ABSTRACT
Peterhead harbours have a long history beginning with James VI’s Charter to Robert Keith and George, the Fifth Earl Marischal, ‘privilegium et libertatem unum portum erigendi’ in 1587. Various Acts of Parliament laid down the constitution of the Trustees, the rights and duties of the Trustees and the charges they could levy upon vessels using the harbours. In the Peterhead Harbour of Refuge Act 1886 the Admiralty were empowered to use convict labour to enclose Peterhead Bay by breakwaters, thus creating a harbour of refuge. The Prison Commissioners were, by the 1886 Act, empowered to erect a prison to provide the labour. The prosperity or poverty of the people of Peterhead has always depended upon the harbours. In the 1950s and 1960s Peterhead was poor, with many young people leaving to seek work in the south. A major change overtook Peterhead harbour when the inshore fishing fleet moved to the port from Aberdeen and started landing in 1970.
