Perth Civic Trust plans to place new blue plaques at various sites in Perth where we feel there is an unmet need. We have a number of places and people on our shortlist but we would welcome any suggestions. The usual requirement is that a person of significance was born, lived, died or was associated with a specific place in Perth. Usually some time (20 years is quoted) needs to elapse after the person’s death. Plaques can also describe a significant historical event or a building which has disappeared or whose function has changed.
Do you have any suggestions? Just email us at: webmaster@perthcivictrust.org.uk
Jessie Mann and David Octavius Hill – Watergate
In May 2025 the first two Perth Civic Trust blue plaques received planning permission. They will soon be fixed at 3 Watergate in one of Perth’s most historic streets. Although it is something of a backwater now, we need to remember that, before Tay Street was constructed in 1870-1875, Watergate was the main street along the river Tay with the land sloping down from it to the river bank.
The first plaque concerns the early photographer Jessie Mann, considered to be Scotland’s first female photographer. It is thought that her birthplace, now demolished, may have been opposite 3 Watergate where David Octavius Hill was born three years earlier. Hill was educated at Perth Academy then studied painting in Edinburgh. Mann also moved to Edinburgh and became assistant to Hill and his partner Robert Adamson at their studio in Rock House. There is evidence that she took photographic portraits in 1843 and 1844, making her one of the first women ever to become involved in the new medium of photography. Hill and Adamson took many of the earliest photographs in Scotland and their work has featured in national exhibitions. Jessie Mann was included in the Tate Britain exhibition ‘Painting with Light’ in 2016.
What is a Perth Civic Trust Blue plaque?
Our plaques are made of metal with raised lettering and can be 30cm across if at street level, or 40cm or more if mounted higher up.
Here is a full description of our criteria for plaque selection: