Queen Victoria was celebrating her Golden Jubilee, Scotland had the best football team in the world and electricity was still not available in Perth.
Against that historic background, a group of men met under the glow of candlelight and paraffin lamps to begin a 125-year Perth success story.
The West End Bowling Club celebrated its century and a quarter on Saturday with a piped parade ahead of the traditional spring opening of the greens. It marked the end of prolonged celebrations by members of the Gray Street club.
They were joined by Provost John Hulbert, who said: ”There have undoubtedly been ups and downs in the history of this club, and in the meantime many similar organisations have fallen by the wayside.
”It is undoubtedly a huge achievement to have kept going for such a long time stretching back through periods of prosperity and great adversity. During all that time the club has provided an amenity for Perth, and particularly for the Craigie area.”
The club was formed at a meeting in the County Hotel and retained an all-male membership until 1974, when the new clubhouse was opened.
Another drastic change involved the reclamation of vegetable plots beside the club to make way for a car park.
Club committee member George MacDiarmid said: ”Those early pilgrims of bowling clearly had a great vision and foresight as to what was an ideal location for a sporting facility such as a bowling club.
”The west end has an ideal location situated in Gray Street and the close proximity to the railway station was a key factor for visiting teams.”
He added: ”We are indebted to the people that have gone before and sustained and maintained across many decades the West End Bowling Club.”