Public Library, Thurso

Public Library, Thurso

ID: QZP40_LIBRARY_004 DESCRIPTION: Now the Public Library on Davidson's Lane, this building designed by W Warner Scott of Edinburgh, was originally a boys' school known as the Miller Institution, later called the Miller Academy. The Miller Institution, built between 1859 and 1862, was founded by Alexander Miller. A Thurso native, Miller was initially a merchant in the town before he turned to farming. Miller inherited a sizeable inheritance from his uncle, a South American merchant, and part of this money he used to establish the Miller Institution. Miller's second cousin, the Rev Dr Alexander Miller, minister of the South United Free Church of Buckie, Banffshire, was also a benefactor of the Institution. The town of Thurso was created a burgh of barony in 1633. In 1719 the burgh and the lands of Thurso were obtained by the Sinclairs of Ulbster, and in 1798 Sir John Sinclair (1754-1835), the financier and agriculturalist, laid out a 'new town' adjoining the original medieval burgh. Construction of Thurso's 'new town', of which Davidson's Lane was a part, began around 1800. The streets were laid out on a regimented grid-pattern, in stark contrast to the older streets nearer to Thurso Bay. In 1812, Captain John Henderson in his 'General View of the Agriculture of the County of Caithness' wrote that, 'The New Town on Thurso was planned ...according to the most regular plan that could be contrived and in a manner not only ornamental but also positively well adapted for preserving the health and promoting the convenience of the Inhabitants'. PLACENAME: Thurso OLD COUNTY/PARISH: CAITHNESS: Thurso DATE OF IMAGE: October 1993 PERIOD: 1990s SOURCE: Highland Libraries COLLECTION: Highland Libraries Past & Present Asset ID: 37898 KEYWORDS: