Newhaven is one of the oldest fishing villages on the Firth of Forth.

                                                     Reproduced with acknowledgement to Malcolm Main   ( Ex Newhaven Fisherman )  Edinburgh

 What follows is a brief history of the Society of Free Fishermen of Newhaven.

The date of the foundation of the Society is not known exactly, but from historic documents it is thought that it is more than 500 years old. In 1500 the Scottish King, James 1V chose Newhaven, to construct a dock and harbour, for ship building. Houses were built for the workmen and a chapel erected, dedicated to the Virgin Mary and St. James, a dedication which caused Newhaven to be known for some time as “Our Lady’s Port of Grace” By 1511 the dock and harbour were well on and the building of the navy was in full swing.

It was in this dock that the warship the “Great Michael” was built. She was the biggest warship of her time. It is said they used most of the woods in the county of Fife as well as wood from Norway. She was 240 feet long; 36 feet in beam; and her sides were 10 feet thick. Her complement was 300 sailors, 120 gunners to man her 32 great guns as well as smaller arms, and 1000 fighting men or marines as they are known to-day. It is most likely that there were fishermen from Newhaven in the crew, as  they have always been a breed of men ready to fight for their country.

The Society was solely an organization based on charity, founded for the purpose of providing its members with help in times of trouble and sickness.  Edinburgh Town Council, who was jealous of the patronage that James 1V had bestowed on the village of Newhaven, now made an attempt to get control of the dock and Harbour, the Port of Leith was the main port for the city of Edinburgh. James was persuaded to grant the city fathers the rights to take over the control of Newhaven

During the ensuing years the Society became more and more responsible for the running of the village as the Edinburgh council, took little interest and showed little concern for the small community of fisher folks.

Every year in the month of November an election would take place to select, a Box master, a President, and a Committee to attend to the affairs of the society. Prior to 1631 when Newhaven was attached to the parish of North Leith, most of the records became lost, however after that date the parish minister and a few elders from North Leith Church were in attendance and all cash transactions and statements were entered in a minute book. This arrangement continued until 1850 when a statement of accounts was printed and a copy given to each member.

Most of the funds were from membership fees, donations, fues from grounds in Newhaven, owned by the Society, rents from properties and money collected by the fishermen who took it in turn to stand at the foot of the Whale Brae with a large pewter plate in front of him, and a notice beside the plate ---“Please remember the poor of Newhaven”.

The oyster fishing was also a good source of income.

Membership was open to anyone in Newhaven and to anyone who came into Newhaven wishing to become a fisherman. By the 1820s the influx of strangers caused a problem with a massive increase in the membership. So in 1821 a new rule was made under which no one was allowed to become a member unless they were “the lawful sons of fishermen whose names were clear on the Society books”. This put a stop to any strangers becoming members.

In the early years, besides being a charitable institution, the Society was responsible for the fishing of oysters in the Firth of Forth, setting quotas, the welfare of the fishermen and protecting the oyster beds. For 100s of years these oyster beds were a lucrative source of wealth, and the rivalry between the fishermen of Fisherrow, Burntisland and Newhaven was intense.

The city of Edinburgh council realizing that the oyster fishing was a good source of income began encouraging boats from England to fish the beds.

Each boat would pay a sum of money to the Edinburgh Council for this right. The result was that large amounts of oysters were taken and these finished up on the London Market, with no monetary gain going to the Society. In 1839 the right to fish the oysters was let to John Clark of Essex for £600 per year, for 10 years. The City Chambers were full of jubilation, but it was to prove to be a fateful day for the oyster fishing.

Clark brought 60 to 70 dredging vessels from England and worked from sunrise to sunset dredging up all sizes of oyster, old and young, sending these boats back to London heavy laden with “Scalps” for the home market and export. 

By 1880 the line fishing from Newhaven and other ports in the Firth of Forth was on the decline, and the oyster fishing had all but ceased.

Trawling by sail and steam were now becoming the new method of fishing. Steam power had given a new lease of life to fishing. In February 1883 the Free Fishermen’s Society held a meeting in the Society Hall, attended by representatives from the other ports to propose a ban on trawling within the estuaries of the Firth of Forth and the Moray Firth or within 5 miles of the coast. The fishermen believed that the Beam and Ring trawl were digging up the sea bed and killing off the spawning grounds of the Haddock and the Herring, thus causing the decline in the traditional line fishing.

It was only after many meetings with the different authorities and eventually with the Parliament in London, that Mr. Chamberlain agreed to set up a Royal Commission and as a result on 5th April, 1886, Bye-laws were put in place, and signed by the Secretary of State for Scotland.

The policing of these laws was the responsibility of the Admiralty.

During all this time and all these meetings the Society had taken an active part, representing the fishermen and even sending delegates from their ranks to Edinburgh and London. They also acquired the fishermen’s park, (land to the east of the Whale Brae), on a 999 years lease for the drying of nets and the storage of boats in severe weather. 

During those early years The Society had the responsibility for the running and the welfare of the fisher folk of Newhaven, but by the mid 1800s the Edinburgh council and Leith Dock Commission were taking a greater interest. In November 1868 the Society lost its rights to the oyster beds, and the Edinburgh Town Council took them over.

 On 6th October 1869, the Society was called in front of the Leith Collector of Customs and informed that every fishing boat had to have a number on its side as well as on its sail. The penalty for failing to do this was £20.

In 1875 it was estimated there were over 400 fishermen in Newhaven, and 345 of them were members of the Society. On 1st. August 1879 the Leith Dock Commissioners were demanding dues from all fishing boats that entered Newhaven and Leith. Most of the fishermen refused to pay these dues and on the 23rd August, the forces of law and order, namely 33 Policemen along with the Deputy Commissioner, came to collect. There followed somewhat of a disturbance, during which time the Deputy Commissioner was thrown into the harbour, followed by 2 fishermen. Several of the Police were assaulted. At the end of the day 2 fishermen were jailed for 30 days, and all the dues were paid.

Newhaven now had its own harbour for the 100 fishing boats that were to support the families of the 400 fishermen, namely around a 1000 souls. With the decline in line fishing and the end of the oyster beds, Herrings were becoming the main source of fish. Most of the boats until now had only been from 22 to 26 feet in length, open decked, and propelled by sail. However the men were having to fish further a field, Anstruther to the east and Bo’ness to the west, to follow the shoals of herrings, and so the boats became bigger, 22 to 34 and 36 feet. A big development came along when the size rose to 45 feet, and the boats were decked fore and aft, and the forepart fitted with a cabin in which there was a fire, beds and other necessities for long trips. There was one of these boats built in Newhaven in 1872, named “James Methven”

It wasn’t until 1913 that power driven fishing yawls came to Newhaven. The first of these was the “Pilgrim” owned by George Liston. The first fully-enclosed fishing boat to appear in the village, was the “Jessie and Annie” in 1927 owned by the brothers Wilson.

The Free Fishermen’s Society was now devoted to looking after the fishermen and their families. It would give monetary assistance in the case of illness or injury when a member was unable to go to sea, or when expenses were incurred by funeral needs. In 1912, The Society of Free Fishermen registered under the Friendly Societies Act.

In the 1930s the fishing fleet working from Newhaven concentrated on Herring and Sprats, and with the boats now all driven by motor power, they were able to follow the shoals to other parts of the coast around Scotland. The Forth and Clyde canal gave them access to the west coast. During those years the Society was active, and with a membership of more than 200, organized Gala Days, outings for the retired fishermen, as well as giving benefit to any member who needed it.

By the outbreak of World War 11 in 1939 trawling was the main type of fishing, Newhaven only had about a dozen pair of wooden Ring Netters working from the harbour, and those not requisitioned by the Admiralty, were crewed by the older generation as most of the young fishermen had been conscripted. The Society also suffered and things went into a sort of ‘limbo’ for the duration of the war.

After the war when the men returned to the village and the trawling industry was booming most of the members went deep sea trawling from Granton and Leith, leaving Newhaven harbour to a few wooden fishing boats.

With the introduction of the Trawlermens Trade Union, the Society became more of a social club for the men when they were ashore, organizing outings and a dance at Christmas, as well as meetings each month. The membership was around 200 with little hope of new members. The younger generation was no longer keen to go to sea on the trawlers or become share fishermen on the Herring boats as it was easier to get a job or a Trade in Industry and be home every night.

In 1988 when it became compulsory to join LAUTRO under the Financial Services, the then Box master W. Logan Wilson, wrote to each of the remaining 147 members asking them to vote whether the Society be dissolved or not.    The vote was for Dissolution.

By 1989 any funds left in the Society’s books were divided equally between each of the members. Capt. Ian Rutherford of the Forth Pilots, who had been a member from an early age, organized that the Society memorabilia, a silver cup presented in July, 1807, for voluntary naval service on board H.M.S. "Texal", a silver medal presented by the County of Midlothian in 1796, in recognition of members volunteering to act as sea fencibles, and a medal in commemoration of the Bazaar held on behalf of the Society in 1888, be lodged in Trinity House, Leith, Edinburgh, for safe keeping.