15 Albany Street

In 1919, Martha Rollo presented to the Society of Antiquaries of Scotland a Lambeth Delft Ware cup that she had found in the back green of Number 15 in 1918, at a depth of 4 feet below the surface. In 1934, she donated an 1806 cookbook, John Simpson’s A Complete System of Cookery to the Perth library in memory of her father. Although works dealing with the kitchen were already published, Simpson, at the time of publication cook to the Marquis of Buckingham, claimed that his work was on a new plan as not only was the bill of fare (menu) set out for each day of the year, but he also only included dishes which he himself had put into practice. Following Martha’s death in 1936, William Charles Wordsworth Rollo, 11th Lord Rollo, (photo) took over the house. He was a Justice of the Peace, Captain of the Royal County Archers, and Lieutenant-Colonel and Honour Colonel of the 3rd Battalion Black Watch. He was made a Companion, Order of the Bath (C.B.) in 1911. He and his wife, Mary (neé Hotham), who had died in 1929, had just one child, Rosalind. Following William’s death in 1946, at the age of 86, the house passed to her.

Like her mother, Rosalind had an interest in antiquities. She became a Fellow of the Society of Antiquaries of Scotland and presented the National Museum of Scotland with a Roman-Iron Age Finger Ring that her mother had found at the Rollo’s country seat of Duncrub House, at Dunning in Perthshire. [The house was demolished in 1950] The Museum’s information states: ‘It was found some time before 1910 by Miss Martha Rollo on her family's estate, Duncrub, Dunning parish, Perthshire, during desultory investigations with an umbrella into a mound at Tarnavie. The east end of this feature is stressed as the most likely find-spot by Miss Rosalind Rollo, into whose keeping the ring subsequently fell; despite the local names of 'Ship' and 'Serpent' mound, there is no reason to suspect artificial construction. The ring measures approximately 2-3 cm in diameter across the hoop, and its bronze seems in good condition with clear signs of wear along the internal arc of the hoop.’