Hector Turnbull (1733 – 1788) was a leading

Perthshire Perthshire ( locally: ; gd, Siorrachd Pheairt), officially the County of Perth, is a historic county and registration county in central Scotland. Geographically it extends from Strathmore in the east, to the Pass of Drumochter in the nor ...

linen Linen () is a textile made from the fibers of the flax plant. Linen is very strong, absorbent, and dries faster than cotton. Because of these properties, linen is comfortable to wear in hot weather and is valued for use in garments. It also ...

bleachfield A bleachfield or bleaching green was an open area used for spreading cloth on the ground to be purified and whitened by the action of the sunlight. Bleaching fields were usually found in and around mill towns in Great Britain and were an integra ...

developer and operator. Hector was born in 1733 on his father William Turnbull's farm Blackadder Mains near the

Blackadder Water Blackadder Water () is a river in Berwickshire in the Scottish Borders area of Scotland, forming part of the River Tweed system. It reached 2.84m at Mouthbridge, which was its highest level ever recorded on Tuesday 22 October 2002 at 2:45pm. Ety ...

river in southern

Berwickshire Berwickshire ( gd, Siorrachd Bhearaig) is a historic county, registration county and lieutenancy area in south-eastern Scotland, on the English border. Berwickshire County Council existed from 1890 until 1975, when the area became part of ...

, Scotland. He worked at the British Linen Company's bleachfield in

Saltoun East Saltoun and West Saltoun are separate villages in East Lothian, Scotland, about 5 miles (8 kilometres) south-west of Haddington and 20 miles (32 kilometres) east of Edinburgh. Geography The villages of East Saltoun and West Saltoun, toge ...

East Lothian East Lothian (; sco, East Lowden; gd, Lodainn an Ear) is one of the 32 council areas of Scotland, as well as a historic county, registration county and lieutenancy area. The county was called Haddingtonshire until 1921. In 1975, the hi ...

before moving in 1753 to

Luncarty Luncarty (; pronounced ''Lung''-cur-tay) ) is a village in Perth and Kinross, Scotland, approximately north of Perth. It lies between the A9 to the west, and the River Tay to the east. Etymology The name ''Luncarty'', recorded in 1250 as ''Lum ...

near

Perth Perth is the list of Australian capital cities, capital and largest city of the Australian states and territories of Australia, state of Western Australia. It is the list of cities in Australia by population, fourth most populous city in Aust ...

to be the business partner of

William Sandeman William Sandeman (1722 in Luncarty, Scotland – 1790 in Perth, Scotland) was a leading Perthshire linen and later cotton manufacturer. For instance in 1782 alone, Perthshire produced 1.7 million yards of linen worth £81,000. Linen manufacture ...

who was leveling there to be bleachfields. By 1790, the Luncarty bleachfields covered and processed 500,000 square yards of cloth annually. On 7 December 1756 he married

Agnes Glas Agnes or Agness may refer to: People *Agnes (name), the given name, and a list of people named Agnes or Agness *Wilfrid Marcel Agnès (1920–2008), Canadian diplomat Places * Agnes, Georgia, United States, a ghost town *Agnes, Missouri, United ...

, the daughter of

John Glas John Glas (5 October 1695 – 2 November 1773) was a Scottish clergyman who started the Glasite church movement. Biography Early years He was born at Auchtermuchty, Fife, where his father was parish minister. He was educated at Kinclaven ...

, the founder of the

Glasites The Glasites or Glassites were a small Christian church founded in about 1730 in Scotland by John Glas.John Glas preached supremacy of God's word (Bible) over allegiance to Church and state to his congregation in Tealing near Dundee in July 1725 ...

: they had four children before she died. He married Mary Walker on 28 October 1761: they had more 16 children. Five of the children married five of the 16 children of his bleachfields partner

. One son William Turnbull established the bleachfield at Huntingtower. One grandchild was George Turnbull, the Chief Engineer building in the 1850s the first railway in eastern India. Hector died in 1788.''George Turnbull, C.E.'' 437-page memoirs published privately 1893, scanned copy held in the British Library, London on compact disk since 2007 Hector had a brother Lt Colonel George Turnbull who fought in America.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Turnbull, Hector People from Berwickshire Textile workers People associated with Perth and Kinross Scottish businesspeople 1733 births 1788 deaths 18th-century Scottish people