'Lochee' originally referred to the area in which weavers' cottages were situated at the burn which flowed through Balgay Lochee; thus, they were at the eye of the loch or Loch E'e, which eventually became Lochee.
By 1760 the firm had 300 weavers and after using steam power and moving into the jute industry the family built Camperdown Works in 1864, said to be the largest factory in the world, with over 5,000 employees.