IMAGES TAKEN NEAR TO
George Street, MONTROSE, DD10 8EN

A rather elegant window graces the first floor of this building in George Street, though the addition of a narrow window to the left rather upsets the symmetry. The ground floor is a hairdresser's shop, and the Old Steeple is visible above the adjacent alley.

A new statue of Graham Claverhouse, Marquis of Montrose, looks north along Montrose High Street towards the steeple. To some, he was known as "Bluidy Clavers".

James Graham born 1612.

The red shop front is 16 George Street, and above it is part of 18 George Street, which is reached through the black door to the left of No 16.

Also known as St Andrew's Church and as St George's and Trinity Church, the church was built in 1844, very soon after the Great Disruption in 1843, and was designed by local architect William Middleton. In 1896 it was added to by the firm of Matthews and Mackenzie of Aberdeen and Elgin. It stands at the intersection of George Street and Baltic Street, is now in use as 'Cheeky Monkeys' children's nursery.

The George Hotel, at the corner of George Street and Baltic Street, is No 22, and the blue shop front belongs to No 20. The black door is the access to No 18.

Judging by the windows in this first- and second-floor, No 18 consists of two two-storey dwellings, both accessed by the black door below the panel with the circular feature. For a short time around 1881, one of the two was the home of John William Fenton (1828-1890), who became an Army bandmaster, was posted with his regiment to Japan in 1868. He was asked by Japanese naval bandsmen to teach them, and a year or so later composed the first version of the tune for the Japanese national anthem, 'Kimi ga Yo', based on a Japanese poem selected for the purpose by Captain Ōyama Iwao. When his regiment left Japan in 1871, Fenton stayed on for a further six years as instructor to the bands of the Japanese Navy and later the Imperial Court.

An Edward VII reign postbox on the High Street.

James Graham, 1st Marquis of Montrose (25 October 1612 – 21 May 1650) was a Scottish nobleman and soldier. He initially joined the Covenanters in the Wars of the Three Kingdoms, but subsequently supported King Charles I during the English Civil War. He fought a civil war in Scotland for the King from 1644 to 1646 and once more in 1650. He was execute at The Mercat Cross, Edinburgh in 1650. He was known in Scotland as "The Great Montrose".