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 Robert Douglas
was born and raised in Scone. At an early age he and his brother
Charles left for America. There
he prospered. He became President of
the great Certo Corporation, later sold to the giant General Foods
Corporation of America. Throughout the years he remembered his
birthplace and retained his affection for it.
The father of Robert Douglas was David
Douglas. It was he who founded the Scone Jam Factory when New Scone
was about 80 years old. Here his sons learnt the business of jam
making and when they went to America they devised a means of
extracting from fruit, mainly apples, a setting agent called fruit
pectin which was used by preserve manufacturers. They later
commercialised the product under the name of Certo for the use of
the housewife which proved to be highly successful.
There is an inherent desire in nearly every
individual, especially after middle age, to return in spirit, if not
in person, to their native heath. Indeed, the urge of all animals to
return to their homes when they are freed seems to indicate that
this is a deep natural instinct. Where men have left their homelands
and found their fortunes in distant parts it seems that this
instinct is fulfilled by giving thought about the wellbeing of the
people still living in the place they have left, making some
provision for them, their children and their children’s children.
Such was the case with Robert Douglas.
When preparing his will Robert Douglas
directed that a portion of his estate should be devoted in
perpetuity for the benefit of the people of New Scone and the
vicinity, and to the betterment of living conditions in the village.
He directed his trustees in America to establish in New Scone a
Douglas Foundation Trust to carry out his wishes. The trustees were
to be responsible for and to direct the administration of the
various ramifications of the Foundation and manage its finances.
Sir Stanley Noire-Miler, Bt., of Murrayshall,
was invited to be Chairman. He accepted. Now he [is still] Chairman
and the only surviving member of the original trustees. The Robert
Douglas Foundation Trust was registered in Edinburgh in August 1936,
and the 35th anniversary is to be celebrated at the
Robert Memorial Institute in New Scone on Saturday, 4th
September, 1971.
Before the Trust was formed in this country
the American Trustees had carried out a great amount of work and
spent considerable sums of money since Robert Douglas died on 28th
May, 1929.
Their efforts had achieved:
The erection of a new school in Scone;
The laying out of the public park;
The building of the Memorial Home and
Cottages;
An extension to the public hall;
An addition to the Perth Royal Infirmary
called the Douglas Memorial Wing.
In the course of time the school and the
extension to the public hall have been taken over by the County
Council. The wing of the Infirmary, along with an endowment fund,
has been annexed by the Regional Hospital Board under the National
Health Act.
The park, which was presented to Scone by
the late Charles Hutchinson, has continued to be maintained by the
Trust, assisted by a grant from the County Council. It has been laid
out by the Trust with shrubberies and serpentine paths throughout. A
bowling green, putting green and tennis courts have been made and
suitable club houses built. Large areas have been sown to grass for
football, cricket and other sport. All this has combined to provide
the people of New Scone with a much appreciated social amenity.
The Memorial Home along with the cottages
form a further asset to the village. The residents there are
comfortably accommodated in their own environment where they can
freely and easily be visited by friends and relations. Dr. Allan
Douglas, M.B., Ch.B., medical officer for the trust, makes regular
visits attending to the wellbeing of residents and that general
comfort of the Home. As it is not practicable for sick nursing to be
given in the Home, where necessary invalids are temporarily moved to
a suitable hospital.
Following the building of the new school,
the old school premises were taken over by the Trust. Considerable
alterations were carried out to make it suitable for social
gatherings and many forms of indoor activities, and the Douglas
Memorial Institute was created.
The Institute is an amenity which many
villages would greatly envy. It is appreciated by old people who can
throughout the day rest and read in comfortable surroundings. It is
made use of by church and school and by various organisations for
the playing of games and other activities for which it provides such
excellent opportunities.
There can be no doubt that there is great
scope for young members who are prepared not only to enjoy the
facilities available to them, but also to assist in running the
internal sports clubs and eventually qualify for a position in the
management of the Institute.
It is to be hoped that residents who are not
yet members will take the opportunity of the Anniversary
celebrations to make up family parties to take a look at what goes
on inside the Institute and discover how much they would benefit by
taking up membership at the very nominal fee.
A membership in proportion to the increased
population of the village would be an encouragement for those who
now give much of their time to the management of the Institute’s
affairs for the benefit of others. Such a membership would certainly
tend to influence the degree of continued assistance from the funds
of the Douglas Memorial Trust. While all the undertakings with which
it is concerned were well endowed when they were first established,
due to inflation and the changing state of the economy, the
resources are now barely adequate for the maintenance of the various
projects of the Trust. There is consequently a danger that some of
its activities must eventually be curtailed unless other sources of
income are created.
Much has been said here of the generosity of
Robert Douglas. It would be wrong, however, to overlook the fact
that Scone itself was created through generosity of the 3rd
Earl of Mansfield. It was he who, about the year 1804, granted free
feus to those who wished to move from the Royal City of Scone to
build a home in the area.
Throughout the years the community has been
blessed by many other benefactors who have given money or effort or
both to the embellishment of the growing village.
It would be invidious to describe Robert
Douglas as the great Douglas benefactor when the family as a whole
has been so generous in an unostentatious way. His sister, Miss
Isabella Douglas, who took an unpretentious pride in the success of
her brother, is a typical example.
New Scone has been fortunate that the
Douglas family made this their home and it is to be hoped that
future generations will appreciate what has been done by them and in
their name.
Contributed:
Robert Douglas's family owned the Jam Factory in
Scone (The ‘Jeely Works) and my father, Dr.
Allan Douglas, remembered it between the wars when the plant
and machinery included a steam wagon for transporting raw and
finished materials. Robert Douglas and his family made their
fortunes out of patenting a process for the commercial production of
pectin to set jams and preserves.
The works closed... probably due to the larger businesses, like
Keillors in Dundee, cornering the market. It became a grain drying
plant owned by the Angus Milling Company which originated in
Kirriemuir, birthplace of JM Barrie. The company trademark/brand
name was Peter Pan and a statue of the eponymous boy hero was placed
at the Scone works. Unfortunately the company retrenched and closed
Scone running its operations from the mills in Kirriemuir.
Places named for Robert Douglas:
• Robert Douglas Memorial Primary School
• Robert Douglas Memorial Home
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