John Trotter, Ceres Schoolmaster and the Trotter family

Diaries and notebooks of John Trotter, 1851-1870; his schoolmaster's certificate and testimonials, 1844-1870; list of pupils at Ceres School, c.1867 and programme for a reunion for former pupils in 1938; correspondence, mainly from Charles Dunbar, captain of The Wave, 1870; correspondence to Trotter's widow Christina, 1870-1897; accounts for voyages by the 'Wave', 1869-1872.

John Trotter was schoolmaster at Ceres from 1849 to his death in 1870. He was also clerk to Ceres Kirk Session. His diaries include details of everyday life at the school and regular trips to Cupar and St Andrews on business and family visits. School inspectors' reports mention his 'great energy' as a teacher. Trotter's father had been schoolmaster at Eyemouth, Berwickshire. Before Ceres, John Trotter taught at Alloa Academy, Ayrshire, and at Hobkirk Parish School in Roxburghshire.

His papers also include correspondence and accounts connected with a cargo ship that he owned. The ship called the 'Wave' sailed mainly from Montrose, Angus. There are regular letters from Captain Charles Dunbar reporting on the ship's cargoes. The ship was wrecked off Peterhead, Aberdeenshire, in 1872.