Susan Carnegie


(Susan Scott)

1743 - 1821

Campaigner, benefactor and lady of letters. Born in Edinburgh, the daughter of David Scott of Benholm, who had been Treasurer of the Bank of Scotland, she was educated by a private tutor and became a successful poet. She married well, her husband George Carnegie was eighteen years her senior, and settled in Montrose. Convinced that mental illness should be treated humanely, she campaigned for a psychiatric hospital in Montrose, persuaded the Town Council and funded its construction. The Montrose Lunatic Asylum duly opened in 1781. She was also involved in poor relief, and went on to found a local female friendly society (1808) and a savings bank (1815).

Carnegie died at her home, Charleton, just to the north of Montrose. The Susan Carnegie Centre at Stracathro Hospital was named in her honour when it was completed in 2011.


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