during the English occupation of the town. The Scottish Parliament convened in the Abbey and agreed to transport Mary Queen of Scots to France for her marriage to the French heir. 1598 - Haddington burnt again. This time by a careless maidservant drying clothes overnight by a fire. 1676 – The ‘Ancient Fraternity of Gardeners of East Lothian’ is established – the oldest such fraternity known. 1688 – John Gray founds a town library. 1748 – Haddington Town House is built; to a design of William Adam 1770 – Holy Trinity Episcopal Church built in Church Street. 1775 – 4 October – Tyne reportedly rises seventeen feet above its ordinary level. 1817 – Building of the Waterloo Bridge near the Poldrate Mill. The foundation stone was laid on the anniversary of the Battle of Waterloo, hence the naming of the bridge. 1830 – Spire added to the tower of Haddington Town Hall. 1831 – First outbreak of cholera asphyxia in Scotland recorded at Haddington 1846 – 22 June – Haddington's railway station opens to the public. 1854 – Building of the Corn Exchange. This is reputedly the second largest Corn Exchange in Scotland, after Edinburgh. 1862 – Catholic church of St. Mary is built to a design of E. W. Pugin. 1941 – 3 March – German bombers damage town. 1948 – 6 to 12 August – Flood damages town. Much of the town underwater. 1949 – 5 December – Closure of Haddington's railway station to the public. 1973 – Completion of the re-roofing of the choir & renovation of St Mary's Church. This part of the church was damaged during the siege of Haddington (1547–1549) and left ruinous when the church was restored following the siege. On 5 September 1618 a debt collector from Edinburgh, Thomas Allan, was attacked by Isobel Addington and 60 or 80 other women who beat him and then dragged him by the feet out of her house. Notable people Alexander II (1198–1249), King of Scotland from 1214 until 1249 Walter Bower (1385–1449), abbot of Inchcolm Abbey and early historian (author of Scotichronicon; completed in 1447) John Brown of Haddington (1722–1787), theologian and author of The Self-interpreting Bible (known as 'Brown's Bible') and A Dictionary of the Holy Bible. Became minister in Haddington in 1751 and is buried in the churchyard of St Mary's. Samuel Morison Brown (1817–1856), chemist and writer, grandson of John Brown,