East Newport - James Brown

Myrtle Terrace

James Brown had a remarkable record of house-building in East Newport. He and his wife and growing family arrived in Newport in the late 1850s. He was a joiner/cabinetmaker, but it wasn’t long before he was tackling more ambitious house-building projects. Possibly his first house was the one at 21/23 Cupar Road in 1858, closely followed by 2/4 William Street in 1859. Next came numbers 25 to 33 Cupar Road in the early 1860s. He then moved uphill building Myrtle Terrace in 1864-65 followed by Woodbine Terrace in the late 1860s.

Cupar Road

In 1870 he returned to Cupar Road and started with Lovaine, built for Doctor Stewart, then moved up that side of Cupar Road. His houses were now becoming more spacious and elegant, and by then he was ready to start on Kilnburn.

Kilnburn Years

Kilnburn

Kilnburn was built between the 1870s and 1881. He also built 4 and 6 Scott Street and houses in Gowrie and Queen Streets. Many of the High Street shops and the houses above them were built by him: in 1872 numbers 32-40; in 1876 numbers 24-30; and in 1891 18-22.

In fact he must have had a liking for his Kilnburn houses as he lived in three of them. Number 51 was his home 1874-1886. In 1887 he moved over the road to number 14 and lived there until 1894. Then after four years in Inglewood, 28 Cupar Road, he returned to Kilnburn and lived out his retirement years in number 3 until his death in 1906 aged 82.