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In
the 1780's it was recorded that there
were three line fishing boats and that
the village consisted of only a few fishermen's
huts centred on what is now the Gray Street
area. By 1855 there were 76 fishermen
in the Ferry and by 1880, 180. However
this was the peak of the Broughty Ferry
fishing industry. Technology brought new
changes to which the Broughty fishermen
failed to adapt. Steam trawlers swept
the sea of fish quantities which the wind
driven Broughty boats could not match.
Regular train services opened up the market
to Dundee and to fishing ports further
afield. With a a lost market, the fleet
declined drastically until by 1948 there
were only four fishermen employed full
time in the industry.
It was these very changes in technology,
however, that also led to the expansion
of Broughty Ferry.
At the beginning of the 19th Century,
plans were drawn up by Charles Hunter.
These followed the gridiron pattern favoured
at the time for a planned settlement to
develop Broughty Ferry north and east
of the fisher folk area centred on Fort
Street and Gray Street. Contemporary events
came into play in Hunters design, naming
two streets after battles of the Napoleonic
Wars- Fort Aboukir Street and St. Vincent
Street.
At this point regular communication with
Dundee was maintained by coach service
which ran between the Dundee P.O. and
the Eagle Inn in Broughty Ferry which
ran three times a day. There was also
a regular steamboat service, with special
trips on a Sunday for bathers and day
trippers. By 1828 Broughty Ferry was already
renowned as a coastal resort, evidence
of excellent sea-bathing dating back to
the 1790's Old Statistical Account.
However, it was the railway which really
caused the expansion and development Broughty
Ferry. In 1838 the Dundee and Arbroath
Railway opened. Skirting the existing
settlement, the railway encouraged those,
who could afford it, to leave the grime
and dirt of Dundee, for the the clean
healthy air of 'the Ferry'. Trains ran
every hour and the journey took 15 minutes.
Fares were 6d for 1st, 4d for 2nd and
3d for 3rd class. Dundee had its first
commuters.
The 1856 Dundee Directory listed Broughty
Ferry for the first time. Inhabitants
included notaries, flax and jute merchants,
fish owners and one house painter. However
it wasn't just the well-to-do who lived
in the Ferry, for the 1841 census listed
fishermen, labourers, gardeners, weavers,
servants, shopkeepers etc.
As the railway system expanded, Broughty
Ferry's fame as a holiday resort spread
and by the end of the Victorian period,
visitors flocked to the town from Glasgow,
Edinburgh, Dunfermline and Dumbarton for
their annual holiday.
In the summer of 1912, there were 5,702
visitors in addition to day-trippers.
The Dundee, Broughty Ferry and District
Tramways Company opened in the area from
1905 thus increasing cheap travel opportunities
for the people in Dundee.
Why did they come? Well, there were hackney
cabs and pleasure boats, bathing machines,
roundabouts and amusements. Brass bands
played and Minstrel and Pierrot shows
took place. Guide books and newspapers
were full of praise for Broughty Ferry,
one going so far as to describe it as
"The Brighton of the North".
Dundee looked on Broughty Ferry with annoyance.
The corporation provided water, tramways,
parks, museums, baths, wash-houses, libraries,
hospitals, fire brigades, slaughter houses,
fish, and meat and fruit markets. The
people of Broughty Ferry used them, but
it was the people of Dundee who paid for
them.
As a result in 1913 Dundee promoted a
private Bill in parliament, the Dundee
Boundaries Bill- the object being to make
Broughty Ferry part of Dundee- so that
the Broughty Ferrians could pay Dundee
rates. The argument used by Dundee was
that the growth of Broughty Ferry had
resulted from its closeness to Dundee
and to the commercial and industrial growth
of the city.
Dundee produced a variety of statistics
to back its claim including- on one day,
14th June 1912- 2,200 people out of 2,674
votes travelled to work in Dundee on the
train service.
Dundee's claim fitted in with the general
political feeling of the period. The last
liberal government was in power. It had
instituted a variety of social reforms
paid for by those who could afford to
pay. This was exactly what Dundee was
attempting to do.
After two long enquiries in 1913 Dundee
took over Broughty Ferry, making her the
3rd largest city in Scotland, with a population
of 176,064.
At that point in time it was claimed that
Broughty Ferry had more millionaires to
the square mile than any town of its size
in Britain.
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