Category Archives: Maps

Edinburgh’s Inter War Housing

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St Leonards Lane, 1920s

Sanitary improvements to the urban framework of Edinburgh had got under way in the later 19th century with the work initiated by the Burgh’s first Medical Officer of Health, Sir Henry Duncan Littlejohn.  (An outline of his life and work is available to view on this website under ‘Exhibitions’ on the ‘Discover the Records’ tab)  Other improvements – including slum clearance – followed in the early 20th century along with the increase in ‘general needs’ housing developments.  These were responses to the growing shortages of dwellings within the city.

On the one hand the insanitary state of some of the then housing stock demanded a remedy.  On the other, “slum clearance” – quite an emotive title – both in and around the Old Town was even at the time frowned upon by those anxious to preserve the character of ancient Edinburgh.  One answer was what had become known as ‘conservative surgery’, an approach much less drastic than wholesale clearance and redevelopment.  To a more limited extent, this was the method used with the St Leonard’s schemes of 1927 & 1929.

Located to the south of the Old Town of Edinburgh with a dense concentration of  substandard  housing,  St Leonard’s

Gifford Park Backland

quite naturally became a candidate for remedial treatment.  A series of wonderfully graphic photographs of  the area prior to any improvement work survives within Edinburgh City Archives.  These illustrate the magnitude of the problem faced by the Council

The overall approach was designed to move most of the residents out to purpose-built housing in the new schemes on the outskirts of the metropolis leaving the cleared areas to be redeveloped with lower density housing and increased public & private open spaces.  The apparent dereliction of parts of the area as shown in the photographs, dictated a two stage approach with the 1st sanitary improvement scheme promoted in 1927 and the 2nd two years later in 1929.

Under stage 1 about 750 dwellings were cleared affecting 2600 residents who were rehoused primarily in the new Prestonfield estate.  It involved 15 sites which were located roughly between Nicolson Street and the Pleasance.  Stage 2 finally received central government endorsement in 1931 and, because of a building boom and a labour supply problem, took shape over the course of the 1930s.  This was a bigger operation than the 1927 phase involving the clearance of 24 sites, 1600 dwellings, displacing 5600 residents and relocating most of them in the new Niddrie Mains estate.  Although some of the original tenants were resettled in the area it is thought that this amounted to only around 10-15%.

St Leonards Improvement Scheme, 1927

The photographs, maps of reference drawn up for the redevelopments (see example here) together with the housing committee minutes and files preserved in the Archives give a comprehensive picture of these schemes and their impact on the urban and social character of the capital in the 1930s.

 

New Midlothian Archive Guide available

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In Spring 2012, Midlothian Council Archive Service launched a new guide to the Midlothian archives. The purpose of the guide is to raise awareness of the archive collection and to encourage greater use of it. Copies of the new guide are available from local libraries or from Midlothian Local Studies. 

The Midlothian archive collection began shortly after the end of Second World War largely thanks to a man called Andrew Fraser, an unassuming native of Bonnyrigg who became county librarian for Midlothian County Library Service (then based inEdinburgh). Andrew had enough intelligence and foresight to start collecting material which was then regarded as insignificant and could be had for next to nothing. One example of this is a wonderful collection of old postcards of Midlothian. In Andrew’s day, these could be obtained quite cheaply, but are now very expensive and highly expensive.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Andrew Fraser saved a lot of archive material which was almost thrown away during local government reorganisation in 1970s. Amongst these were volumes of burgh records, council minutes, and logbooks and class registers from local schools. These records form the basis of the current collection, although there have been many later additions, usually donated by the public.

Currently, Midlothian archives are based in two sites: Library headquarters in Loanhead and at the Council Records Centre in Bonnyrigg, which is not open to the public. The collection is maintained by the Council Library Service. Midlothian Council has not employed a professional archivist for some years, but there is a Local Studies Officer and a Records Officer who jointly care for the archives.     

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

The Midlothian collection is not vast, but there are plenty of interesting and unique items. Probably the best example is the Black Collection which contains over 150 scrapbooks about Penicuik and the surrounding area. These were compiled by two local men, James Black and his son Robert, from about 1880 to 1930. The scrapbooks record almost every aspect of life in Penicuik and are a rich source for local historians and genealogists.

The bulk of the archive collection comes from the nineteenth- and twentieth-centuries, but there are a few earlier items. These include eighteenth-century minute books from the Guild of the Dalkeith Hammermen, the Penicuik Farmers’ Society, Loanhead Subscription Library (1818-53), and the Trustees of the Burgh of Dalkeith, which began in 1760. There are also several family and estate collections, such as the Don Wauchope of Edmonstone papers, a prosperous family that lived at the Edmonstone house in the parish of Newton, just outsideEdinburgh.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

The new archive guide is an attempt to summarise the Midlothian collection and to make it more accessible to users. The guide is organised into eight basic categories, such as Local Authority Records and Unions, Guilds and Associations. There is also an index and a glossary of unfamiliar terms. It is worth remembering that many people may be unfamiliar with archive collections and may not understand how they are organised. The guide was made as simple and clear as possible whilst maintaining the highest archive standards.

It is hoped that the new guide will be first in a series and that new versions will be produced at regular intervals. There is still plenty of material to be added and many new donations. Recently, we were given the punishment book from the Dalkeith Combination Poorhouse which records the penalties handed out to inmates for misbehaviour. This is a fascinating document that shows the harshness of the Victorian workhouse system. In February 1874, a woman called Jane Brunton, who was 23-years-old, was locked up for 8 hours and denied food for being insubordinate to the matron.      

As well as the guide, we are also compiling new catalogues for individual collections. Once these are completed they are placed on the Midlothian Council website as PDFs. This is, of course, time-consuming but also rewarding and a good way to become more familiar with the collections and to uncover hidden treasures.

There is a huge amount of work to be done with theMidlothianarchives but we think that the new guide is big step in the right direction.   

 

 

 

 

Zeppelin Attack!

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A German Naval Airship

On the evening of the 2nd April, 1916, two German airships, much like the one pictured above, hovered over Edinburgh and Leith. They dropped several bombs as they floated above the unsuspecting residents and buildings below.   Edinburgh City Archives hold a fascinating map which tracks the flight path of the Zeppelins and marks bombsites across the city.

Compared with today’s sophisticated aircraft, First World War Zeppelins were very basic machines. Airships were navigated in part by geographical landmarks and a smooth voyage relied on clear weather. On the 2nd April 1916, aided by ideal weather conditions, the German airships flying above Leith and Edinburgh planned to drop their stock of explosives on dockyards and a fleet of marine vessels along the Firth of Forth.

This was the sole aerial bombardment experienced by Leith and Edinburgh during the First World War and it came as a total surprise.  Although the airships did not intend to target civilians, as they drifted along the shores of Leith and over Edinburgh, a bomb fell at Bonnington and a child died in its crib. The airship targeted Edinburgh Castle, hitting the castle rock and moved along to drop explosives on the Grassmarket, resulting in another death.  Several other sites were hit but the most deadly drop occurred at Marshall Street where six died, and at St. Leonard’s Hill where two adults and a child were killed.

To see sections of a map marking the bomb sites of Edinburgh’s Zeppelin attack, look at the gallery below. If you are interested in looking at the map in its entirety, please contact the Edinburgh City Archives.

Doubtful Old Men, Dissolute Women

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Craiglockhart Poorhouse and Hospital, Edinburgh City Archives

In the current period of debate on the role of the state, public sector austerity and retrenchment in social services it may be timely to reflect on the ancient and bygone system of social care in Scotland.  The Scottish Poor Law of 1579, amended in 1845, placed the responsibility for the poor and disabled upon the parish itself.   Edinburgh’s Craiglockhart Poorhouse and Hospital, opened in 1870, was purpose-built to house a wide variety of people. The institution could hold up to 1569 residents and functioned not only as a poorhouse, but also as a reformatory and hospital with separate wards for infants, the elderly and the mentally ill. Edinburgh City Archives hold an excellent collection of photographs of residents and staff at the institution at the turn of the century. These images give some idea of how late Victorians cared for their ill and vulnerable and how people would have experienced life in the poor house.   

The Craiglockhart Poorhouse was not unlike a small self-contained village. Complete with coalhouses, an onsite chapel, a farm yard, a smith shop, laundry, stick factory, stable and bakery, most daily necessities were provided for within the institution’s walls. People entered the poorhouse for any number of reasons – mostly because illness and old age prevented them from working to support themselves. In some instances, if they had nowhere else to go, unwed mothers would take up residence in the poorhouse. In return for food, shelter and medical care, residents were subject to a life with very little privacy and a lot of discipline. Until the early 20th century, residents in the poorhouse also gave up their right to vote.   

A ground floor plan of the Craiglockhart Poorhouse shows that inmates were defined and divided up not only by age and gender, but by their presumed character and behaviour. The specific wards and airing grounds constructed for different groups of inmates reflect this. ‘Dissolute Women’ would exercise in an area separate from ‘Doubtful Old Women’ while ‘Male Lunatics’ would get their fresh air away from the resident ‘Male Probationers’.    

You can look at photographs of Craiglockhart and its residents in the gallery below.