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Hopeman was founded during the first decade of the 19^th century when the local landowner began to sell off sections of his estates. One of the lots was Inverugie and this was purchased in June1805 by William Young, a local farmer, and before long he was advertising the new village of Hopeman as a Desirable Situation for Fishermen, Tradesmen & Labourers in the County of Moray. These adverts highlighted the excellent soil for farming and the rich fishing ...

With the introduction of the Fifie, Scaffie and Zulu sailing fishing boats during the 1800s they all became very successful during the herring fishery, building larger sailing boats and using bigger nets. The herring industry was seasonal so these boats worked long lines during the winter and drift nets for herring in the summer. Around the North East of Scotland the herring season was for around 8-9 weeks and to extend this fishery the larger boats started to ...

Motor Fishing Vessels

Perhaps the biggest change to the fishing industry and the lives of fishermen was when engines and propellers were developed which would eventually replace the use sail and steam propulsion.  Sailing vessels could be difficult to manoeuvre on the fishing grounds and were much slower when returning to the lucrative markets with fresh fish.  Although this was not a problem with the steam drifters they were very large to accommodate the engine, boiler and coal storage and also ...