Captain of the guard

In the final part of his history of the Duchess of Monmouth’s house in Dundee, Innes Duffus writes: “Bailie

Thomas Scott was enrolled as a burgess on September 17 1611, entered the council in 1630 and was elected hospital master the same year.

“When he was treasurer in 1639, the council instructed him to purchase muskets and heavy ordinance for the use of the town. There were accounting problems and he left the council.

“However, in 1649, he was elected guild councillor and was chosen the following year as a bailie. He was appointed captain of His Majesty’s Guard while the king was in Dundee in 1651.

“On Scott’s death in 1662, the property was divided between his three daughters Grizel, Christian and Martha, and later subdivided among their children. One of the latter proprietors of the building was Alexander Wright, merchant, who was made burgess in 1724.

“Three years later, he was elected member of the town council. The house belonged to the Wright family for upwards of 50 years, the last being a James Wright who owned the tenement in 1780.

“Madame D’Arusmont, better known as Fanny Wright, was the second daughter of James Wright Jnr and was born in Milne’s Buildings in Nethergate in 1795. She had been orphaned at he age of eight and brought up by her maternal aunt, called Scott. She was a ‘Chartist’ and friend and follower of La Fayette.

“She went to America where she became a leading member of the cause for the abolition of slavery and started a colony for the education and betterment of slaves. A plaque in her memory is still in place at the entrance to her birthplace and can be seen next to the plate of a local solicitor.

“The Duchess of Monmouth’s house, latterly better known as Monck’s House was demolished in the 1960s to make way for the first Overgate Centre.

“It is still the opinion of many Dundonians that there must have been a way of retaining this historic building as part of the developing city.”