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Reference has been made to the names of streets that perpetuate
the designations of mansions in the locality. One of the latest
instances of this kind is Blackness Avenue in Perth Road. This was
originally the approach to Blackness House, which is still an inhabited
mansion. In 1642, Sit Alexander Wedderburne, Knight (1610–1675)
began to acquire portions of the estate from Donald Thornetoun of
Blackness, and ultimately purchased the whole of the grounds and
the mansion. He was Town Clerk of Dundee from 1633 till 1675, and
was a prominent personage in the burgh, taking the territorial title
of “Sir Alexander Wedderburne of Blackness.”
There is still at Blackness an oak tree, said to have been planted
by Charles II when he visited Sir Alexander. His second son (1641–1706)
was the first Baronet of this family; and the title and property
were continued until the time of Sir Alexander, fourth Baronet of
Blackness (1675–1744), who was Town Clerk in 1715, and was
deposed for his Jacobite opinions. He got into monetary difficulties,
and had to sell Blackness in 1743, when the estate and mansion were
acquired by Alexander Hunter of Balskelly, whose descendant is the
present (1924) proprietor.
The greater portion of the estate has been feued and formed into
streets and terraces.
Adapted from: 'Glimpses of Old and New Dundee' - A.H. Millar,
January 1925
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