Melville - origins of the name
Dundas is the family name of Viscount Melville.
The 1st Viscount (1742-1811) became MP for Midlothian in 1774. He held various offices in the North and Pitt administrations, but was impeached in 1805 as Treasurer of the Navy for "gross malversation and breach of duty. He was acquitted of all charges and retired to his seat of Dunira near Comrie.
I quote from www.falkirk.net/about/gmouthhist.htm which gives the history of Grangemouth
One of the landowners in the area was the Dundas family, and they were instrumental in founding and developing Grangemouth. Sir Laurence Dundas was interested in the idea of a canal linking the east and west coasts of Scotland, and, in 1768 digging began on the Forth and Clyde Canal at the Grangemouth end, on land that belonged to him. The canal was completed in 1790. The Forth and Clyde Canal, along with the Union Canal, linked the two main towns of Scotland, Edinburgh and Glasgow, and played a crucial part in the industrial development of Scotland.
The Charlotte Dundas designed by William Symington, the first practical steamboat in the world, was named after his niece.
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