B R O U G H T Y   M E M O R I E S

If your ferry memory has not been added to this page, please re-send.

19/12/01 Malcolm Orr, Christchurch, New Zealand

.Went to Forthill Primary then Grove between 79 - 84.Then onto Duncan of Jordanstone before London and now living in beautiful New Zealand. Interested to read from one of the contributors about Hamish Clark being in Monarch of the Glen.You can't imagine how much time it took to convince the guys at work here that I played in the 1st xv with him at Grove. Get back to Broughty Ferry about every three years and will be back in February to avoid the heat of New Zealand summer. E-Mail me on m.orr@designteam.co.nz.

Dorothy Rodger, 7/12/01 

Broughty Ferry.Hello I am wondering if you would like to establish a link to my site on Broughty Ferry. Most of my photographs are family but I have a nice selection of ones from Broughty Ferry and Dundee. My website is www.broughty.org.uk Dorothy.

Diane Morrison, 18/11/01

18/11/01 What a wonderful web site. I found it only last night, which was nice timing as I was making a wee visit up to Dundee today, and was looking for a nice pub lunch. My son is at Uni in Dundee(which is great as it allows me to visit the Ferry regularly)We took him to the Fishermans Tavern which I can highly recommend. Very cosy atmosphere with a coal fire burning. The food was beautiful and the staff very helpful.

My grandpa John Charles Murray Bell was brought up in the Ferry in the flat above the Post Office in Brook Street(1905 onwards). Since he died I have found out so much more about his family and ancestors. His grandfather was William Murray, Master Plumber who had a shop in the town. William and his wife Christina (nee Brown) lived in the flat above Goodfellows shop.(The chocolate violets are a must)

I feel a great affinity to the Ferry. What always amazes me, is how bustling Brook Street is. Lots of super wee shops well worth a visit. Your web site will keep me going till the next visit! Thank you

Bill (Lindsay) Davie 28/10/01

I've just finished a delightful tour of your grand site; especially enjoyed the many letters from ex-Ferry folk scattered around the world. I even noticed a letter from my brother!  I spent my early childhood in the Ferry, from 1942 until 1955 attending the Grove Primary and then the "Big Grove" for first year.  I emigrated in the 60's and was unable to visit for many years but happily have enjoyed a couple of trips over the past ten years.  Although my visits were too short I enjoyed every minute of them.  I bought several pictures of Broughty which hang proudly on my walls.   

So many things remain fresh in my mind; primary school with Mrs Crawford, playing football and cricket at the "Rec", watching Forfarshire play county cricket, playing in Castleroy, films at the
Regal and the Broughty (Reres), camping with the Scouts and watching Tommy Gallacher and Billy Steel at Dens on a Saturday.  In my travels I've had the pleasure of meeting former Ferry residents on four occasions although I hadn't known them before.   I once saw a Ferry bumper sticker on a car in Vancouver!  

Alex Harrison, Western Australia 13/10/01

My grandfather Alexander NICOLL was born in Broughty Ferry on or around 1886. He subsequently moved to Australia prior to the First World War. I would like to hear from any of his relatives.

pressureoff@dingoblue.net.au

Ian Bennet, Cruden bay - Aberdeenshire 07/10/01

i grew up in the ferry going to the wee grove in 1963 and then on to Forthill till 1970. I lived in Victoria Road and then moved to Reres Road in 1972. I remember my teacher was Mrs. Ross at Forthill. I would really love to hear from anyone who remembers me from these days. I was also in the BB's at St Lukes and the Sunday School as well Please e-mail me at ian.bennet@aberdeen.entoiol.com or atian@ibennet.flyer.co.uk. My parents still live in the ferry and i love going back to the old haunts although not many of them are left But you cant beat a saer heed from Goodfellows. Anyway i really look forward to hearing from you all

cathy.smith56@sympatico.ca

How does any one go and get a list of local council people for a town? Story has it that my great grandmother was involved with the local government in Broughty Ferry in the early 1900's and I would like to know a bit about it. Her name was Jane Findlay Philp. She was married to David Philp.
any help would be greatly appreciated.

Scott Ramsay, London 20/09/01

My Mum's family were all Lorimars. In the early seventies just about the whole family lived in Brown Street. Those were the days when there were stables at the bottom of the street. A real sense of community then. My Grandad Hugh Tully was a real character in the town. Does anyone remember him ? He was the Landlord of the Fisherman's Tavern for a few years.&

Julie Kennedy 10/09/01

Hi,

At last I have found a great site that gives some insight into the history of Broughty Ferry from local peoples memories.Thanks for setting this up and giving me the opportunity to possibly find out some information about my ancestors. I hope you can add my enquiry to your site.

I live on the Wirral which is just across the water (The Mersey!) from Liverpool. My great great grandfather was John Gilroy (died 1877). Since a child I have heard about my family coming from 'somewhere' in Scotland, having something to do with hemp/jute and owning a big house called 'Castleroy'. I had a couple of old pictures of Castleroy and I held the funeral card for John Gilroy who was buried in a cemetery in Liverpool. I had been told that John had moved away from his family in Scotland because he could not adhere to the strict religious upbringing and rebelled by moving away. Was he the Black sheep I wondered?

After many years of searching through Liverpool directories, census lists, cemetery records etc I finally found were John Gilroy was buried however the headstone had long since gone. I ordered certificates from the Family Records centre and discovered he and his family seem to have lived in the 'slum' area of Liverpool. His occupation was given as a hairdresser.

This intrigued me. How was it that John Gilroy had moved down from Scotland, from an obviously well to do family (The Gilroys), to set up residence in the slum area of Liverpool? What is his connection to the family living in the 'big house' Castleroy' which I had heard all about? The puzzle needs solving.

After many hours of trawling through books I bought a computer and hooked up on the Internet! Boy what a marvellous thing it is for genealogists! I found out Castleroy had been the family home of the Gilroys and it had been situated in Broughty Ferry, close to Dundee. Could it still be standing I wondered? I bought a modern map of Dundee which included Broughty Ferry and scanned the road names. Sure enough there was a road called Castleroy! Could this be where the house had stood? I waited with baited breath for an old Ordnance survey map to arrive from an order with W H Smiths. Sure enough there was the house and there was a short text stating the house had succumbed to dry rot and had been demolished.

AAArrrgghh......I was so disappointed. But at least I know knew I had the correct area and the family history that had been relayed to me had been correct. I decided I must get to see this place I had heard so much about and see if I could dig out some details from local bookshops, library, antique shops etc....

I had an opportunity to go on a short trip away with some friends to Pitlochrie and managed to persuade them to do a one day trip down to Broughty ferry to see if I could pick up some information and take some photos and video to bring back to show my folks back home. Luckily a new book had been produced showing old pictures of Broughty Ferry and this opened my eyes to other houses in Broughty ferry built/owned by the Gilroys. This was getting exciting and I couldn't wait to visit to start delving through library information and seeing the sites etc.This book informed me there was a Gilroy mausoleum in Barnhill cemetery and that they had owned a big jute mill in Dundee called Tay Works!

The day arrived to travel to Broughty Ferry.My friends and their 3 kids and me all piled into their Galaxy and off we went...in the rain! We arrived and luckily the rain had stopped but it was extremely windy. I had listed all the road names and house names I wanted to look for and armed with a map we set out a plan of action and decided to walk around.Boy it was a hike up the hill to Castleroy Road but here I was...on the site of my ancestors but what was left? We figured out what the perimeter walls must have been and noted there were now 3 or 4 modern houses now built on the land. What a disappointment.

We found the houses Dunalistair (Hill Street) and we think Rowanbank (Camphill Road) but couldn't find 'Gilroy cottage' in Monifieth Road where the Castleroy coachman had lived nor where the dairyman had lived at 75? Panmure St. According to the new book the Castleroy East Lodge (gardener), Castleroy Bothy (groom) and Castleroy House had all gone together with Castleroy itself.

However I received a thrill when we found Castleroy East Lodge (gatekeeper/joiner) in Hill St still standing and there was the name Gilroy in stone above the impressive gateway. Also we found the mausoleum in Barnhill cemetery with invaluable information on the marble plaques inside it which I could easily see. While in the cemetery I met a lovely local man who was visiting his wifes grave. He told me he had played in the grounds of Castleroy as a lad and he and his mates had played inside the derelict old house when it had been left. He said it had become a sorrowful site and definitely needed knocking down in the end. He was not sure however what local authority held the records for the Barnhill cemetery for me to contact for more information on possible other Gilroy graves in the cemetery. I do not know this gentlemans name but he was a joy to talk to.Thanks to him whoever he was!

Time was beginning to catch up with us and the kids were beginning to get hungry and tired plus it was nearing 4:30 and I hadn't even looked in the library yet! We dashed around the local shops but I was disappointed to note there were no old bookshops to search through or buy old/new local history books. The library held nothing and could only divert me to the main library in Dundee were everything is now held due to Broughty Ferry now being part of Dundee. I did venture into an art gallery/craft shop and some lovely ladies in there were intrigued with my story and dug out an old local history book they held upstairs for me to have a flick through. The lady kindly copied the relevant pages about Castleroy for me because the book was now out of print. Again to these ladies who ever you are, thankyou!

My day was done and yet I still had loads of questions I had unanswered. I left Broughty ferry feeling very strange.I do not know when I will see it again. Maybe my ancestors were looking down on me at that point. But I couldn't help wondering what had happened to their descendants? Were there any descendants still living in Broughty Ferry? We went back via Dundee to see if we could figure out were the Tay works jute mill had been but it was so busy so we just shot through.

George (m Sarah Reid) built Castleroy

Robert Henry (m Elizabeth?) built Rowanbank?

Alexander (m Marguerite?) built Dunalistair? which became a Black Watch home

George and Sarah seemed to have had 4 children

George Alexander

Alexander Bruce

James Reid

Sarah Ann

Where does my John Gilroy fit into this? I think he may have been a brother to the 3 brothers that started off in Rowanbank however I have yet to prove this. Was he the black sheep as my family down here seem to have thought? Or was there some other reason for him to move south?

Why did Castleroy end up derelict and succumb to dry rot? What date was it demolished? Were there any photos taken of it in ruins? Why did the family leave it to get to this state? Where did all the furnishings, paperwork, photos etc go from the house?

Why did the contents of Rowanbank get sold off in an auction when Elizabeth (Betty) Gilroy died? Was there no family to pass this on to? Again have all the family papers ended up in old bric a brac or antique shops?

I have no photographs of any of the Gilroy family from Scotland? Does anyone hold any photographs I could copy or know of a place that holds photographs or maybe paintings of the Gilroys I could get to see? I would love to put faces to names at least! Apparently there were 2 boats/ships owned by them too? Does anyone know any information about these?

When was the Tay works factory shut down and demolished? I presume this was due to lessening demand for jute and hemp with the introduction of plastics etc. What became of the company Gilroy & Sons, Gilroy Bros, partnership with Cox Bros? They apparently held land in Calcutta India. Where was this and what happened to that?

It seems the Gilroy family were not that well liked? Why? Did they treat their employees badly? Did they act like absolute prats and snobs? There was one saving grace and that seems to have been Alexander Bruce Gilroy who seemed to get very involved in protecting the local community and was involved with many organisations. He never married and died aged 70yrs in 1923?

I have searched so much information via the internet but really I need to visit Scotland again and this time for a longer stay in probably Dundee. I know the University of Dundee have Gilroy Bros records under reference MS66 in their archives and I will have to get to see that information some time in the future when I visit but for now they will remain a mystery. Also all Birth, Death, Marriage information for Scotland is held separately from that of England and Wales and so I can only trace it by travelling up there which unfortunately is quite a way!

Any information anyone could give me, however small or trivial, I don't mind, I am just intrigued to unscramble the puzzle and get to know my ancestors - good or bad!!

Thanks to the people I met and chatted to in Broughty Ferry on my daytrip out there. I enjoyed every moment! And finally thanks to anyone who has survived reading through my prattle...I hope it hasn't bored you.You may just be the one who can help me to solve the puzzle so thanks and I look forward to hearing from you!!

Julie Kennedy

P.S. Feel free to email me at jules@castleroy1.freeserve.co.uk

Within the will of A.B. Gilroy, Castleroy was offered to the Local Authority in 1945, however after inspection it was discovered it had significant dry rot which made it financially unrealistic to maintain. It was demolished in 1956. 

There is an excellent book on Broughty Ferry which contains pictures and some history on Broughty Ferry amongst which it details information on Castleroy and the Gilroys including (within the introduction) the auction sale at Rowanbank -  its called - Broughty Ferry,  Andrew Cronshaw, ISBN 0-7524-1509-3

David Murray 06/09/01 davmurray@hotmail.com

Stumbled upon the website after seeing a link to it on another web site. Born in the Ferry in 1967, I spent the first 12 years of my life happily, living in Morar Place, East Balgillo. My dad, Alex worked in Dundee as an insurance broker with the GRE. My mum, Elizabeth, (now sadly departed and sorely missed), worked for a while in the RS McColl next to the Green Belt. Have many happy memories of the Ferry, not least my days at Forthill, the blackouts of the seventies, the playpark round the back of the shops off the Green Belt, the information film played to Albatross by Fleetwood mac in the castle (!), going up the Wellgate Centre on a Saturday afternoon, amongst many others.... My brother Stephen still lives in Dundee, the rest of my family now have moved to the west coast. Myself? Well, I moved to Glasgow for a few years before ending up in London, where I've been for the last year. Don't get back to the Ferry very often but would love to hear from anyone who may remember/know me, or my family. Keep up the good work!

Cheers

Maureen Scott 31/08/01

I  lived in Broughty ferry from 1947-52.  My family lived in Castleroy ( now a private housing complex ) and I have fond memories of playing in the castle  grounds-what a setting for our imagination!!  An added bonus was the harvest of plums, apples and gooseberries from the castle orchard-there were  often
sore tummies from over indulgence!  I remember my first winter in primary school-sliding down Whinnie Brae on an old suitcase towards the Eastern in the bad snow of  the winter of 1947.  Annie Butchart's sweet shop in Queen St supplied the Eastern children with their ration of sweets!  As a treat mum
ould buy chocolate voilets, rhubarb tarts or filled bridge rolls from Goodfellows-( I still know the taste! )  A real treat was to be invited to a birthday tea in Goodfellow's tearoom but that was only a luxury of the
better-off!  Each summer saw the parade of corporation double-decker buses filled with Dundonians regularly making their way to Broughty beach which was crowded on a good day.  We would go along with pals to hear the "Good News" in the gospel hall in King St-1p entrance fee but that entitled you to a cup of cocoa!  I continued my schooling at Grove Academy having moved to Craigiebank in 1953.I now live in Fochabers ( Baxter's soup country )with my husband Colin-a native of the Ferry too. My maiden name was Crawford. It was a great place to spend my chiidhood. I still love going back for a nostalgic
visit although much has changed but the level crossing is still there!

Gavin Whitelaw, 25/08/01 Barking Essex - but still really Broughty Ferry

Well I see that you have a piccy of my mums house at the top of the page. Brought up in the Ferry in Fisher Street and my parents still live there. I get back as often as I can 8not often enough and like some of your other correspondants say it really was a greay place to grow up in playing on the beach and the pier and you really didnt appreciate how lucky you were. I attended Eastern and Grove and left Grove in 1981. Am now in London working as a technician

Marriane Drysdale, USA 23/08/01 - drysd001@mc.duke.edu

I now live in Durham, North Carolina. I spent my early childhood in Broughty Ferry
(from about 1968 until 1978 or so)  I went to Eastern Primary school with my two sisters, Nancy and Louise - we lived in the house right next door to it on Monifieth Rd !  We have great memories of playing in Dawson Park, and pretending to be Robin Hood in Reres Park.  I also remember spending hours on the beach and in the (frigid) sea !  I have happy memories of Visocchi's, "Annie Butcher's", picking brambles on the old railway line, going to the Regal and buying a poke
of chips for the walk home, Mr. Allison the grocer, the "pie shop" which had the most awesome Forfar bridies.

I would love to hear from anyone who was around at that time -my sisters and I often fantasize about packing it all in and buying a B and B in Grotty Broughty ! drysd001@mc.duke.edu

You might want to try www. friendsreunited.co.uk. Not specifically for Broughty ferry, but it does list all the schools in Broughty Ferry (primary and secondary). Ex-pupils register the year they were in and its a good way of getting in touch with old school pals. 

Judith Montgomerie, Perth, Western Australia 22/08/01 - jmonte@global.net.au

Just happened upon this site and saw a posting from a Montgomerie.   I am interesting in contacting anyone who can assist. jmonte@global.net.au

C. Hooper, Canada  14/08/01

My grandmother was born in Broughty Ferry in the 1890's.She lived most of her adult life away from the Ferry and I never visited or got to Know the place. I know her father had a watchmaker/Jewelery shop - Fehrenbach and was of german decent. That story I do not Know. They lived in a house caled I believe roselee ar something similar. I wondered if perhaps the house still stood or anyone recalled any salient facts. Thank You

Alan B Grant 28/07/01 USA

Sitting on a Delta flight from DC to Atlanta I spoke to the lady sitting next to me who out of the blue told me about the Ferry Web site, her mother had lived there many years ago. Having lived in many places in the world I long to return to the Ferry and when I am tired of building and designing robots in the US I will return for good to the area where I have fond memories of Balmyle Road where my family has lived for many years.

I recently visited the area and had the opportunity to visit the Ferry. Of course my first stop was to Goodfellows for a cream meringue and a loaf of youma. I got the meringue but the server had never heard of a youma !!!! I remember going to Goodfellows tea room on Saturdays and devouring as many souffle cakes as we could, I think the record for 2 of us was a total of 48 

If anyone remembers me from the schooldays at DHS I would love to hear fromthem

Does anyone know what happened to Sheila or Helen Jamieson who lived on Grove Road in the Ferry I heard that the family had moved to Newtyle but I never heard any other information

Hope that someone might remember me from the 50s !!!

By the way I love the web site you have done a great job
Alan B Grant

cobratec@mindspring.com

Neil Donald 23/07/01 Email: ndonald@bechtel.com

A message for Heather Hoare...... you posted a request for information regarding your family in Broughty Ferry ( 16/05/01)
I knew most of your cousins and knocked around with Norrie for several years. My younger sister went out with Norrie for a few years a long time ago. I believe I met your mother when she was over for a holiday years ago. I can put you in touch very easy as Norrie is back living in the Ferry.
email: ndonald@bechtel.com

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