House at Islesteps and the Patrick Dudgeon Memorial Hall - geograph

Patrick Dudgeon of Cargen

FRSE Fellowship of the Royal Society of Edinburgh (FRSE) is an award granted to individuals that the Royal Society of Edinburgh, Scotland's national academy of science and letters, judged to be "eminently distinguished in their subject". This soci ...

DL (1817–1895) was a British landowner, mineralogist and meteorologist. He was co-founder with

Matthew Forster Heddle Matthew Forster Heddle FRSE (28 April 1828 – 19 November 1897) was a Scottish physician and amateur mineralogist active through the 19th century. Life He was born at Melsetter in Orkney, the son of Robert Heddle (1780–1842) and his wif ...

of the Mineralogical Society in Great Britain in 1876. He had a specialist interest in minerals embedded in rock crystal. His mineral collection was one of the largest known and a large proportion of this is now held by the

Royal Scottish Museum The National Museum of Scotland in Edinburgh, Scotland, was formed in 2006 with the merger of the new Museum of Scotland, with collections relating to Scottish antiquities, culture and history, and the adjacent Royal Scottish Museum (opened in ...

Life

He was born in Marionville House in

Restalrig Restalrig () is a small residential suburb of Edinburgh, Scotland (historically, an estate and independent parish). It is located east of the city centre, west of Craigentinny and to the east of Lochend, both of which it overlaps. Restalrig ...

, Edinburgh, the son of Robert Dudgeon, a Liverpool-born merchant, and co-founder of the

Royal Insurance Royal Insurance Holdings plc was a large insurance business originating in Liverpool but based in London from the early 20th century. It merged with Sun Alliance in 1996 to form the Royal & Sun Alliance Insurance Group. History Formation and e ...

Company. He was educated at

Edinburgh Academy The Edinburgh Academy is an Independent school (United Kingdom), independent day school in Edinburgh, Scotland, which was opened in 1824. The original building, on Henderson Row in the city's New Town, Edinburgh, New Town, is now part of the Se ...

. He trained as a lawyer and qualified as a

writer to the signet The Society of Writers to His Majesty's Signet is a private society of Scottish solicitors, dating back to 1594 and part of the College of Justice. Writers to the Signet originally had special privileges in relation to the drawing up of document ...

(WS). In 1840 he was living and working from 3 Queen Street in the city centre. He spent many years living in China (1833 to 1849), collecting mineral specimens both here and in Japan, which had only recently opened its borders to Europeans. Returning to Scotland in 1850 he became associated with Prof

. They jointly undertook a survey of the

Faroe Islands The Faroe Islands ( ), or simply the Faroes ( fo, Føroyar ; da, Færøerne ), are a North Atlantic island group and an autonomous territory of the Kingdom of Denmark. They are located north-northwest of Scotland, and about halfway bet ...

in the 1850s followed by surveys of the

Shetland Islands Shetland, also called the Shetland Islands and formerly Zetland, is a subarctic archipelago in Scotland lying between Orkney, the Faroe Islands and Norway. It is the northernmost region of the United Kingdom. The islands lie about to the no ...

and

Orkney Orkney (; sco, Orkney; on, Orkneyjar; nrn, Orknøjar), also known as the Orkney Islands, is an archipelago in the Northern Isles of Scotland, situated off the north coast of the island of Great Britain. Orkney is 10 miles (16 km) north ...

. He bought the Cargen estate in 1853 and built the huge Scots Baronial building known as Cargen House in 1870, choosing

Charles Kinnear Charles George Hood Kinnear FRIBA ARSA FRSE (30 May 1830 – 5 November 1894) was one half of Peddie & Kinnear partnership, one of Scotland’s most renowned and prodigious architectural firms, famed for their development of the Scots Baroni ...

as its architect. He was elected a Fellow of the

Royal Society of Edinburgh The Royal Society of Edinburgh is Scotland's national academy of science and letters. It is a registered charity that operates on a wholly independent and non-partisan basis and provides public benefit throughout Scotland. It was established i ...

in 1860 his proposer being

Sir William Jardine, 7th Baronet Sir William Jardine, 7th Baronet of Applegarth FRS FRSE FLS FSA (23 February 1800 – 21 November 1874) was a Scottish naturalist. He is known for his editing of a long series of natural history books, ''The Naturalist's Library''. Life an ...

. From 1867 he was Deputy Lieutenant of

Kirkcudbright Kirkcudbright ( ; sco, Kirkcoubrie; gd, Cille Chùithbeirt) is a town, parish and a Royal Burgh from 1455 in Kirkcudbrightshire, of which it is traditionally the county town, within Dumfries and Galloway, Scotland. The town lies southwest of C ...

. During his period in office he is noted for reducing the number of public houses and establishing a free circulating library. He was a Trustee and Director of the nearby Crichton Royal Hospital from 1855 to 1885. In 1889 he is recorded as purchasing a painting of

Greyfriars Bobby Greyfriars Bobby (4 May 1855 – 14 January 1872) was a Skye Terrier or Dandie Dinmont Terrier who became known in 19th-century Edinburgh for spending 14 years guarding the grave of his owner until he died on 14 January 1872. The story continu ...

Gourlay Steell Gourlay Steell RSA (1819–1894) was a 19th-century Scottish artist. Life Gourlay was born at 20 Calton Hill in Edinburgh on 22 March 1819 the son of John Steell, a wood-carver and Margaret Gourlay of Dundee. His elder brother John was a s ...

.Greyfriars Bobby: The Most Faithful Dog in the World, by Jan Bondeson He died in Cargen House, near New Abbey in Kirkcudbrightshire,

Dumfries and Galloway Dumfries and Galloway ( sco, Dumfries an Gallowa; gd, Dùn Phrìs is Gall-Ghaidhealaibh) is one of 32 unitary council areas of Scotland and is located in the western Southern Uplands. It covers the counties of Scotland, historic counties of ...

and is buried in Troqueer Churchyard. On his death his estate passed to Col. R. F. Dudgeon. Cargen House survived as a roofless ruin and was finally demolished in the 1980s. His mineral collection of 3574 items is now held by the

Edinburgh Edinburgh ( ; gd, Dùn Èideann ) is the capital city of Scotland and one of its 32 Council areas of Scotland, council areas. Historically part of the county of Midlothian (interchangeably Edinburghshire before 1921), it is located in Lothian ...

. The ruins of his Mineralogical Museum still exist on the estate.

Memorials

A community hall, named the Patrick Dudgeon Memorial Hall exists in Islesteps near his home in Dumfries and Galloway.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Dudgeon, Patrick 1817 births 1895 deaths Scottish geologists Fellows of the Royal Society of Edinburgh People educated at Edinburgh Academy