The start of universal enfranchisement.

Assorted "stuff" accumulating at Peterhead harbour, some new and some old.

The tower on the horizon commemorates the passing of the Reform Act of 1832. The act resulted resulted in Peterhead becoming a ‘Parliamentary’ burgh. Along with the royal burghs of Elgin, Banff, Cullen, Inverurie and Kintore, it formed the Elgin Group, which returned one member to the House of Commons. Male householders, whose property was valued at £10 or more annually, were enfranchised for the first time. Women and less affluent men still faced a long wait for the right to vote. Local members of the Whig party (the forerunner of the Liberal Party) decided to commemorate the passing of the Act by erecting a tower on the Meethill on the southern outskirts of the town. The foundation stone was laid on 8th August 1832. It was originally intended  that the tower should become an astronomical observatory, but it was never fitted out as such.