|
 Whilst I
was researching the subject of Portlethen I occasionally encountered a
local character that stood out a little from the crowd. One of the more
charismatic characters that I discovered, and immediately warmed to, was
the Reverend William Bruce, who died in 1883, at
the age of 48. The Minister first appeared in the Portlethen area in
1868 and stayed in the parish until his death. There are other
references to Reverend Bruce in the "Church & Clergy"
section - see Key Players, and "Back to School"
section - see Old School Board so we will not go into any biographical notes
here.
I’m not going to write any tales about my friend here, instead I’ll ask
a series of questions, where the answers might lie within the
accompanying press clippings (or maybe they don’t?).
As well as being
charismatic, Reverend Bruce was also controversial and during his tenure
at Portlethen Church he managed to ruffle a few feathers amongst local
establishment figures – he was very popular with the man on the street
but he didn’t always toe the line when it came to regular community
matters.
Here I
have a few questions to ask and from these and the accompanying news
articles you may begin to understand why I have included Reverend Bruce
in the “Myths and Mysteries” section.
Was there
a growing whispering campaign against Reverend Bruce, perhaps instigated
by the active stance he had taken in his role within the school board
that appeared to upset some “pillars of the community”?
What
exactly were the charges against Reverend Bruce that resulted from him
being suspended from the ministry at Portlethen?
What was
the nature of the
rumours
against Reverend Bruce that had begun as early as 1871?
 What was
the nature of the relationship between Reverend Bruce and the widow Mrs.
Stevenson?
Were
Reverend Bruce’s frequent visits to Mrs. Stevenson of a ministerial
nature, a medical calling, or had more salacious undertones?
Who was
the father of Mrs. Stevenson’s child?
Why did
Reverend Bruce attempt to conceal Mrs. Stevenson’s pregnancy?
What
happened to the child after it was born?
What happened at New
Deer?
I have
attached some of the news articles that I found about the "Portlethen Fama Case” and
tried to place them in a sequential manner. It’s
now up to you to unravel the mystery of this case, answer the questions
I have asked, ask some questions that I haven’t asked, and finally
become judge and jury in deciding if Reverend Bruce was guilty or not
guilty of doing any wrong.
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