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June 27th 1687 |
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One of Blairgowrie's finestGeorge Drummond, six times Lord Provost of Edinburgh, is not generally associated with Perthshire but he was, in fact, born at Newton Castle, Blairgowrie where his father was factor to the estate. He lived there till he was about fourteen when the family moved to Edinburgh. He was a talented and ambitious young man and early in his life made the supremely important decision to support the Whigs and consequently the Treaty of Union. He demonstrated that commitment by fighting at the Battle of Sheriffmuir and later attempting a somewhat ineffectual resistance to Prince Charles’ occupation of Edinburgh in the ’45.It was after the suppression of the rebellion that George Drummond entered into his greatest period of influence and achievement. He was to a large extent responsible for the decision to establish the Royal Infirmary, he was one of the first directors of the Royal Bank of Scotland, a Commissioner of Customs and he used his influence as Lord Provost to secure the continuation of the special Scottish trade privileges granted by the town of Campress in the Netherlands. But above all, it was to his drive and vision that plans for the New Town of Edinburgh were drawn up by John and Robert Adam. Sadly he died before the building was finished. On a more personal note, he is said to have been a very religious man much troubled by depression and spiritual torment though these problems became noticeably less acute as his financial position improved. He succeeded in outliving four wives who provided not only spiritual comfort and the more earthy joys of marriage (he had a family of fourteen children) but also brought with them the solace of considerable material wealth. He died on December 4th 1766. |