Lochee () is an area in the west of Dundee,

Scotland Scotland (, ) is a Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United Kingdom. Covering the northern third of the island of Great Britain, mainland Scotland has a Anglo-Scottish border, border with England to the southeast ...

. Until the 19th century, it was a separate town, but was eventually surrounded by the expanding Dundee. It is notable for being home to Camperdown Works, which was the largest jute production site in the world.

History

'Lochee' originally referred to the area in which weavers' cottages were situated at the burn which flowed through Balgay Lochee; thus, they were at the eye of the loch or Loch E'e, which eventually became Lochee. It is believed this site is close to where Myrekirk stands today. Indeed, John Ainslie's map of 1794 makes reference to 'Locheye' on the north and south banks of the burn. However, G. Taylor and A. Skinner's 'Survey and maps of the roads of North Britain or Scotland' in 1776 makes reference to 'Lochee'. When the loch was drained by the Duncans in the 15th century they offered

crofting Crofting is a form of land tenure and small-scale food production particular to the Scottish Highlands, the islands of Scotland, and formerly on the Isle of Man. Within the 19th century townships, individual crofts were established on the bett ...

tenancies along the burn. One of the tenancies went to a Dutchman, James Cox and his family. After a change of name and with a reputation for quality linen, the Cox family eventually set up as linen merchants in 1700. By 1760 the firm had 300 weavers and after using steam power and moving into the jute industry the family built

Camperdown Works Camperdown Works was a jute works in Dundee, Scotland, which covered around 30 acres and at one point employed over 14,000, mostly female, workers. It was for a time the world's largest jute works and was owned by Cox Brothers. Origins The Cox ...

in 1864, said to be the largest

factory A factory, manufacturing plant or a production plant is an industrial facility, often a complex consisting of several buildings filled with machinery, where workers manufacture items or operate machines which process each item into another. ...

in the world, with over 5,000 employees. Cox’s Stack, the 86 m (282 ft) high campanile-style factory chimney designed by local architect James MacLaren, survives. Lochee became a company town with 2 railway stations, police force, fire service, schools, swimming pool, casino, library, washhouse and several churches. In 1890, the Cox Brothers donated a 25 acre public park to Lochee. Lochee is well known for being the home of Dundee's biggest ever gang, 'The Lochee Fleet' who were notorious in Dundee's gang culture throughout the 70's and 90's.

Immigration

Many immigrants were attracted to the area by the prospect of employment in the city's jute mills. By 1855, there were 14,000 Irish immigrants in Dundee, most of whom stayed in Lochee, or 'Little Tipperary' as it would come to be known. In 1904, the

Lochee Harp Lochee Harp Football Club are a Scottish Junior football club historically based in the Lochee area of the city of Dundee. Formed in 1904 and nicknamed ''"the Harp"'', they play at Lochee Community Sports Hub. The team moved into this new gro ...

football club was formed by Lochee Irishmen as a means of recreation for the poor immigrants; the club still plays to this day. Lochee is still regarded as Dundee's Irish 'quarter'.

Notable Lochee residents

See also :People from Lochee * George Barnes, politician *

Henry Bradley Henry Bradley, FBA (3 December 1845 – 23 May 1923) was a British philologist and lexicographer who succeeded James Murray as senior editor of the ''Oxford English Dictionary'' (OED). Early life Bradley had humble beginnings as a farmer's so ...

, cattle driver (Canada), Boxer and wine importer * W. Lindsay Cable, book Illustrator for Punch and Enid Blyton was born in Lochee *

William Cooper William Cooper may refer to: Business *William Cooper (accountant) (1826–1871), founder of Cooper Brothers * William Cooper (businessman) (1761–1840), Canadian businessman *William Cooper (co-operator) (1822–1868), English co-operator * Will ...

, ship captain, politician (Prince Edward Island) *

James Crabb James Crabb (born 1967) is a Scottish classical accordion player. Crabb was born in Dundee. He was given his first accordion at age 4 by his accordion-playing father. He studied at the Royal Danish Academy of Music in Copenhagen with class ...

, classical musician *

John Duncan John Duncan may refer to: Arts and entertainment * John Duncan (painter) (1866–1945), Scottish painter * John Duncan (artist) (born 1953), American artist and musician * Big John Duncan (born 1958), Scottish punk musician * John Duncan (harpist) ...

, footballer *

William Eassie William Eassie (1805-1861) was a prominent Scottish businessman of the mid 19th century, working as a railway contractor and then as a Gloucester-based supplier of prefabricated wooden buildings. Career Eassie was born at Lochee near Dundee in 18 ...

, railway contractor and manufacturer of prefabricated wooden buildings * Robert Fleming, banker * George Galloway, politician *

Frank Gilfeather Frank Gilfeather (born 30 December 1945, Lochee, Dundee, Scotland) is a Scottish journalist and broadcaster. Gilfeather, a former Scottish amateur boxing champion from Dundee, moved to Aberdeen in April 1969 and began work on the Press & Journ ...

, journalist, broadcaster and author * Sir Alexander Gray, poet *

James 'Napper' Thomson James is a common English language surname and given name: *James (name), the typically masculine first name James * James (surname), various people with the last name James James or James City may also refer to: People * King James (disambiguat ...

, Businessman *

Michael Marra Michael Marra (17 February 1952 – 23 October 2012) was a Scottish singer-songwriter and musician from Dundee, Scotland. Known as the Bard of Dundee, Marra was a solo performer who toured the UK and performed in arts centres, theatres, folk cl ...

, musician *

Francis Boag Francis may refer to: People *Pope Francis, the head of the Catholic Church and sovereign of the Vatican City State and Bishop of Rome * Francis (given name), including a list of people and fictional characters *Francis (surname) Places * Rural ...

, artist *

Alfie Williamson Alfie may refer to: Theatre and film * ''Alfie'' (play), a 1963 play by Bill Naughton * ''Alfie'' (1966 film), a film based on the play starring Michael Caine * ''Alfie'' (2004 film), a remake of the 1966 film * ''Alfie'' (2013 film), an Indi ...

, musician

Demographics

Lochee , ''Scotland'' *Total Population (2011) 5218 , ''5,254,800'' *% children (2011) 17.63% , ''17.38%'' *% working age (2011) 58.49 , ''62.79%'' *% pensionable age (2011) 23.88% , ''19.83%'' *% income deprived (2005, Barl 2012) 27% , ''14%'' *% 16-24 year olds claiming Jobseeker’s Allowance (2012 Q4) 16.2% , ''5.70%'' *% 25-49 year olds claiming Jobseeker’s Allowance (2012 Q4) 13.7% , ''4.20%'' *% 50-64 year olds claiming Jobseeker’s Allowance (2012 Q4) 4.6% , ''2.10%'' *% working age who are employment deprived (2008) 25% , ''12%'' *% 16-24 year olds claiming Key Benefits (2012 Q4) 29.2% , ''12.70%'' *% 25-49 year olds claiming Key Benefits (2012 Q4) 37.6% , ''15.40%'' *% 50-64 year olds claiming Key Benefits (2012 Q4) 32.1% , ''19%'' *Est. % prescribed drugs for anxiety, depression or psychosis (2004) 12% , ''8%'' *Number of SIMD crimes per 10000 (2007/08) 697 *% people within 0–500 metres of any Derelict site (2012) 91.6% , ''30.90%''

References

{{Areas of Dundee Areas of Dundee Irish diaspora in Scotland