The Gowrie Conspiracy was one of the strangest episodes in Scottish history. It took place in August, 1600. King James VI. while hunting in Falkland Park, Fifeshire, was asked by Alexander Ruthven (brother of the Earl of Gowrie) to accompany him to Gowrie House, near Perth, on the pretext that they had caught a Jesuit with an urn of foreign golden pieces hid under his cloak. On arriving at Gowrie House an attempt was made on the life or liberty of the king, but an alarm being raised, both the Ruthvens were slain, and James VI escaped, though not without difficulty as the Gowries were very popular among the inhabitants of Perth. Research Gowrie Conspiracy
Charles Mackay was a Scottish journalist and song writer. He was born in 1814 at Perth and died in 1889. From 1844 to 1847 he edited the 'GlasgowArgus' and in 1852 the 'London Illustrated News'. During the American Civil War he was war correspondent for the Times, but he achieved contemporary fame as a song writer. Research Charles Mackay
Charles Edward Stuart, called the Pretender, was the grandson of James II king of England, son of James Edward and Clementina, daughter of Prince Sobiesld. He was born in 1720 at Rome and died in 1788. In 1742 he went to Paris and persuaded Louis XV to assist him in an attempt to recover the throne of his ancestors. Fifteen thousand men were on the point of sailing from Dunkirk, when the English admiral Norris dispersed the whole fleet. Charles Stuart now determined to trust to his own exertions. Accompanied by seven officers he landed on the west coast of Scotland, from a small ship called the Doutelle. Many Lowland nobles and Highland chiefs went over to his party. With a small army thus formed he marched forward, captured Perth, then Edinburgh on September the 17th 1745, defeated an army of 4000 British under Sir John Cope at Prestonpans on September the 22nd, and advancing obtained possession of Carlisle., He now caused his father to be proclaimed King, and himself Regent of England; removed his head-quarters to Manchester, and soon found himself within 100 miles of London, where many of his friends awaited his arrival. The rapid successes of the adventurer now caused a part of the British forces in Germany to be recalled. Want of support, disunion, and jealousy among the adherents of the house of Stuart, some errors, and the superior force opposed to him, compelled Prince Charles Stuart to retire in the beginning of 1746. The victory at Falkirk on January the 28th, 1746 was his last. As a final attempt he risked the battle of Culloden against the Duke of Cumberland, on April the 16th, 1746, in which his army was defeated and entirely dispersed.
The prince now wandered about for a long time through the wilds of Scotland, often without food, and the price of 30,000 pounds sterling was set upon his head. At length, on September the 20th, 1746, five months after the defeat of Culloden, he escaped in a French frigate. He received a pension of 200,000 livres yearly from France, and of 12,000 doubloons from Spain. Forced to leave France by the terms of the Peace of Aix-la-Chapelle of 1748 he went to Italy, and in 1772 married a princess of Stolberg-Gedern, from whom eight years later he was separated.. He latterly fell into habits of intoxication, and he died Jan. 31, 1788, and was buried at Frascati. After his death, his funeral service was performed by his only surviving brother, the Cardinal of York, with whose death in 1807 the Stuart line ended. The cardinal received a pension from Britain of £4000 a year until his death. Research Charles Stuart
Ernest Giles was an Australian explorer. He was born in 1839 at Bristol and died in 1897. He went to Melbourne at an early age and in 1874 to 1876 crossed from Adelaide to Perth with camels. Research Ernest Giles
Fox Maule Ramsay, Earl of Dalhousie was a Scottish politician. He was born in 1801 and died in 1874. He served some years in the army and sat in parliament as member for the Elgin burghs and Perth. He became Baron Panmure on the death of his father in 1852 and was secretary at war from 1855 to 1858, when he retired from political life. In 1860, on the death of his cousin, he succeeded to the title of Earl of Dalhousie. He died in 1874 without issue, and was succeeded by his cousin, George Ramsay, as the twelfth earl. Research Fox Ramsay
Sir John Forrest was an Australian explorer and statesman. He was was born in 1847 at Western Australia and died in 1918. He entered the Survey Department in 1865 and in 1869 he commanded the expedition sent into the interior in search of Leichhardt, and was subsequently at the head of an exploring expedition along the coast from Perth to Adelaide, and of another which penetrated, with the aid of horses only, 2000 miles from Champion Bay through the middle of Australia, a service for which he received the gold medal of the Royal Geographical Society in 1876.
Appointed Deputy-Surveyor-General of Western Australia in 1876, he conducted several trigonometrical surveys, and in 1883 was appointed Commissioner of Crown Lands and Surveyor-General, with a seat in the Executive and Legislative Councils. He was the first Premier and Treasurer of Western Australia under responsible government between 1890 and 1901, and introduced the system of free land grants of 160 acres, resigning office to become Minister of Defence in the first Federal cabinet of 1901 to 1903, He was subsequently Minister for Home Affairs from 1903 until 1904, and was Commonwealth Treasurer in the Deakin Cabinet from July, 1905. He was made a GCMG in 1901, and published Explorations in Australia in 1876, and Notes on. Western Australia between 1884 and 1887. He died while on his way to Britain to receive a peerage, the first awarded to an Australian. Research John Forrest
John Smeaton was an English engineer. He was born in 1724 at Austhorpe, near Leeds and died in 1792. He showed a talent for mechanics as a young man and although educated for the bar turned his attention to the manufacture of scientific instruments and writing engineering papers for the Royal Society, winning the Royal Society gold medal in 1759 for his paper on wind and water mills. John Smeaton made a special study of canal and harbour construction, and in 1755 he was employed to replace the second Eddystone lighthouse, a project he completed in 1759. he built a number of bridges, including those at Perth, Banff and Coldstream, and constructed the Forth and Clyde canal. In 1771 he founded an engineering club which eventually became the Institution of Civil Engineers. Research John Smeaton
Thomas Dick was a Scottish author of popular scientific works. He was born in 1774 at Dundee and died in 1857. He was for many years a teacher at Perth, but latterly resided at Broughty-Ferry, where he devoted himself to astronomical science, especially in its relations to religion. Some years before his death a small pension was granted to him by the government. Amongst his works are The Christian Philosopher published in 1823 and Celestial Scenery published in 1838. Research Thomas Dick
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