By 1867, Selkirk was 67 and had suffered from bronchitis for many years. He died in November that year. The following advert appeared in the Fife Herald a few times around the turn of the year.
In 1846, when George Duff (the original proprietor of the inn at Largo Harbour) died and his wife Ann decided to move to Upper Largo, the inn was advertised for let and offers were to be addressed to 'Alexander Selkirk, Largo'. Of course, this Alexander Selkirk was not the one who inspired the tale of Robinson Crusoe but rather was a grocer in the village. He may well have been a member of the 'Largo Granary Company' which managed the building. It seems that perhaps no one put forward an offer, because Selkirk himself took on the inn and for the next twenty years or so was both a grocer and an innkeeper. For some of that time he named the inn the 'Steamboat Inn' in recognition of its links with the steam boat services that called at Largo Harbour during that era. As was the way at that time, the inn was also routinely referred to as 'Selkirk's Inn' (ie recognising who ran it rather than its official name). By 1867, Selkirk was 67 and had suffered from bronchitis for many years. He died in November that year. The following advert appeared in the Fife Herald a few times around the turn of the year. Shortly after this, James Gilchrist is recorded as the innkeeper at the harbour but he died in 1873. Gilchrist's wife Margaret appears to have been in charge for a while but the inn would soon change hands again and by the mid 1870s the inn was beginning to be referred to as the Crusoe Inn or Crusoe Hotel. John Forrester had the inn in 1881 and still in 1891, according to census data. The Forresters were another interesting family who later branched out from the traditional inn to the newer concept of boarding houses. More to come about them at a future date.
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![]() The previous post covered George Duff, first inn-keeper of the present Crusoe Hotel (then known as the Harbour Inn). During George Duff's time at Seatoun of Largo, there was another long-term inn-keeper operating in Kirkton of Largo. That was Edward Lee, who ran the present Upper Largo Hotel (then referred to as Lee's Inn). Ned Lee had run the Inn in the Kirkton for decades when he died in February 1842 aged in his late 70s. His wife Catherine continued the business for a few months before handing over to James Purves. This hand-over was reported in the Fife Herald of 22 December 1842 as follows: "On Friday, a number of friends and acquaintances of Mr James Purves, innkeeper, Largo, gave him a dinner, as a token of their respect for him as a friend, and to show their sense of his kind, frank and obliging manners as a landlord, on his commencing business in the inn lately occupied by Mrs Lee." Purves had previously been gamekeeper on the Largo estate, and had resided in Largo Lodge at the time of the 1841 census. His time at the Upper Largo inn was, however, to be brief. Upon the death of George Duff (innkeeper down at the Harbour Inn) in 1846, Duff's wife Ann shifted from the Seatoun to the Kirkton and took over from James Purves. This move shows that, while Ann Duff wished to continue in the inn-keeping business, she perhaps did not wish to be involved in the transport side of things which seemed to be bound up with the Harbour Inn (her husband having been an agent for the steamboats as well as arranging omnibus services around Fife). And so the old 'Lee's Inn' became 'Duff's Inn' and later was increasingly referred to as 'The Commercial Inn' and then 'The Commercial Hotel'. When Ann Duff died in 1867, her daughter - also Ann Duff - took over the inn at Upper Largo and remained there until shortly before her death in December 1881. She was certainly recorded as innkeeper there in the 1881 census and her brother James Duff was also residing there. His occupation was listed as "late gold miner"! And so ended an era, spanning across seven decades, of various members of the Duff family running inns in Largo. In Upper Largo William Birrell would take over the inn for the remainder of the 1880s, before Andrew Turnbull picked up the reins. In the next post - details of what happened to the Harbour Inn following Ann Duff's departure in 1846. In the second quarter of the 19th century, George Duff would have been a prominent figure in Largo. He had been born in Ceres in 1801 but moved to Largo from the St Andrews area around 1824. It's no coincidence that this was the same year as the completion of the Largo Granary, as George would take on the inn within the building - known as the Harbour Inn or Duff's Inn. He seemed to do well as innkeeper - one report of a dinner held there stated that "the very prompt and handsome manner in which the dinner was served up reflected great credit on Mr Duff". Within a few years, inn-keeping would not be the only string to George Duff's bow. In 1830, he began operating 'omnibus' services and acting as an agent for steamer services calling at Largo. His omnibuses transported people on various routes to and from Largo over the years - including Cupar, Anstruther, St Andrews, Newport and Dundee - often connecting with steamboat services and linking up with other Inns. Before the railway, these stagecoaches would have been the best way to travel over land for visitors, although not particularly pleasant. Coaches would have been slow, uncomfortable and dangerous (accidents were common). Coaching was a high cost, high risk business from which George Duff would probably not made much profit. Most coach proprietors were innkeepers looking to boost their business. They would also be encouraged by local businessmen who were looking to create links with other places and no doubt the members of the Largo Granary Company supported George Duff in his enterprise. In July 1845 a customer calling himself "A Stranger in Lower Largo" wrote to the editor of the Fife Herald on the topic of the condition of the local roads:
"After you pass by Ceres towards Largo, there are but very short pieces of it good, although not so dangerous, until you come to that infamous part of it in Keil's Den, where it is a shame to be seen....whenever you come to ascend the very steepest and winding part of it - where either horse or harness, or the drag of a heavy coach, are most apt to give way - where would the lives of the people be? They would be pitched over the den, and dashed to pieces, conveyance and all, as there is at this place no embankment at all: nothing but an old paling to hold them again, which has stood there until time has rotted it so completely." The letter goes on to give various scenarios of accidents and the likely damages which the road trustees could incur, and appeals for either a better line of road to be found or for sufficient protection to be put up immediately. While the writer points the finger at the road trustees, he praises George Duff as the "respected and enterprising coach-proprietor" who "fifteen years ago, first gave us cheap travelling upon this road" (ie Cupar-Largo and vice-versa at a fare of 1s). He also notes the "superiority of his cattle" and "his very excellent inn at Largo Pier". The following year, however, everything would change. George Duff fell ill and the Harbour Inn was advertised for let in April 1846 (see below from the Fife Herald) and in the August of that year George died from consumption (tuberculosis) and was buried in his native Ceres. However, that was not the end of the story for the enterprising Duff family, for George left a wife and eight children and a new venture would begin for them in Kirkton of Largo. A previous post has mentioned that the Crusoe Hotel began life as a granary in 1824 and here is an advert, from 7 October that year in the Fife Herald, advertising the "lately built" granary for let. The advert is very informative in terms of how the granary was intended to be used. Either large or small lots could be let within the building. Likely users would be either farmers or corn-dealers. In fact the Alexander Beveridge named in the advert was a farmer at Buckthorns, by Upper Largo. The Highland and Agricultural Society described Buckthorns around that time as having "as fine a crop of oats as we have ever seen anywhere", so perhaps his grains ended up at the granary.
Lower Largo at the time was very well-connected, as the advert suggests. Other adverts from this era describe Largo as a "shipping port" and highlight its proximity to the "turnpike road along the coast". The steam packet services out of Largo Harbour were underway at this time - perhaps the completion of the Chain Pier at Newhaven in 1821 had added impetus to the building of the granary. The weekly corn markets mentioned would have included those at Leven and Colinsburgh at that time. It appears that for a number of decades, the granary was managed by a group called the "Largo Granary Company". A piece in the Fife Herald on 14 February 1833 reveals that Alexander Beveridge was the treasurer of this group. He was presented with a silver snuff box by the company at a dinner in Duff's Inn (within the same building as the granary) "in token of their great esteem and regard for him, more especially in reference to admirable manner in which he has conducted the affairs of the concern". The advert below dates from the year after the initial one above - again suggesting that various sizes of space could be rented. This time the contact given is an Andrew Selcraig, who was a linen manufacturer, living in Largo and operating a business in Dysart (presumably another member of the Largo Granary Company). Adverts for the let of the granary continue to appear periodically throughout the remainder of the 19th century and the Largo Granary Company is still noted in the press as operating in 1898. |
AboutThis blog is about the history of the villages of Lundin Links, Lower Largo and Upper Largo in Fife, Scotland. Comments and contributions from readers are very welcome!
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