the rear of No 13 clearly.

http://i118.photobucket.com/albums/o...sterStWick.jpg

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## Blarney

Something has just occurred to me - we don't have a *Quality Street* in Week!!

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## sweetpea

I came accross McLeod St, not to be confused with McLeod Rd. Seems it was layed out to be a street behind Norton Place as an entry to a new street that was never built.

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## Garnet

I've read through this very fasinating thread, having stayed in about five of the places mentioned with one very short stay on the 'Wick side' (2 months).  Hen St was mentioned and *is* now Langley Lane (2 houses)then tucked round the corner leading on to new builds and called Langley Court (5/6 houses).  Many changes in P/Town in the last 30 odd years.

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## sweep

garnet i believe the area with the 6 new houses is langley park.

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## Garnet

Hi Sweep, well i guess that's a smarty pants for you 'park' it is, though i've never actually been in there so took a guess at how many houses, but i'm definately right about Hen street... ....need for kudos!! ::  G. super thread though...memories...memories!

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## trinkie

It's some time since we added another Wick Street, but have we had Kirk Lane ?
It was named after John Kirk 1785-1863   A Merchant in Wick and Chairman of the Chamber of Commerce - can anyone add more ?

i always thought it was named for a nearby church !
Trinkie

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## Moira

Good one Trinkie,

 I've always wondered about the origins of naming Randolph Place which is situated in South Road, Wick.

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## trinkie

How old do you think Randolph Place is Moira ?   I'll see what I can find.
Do you think it was before Randolph Churchill's time ?  Though I dont know if he had any Caithness connections,
he was in politics - ye never know .

Trinkie

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## Mosser

> How old do you think Randolph Place is Moira ?   I'll see what I can find.
> Do you think it was before Randolph Churchill's time ?  Though I dont know if he had any Caithness connections,
> he was in politics - ye never know .
> 
> Trinkie


I don't know the origin of this one but it is almost certain that he had something to do with the British Fisheries Society, nearly all the Pulteney streets were named for the office bearers and members of that body. The  area next to it, Norton Place, was named for John Bruce Norton, Advocate General. BFS Shareholder, Gladstone Place for William Ewart Gladstone, Prime Minister and Northcote Street for the estate of Sir Stafford Henry, 1st Earl of Iddesleigh Director BFS and so on it goes. Hope this helps

Mosser

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## trinkie

That certainly does help Mosser - I'm sure Moira will be pleased !
Many thanks.
Trinkie

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## George Brims

> I could be wrong but I thought all hotels were booze free in Wick until after WW1 such was the power of the temperance movement.


There was a spell when Wick was "dry" because of the interfering biddies of the temperance movement. There used to be a rule that you could get a drink if you were a guest in a hotel, so the railway company used to run Friday night trains between Wick and Thurso so Wickers could drink in Thurso and Thurso people in Wick. You would have to register as a "guest" before getting served. Mr Swanson, our history teacher at WHS told us the trains used would just have arrived from the South and there would be cups and saucers and plates out on the tables of the buffet car. The lads would skim the saucers and plates across the water as the train passed Watten Loch. I always wanted to scuba dive in there and see if I could find any!
Of course the "dry" thing didn't really work. Mr Swanson also told us that Newton Hill was famous for its illegal whisky, with quite a number of stills. My uncle Stanley arrived in Wick for the first time one summer evening in the 1930s. It was a Thursday so there was a bobby directing traffic at the end of the bridge. The train was hot and he was parched, so he asked the bobby where a bloke could get a drink of beer. "Oh dear, ma loon, did nobody tell ye - Week's dry!" Seeing his crestfallen face he took pity on a stranger, and told Stanley to wait a few minutes till the Thursday rush our was over and he was off shift. A few minutes later the bobby went back to the station for his coat and lunch box, and Stanley followed him down past McKay's Hotel along Union Street, and arrived at a speakeasy.

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## trinkie

Thank you for that interesting story George.  Wick Streets would have been much quieter in the DRY spell - until the Mountain Dew opened in Smith Terrace !

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## Mosser

Wick was dry "in theory" from 1922 -1947 but there were lots of ways to have a wee dram, one man was a walking pub, he wore a long coat and inside it he had tot glasses and a bottle of the craitur. I think that the Camps Bar owned by Don Sutherland was the first pub to open in 1947.

Mosser

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## Moira

> I don't know the origin of this one but it is almost certain that he had something to do with the British Fisheries Society, nearly all the Pulteney streets were named for the office bearers and members of that body. <snip>
> Mosser


Thanks Mosser.
I need to hone my researching skills which go very little beyond Google at the moment.  :Smile:

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## Stack Rock

I think that the Camps Bar owned by Don Sutherland was the first pub to open in 1947.

Mosser[/QUOTE]

This brings back memories. My dad Paul worked for Bob Sutherland the blacksmiths at this time and I can recall him telling me that he and Bob had the first 'official' drink after the prohibition period. They had just finished fitting a metal grille at the bar before opening time when they were given a free dram.

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## Moira

Lol Stackrock, I hope they had their drams in their hands before the grille was tested! Great story, thank you.  :Smile:

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## trinkie

I now hear from Archives at the Library that Randolph is likely connected to The Dunbar family at Hempriggs.    Their crest consists of four families one of them is Randolph.
 The Dunbars would have been connected to the Fishing Industry as Mosser suggested,  and indeed the land for Pulteneytown came from the Dunbar Estate.


 Randolph Place first appears as a plot of land  in 1911 .  The following year houses had been built .


 I hope this helps .  Thanks to Moira for asking initially !


 Trinkie

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## George Brims

> I think that the Camps Bar owned by Don Sutherland was the first pub to open in 1947.


We were in a wee town called Hopland, north of San Francisco on the 101, and discovered a great pub that brewed its own beer. They claim to have been the first such "brewpub" in California, and also the site of a genuine miracle. There was fresh brewed beer available on the morning of the repeal of Prohibition!

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## trinkie

Brandy at the beginning of this thread you mention MacKays Hotel.  In 1932 the Proprietors were Mrs Taylor and Miss MacKay.  I dont know if they were sisters.
The Hotel was called The Commercial Hotel then.
Here is a snippet from The Scotsman 1932 -

''  Lord Strathclyde - then Lord Advocate -  aptly described it as 'the bowsprit of a ship'
submitted by Lord Allness 

Trinkie

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## trinkie

Here's a new one -    Agnes Henderson Close ?           Where was it and who was Agnes Henderson?
I think there was a Lodging House there for travelling people.

I'd love to hear more if anyone can help.
Many thanks
Trinkie.

----------


## Mosser

> Here's a new one -    Agnes Henderson Close ?           Where was it and who was Agnes Henderson?
> I think there was a Lodging House there for travelling people.
> 
> I'd love to hear more if anyone can help.
> Many thanks
> Trinkie.


Where did you dig that one up from Trinkie?? It's a new one on me

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## trinkie

When I read your reply Mosser,     I thought    "Heavens - that's no lek Mosser !"      Alas it's my own spelling error - it should read Angus Henderson's Close,   does that make any difference to you? I was reading a poem by John Horne  and he begins by explaining.....        Bill Prior's Hyrdopathic.  The Hydropathic  was a famous establishment in its day -  a lodging-house up   Angus Henderson's Close   for tramps and  beggars of every description.    It was affirmed that when the house was full some of the travellers  were accommodated on ropes !    Bill  a tall, dark, quiet man  swept chimneys, cleaned clocks etc.....

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## Mosser

> When I read your reply Mosser,     I thought    "Heavens - that's no lek Mosser !"      Alas it's my own spelling error - it should read Angus Henderson's Close,   does that make any difference to you? I was reading a poem by John Horne  and he begins by explaining.....        Bill Prior's Hyrdopathic.  “The Hydropathic”  was a famous establishment in its day -  a lodging-house up  “ Angus Henderson's Close”   for tramps and  beggars of every description.    It was affirmed that when the house was full some of the “travellers”  were accommodated on ropes !    Bill – a tall, dark, quiet man – swept chimneys, cleaned clocks etc.....


Aha, That makes more sense Trinkie, I think that it was near the foot of Tolbooth Lane,but, along with all the 19th Century properties it's all gone now.

Mosser

----------


## Mosser

> Aha, That makes more sense Trinkie, I think that it was near the foot of Tolbooth Lane,but, along with all the 19th Century properties it's all gone now.
> 
> Mosser


Whoops, I forgot to say that Angus Henderson and his wife ran a pub in the close

----------


## trinkie

Thank you Mosser,   I'll make a note of that next to the poem !

Another part of the jigsaw has been solved !

----------


## trinkie

I dont see Burn Street in this thread,   but I think it was named for George Burns, the architect of the New Harbour .

----------


## Kevin Milkins

> I dont see Burn Street in this thread,   but I think it was named for George Burns, the architect of the New Harbour .


Is it a coincidence that the heat centre is in Burn Street?

----------


## Mosser

I think that Ebeneezer was a son/nephew of the family who built the building that is now MacKay's Hotel. Basically all the streets in upper Pulteney were named for office bearers/members of the British Fisheries Society except for Cairndhuna and Kennedy and the names in Lower Pulteney were more the trades and workers, Telford, Burn Saltoun Rose etc.

----------


## Mosser

Ah, nice one Kevin, nice one son. The Burn war actually George Burn a local architect who carried out lots of Telfords' plans such as the old bridge at Bridge Street and the first stage of Pulreneytown Harbour

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## Mosser

> sorry trinkie was wrong as asked postman today ,that street which has only two houses,in it is called langley lane, still think there is a street in wick called hen st


In the early years of the 20th century it was called Hen Street, a number of cottagers lived there and hens were prolific, this name lived on until more recent developments renamed it Langley Lane, I still prefer Hen Street

----------


## jock leith

Anybody know who or what  Leith Walk was named after

----------


## sids

> Anybody know who or what  Leith Walk was named after


Provost Bessie Leith.

----------


## legolas

I have read the thread but cannot find any mention of Cairndhuna Terrace. Does anyone know where this name came from.

----------


## Mosser

> I have read the thread but cannot find any mention of Cairndhuna Terrace. Does anyone know where this name came from.


I believe it was named for John Dunnett  a resident of Grant Street and  who in the first three decades of last century wrote a regular column and numerous articles in the Groat under the pen name "Cairndhuna."   He was a weaver to trade and so highly regarded by all that when he died a pauper the folk of Pulteney clubbed together and erected his tombstone.

----------


## sids

> I have read the thread but cannot find any mention of Cairndhuna Terrace. Does anyone know where this name came from.


There's a sort of stack, or hill, at the South Head quarry, called Cairndhuna.

http://www.scotlandsplaces.gov.uk/re...et-xxv/os6inch

----------


## Mosser

> There's a sort of stack, or hill, at the South Head quarry, called Cairndhuna.
> 
> http://www.scotlandsplaces.gov.uk/re...et-xxv/os6inch


Usually translated roughly as the Hill of Man, there's also a Cairndhuna well which is where John Dunnett took his pen name

----------


## sids

> there's also a Cairndhuna well which is where John Dunnett took his pen name


Yes, it's marked on the same map, very close to Cairndhuna and Cairndhuna Rock.

----------


## Green_not_greed

Great thread ! This guy is probably a good contender for Huddart Street. He surveyed harbours and coasts and was aquainted with Thomas Telford.  He was also big in rope manufacture and so may have had something to do with the Ropeworks mentioned earlier.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Joseph_Huddart

----------


## sids

> Usually translated roughly as the Hill of Man, there's also a Cairndhuna well which is where John Dunnett took his pen name


If he called himself "Cairndhuna," wouldn't he have taken that from Cairndhuna, rather than from the Cairndhuna Well?

----------


## Mosser

> Great thread ! This guy is probably a good contender for Huddart Street. He surveyed harbours and coasts and was aquainted with Thomas Telford.  He was also big in rope manufacture and so may have had something to do with the Ropeworks mentioned earlier.
> 
> http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Joseph_Huddart


That's the man, described as Captain Joseph Huddart, hydrographer and manufacturer of Patent Cordage, British Fisheries Society Shareholder; almost all the Pulteneytown streets are named after Office Bearers and shareholders of that Society

----------


## Mosser

> If he called himself "Cairndhuna," wouldn't he have taken that from Cairndhuna, rather than from the Cairndhuna Well?


Quite right sids, I simply meant Cairndhuna, I worded it badly, apologies

----------


## sids

> apologies


I say! No need to go over the top, old man.

----------


## oag

Have not seen . Oag lane ?

----------


## Alice in Blunderland

Oag Lane

----------


## Mosser

> Have not seen . Oag lane ?


Oag Lane named for Alexander Oag who built and owned property there in late 19th century, before that it was known as Rose Lane after a Writer (Solicitor) who owned a property in the area now occupied by the garden at lower west

----------


## oag

Thank you very much .

----------


## dontstop

Hi there.try Ian Sutherland of the heritage center,he will know. I remember seeing something about the history of the streets of pultney short ago,but i canna remember where i seen but im sure it was on caith.org.

----------

