We are open for 2026 with Our Tribute to Alexander Laing
This year, we commemorate 130 years of our Laing building being open to the public. This is all thanks to Alexander Laing who left a very handsome bequest for the use of the town. Alexander started his working life in the drapery trade at the age of 13 years. He was a banker by profession but a historian & antiquary at heart, also described as advisor to the young, solace of the aged, helper to the poor & friend to the friendless.
The volunteers at the Lower Laing Museum have collected newspaper articles, photographs and artefacts for our exhibition. He was best known as an author in 1876 of Lindores Abbey and the Burgh of Newburgh. The book gives an account of the town’s growth from medieval abbey days to its later role in linen manufacture and rural industry. It blends archaeological glimpses, court records, and local lore to show how people lived, worked, and adapted to changing times. It is used as a reference frequently in our museum.
In 1892, Laing bequeathed his extensive collection of local, foreign, and antiquarian items, along with a sum of money for a building, to the town. This collection formed the basis of the Laing Museum in Newburgh. Our Museum run by the Newburgh Ancestry & History Society is situated on the Lower of the Laing Building.
The volunteers also traced Alexander Laing’s family tree. He is buried beside his Mother in St.Magridin; Abdie Old Parish Church, outside Newburgh.
So pleased to find an article about Alexander Laing. My ancestors I can trace to the Laings of Carnbee, Fife.
Another ancestor of mine
another Alexander Laing, founded the Laing art gallery in Newcastle.
I must now trying to find the link.
Jennifer McNish (nee Laing).