of Fraserburgh was growing with peaks due to seasonal employment. From a population of an estimated 1682 in 1755, a population of about 2,000 was recorded in 1780, of whom 1,000 resided in the town proper. There were a further 200 people in the village of Broadsea.

In 1787, Fraserburgh Castle was converted to Kinnaird Head Lighthouse, Scotland's first mainland lighthouse and the first in Scotland to be lit by the Commissioners of Northern Lights.