Canisbay, 56 Tay Street

Built at least as early as the 1830s, Canisbay was originally called The Anchorage. By the 1880s it belonged to Andrew and Kate Meldrum. Kate hailed from Canisbay in Caithness – hence the change of name. In the years before and during World War I Canisbay was home to Siegmund Alexander, German consul in Dundee. This was not a diplomatic position: instead, the incumbent, usually a merchant with good connections to the named country, was charged with the task of developing trade and commerce therewith.

Canisbay featured in the local press in 1916 after Mr Alexander’s departure. According to the Evening Telegraph, four young Dundee girls, on discovering that the house was unoccupied, moved in. They cut down curtains and blinds to use as bed clothes, and chopped up boxes found in the cellar to use as firewood. Sadly their house party was cut short by the arrival of the local police.