Towns > Peterhead (and Buchan) > 1853 - Peterhead almanac and directory

76
, an important part of the staple trade of the town,
and deserves special notice, viz., the Herring Fishing.
The inhabitants have been for years largely engaged
in this trade for vi^hich Peterhead, with its now spa-
cious harbours, is peculiarly adapted. In this trade, for
some time back, there have been employed from 300
to 400 boats, and during two or three months of the
fishing season there is an influx of strangers connected
with the Fishing, numbering from four to five thou-
sand.
The present prosperous state of Peterhead, and its
advancement all along as an important sea port and
commercial town is almost entirely owing to the
^ public spirit and enterprise of the inhabitants, who
from the earliest period having been brought up with
their attention exclusively directed to seafaring mat-
ters, seized every opportunity and every means in
their power from time to time to form, improve, and
enlarge their Harbours, upon which the prosperity of
the town depends.
In carrying out the good work of improvement,
the Governors of the Merchant Maiden Hospital — the
superiors — ^have, at different times, willingly lent a
helping hand, and their hberality in this respeet, wiU,
no doubt, turn out to their pecuniary advantage.
The boat haven, called Port Henry, was guaran-
teed to the community by the contract of 1593,
Avhich was the only harboar at the time, and which
doubtless must fall to the charge of the Harbour
Trustees, whether comprehended in the Harbour acts
or not, as being public property, and may at a future
period be rendered available for extending the har-
bours in that direction. Besides the haven called
Port Henry, which remains statu quo, there are now
two spacious and commodious harbours, called the
South and North Harbours, connected by a canal or