Carnegie's Birthplace (79/365/2010 _20D8192)

Project 365 - Take one photo each day.

 

I share my birthplace, Dunfermline, with one Andrew Carnegie the famous steel magnate and philanthropist.

 

Carnegie was born here in 1835 into a handloom weaving family. Dunfermline has a rich history in the textile industry. In fact, Queen Elizabeth II's wedding dress material was made at the Erskine Beveridge linen damask factory, St Leonard's Mill, which was established in 1851. Erskine Beveridge himself was a keen photographer and a book of his fascinating photographs is now available from bookshops including Amazon.

 

Dunfermline was also once the the ancient seat of Scotland's royalty.

 

Carnegie's family borrowed money and emigrated to the USA in 1848 to find a better quality of life, and from there he went from strength to strength, eventually becoming the second richest man in the world, afer J.D. Rockeffeler. Carnegie gifted over $350m (equivalent to around $5bn today) in his lifetime. His name lives on today in the many dozens of charitable trusts he established, in the Carnegie libraries around the world (the first one being in Dunfermline), the Carnegie Hall (both of them - New York and Dunfermline), and of course Carnegie Mellon University, Pittsburgh.

 

Today, the tiny cottage in which he was born and lived during the early part of his life, as seen here, is home to the Andrew Carnegie Birthplace Museum and Hall of Philanthropy.

 

In 1902, Carnegie bought Pittencrieff House and Estate. Its lands include the rugged glen which interrupts the centre of Dunfermline and the original site of Malcolm's Tower - after Malcolm Canmore (Malcom III of Scotland), who shifted the centre of government from Forteviot to Dunfermline in the mid 11th century.

 

Carnegie gifted the entire estate to the people of Dunfermline.

 

Its formal name is "Pittencrieff Park" but locals refer to it, with great affection, as "The Glen". Many shots on my stream have been taken in The Glen, such as this one, and this one. It is one of my favourite places and dear to the hearts of the local people. The splendid iron gates leading in to the park were gifted by Carnegie's wife, Louise, and as a result they are known as The Louise Carnegie Gates. The Glen is maintained to this day by the Dunfermline Carnegie Trust, a charitable trust founded in 1903.

 

The official website of the museum is here.

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