Newport Chemists

William Doig's First Shop
Interior of Doig's Shop on Robertson Place
Ian Waugh
Chalmers the Chemist at the Pier
Chalmers the Chemist 1924
John Dott the Chemist in Wormit

William Doig

For over one hundred years four chemists served the pharmaceutical needs of the village, one of them, William Doig, operating for some 60 years. His chemist shop fronts appeared on many old photographs. William Doig came from Dundee in 1876 and opened his chemist shop at No 1 High Street.  By 1890 his two sons had joined him in the business. In the early 1900s they moved over the road to their Robertson Place (Cupar Road) shop (in 2020 the optician) and William Doig and Sons operated there until the 1950s. At the turn of the century they also had a shop in Dundee.

Andrew Chalmers

Meanwhile, down at the pier, Andrew Chalmers opened a chemist shop in the pier buildings and was in business there from 1897 until the 1940s. In the 1924 Newport guide, this shop was described as “an Establishment of Interest to Tourists and Amateur Photographers”.  In their pharmacy work everything used was guaranteed to be the purest and best available.

David Kerr

This shop was then taken over by David Kerr. After the Doig family business ended, David Kerr took over the Robertson Place shop and for some time into the 1960s supervised both the shop there as well as the one at the pier. By the mid 1960s, perhaps seeing the writing on the wall for the pierhead shops resulting from the building of the road bridge, he vacated the pier shop to concentrate solely on the one in Robertson Place.

Ian Waugh

When David Kerr retired in 1983 Ian Waugh then occupied the Robertson Place shop until 2004. When the chemist shop eventually in 2006 moved up to its new location beside the surgery, over one hundred years of a chemist presence in Robertson Place had come to an end.

John Dott in Wormit

In Wormit John Dott provided the pharmaceutical services. From the 1970s until the 1990s his shop occupied the double fronted building looking down on the Tay Bridge. He also had a shop in Tayport.

Comments about this page

  • John Dotts chemist in Wormit was a part time branch of the TSB. In the 70’s I worked in the Newport branch and we worked a late night in Wormit .
    I Think it was a Thursday night from 4 until 6pm.

    By Susan Myles (03 February 2021)

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