Perth Civic Trust erects new blue plaques at various sites in Perth where there is an unmet need. 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. We have a number of places and people on our shortlist but we would welcome any suggestions. Do you have any suggestions? Just email us at: webmaster@perthcivictrust.org.uk
For full details of our plaque design and criteria see the document at the foot of this page.
Perthshire Society of Natural Science Natural History Museum – Tay Street
Our fifth Perth Civic Trust blue plaque was unveiled on 23rd August 2026 in Tay Street, on the facade of 66 Tay Street which housed the original Natural History Museum of Perthshire Society of Natural Science which opened in 1881.
As soon as PSNS was formed in 1867, Dr Francis Buchanan White said in his inaugural address on 7th March 1867. “As regards the formation of a Museum, the Society, while not neglecting to form a good general typical collection, should more especially devote itself to the acquisition of as perfect a museum as possible of all natural products of the County”. An ambition of the Society was to establish a museum with a fine natural history collection. It was to be as comprehensive as possible in its collections of Perthshire’s rocks, minerals, plants and animals. In 1877 Sir Thomas Moncreiffe, the President, proposed the society should build the museum, including a library and lecture hall, in Tay Street. The businessman Robert Pullar of Perth’s North British Dyeworks, contributed generously to the cost of the building. After Sir Thomas’s unexpected death, the new museum, opened in 1881 was named in his honour, the Moncreiffe Memorial Natural History Museum. The museum was educational and free. Crowds flocked to the opening event and there were upwards of 7,000 visitors in its first nine months.
In addition to exhibits, 66 Tay Street also housed the PSNS Library, an essential tool for scientific study, long before the computer and the internet. From its founding in 1867 the Society accumulated a vast collection of books and journals. It is, perhaps, the most complete Victorian natural history library outside of a university or a national library. There are around 2,500 books in the collection, most were published in the 19th century. By 1885 the museum was becoming overcrowded. Fundraising began and ten years later an extended museum was opened with a dedicated space for displays of Perthshire’s natural history. Mr Alex Rodger was appointed as the Society’s first paid curator. The running and salary costs of the new museum were difficult for the Society to sustain and the museum and its collections were offered to the community. Perth Town Council took over ownership in 1902 and the museum was run by a joint committee. In 1935 the Town Council opened Perth Museum and Art Gallery in George Street. The old museum in Tay Street closed and its natural history collections and Library were moved to the new building.
When the New Perth Museum opened in 2024 many of the original exhibits moved and are on display there. The PSNS Library remains in the possession of the Society at Perth Art Gallery and can be accessed by arrangement. The buildings comprising 62-72 Tay Street, which included the Natural History Museum, Working Boys’ and Girls’ Club and the former Opera House ( later Baptist Church, until it succumbed to fire in1984) were designed by early PSNS member John Young CE who was Secretary of the Society from 1875 to 1886. The later extension to the Museum was designed by his son, George Penrose Kennedy Young (a PSNS member from 1872) who went on to design many of Perth’s outstanding buildings including General Accident’s Offices at 2 High Street, Northern District Primary School and York Corner, among others.
The black and white photos shown here are all courtesy of Perth Museum and Art Gallery.
Francis Buchanan White – Atholl Place
Francis Buchanan White was a founder member and the first President of Perthshire Society of Natural Science (PSNS). He was born here in Perth and studied medicine at Edinburgh University. His passion from childhood was the study of nature. He was PSNS President for 13 years, Secretary for 2 years and editor of its publications for 13 years. White was an expert in hemiptera, the group of insects which includes shield bugs and water boatmen. He described 130 species new to science. From 1881, he devoted himself to botany and became an expert on British willows. He was a pioneer in biological recording, the careful gathering of data on where plants and animals are found in order to understand their distribution. White’s major work was the Flora of Perthshire, a detailed account of the plants which occur naturally in the county. He organised collecting trips and PSNS excursions to gather specimens and record the distribution of plants for this work. Dr White was elected in 1868, a Fellow of the Royal Entomological Society and in 1873, a Fellow of the Linnean Society.
2 Atholl Place was built in 1797 with all the houses on Atholl Place being designed specifically for doctors, with consulting rooms on the lower floors and accommodation for their families upstairs: At the time, Atholl Place was Perth’s equivalent of London’s Harley Street.
The black and white photos shown here are all courtesy of Perth Museum and Art Gallery.
Magnus Jackson – Princes Street
Our third Perth Civic Trust blue plaque was unveiled on 30th November 2025 in Princes Street, at the site of the studio built by early photographer Magnus Jackson. Our chairman Willie Wilson spoke of Magnus Jackson’s importance in documenting Perth and its people in the 19th century. He was assisted by Bill Montgomery of the Guildry Incorporation and building owner John McEwan who showed us old photographs and documents related to historic buildings in Perth. Also in attendance were Councillors Andy Chan and Iain MacPherson, Wol Gilbraith and Jimmy Herd of Perthshire Photographic Society, Sabrina Willekens of Perth Museum and Pavo Interpretation, and Ian Cameron, Sue Hendrie, Roben Antoniewicz and Mike Bell (Perth Civic Trust).
Jessie Mann and David Octavius Hill – Watergate
In June 2025 the first two Perth Civic Trust blue plaques were unveiled 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 number 22, 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 the first women in Scotland ever to become involved professionally 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: