The third in a series of 'Duloch Lectures' took place last week in Duloch Library presented by local historian Robin Sharp.

The lecture covered the life of Andrew Carnegie's uncle, George Lauder, who helped create Lauder College in Dunfermline.

Andrew Carnegie funded the building of the college, and at the opening ceremony for it, attended by 500 people in 1899, he asked for it to be named in honour of his uncle, George Lauder.

A descendant of the Lauder family, William Garner, from Virginia, was in the audience and was joined by six students from Fife College, who are all recipients of a 'George Lauder Bursary' which enables them to further their studies in the United States, an initiative funded by members of the Lauder family and the St Andrews Society of New York.

Duloch Library Supervisor Janek Matysiak was delighted with the turnout, and commented: "The purpose of the series of lectures, funded by OnFife, was to encourage people back into the library after the negative effects of Covid. The 'Lauder Lecture' certainly delivered in that respect as we had a very positive response to it and it sold out.

"The next lecture in the series on Thursday, February 22, 'The History of Rosyth Dockyard in Two World Wars', has also sold out in advance, and there are only a few tickets left for the final lecture by Fiona Watson entitled 'King Robert the Bruce - what sort of man was he?' on Thursday, March 14. These tickets for the final lecture are available from Duloch Library."

This year marks the 125th anniversary of the founding of 'Lauder College', and a variety of events are being organised by Fife College throughout the year to celebrate this anniversary.