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Chapter 7: Future
campaigns to oppose
Carnegie foresaw that the vast amount of money the bonds realised in interest were too great to
commercial be used on the recreation park alone and he advised his Trustees to provide beneficial facilities
development in the
outwith the park (Libraries, Health Clinics, and Sports facilities) so that the citizens of Dunfermline
Glen.
might have what citizens of other cities did not have. Carnegie had the vision to predict that the
Contact Form municipal authorities would eventually provide some of these services at which time he told his
Trustees they must move on to other fields.
Recent
Comments Elected representatives safeguard the citizens’ gift.
TheMill on Chapter 7: Carnegie also recognised the need to have his gift stewarded by a wise and eclectic group of men
Future campaigns to
(no women for such tasks in those days). Carnegie’s original trust deed nominated 16 trustees, all
oppose commercial
development in the had to be men living within Dunfermline and its immediate vicinity. Carnegie chose 2 landowners;
Glen. 4 manufacturers (factory owners); 3 professional men (surgeon, architect and musician) 2
john.lynne on Welcome clergymen; 4 lawyers, and 3 working-class men. The nominated trustees were to serve a period of
to Saveourglen.com
3 years and then be eligible for re-election by their peers
jlowry on Chapter 7:
Future campaigns to
oppose commercial In addition to this and as a safeguard against the Carnegie Dunfermline Trust becoming a self-
development in the
Glen. perpetuating elite Carnegie stipulated that the local authority of Dunfermline, which at that time
was the Corporation of Dunfermline provide 6 elected representatives (Bailies as the councillors of
the day were known) and 3 from the Dunfermline School Board.
Carnegie’s provisions for trustees ensured that the Carnegie Dunfermline Trust would be
representative of the population. He even considered appointing a Roman Catholic clergyman as a
trustee but was persuaded by his Chairman, Dr John Ross that this was a step too far for
Dunfermline at that time. However if one considers that the Bailies, the elected representatives of
the Corporation of Dunfermline, and some of the School Board members were likely to be drawn
from the working classes, and as three working men were nominees, the ordinary people of
Dunfermline were well represented on the Carnegie Dunfermline Trust.
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» Chapter 2: Early history of the Trust, the Deed and Royal Charter Page 2 of 4
At this first meeting of the Carnegie Dunfermline Trust Dr Ross also commented on the need for
the Carnegie Dunfermline Trust to be linked to the people of Dunfermline when—on behalf of the
nominated members—he welcomed those members elected by the Local Council and School
Board. These members Dr Ross stated would add strength to the Carnegie Dunfermline Trust and
preserve a link between the nominated members and these public bodies whose members are of
course elected by the public.
Early success for the Trust rewarded by more bonds to set up Hero Fund.
Dr John Ross’s stewardship for the first five years of the Carnegie Dunfermline Trust must have
been more than satisfactory, because Andrew Carnegie wrote a letter to Dr Ross from Skibo Castle
stating that the “Carnegie Dunfermline Trustees who to my great satisfaction are administering the
Trust created by the Deed” [original Trust Deed and letter of 1903] were to receive a further $1.25
million in bonds to fund the Carnegie Hero Fund Trust. This was an extension of a Hero Fund that
Carnegie had established in the U.S.A. to provide income for heroes and heroines in civil situations
or their widows/dependants.
As with his 1903 Carnegie Dunfermline Trust Deed, Carnegie did not rely solely on the legalese of
the drafters of the trust deed but again insisted that an explanatory letter to Dr John Ross,
Chairman of the Carnegie Dunfermline Trust, dated 21st September 1908, be considered as an
essential part of the Carnegie Hero Fund Trust deeds. The Carnegie Hero Fund Trust was
established by trust deed on the 17th October 1908.
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» Chapter 2: Early history of the Trust, the Deed and Royal Charter Page 3 of 4
The articles of the new body encompassed the original 1903 Carnegie Dunfermline Trust Deed and
letter and the Carnegie Hero Fund Trust Deed and letter of 1908. The provision to make application
for a Royal Charter was something that had been provided for in Carnegie’s original trust deed of
1903.
Carnegie may have decided to opt for having his gift of Pittencrieff Park enshrined by Royal Charter
and stewarded by nominated Trustees as opposed to being gifted to the people as a common good
asset and stewarded by the Burgh Council because of what happened to the gift of land in
Dunfermline by Robert of Crail. This large area of land has all but disappeared and the stealing of
common land by landowners in Dunfermline was known to Carnegie as his uncle Bailie had fought
and defeated the owner of Pittencrieff in the courts over one such attempted common-land grab.
Even today the present stewards of the rump of Robert of Crail’s gift to the people of Dunfermline
(Fife Council) fail in their legal obligation to keep records of the extent of this land and as a result
most of this has disappeared into private hands. Carnegie had probably witnessed similar
corruption of democracy by the council of his day and probably thought that by entrusting his
precious gift of Pittencrieff to hand-picked individuals who were constrained by the specific terms
of a Royal Charter he was safeguarding his gift to his townsfolk in perpetuity.
Little did Carnegie know that some 90 years after his death the Royal Charter would become the
instrument of changes that are totally repugnant to his original trust deed, and might lead to the
loss of parts or indeed all of Pittencrieff Park.
Carnegie said in his autobiography that not for a crown would he barter the privilege of handing
Pittencrieff Park over to public ownership. It must be the supreme irony that it might be The Crown
that facilitates the removal of the park from the public ownership.
It is reported that Andrew Carnegie had wrestled with the dilemma of whether to be buried in his
beloved Glen in Dunfermline or his adopted home in the United States and eventually settled for
the latter.
He is buried in a corner plot in the Sleepy Hollow Cemetery in Tarrytown, New York, beneath a
simple Celtic cross cut from granite quarried at Skibo, bearing the brief inscription “Andrew
Carnegie Born Dunfermline Scotland 25 November 1835 Died Lenox Massachusetts 11 August
1919”.
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