Alness has, over the centuries, been witness to change and development like no other community in Ross-shire, especially since her first recorded mention as 'Alenes' in 1227. The town is actually a composite of two parishes; Alness and Rosskeen, divided by the River Averon. The original Alness was but a small crofting community opposite the old Kirk and saw it's main expansion in the nineteenth century thanks to Captain Hugh Munro of Teaninich, who also founded Teaninich Distillery in 1817. Trading links with the south improved dramatically after the 1707 union and the evidence lies around the Cromarty Firth in the form of Girnels (store houses). One such stands at Alness Point. A short distance from the Girnel is the mansion of Teaninich House, built by Captain Hugh Munro in 1784. Munro was responsible for alterations to the course of the River Averon in 1844 and Teaninich remained a Munro seat until the First World War when Charles Harrison, the American on whom the book Little Lord Fauntleroy was said to be based, bought it. Another famous name with Alness connections is Charles Macintosh. Who? In the mid 1700s George Macintosh lived at Newmore. His son, the aforementioned Charles Macintosh, was born in 1768. He made his name in science and is credited with inventing a revolutionary bleaching powder. His partner Charles Tennant took out the patent in 1899, but it is believed that Macintosh was the real creator.Another invention was waterproof materiel. Macintosh was aiming this at the manufacture of tents, but was also used in clothing The MacKintosh or Mac. The material was first introduced in 1824. Just think, without Charles Macintosh, there would be no Columbo... Towering over Alness is Cnoc Fyrish (1478ft) and at its summit is Fyrish Monument. This was the brainchild of Sir Hector Munro of Novar who had it built in 1792 to provide work for unemployed workers. The monument is an imitation of the gates of Negapataum in India. There are three other structures on and around Fyrish, but these are more follies than monuments. They were painted white and the original plan, apparently, was to have them all linked by a wall. In 1854, David Forsyth was born in Alness. Not a household name but avid chess players may have heard of his invention; the Forsyth Notation. This is one of a number of systems used for recording on paper the positions of chess pieces, such as can be seen in newspapers today. As Hugh Munro of Teaninich brought modernisation to the parish of Alness, Alexander Matheson and Dyson Perrins did the same for Bridgend parish as successive owners of Ardross estate. Matheson, having made his fortune in the far east with Matheson and Co with interests in tea, banking and some say, the opium trade. His uncle, James Matheson along with William Jardine founded Jardine, Matheson & Co in 1832. Alexander Matheson bought 60,000 acres of Ardross estate in 1845 for £90,000. The abuses of land ownership are well documented but Matheson was the first landlord to give printed leases to his tenants and was the first in Ross-shire to reduce rents. Over his time of tenure, Matheson outlayed some £230,000 on improvements to land enclosures, tree planting, steadings and drainage. He was also instrumental in bringing the railway north of Inverness in 1860. Matheson died in 1886 to be succeeded by his son Kenneth. Money troubles led him to sell Ardross in 1899 to be bought by Charles Dyson Perrins (of Lea and Perrins fame). Dyson Perrins was a particular benefactor to Alness. The most obvious being the Perrins Centre. This was opened in 1904 as 'The Ardross/Alness Club': a club for 'local menfolk' It is understood to have cost over £3,000. Within its confine were library, reading and billiard rooms. A year on and it had over 180 members. Alness Golf Course was donated to the village by Perrins on July 13th 1904. This original course was a links course on Dalmore flats. At high tide three of the greens were under water...The present 18 hole course just to the north of Alness was leased from Ardross Estates in 1922. In addition to all this Mrs Perrins turned on the electricity supply for the village in 1824. Both Matheson and Perrins were avid tree planters and Ardross has one of the best collections of conifers in Britain. Thanks to Derek Spence for the use of the above information, which can be found on his Website, see Links page.
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