Introduction - Perthshire Highway
Commissioners Minute Book, 1765-1786 (CC1 2/1/1)
Perth & Kinross Council Archive holds various
records relating to the administration of roads within
Perthshire and Kinross-shire. Some of the earlier
material relating to roads is found among the Quarter
Session Minute Books of the Justices of the Peace
for the County of Perth, but from 1765 the main source
of information is the minutes of the Perthshire Highway
Commissioners.
Repairs and alterations to existing roads, the provision
of new bridges and arches, or the repair of decayed
ones, are, of course, the sort of items of business
which you would expect to find discussed and there
is plenty for local historians to get their teeth
into. Geographically it takes in parts of the county
of Perth now administered from Stirling and even that
detached part of Perthshire on the Forth long since
transferred to Fife. In addition there are occasional
references to matters that seem unconnected to the
administration of the county roads. A mob rioting
at Mylnefield near Invergowrie in 1773 features, as
do references to the upkeep of poor prisoners and
payments to the master of the workhouse. It is probable
that, as the Justices of the Peace and the Commissioners
of Supply for Perthshire made up the membership of
the Highways Commission, they were tempted to deal
with other matters while they were all gathered together.
In 1771 there is even a marginal note which explains
that the adjacent entry should have been put in the
Quarter Sessions minute, but was in the highway commissioners
minute by mistake.
The Highway Commissioners, along with the Commissioners
of Supply and Justices of the Peace, acted as a forum
for county opinion in political matters (mainly reflecting
the views of landowners and industrialists in the
county), petitioning parliament on a host of issues,
including the encouragement of the linen trade, the
repeal of the laws on whisky distillation by small
distillers, and the Commissioners were quick to send
a loyal address in support of the king and prime minister
Pitt during the political crisis in January 1784.
Although the Commissioners' activities and their ability
to spend money on anything but roads and bridges was
limited by statute, the minutes show that they were
adept at using one local budget - Rogue Money, which
was collected by the Commissioners of Supply, and
supposedly spent mainly on capturing escaped prisoners.
It is hoped that by including a selection of images
from this volume in the “Virtual Vault” its value
for the study of this area will be appreciated by
a wider audience.
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Contents
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Bridges
bridge building and repairs, 17,
22,
25,
27,
29,
31,
37,
39,
46,
60,
76,
79,
80-1,
91,
149,
165,
200,
202,
215-6,
247,
263,
298,
305,
326-7,
329
bridges at:
- Bridge of Earn, 17,
47
- Dunning, 22
- Glenlyon, 29,
44
- East Bridge of Almond, 202
- Coupar Angus, 215
- Balquhidder and Strathyre, 216
- Bridge of Allan, 263
- Blairgowrie, 360
Crime and disorder
overseer threatened, 103
riot at Mylnefield, 112,
116-7,
159
subscription society to detect and prosecute crime,
proposal for a, 103
suppression of smuggling, 335
Ferries
Broadwater Ferry (River Earn), 98
highways, bridges and ferries bill for County of Perth,
267,
278,
280
passage boats on Tay and Tummell, 29
Linen industry,
encouragement of, see under Parliamentary Activity
Lint mill
construction of a dam at Blairgowrie for, 360
Justice of the Peace
business recorded in minutes by mistake, 85,
149
prisoners detained by JPs in Perth, 235
Maps and Plans
County plan box, 306
Scobie's plan of the county, 204,
306
Taylor and Skinner's road maps, 160
Monument
to Patrick Murray, late sheriff clerk, 235
Parliamentary activity
estuary rivers and firths, bill to ascertain limits
of, 279
highways, bridges and ferries bills and acts, 60,
70,
78,
80,
85,
267,
278,
280
judges in court of session, bill for augmenting salaries
of, 336
linen trade, encouragement of, 114,
188,
220,
286
loyal address to king and government, 284
militia bill, 252
schoolmasters' salaries, bill for increasing etc,
298
whisky distillation, 161,
191,
202,
252,
267,
275,
306,
334
Prisons, prisoners etc
bread for poor prisoners in Perth Tollbooth, 277
prisoners detained by JPs in Perth, 235
Roads
building or repair of: 25,
27,
29,
31,
37,
39-40,
44,
46-7,
76,
84,
90,
98,
160,
162,
165,
182,
215-6,
247,
264-5,
268,
276,
298,
320,
328,
360
claims for damages or loss during road building, 76,
247
road closures or alterations due to farm enclosures,
134,
165,
297,
298
roads around:
- Loch Tay and Glen Lyon, 29,
44,
47,
276,
298
- Sheriffmuir, 39
roads from: Blair Atholl to Braemar, 27
- Blairgowrie to Kirkmichael, 265
- Bridge of Dalrulzion to Kirkmichael, 27
- Comrie to Dunblane, 268
- Crieff to Lochearnhead, 264
- Culross to Alloa, 31
- Dunkeld to Dundee, 27,
165
- Perth to Blairgowrie, 27
- Perth to Bridge of Earn, 40
- Perth to Crieff, 25,
98
- Perth to Dundee, 31,
46,
162
- Perth to Dunkeld, 27
Rogue money, uses of:
bread for poor prisoners at Perth Tollbooth, 277,
334
compensation for damages caused by riots, 159
publicising acts relating to vagrants and poor, 334
rewards to constable and others for quelling riots,
116
rewards to constable for imposing road acts, 133
to master of Perth workhouse, 22
to clerk for keeping county plan box, 306
work to amend distilling laws, 267,
306
Royal Navy
bounties for men joining, 203
Statute labour laws and road acts
overseer's conduct investigated, 112
prosecution for refusal to perform statute labour,
103
prosecution for threatening overseer, 103
publicising laws relating to highways etc, 120,
133
publicising laws relating to vagrants and poor, 334
rewards for constables for imposing road acts, 133
road acts: 60,
70,
267,
280
services of inhabitants of Perth, 47
Whisky
activity to amend laws against small stills, see under
Parliamentary Activity
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