Description
The album compiled by the Bruces of
Sumburgh contains 57 views of the Holy Land, Lebanon, Damascus, and Turkey collected on
their 1902 trip to the region. Photographers represented include Félix Bonfils, Sulaymân
Al-Hakîm, and Mihran Iranian.
Background
John Bruce 11th of Sumburgh and Symbister (1837-1907) was in partnership with Grierson of
Quendale, Shetland as a fish merchant. He was elected as the Dunrossness South member of the
Zetland County Council in 1890, and became the first Convener of the county. He served on
the Dunrossness School Board, the Parish Council, and the Broonies Taing Trustees. In 1897,
Bruce and his brother-in-law, Mr. E. M. Nelson began excavating an Iron Age broch under
Jarlshof, the historic Bruce manor house, after a storm uncovered some of its buildings. He
wrote an account of their endeavors, The Excavation of a Broch at
Jarlshof, Sumburgh, Shetland, in 1907. He and Mary Daziel Scott (1845-1927) were
married in 1871.