There are not many surviving photographs of historic office interiors in Stirling. This is the modest office of Peter Drummond (1799 – 1877), founder of the Stirling Tract Depot, in its first purpose built building (1862) which still stands at the foot of King Street. The publishing enterprise for temperance and religious tracts ran from 1848 – 1980, and started life in a seed box in Messrs Drummond & Sons seed premises in King Street. It developed into a world – wide publishing business.
On the wall is a portrait of Peter Drummond. He did much to clean up Stirling, getting rid of the race course and the gambling which went with it. His house was ‘Viewforth’, now the headquarters of Stirling Council, where his drawing room with its elaborate plaster ceiling is used for civic functions.
The Stirling Tract Depot grew so fast, that new premises were built in Dumbarton Road in 1888. When the business declined in the 20th century, it moved to 64 Murray Place. This image came from a box of lantern slides on the premises, showing the history of the Stirling Tract Depot, and was gifted to the Smith by G. W. T. Murphy, Solicitors.
Comment(1)
Dr Terence Beed says
10th July 2023 at 12:14 PMI recently inherited a family archive of my forebears dating back to the mid to late 19th Century. In the collection was a 2-page pamphlet called “Gospel Leaves No. 94”. It is Headed “Clear out the Rubbish” attributed to Cheyne Brady and bearing the publisher’s name, Drummond’s Tract Depot, Stirling. I live in Sydney Australia and this was in a collection belonging to my Great Grandmother, Rosalama Beed (born Reeve, Shudy Camps, Cambrigeshire, 1843). She and her husband Henry Beed (born Colyton, Devonshire 1840) were pioneer settlers in Rockhampton in the Queensland Colony. I would like to know more about this pamphlet. It seems to be the sort of thing handed out to parishioners at church services, so someone might have stocked them in Australia. I have a scanned copy available to send by email if you are interested.