The Surgeon and the Painter – A salvaged Victorian painting reveals the mysterious death of an Anstruther surgeon and its consequences

Description

In 2014, a damaged Victorian portrait is found in a storeroom in Anstruther Town Hall. The work of the Anstruther-born artist, Robert Fowler, R.I., this painting holds the secrets of the mysterious and tragic death in 1864 of the highly-respected surgeon Thomas Black and its consequences. A trail of research leads from the busy East Neuk fishing port of Anstruther in the middle of the 19th Century to the great trading port of Liverpool, then at the heart of an expanding empire, and to the world served by its fleets of ships. It introduces us to remarkable people, to unbearable losses and to acts of kindness, love, unselfishness and generosity. This historical account unwinds from 1864 down to the present day, ending where it begins, in the Burghs of Anstruther and Kilrenny in the Kingdom of Fife. The book consists of 83 pages.