Nethergate, Dundee - Ref: WC0412
This photograph shows the south-eastern section Dundee's Nethergate, with the 'financially and aesthetically disastrous' Queen's Hotel (quote from David M. Walker's 'Architects and architecture in Dundee 1770-1914'), built in 1878 by Young & Meldrum.
The company, hearing that the Caledonian Railway planned to build its station at Seabraes, contrived to build a prestige hotel to catch 'passing trade'. In the event, the Caledonian chose a site near the other Dundee stations.
Other businesses in Queen's Hotel Buildings by 1897 were Chapman Gillies, upholsterers, Peter B. Cockburn, hairdresser and perfumer, and Thomas Swinton & Sons, coachbuilders. Charles Swinton is listed as a coachman in the Dundee Directory.
Alexander Wilson who took this photograph, was a supervisor in a Dundee jute mill for over 20 years. He bequeathed much of his collection and £50, to cover the costs involved, to the Free Library Committee of Dundee in 1923.