The Courier & Advertiser (Perth and Perthshire Edition)
Fifer’ s actions led to American war
AFife community is preparing to commemorate a local man whose actions sparked the American War of Independence.
Earlsferry-born William Duddingston was captain of British revenue boat The Gaspee when it was attacked and destroyed by rebels in Rhode Island in 1772. The crew had been trying to enforce unpopular British customs laws which then applied to the US’S eastern states.
Known as the Gaspee Affair, the battle was the first skirmish of the war, pre-dating the more famous Boston Tea Party by more than a year.
It had the effect of uniting the entire eastern seaboard against the British Crown.
The pivotal event is commemorated with a huge parade and effigy burning in Rhode Island every year.
However, there is nothing to mark Duddingston’s role back home in Fife.
Now Elie and Earslferry History Society plans to
change that by unveiling a plaque in honour of the rear admiral on the 250th anniversary of the incident.
Society chairman Graham Johnston said: “It was a very significant event but hardly anybody knows about it here.”
William Duddingston was born in the parish of Kilconquhar in 1740 and was the third son of 14 children.
He served as a merchant seaman on the Fife coast but by 1759 he is described as a Royal Navy lieutenant.
Duddingston was given command of HMS Gaspee in 1768 and was ordered to go to Rhode Island four years later.
The role was to patrol the waters to prevent smuggling of contraband goods.
But in 1772, as The Gaspee gave chase to an American sloop, it was lured into the shallows and attacked. The crew were taken prisoner.
Duddingston and his men were eventually released and he continued with his career.
When he retired in 1805, he bought the nowdemolished Earlsferry House.
Duddingston is buried in nearby Elie churchyard.
Graham said there had been simmering resentment towards The
Gaspee among Rhode Islanders.
“The crew was awarded a percentage of the goods seized and seizures were often a little over-zealous,” he said.
Every year there is a series of events, culminating in a Gaspee Day parade and a symbolic burning of an effigy of the customs boat.
Colonial groups from across the state take part in an effort to preserve their revolutionary history.
Graham believes it is important to also mark the historic event in Duddingston’s home town.
However, the commemoration will be much more low-key than in Rhode Island.
A film depicting the event will be shown in Elie Church Hall during the platinum jubilee weekend.
On June 11, the history society will hold a ceremony on Earlsferry High Street, where a plaque commemorating The Gaspee incident and its Fife roots will be unveiled at 11.30am.