Peterhead, Aberdeenshire : Historical writing

Descriptive gazetteer entries

These other entries in our collection of descriptive gazetteers are also about Peterhead. You may be able to find further references to Peterhead in the descriptive gazetteers by doing a full-text search here.

Place Type of entry Source
Keith-Inch parlimentary and police burgh, sea town and parish Bartholomew
Peterhead parliamentary and police burgh, seaport town, and parish Bartholomew
Peterhead a parish containing a town Groome
Peterhead a parliamentary burgh, a head-port, and the chief town Groome

This additional information from our descriptive gazetteers is for locations within the parish or parishes associated with Peterhead.

Place Type of entry Source
Berryhill an estate, with a mansion Groome
Buchanhaven fishing village Bartholomew
Buchanhaven a fishing village Groome
Buchan Ness a low but rocky peninsula Groome
Burnhaven a fishing village Groome
Burnhaven fishing village Bartholomew
Cairntrodlie a village Groome
Cairntrodlie village Bartholomew
Dundonnie a small green islet Groome
Ellishill an estate, with a mansion Groome
Ellishill seat Bartholomew
Invernettie Bay Bartholomew
Invernettie or Brickwork Bay a bay Groome
New Seat railway station Bartholomew
Ravenscraig ruined castle Bartholomew
Salthouse Head headland Bartholomew
Sandford Bay Bartholomew

Travel writing

This website includes the complete texts of books describing journeys around Britain, written between the twelfth and nineteenth centuries. Selecting one of the links below will take you to the first reference to Peterhead within the selected text. This will not always be a description of a visit: travellers often mention places other than where they are, for example as a basis for comparison.

Traveller Section No. of Refs.
Daniel Defoe Letter 13, Part 2: Dundee, Aberdeen and the Highlands 3
Thomas Pennant August 7-13: Aberdeen and the North East 1

This website includes two large libraries, of historical travel writing and of entries from nineteenth century gazetteers describing places. We have text from these sources available for these places near your location:

Place Mentioned in Travel Writing Mentioned in Historical Gazetteer
Burnhaven 0 2
Inverugie 0 2
Boddam 0 2
Buchan Ness 4 2
Blackhill 0 2
St Fergus 0 2
Bullers of Buchan 8 4
Dunbuy 2 1
Longside 0 2
Port Errol 0 3
Cruden 0 2
Hatton 0 2
Rattray 0 2
Crimond 0 2
Mintlaw 0 2
Ardallie 0 2
Lonmay 0 2
Old Deer 0 3
Stuartfield 0 3
Cairness 0 2

Names from historical writing

The following appear as names for Peterhead. Follow the links for what the author actually said:

Name Author Source
KEITH INCH John Bartholomew Gazetteer of the British Isles (Edinburgh: Bartholomew, 1887).
PETER HEAD Daniel Defoe A tour thro' the whole island of Great Britain, divided into circuits or journies (London: JM Dent and Co, 1927).
PETERHEAD John Bartholomew Gazetteer of the British Isles (Edinburgh: Bartholomew, 1887).
F.H. Groome Ordnance Gazetteer of Scotland (Edinburgh: T.C. Jack, 1882-4).
F.H. Groome Ordnance Gazetteer of Scotland (Edinburgh: T.C. Jack, 1882-4).

NB: These variant names come from our collections of historical travel writing and descriptive gazetteers:

  • The above links take you to the first reference to this particular version of the name within a book of travel writing, or to the relevant gazetteer entry.
  • Some names may derive from research by antiquarian writers such as William Camden and Thomas Pennant into the Roman, Saxon and medieval names of places. Their claims are not always supported by modern place-name researchers.
  • References by travel writers to the place using its "normal" name are not included. Descriptive gazetteer entries are included only if the name does not appear anywhere else.