Andersons of Arbroath, 17th Century

When James Anderson was born in 1775, Arbroath was an established town with an ancient and famous Abbey and a busy harbour importing jute and flax for the growing sailcloth and linen industries. Fishing was, as it still is, an important aspect and boat-building had begun to be established. Arbroath area - from 1904 Ordnance Survey - VisionofBritain Arboath is located on the South-East coast of Scotland, North-East of Dundee. For further information about the history of Arbroath, see Wikipedia or the comprehensive and interesting Arbroath Timeline site. Plan of The Town of Arbroath by John Wood, 1822 Reproduced with the permission of the National Library of Scotland -  Maps of Scotland    James Anderson married Mary Dear in 1802 and together they had 7 children, including my ancestor John, born in 1804, who wrote a series of letters to his sister Cecilia. Cecilia's great-grandson John Henderson, in England, has several of those old letters and has kindly shar