We were delighted to welcome back Richard Wemyss as speaker to the 16th January club meeting. Richard had previously told us of his work with food banks, but this time spoke about John Alexander Millar, a boat builder in times past.

This proved to be a fascinating illustrated talk about an important, but little known local boat builder of the 19th century. John Millar died in 1903 at 60 years of age – yet in that lifetime managed to create a number of yards building boats of up to 50 foot in length. Astonishingly he also seems to have survived two or possibly three instances of bankruptcy.

The boatbuilding story started in 1867 when he took up a tiny piece of land in East Cellardyke and he seems to have been an innovative builder. By 1868 he had built a first fully decked boat – a major change from the open boats common to the area. By 1874 his first carvel built craft was launched – considered to be safer than the usual clinker construction.

By June 1876 he launched a 45-foot boat ‘Island of May’ – yet in august of that year was declared bankrupt. But one year later he surfaced again; this time in West Anstruther in a larger yard.

An impressive photograph showed the Cellardyke fleet of 165 fishing boats in harbour, of which 63 were by John Millar and 6 of carvel build.

Disaster struck when huge storms destroyed his yard and steam-powered workshop, with bankruptcy once again. It seems that by 1899 he had paid off his debts and moved to Arbroath, where the ‘Ina Cook’, KY133, his biggest boat was launched. Yet by 1902 his yard was up for sale and his work came to an end.

Altogether an astonishing story of another enterprising spirit of the Victorian era – a man whose business, at its prime, was producing ten craft a year – a boat every five weeks, with a workforce of just three men and a boy!

Following questions an appreciative vote of thanks was proposed by David Mann.