The Burns Centenary: The Room In Which Burns Died, At Dumfries

A steel plate engraving of the bedroom in Burns House, Dumfries.   The first centenary of the birth of Robert Burns was commemorated on the 25th of January 1859. The celebrations were instigated by Dumfries Burns Club but the Town Council of Dumfries and townspeople in general combined to make the celebrations an impressive event.   This engraving is taken from the report of the events carried by the "Illustrated London News". It shows the bedroom in which Robert Burns died in his home in Mill Street (now Burns Street), Dumfries. Robert Burns came to live in Mill Street  in 1793. He died there three years later. His widow, Jean Armour Burns, continued to live in their house until her own death in 1834.   The house was purchased in 1851 by their son, Colonel William Nicol Burns, and throughout the 19th Century it became a place of pilgrimage for Burns enthusiasts from around the world.