VINTAGE LUNDIN LINKS AND LARGO

Busy 1960s Pier

10/4/2026

This view featured on a postcard that was posted on 8 July 1963. The view is familiar and much-photographed but the addition of several cars and a few people in the foreground adds to the interest. There's a man pushing a young child in a pushchair, with grandparents following behind, plus an eclectic mix of vehicles, including a motorbike and sidecar. A bus is passing behind the Fish Restaurant that was run by the Forte family.

Known locally as Granny Forte's chip shop or Granny Greasers, this food outlet was a fixture of the village for several decades from the 1920s. Constructed on the site of old outbuildings, the fish shop first appeared on the valuation roll in the mid 1920s, when the building was owned by Rachel Williamson of Coventry Cottage (daughter of Alexander Williamson the plasterer) and the tenant was Daniel Forte. By 1930, the Fortes had bought the fish restaurant premises which was demolished in the 1970s.

A second postcard view below was likely photographed on the same day and is part of the same Millar & Lang M&L National Series. This one was posted on 11 July 1963, just three days after the postcard above. Both of the senders of these postcards talk of having a good time in Largo in spite of changeable weather.

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Gone Away to Glasgow

3/4/2026

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The photograph above shows an empty niche at the Crusoe Buildings on Lower Largo's Main Street. Its usual occupant - the iconic statue of Robinson Crusoe - had been lifted off its plinth in October 1987 and taken for some restoration work prior to featuring in the 'Water and Maritime' themed section of Glasgow Garden Festival. Officially approved late in 1984, work to create the 120-acre exhibition site took a few years to plan and create before its run from 28 April to 26 September 1988.

It was the third of five garden festivals to take place in the UK as part of the regeneration of several derelict sites. The other garden festivals were held at Liverpool (1984), Stoke-on-Trent (1986), Gateshead (1990) and Ebbw Vale (1992). Glasgow's festival saw the derelict Princes Dock on the Clyde transformed. The Water and Maritime sector of the exhibition aimed to showcase "Scotland's rich history of maritime trade and exploration" and the Alexander Selkirk story took its place within that,

Crusoe was sited by the Canting Basin - a historic, large square water basin originally built between 1893 and 1896 as part of the Prince's Dock. It was designed for large ships to turn or "cant" before accessing industrial berths. Today, it serves as a scenic, revitalised area behind the Glasgow Science Centre and features floating wetlands. The annotated images below show the area within the garden festival site where the Crusoe statue was positioned, close to a white cottage known as Para Handy's Cottage. At the foot of this post is an aerial image of the site as it is today.

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James Cumming, Blacksmith and Publican

27/3/2026

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The small, low building in the centre of the image above is 18 Main Street in Upper Largo. For many decades this was an inn or public house - known as Dall's Inn then later Cumming's Inn, The Inn or Auld Hoose. For many decades in the late 19th century into the early 20th century, James Cumming, was the proprietor. His life was an eventful one in which he combined the roles of publican and blacksmith. The map below dates to 1912 and shows both the smithy that he operated at the corner of Church Place and North Feus, and his public house (marked P.H.) on the south side of Main Street.

James Cumming was born in Largo around 1852 to stone mason William Cumming and his wife Sarah Meikle. When William died in 1865 at the age of 45, he left behind a widow and several children, some of whom were still infants. The previous year, William's stepfather, innkeeper James Dall had died and so the Cumming family took over the license for Dall's Inn - with widowed Sarah becoming the license holder and eldest daughter Eliza working alongside her.

Second eldest child, James, was away from home by time of the 1871 census, working as an apprentice mechanic in Milton of Balgonie. When Sarah then also died in 1872, the public house license in Upper Largo was transferred to Eliza, aged just 22. She also had four younger siblings aged between the ages of sixteen and nine to care for. In 1873, Eliza married a shepherd, Peter Robertson, at Largo Kirk and they went on to have two daughters, Helen and Sarah - one named after each grandmother.

Tragically, in 1877, Eliza also died, prompting her brother James (who had now lost his father, mother and oldest sibling) to return to Largo. He took over the public house license which had previously been held by his step-grandfather, his mother and his sister (see below from 18 October 1877 Fifeshire Journal). Younger sister Sarah now acted as housekeeper, within the household that was headed by James and also comprised younger brothers Robert (a joiner) and Alexander (a painter), as well as two young nieces, Helen and Sarah.

James would stay at the heart of the community in Kirkton of Largo for the remainder of his life, living at the inn, latterly known as Auld Hoose, and having the dual occupation of Publican and Blacksmith. As a master blacksmith, James was a regular entrant at the East of Fife Agricultural Show. He was awarded first prize in the Best Shod Farm Horse category most years between during the 1880s and 1890s. Reports of his prize-winning are shown below, from 21 April 1887 Fifeshire Journal and 20 April 1895 Fife News, respectively. He also was a frequent winner at Largo Horticultural Show for fruit and vegetable growing. By 1891, the household had reduced to James, his sister Sarah and just one of his nieces.

On 20 December 1895 James married Mary Brown in Colinsburgh. Their only son William, who later became a blacksmith like his father, was born in 1899.

In 1897, the gas works site was put up for sale and James bought it at a knocked down price (see 17 Sept 1897 East of Fife Record below). The following year he erected new stables on the site and permitted the Largo Water District Committee to store tools there for a small rent. A few years later James moved his entire blacksmith business to new premises in this vicinity.

Meanwhile the Cumming's Inn continued to operate and hold local functions such as the Largo Burns Club supper in 1912 (see 1 February 1912 Leven Advertiser item below).

James Cumming died on 4 March 1919 at Auld House aged 67 years. The notice above appeared in the 22 March Fife News. His widow Mary had the public house certificate transferred into her name (see below from 19 April 1919 Fife News) and she continued as license holder at the inn until her death in 1926. Her son William subsequently had the license transferred to himself but in 1928 it was allowed to lapse when he decided that the family would finally leave the trade.

The piece below from the 10 August 1922 Leven Advertiser tells of the memorial placed in memory of James Cumming at Newburn Cemetery some three years after his death.

A recent photograph of the memorial is shown below. The inscription reads:

In ever loving and affectionate remembrance of my beloved husband James Cumming.
The day will dawn when the Lord shall be mindful of his own.

Further below are a couple of more modern day photographs of the building that was so well known to James Cumming and that was once a long-standing public house that was run by at least six different members of the same family.

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Hamish Ballingall (1913-1993) - Part Two

20/3/2026

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The previous post covered the early career of Largo-born golf professional and club maker Hamish Ballingall. Having taken up his first post as a professional in 1935 at Balmore Golf Club at the age of 22, he subsequently had spells at Buchanan Castle and Northumberland, before arriving at Old Ranfurly Golf Club in Bridge of Weir in May 1955.

During what would be seven years at Old Ranfurly, Hamish continued to enjoy success in his playing career. For example, in July 1957 he faced "Scotland's Big Two" John Panton and Eric Brown in the Cowal Championship at Dunoon. In the semi-final a run of five birdies saw him beat Brown before taking Panton to a 19th hole in the final, narrowly missing out on victory. The following month he went one better, beating the entire field, Panton and Brown included, to win the Glasgow Professional Championship.

By the middle of 1962, Ballingall was on the move once again - this time leaving Old Ranfurly for Kingsknowe Golf Club to the south west of Edinburgh. The 12 June 1962 Scotsman above tells of his appointment as the club's first full professional. At this time, Hamish was noted as holding course records at Rothesay (62), Brodick (62) and Luffness New (64).

The 11 June Edinburgh Evening News included the photograph of Hamish shown at the top of this post and made mention that he also played badminton, table tennis and billiards. He was to be encouraged to play in the major tournaments for his new club, who were to provide him with "suitable accommodation alongside the clubhouse for a spacious professional shop, together with a new supply of caddy cars for hire." The piece concluded by stating that "Ballingall is of course one of the best teachers in his profession." Playing success did continue as the 14 March 1963 Scotsman piece below illustrates.

After nine years, Hamish left Kingsknowe, having been appointed professional at Bonnyton Golf Club in near Eaglesham in East Renfrewshire (see 15 March 1971 Courier above). He was replaced at Kingsknowe by 26 year old Alastair Morrison who had been senior assistant at Gleneagles Hotel golf course. A year into his spell at Bonnyton, Hamish won a pro-am tournament at Dunbar as the 9 March 1972 Scotsman below notes.

Three years on Hamish made a "happy return" to his native Lundin Links to win the Usher Winter League round. This success came 37 years after he had won the Scottish Professional Golf Championship on the same course and demonstrates his longevity as a top-ranking player. The 26 November 1975 Scotsman below tells us more.

It was from his role at Bonnyton that Hamish Ballingall retired as a club professional in 1977. However, retirement did not mean that Hamish stopped playing golf competitively. In 1993 at the age of 80, he was preparing for the Tartan Special Professional Championship Seniors tournament at Dalmahoy (see 13 May 1993 Scotsman above). This 36-hole round saw 24 elder statesmen from the world of golf take to the course. Long-time rival John Panton was among those competing at the age of 77 years but as the press put it - Ballingall was "riper" a the age of 80. Panton proved victorious on this occasion.

Later in 1993 - on 3 September - Hamish Ballingall died in Renfrewshire aged 80 years. Notice of his death appeared in the 10 September 1993 Scotsman below. His wife Anna died in 2011 aged 90 years in Midlothian.

Pictured below is a Ballingall-made wood. Note that the club head has a lead weight to the rear and a full brass sole plate. The head is stamped Ballingall Lundin Links. However, other wood clubs by Hamish Ballingall are known to exist marked J H Ballingall 'Own Model'. If you own, or have knowledge of, Ballingall-made clubs, or think you can date the club pictured, please leave a comment or get in touch.

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Hamish Ballingall (1913-1993) - Part One

13/3/2026

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Once declared the "premier professional golfer of Scotland", Largo-born Hamish Ballingall, pictured above in the 14 April 1948 Aberdeen Press and Journal, was a golf club maker and golf professional who had a successful career spanning several decades. He was born James Ewen Graham Ballingall on 19 February 1913 on Lower Largo's Main Street to fisherman-turned-railway surfaceman John Ballingall and his wife Mary Maclean.

By the time of the 1921 census, the family had moved from Lower Largo to Hillhead Street in Lundin Links. The household comprised parents Mary and John (who was working as a railway platelayer), plus five children: John (13), Roderick (11), David (10), James (9) and one year old Marion. Young James developed an interest in golf and became an apprentice golf club maker with Patrick of Leven. He was a member at both Lundin Golf Club and Leven Thistle and was variously referred to as James Ballingall, J.H. Ballingall, J.E.G. Ballingall and Hamish Ballingall in the local press.

By his late teens, Ballingall was recognised as one of Fife's best golfers. In 1932 he won the Innerleven amateur championship gold medal, closely followed by becoming champion of Leven Thistle Club two years in a row. In 1934 he was club champion at Lundin Golf Club and in March 1935 he became a professional. He took up his first professional post at Balmore Golf Club near Glasgow (see 26 March 1935 Leven Advertiser piece below).

Once at Balmore, Hamish saw continued success with his playing career. He qualified for the last stages of the British Open Championship in 1935, 1936, 1937 and 1938 when he finished a respectable 14th, as highlighted below in the 12 July Leven Advertiser. At this high spot in his career, Hamish held the course records at Deeside (67), East Renfrewshire (71) and Bonhill (65). He had two holes in one to his name - at the 15th at Leven and the 14th at Lundin Links. His favourite links were Lundin and Muirfield and his favourite clubs the 2 and 7 iron.

In 1938 he also won the Scottish Professional Golf Championship held at Leven The 7 June 1938 Leven Advertiser above described the event, noting that he "hits the ball sweetly off the tee, and follows up with crisp and accurate iron shots" while also being a "good putter". This victory resulted in the advert below for the North British Golf Ball.

Seen above on the right, chatting with Don Sutherland in Nairn at the 1939 Northern Open (27 April Aberdeen Press and Journal), Ballingall remained at Balmore until joining the Second World War effort, serving in the Royal Air Force. He was a Corporal in the R.A.F. when in 1944, he married Paisley-born Annastatia (Anna) Galletly in Glasgow. Both of them were engaged in active war service at the time. Hamish was a Corporal in the Royal Air Force and Anna was a Lance Corporal in the Auxiliary Territorial Service. Hamish's usual address was given as 8 Station Park in Lower Largo and usual occupation was "professional golfer". The pair would go on to have four children.

Ballingall continued his association with Balmore during the war years but, upon being demobbed, he moved on to Buchanan Castle Golf Club - a parkland course with views of the mountains and rivers in the foothills of the Scottish Highlands, close to Loch Lomond. The notice from the 26 May 1946 Sunday Post describes above. Ballingall triumphed at the 1947 Northern Open Championship (see 22 April 1947 Fraserburgh Herald article below).

He repeated his success at the Northern Open in 1949 by winning the championship again. The 30 April 1949 Aberdeen Press and Journal below describes his "double triumph" of winning at Peterhead while also leading the Scottish qualifiers for another tournament.

In 1950 Hamish took the title at the Glasgow and District Professional Golf Championship with two record-breaking rounds of 68 and 66, finishing six strokes ahead of the field. The following year he took the West of Scotland PGA Championship. In 1953 he competed in the British Open at Carnoustie, finishing joint 34th in a tournament that featured names such as Dai Rees, Peter Alliss, Bobby Locke, Peter Thomson and Christy O-Connor Senior. It was won by American Ben Hogan in his only appearance at The Open. Considered the greatest golfer of his generation, Hogan had almost died in a car crash in 1949 but returned to golf and continued his pre-accident success.

He left Buchanan Castle in December 1952 to move across the border to Northumberland Golf Club. After two years at Northumberland, Hamish resigned from his post in December 1954. He spent a few months playing in England before taking up a position at Old Ranfurly Golf Club in Bridge of Weir in May 1955.

The next post will look at the second half of Hamish Ballingall's professional career, his days playing as a senior and his golf club making. If you know anything about his career or the golf clubs that he made under his own name - please comment.

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Harbour Postcard

6/3/2026

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The postcard shown above was posted on 26 August 1908 by someone who was residing at Prospect Bank in Lower Largo. The message had been written earlier that day at 11:15am and the writer clearly hoped that their message would reach the recipient in Glasgow later the same day. Their message read:

Elsie is first in her German Exam. Isn't it grand? Bob sent a telegram this morning. She is almost wild with delight. This is another fine day. With kindest remembrances to all. Yours etc. J

P.S. I hope you get this tonight.

Clearly Elsie's exam result was important news among their circle of family and friends. The news was shared with some urgency via telegram and postcard.

This particular postcard was produced for John Welsh at Lower Largo Post Office. John served at the Post Office for fifty years - following on from his father Alexander Welsh and followed by his son Lawrence Welsh. Opened in 1884, the Post Office was formerly part of Defoe Place and is now 3 Main Street.

The picture featured on the postcard is an evocative and busy harbour scene at Lower Largo, including the loading or unloading of a couple of fishing vessels as many folks look on. The boat in the foreground is Ocean Bride, registration KY 4 - built by John Alexander Millar at West Anstruther in September 1882 for the Gillies brothers. By 1902, Ocean Bride was described as "the sole survivor of Largo's fleet" and the only locally owned craft to take part in the Lammas Drave. In 1909, William Gillies disposed of the Ocean Bride. With that action, Largo's final link with the deep-sea fishing was lost forever.

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Rossini Place

27/2/2026

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Rossini Place in Lundin Links, as it was in 1893, is highlighted on the map above in red. This section of Emsdorf Street comprised ten dwellings - a row of five on either side of a courtyard. For decades these dwellings were all owned by one individual and rented out. These buildings likely date back to the creation of the village of Emsdorf back around 1800.

Emsdorf village took its name from a battle that took place during the Seven Years' War (1756-1763) - a struggle for world supremacy between Great Britain and France which is considered to be the first global conflict in history. Read about how that became connected to the Lundin Estate here.

Some of the Rossini Place dwellings can be seen on the far right of the 1890s photograph below, with the hand barrow on the pavement outside and the uneven-looking roof tiles. This image is looking east towards the old Pump Green with its stone wall, and to David Lindsay's grocer shop on the corner of Hillhead Street.

One of the early feuars of the new village of Emsdorf was James Crawford in 1802. It seems likely that his daughter was linked to the feu that became Rossini Place, as it is possible to trace ownership of the site back through the generations of just a couple of families over time from the early 1800s. The eldest child of James Crawford and his wife Margaret Simson was Betty Crawford, who went on to marry George Thyne or Thinn. George was a wright - who may well have had a role in making or maintaining the many hand looms in the village, among other things.

Ownership of the feu passed through them to their eldest son James Thinn, a stone mason. James's eldest son, also James and also a stone mason is listed on the Voter's List from 1839 onwards for Largo Parish (see below) as "proprietor houses and gardens, belonging to him, on the south side of the road leading eastward from the Lundinmill Toll to Drummochie, parish of Largo".

After the younger James Thinn's death in 1891, ownership of Rossini Place passed to his son John Thynn, until he in turn died in 1897 at the age of 47 years. Rossini Place then came into the ownership of George Clark, the Lundinmill-born stone mason mentioned in the previous post about Braemar. Below is an extract from the 1905 valuation roll for Largo Parish where the tenants of the ten properties are listed.

George Clark continued to own the properties at Rossini Place (shown above in the 1930s with an arrow pointing to the vennel access point to the rear properties) until his death in 1931, which occurred at the Rossini Place dwelling that he kept for his own use. This was not usual residence (which was in Leven) but it could have been a decision to return to the place of his birth at the very end of his life. The properties subsequently passed to his stepson William Brown, then a publican at the Crown Bar on Kirkcaldy's High Street. During the decade of Brown's ownership, the properties did undergo some renovation work as the 6 June 1936 Fife Free Press notice below informs us.

By 1950, however, the dwellings of Rossini Place were in decline. They remained under the ownership of the trustees of late William Brown (who died in 1940), and at this time, three of the dwellings were empty having been condemned. By 1960, the new owner of the properties was Mary K. Browning. In 1973, she received planning permission to create lock-up garages, with rear access from Links Road lane. The 24 October 1973 East Fife Mail reported that this was at a cost of £1,000. In recent years, there have been further alterations at the site.

The aerial image below shows the footprint of Rossini Place in recent times, marked by a dashed red line. One mystery remains - why was this place given the name Rossini? Answers, or even just theories, would be very welcome!

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Braemar

20/2/2026

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The late Victorian villa on Crescent Road in Lundin Links pictured above was originally named Braemar and, interestingly, its origins are intertwined with the Railway Inn in Lower Largo.

Long before the dwelling was built, Kirkcaldy-born George Brown and his Kinghorn-born wife Agnes (nee Mitchell) ran the Railway Inn. George had followed in the footsteps of his father William Brown, a Leven-born spirit merchant. He had married Agnes, a housemaid, on 23 February 1886 in Kirkcaldy by which time George was already inn-keeper at the Railway Inn. The notice below appeared in the 27 February 1886 Fifeshire Advertiser.

George had taken over at the Inn from Catherine Taylor or Bunn who was the widow of William Bunn. William came to the Railway Inn in 1874 but died in 1879, aged 49, from asthma. His widow took over the license and until around 1885 continued as proprietor of the Inn. The advert below dates to circa 1890 when George Brown offered "wines, spirits, porter and ales of the best quality".

On 15 December 1886, George and Agnes's only child William was born in the Railway Inn. When William was only five years old, on 3 March 1892 George Brown died at the Inn aged 36 years. Within a couple of weeks the Railway Inn was up for sale, as the advert below from the 19 March Fife Free Press shows.

On 30 October 1894, Agnes Brown remarried to George Clark - a stonemason from Lundin Mill - who owned all the dwellings at Rossini Place. At that time Agnes was living at Jesmond Cottage in Upper Largo with son William now aged 8. Around the time of their marriage, there were new plans to feu swathes of Lundin Links. The Old Toll House was to be demolished and a new row of shops built on the site. Behind those shops, which included the Post Office, butcher and grocer, was a triangular feu at the intersection of Crescent Road and Links Road. It can be seen right in the centre of the 1912 map below, just underneath the Post Office, which is marked P.O. which also shows much of the subsequent development to the south which took place over the years that followed.

It was the Clarks who secured this triangular feu - one of the earliest to be taken up in this phase of development. Subsequently the villa named Braemar was built upon it and the family of three moved in upon completion. Perhaps, being a stone mason, George Clark, was directly involved in the construction. By the summer of 1896, the property was being let to summer visitors - see example below from the 8 August 1896 Fife News, when the McCraig family from Edinburgh were staying there. So, to an extent, Agnes was continuing in the hospitality business that she had become used to as an inn-keeper's wife.

The census of 1901 finds George, Agnes and William at Braemar, where George is still described as a stone mason. However, the three would soon be living somewhere else - the Railway Inn. The licensee had changed a couple of times at the inn since Agnes had left in 1892. When the Railway Inn came up for sale in 1906, Agnes Clark decided to buy it. Her son William, who had been born on the premises, became barman and she was landlady. George switched occupation to Insurance Agent, according to the 1911 census. By 1921, Agnes and George were still at the Railway Inn and George was now described as a 'spirit merchant'. Stepson William Brown was now the tenant at the Crown Bar at 181 High Street, Kirkcaldy, where he remained for decades. The name A. Clark can be seen on the sign on the gable end of the Railway Inn in the photograph below taken on the day the first car drove over the road bridge at Largo Harbour on 3 October 1914.

Braemar was put up for sale when the Clarks moved to the Railway Inn. The advert below dates to the 14 February 1907 Leven Advertiser. The next occupant was Dr John Jamieson physician and surgeon. He was noted at the house in the 1911 census, with his wife Emily Clayton Jamieson and 3 year old twin daughters Jessie and Elizabeth, plus one servant. They retained the house name Braemar.

Around 1915, the house name changed from Braemar to Dundarroch - the name by which the villa is still known today. For many years it was occupied by Andrew Somerville, who I was interested to learn had a passageway made between the house and the back of his grocer shop on Leven Road.

George Clark died in 1931 at Rossini Place in Lundin Links, although by then his usual residence was Murrayville on Links Road in Leven. Agnes Clark returned to her native Kinghorn, living at King's Drive in a home named Braemar - a name which that house there retains to this day. The notice below is from 4 November 1939 Fife Free Press.

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Snapshot of the Development of Lundin Links

13/2/2026

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The above annotated photograph of the golf links looking east towards Lundin Links was taken by Adam Diston, a Leven-based photographer. The picture was included in the publication British Golf Links: A Short Account of the Leading Golf Links of the United Kingdom by Horace Hutchinson published in 1897. The snapshot must have been captured around 1895/96, as Westhall is visible but is standing alone. This was the first villa built on the "new feus" at the time. The 8 December 1894 St Andrews Citizen reported the construction of this house as "a handsome villa, built for Mr Masterton, Largo, at Lundin Links, is approaching completion. This is the first house erected on the new feus." It was followed within months by the house and shop built on Golf Road for golf club maker David Patrick.

Looking a little more closely, above, at the buildings in the scene, you can see Lundin Links railway station on the far left, then Haworth in the centre perched prominently on higher ground framed by the right slope of Largo Law. To the right of that, it is possible to make out the newly completed houses in front of the dark trees of Fir Park. These are The Chestnuts, Rowan Cottage and Beechwood. Note that none of the houses on Leven Road east of Woodielea Road have yet been constructed. They would follow in 1898. On the extreme right of the above cropped image is the partially-completed row of shops, which included Miss Bremner's Post Office (and her home Parkside above it), George W. Douglas the Butcher (with his home Whitelea above) and Andrew Somerville, Grocer.

Continuing along the line of buildings, to the right of the shops is the house then named Braemar (later named Dundarroch) which was built for George Clark, stonemason. This feu was on a corner plot behind the row of shops, in the area marked '2' on the map below. Further right is the semi-detached pair of Fir Park and Braddan and then Elphinstone (all seen in the image at the foot of this post).

We can then see Melville Cottage (now Old Calabar) before Westhall in the foreground (located at '3' on the map below) which obscures school and schoolhouse. To the right of Westhall is Bayview Cottage (now Oldfield), Murree Lodge (now Glenairlie) before an extension was added to it, followed by Bourtree Brae and Sea Cliff and West Cliff. Note the absence at this early stage in the growth of Lundin Links of Lindisfarne or St Margaret's, Mount Vernon, Aird Bank and St Catherine's. There is a suggestion of some building activity in the photograph, however, indicating that these dwellings would soon become part of this scene. The map below also marks the approximate spot at '1' from which Adam Diston took this photograph. If anyone has seen a clearer version of this image, or has other photographs from this era - please leave a comment.

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Third Generation of Patrick Family Golf Club Makers

6/2/2026

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Recent blog posts have covered the pioneering Leven golf club maker John Patrick (1820-1866), and two of his sons - Alex Patrick (1845-1932) and David Patrick (1858-1948). To continue the family story into a third generation, this post will begin with John Patrick (1851-1916) and his sons who continued in the business and took the family expertise overseas.

John Malcolm Patrick was born in Leven in 1851, six years after elder brother Alex and seven years before younger brother David. John was a teenager when his father John, a pioneering maker of golf clubs, died of cholera in 1866. The 1871 census records John in Govan, Glasgow, working as a blacksmith. On 27 December 1872 John married Margaret Steedman in Colinton, Edinburgh. On the marriage record, John's usual address was given as Campbeltown, Argyll and his occupation was practical engineer. The couple's first son, John, was born in Campbeltown on 20 January 1875, where John was employed as an 'engine fitter'.

However, by 1876, the family were back in Leven where John switched his occupation to golf club making like his older brother Alex. In the 1881 census, John, Margaret and family were recorded as living at Parkhill Place in Leven. Between 1876 and 1883 six further children were born to the pair in Leven. Then around 1884 the family moved to Dunbar in East Lothian, then known as Haddingtonshire.

The advert above from the 5 December 1894 Haddingtonshire Advertiser, shows that John was a golf club and ball maker in Dunbar. However, that phase of his life was short-lived, as the 1891 census finds John and Margaret back in Leven, residing at North Street, with seven children in the household. John was recorded as a golf club maker and his eldest son, John, was an apprentice golf club maker, aged 16. The latter became the third generation golf club maker with the name John Patrick in Leven. His younger brother, Alexander, born in 1878, also followed the golf club making path.

As young John and Alex moved into golf club making, their father returned to his roots as a blacksmith for a time. The 1901 census finds him in that occupation living in Edinburgh, with wife Margaret and three of their daughters, Mabel, Agnes and Margaret. By then the young John and Alex had emigrated to USA and settled in New York (from around 1895). A passenger list below shows them travelling together from Glasgow to New York in 1896, although this may not have been their first voyage.

In the USA, young John was employed as instructor and golf club maker at the Tuxedo Club in New York, presumably assisted by younger brother Alex. The demand for quality golf clubs was huge as the sport boomed over there. After a few years at the Tuxedo Club, the brothers became trailblazers in the brand new trend of indoor golf tuition.

The history of indoor golf appears to date back to 1896, when Willie Dunn began an golf school on New York's 42nd Street. Dunn's enterprise was replicated by the Patrick brothers, who had their indoor golf school on 58th Street, By the turn of the century many major cities had several indoor golf schools, which were particularly popular in winter. Indoor golf venues provided greens made of carpet and high nets to catch the specially adapted balls. Practising of swings and putting were well suited to the format.

On 26 January 1899, the Leven Advertiser carried an interesting news story from New York City. The piece begins "We have been favoured by a correspondent in New York with a cutting from a paper published in that city, which will be of much interest to local golfers and Leven folks in general". That cutting discusses how there is no longer any need for the golf enthusiast from New York to venture out of the city to play golf. Now there was a place where one could learn "how to shoot the wily ball through space with an accompaniment of most "burr-y" Scotch". Down a narrow alley was a building with a sign displaying the Patrick name and a pendant reading "Golf School".

The article concludes by describing the workshop at the back of the golf school, where clubs and balls were made, and with mention of the brothers' "old golfing family". It is remarkable to think that young brothers from Leven with strong Scots accents were teaching New Yorkers how to play golf a century and a quarter ago. Both John and Alex married in the USA but both subsequently relocated to Scotland - returning home by 1906. Alex offered golf instruction for a time in Leven - see advert below from 5 July 1906 Leven Advertiser.

The 1911 census records John living in Edinburgh with his parents, John and Margaret and two of his sisters. Both father and son are described as golf club makers. Meanwhile younger brother Alex is also in Edinburgh where he has set up a business making and selling golf clubs at 122 Rose Street.

The advert above appeared in the 1 July 1910 Edinburgh Evening News and the article below featured in the same publication the following day, 2 July 1910. The piece includes illustrations of Alex Patrick's "improved golf club", with its "greater hitting surface". In 1911, the census lists 32-year-old Alex golf club maker living in William Street, with wife Martha and two daughters, Margaret and Alexandra. Alex died in 1920 at Links Cottage Corstorphine Edinburgh. His elder brother John registered his death. Their father John had died in 1916.

John Patrick (the third generation golf club maker of that name born in Leven) lived until 1955. The latest census information currently available, shows him living with his widowed mother at Gardener's Crescent in Edinburgh. At that time, aged 46, he was still described as a golf club maker but was in the employment of J.P. Cochrane Company Limited. This was a company established in 1896 by James Pringle Cochrane which was based at Murano Works, Albert Street, Edinburgh.

As a final footnote, there were two other sons (brothers of the young John and Alex) - Richard born in 1880 and David born in 1883. Both also emigrated to the USA for roles as golf professionals and golf club makers. These younger brothers remained in the USA for their whole lives. Richard Steedman Patrick is pictured below, as a teenager in the 23 July 1897 Dundee Courier and later in life further below. He initially emigrated in 1897 and went on to marry widow Alice Gray Silvey (nee Munger) - a survivor of the Titanic in New York in 1918. He became involved in the diamond mining industry and remained in the USA until his death on 19 March 1949 in Minnesota.

David Murdoch Patrick (born 1883) reportedly emigrated to the USA aged just 15 years and pursued a career as a golf professional. He began at the Century Club in Westchester, New York and later had spells at prestigious clubs in New York, New Jersey and Mexico. He was an active member of the National Association of Greenkeepers of America and at the time of his death in Tennessee in 1932 he was owner and manager of St Andrews Golf Club on the Mississippi. The Patrick family continues to fascinate to this day and no doubt there is more to find out about this extended family of adventurous innovators. If you have information to share about any member of the Patrick family, please do get in touch or leave a comment.