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1813 – 1814 Colonel Stuart Murray and Rosetta (neè Fullarton – a second cousin) Fullarton
Stuart and Rosetta married in 1796 and they, and their eleven children moved, here. Stuart was a landowner and Colonel of the Kirkubright and Wigtown Militia. On the death of his childless uncle, Stuart had inherited the remaining part of the estate of Bartonholm, near Troon, although most of the estate, including Crosbie Castle had been sold in 1805 to the Duke of Portland.
In 1814, Colonel Fullerton had begun plans to build Number 26 but sadly, Rosetta died that year – possibly in childbirth. Of the eleven children, eight were still under ten when she died. Although Stuart had planning permission for his new Albany Street house, he sold it and moved to Baxter Place. In 1820, he remarried Isabella Buchanan Muir.
1815 – 1821 Alexander Stevenson
Alexander Stevenson was a solicitor (SSC). He also was an early member of the Caledonian Horticultural Society, established in 1809 by a group of seventeen Edinburgh worthies. The Society was established for the ‘encouragement and improvement of the best fruit, the most choice flowers and most useful culinary vegetables.’ The inspiration for the Society came from the Horticultural Society, founded in London five years earlier, and there were many links between the two societies. Sir Joseph Banks and Richard Salisbury, founders of the London Society, and Thomas Andrew Knight who was President of the London Society from 1811 until 1838, were honorary members from the outset. From the beginning, the Society flourished, bringing together ‘skilful professional gardeners and zealous amateurs’, with the support of nurserymen and professional gardeners important. The initial subscription was one guinea a year for ordinary members, but noblemen or gentlemen were invited to join free as honorary members. By 1829, the membership numbered about 1,000. Many well-known figures of the City joined, among them the artist Henry Raeburn, judge Henry Cockburn and architect William Playfair, and there were strong links between the Society and the creation of the gardens of the Edinburgh New Town.
The Society was ambitious and the creation of its own garden, first mooted in 1810, was a high priority. The garden was designed to provide advice on the best varieties and methods of cultivation, and to test, in local conditions, the many new plants arriving as a result of the travels of the plant hunters. The original proposal was for a site near Holyrood Palace, but a much better solution was found when, in 1823, the Society took on the lease of ten acres of land in Inverleith, adjacent to the new site of the Botanic Garden, which was moving from the cramped quarters in Leith Walk. In 1825 William McNab, Curator of the Edinburgh Botanic Garden, drew up a plan for the Society’s new garden, including orchards, a lockable experimental garden, a culinarium where ‘new and or little known varieties of culinary vegetables will be fairly tried’, an area for growing stocks for grafting and budding, nurseries, a wall for the finer kind of fruit trees, a rosary and compartments for perennials and annuals. The garden was known as The Experimental Garden.
Donations of plants were received from all over the world, including fifty different types of strawberry sent by the London Horticultural Society. A cottage was built for the head gardener, and James Barnett from the London Society appointed. Many shows were held in the garden, the first in August 1828. At such events there was usually a military band and dancing, and in the early days, the shows were fashionable events, with beautifully dressed ladies arriving in carriages.
1821 – 1838 Miss White’s Boarding School
The school was owned by Juliet White, who married Finlay Dun in 1828. She had previously run her school in Broughton Place and lived for two years across the road at Number 2a Albany Street. Her father, John White, was the brother-in-law of two distillers, James Haig and John Philp, who, in 1805, purchased cotton mills at Esk Mills. John White spent nearly £4,000 converting one of the cotton mills into a hand-made paper mill. However, six years later, possibly as a result of his death, the paper mill closed and Esk Mills was leased to the Transport and Barracks Board. It was used as a French Prisoner of War camp, but, following escapes, the barracks housed the guards of French prisoners at Valleyfield. In 1820 papermaking resumed at the mill.
Juliet was a subscriber to the concerts of the Edinburgh Professional Society of Musicians and it may well have been through this activity that she met her husband, Finlay Dun. He was born in Aberdeen and studied at Edinburgh University. He was a musician and went to Paris to study the violin under Pierre Baillot, a renowned violinist. Dun next went to Milan, and afterwards accepted an engagement as first viola in the orchestra of the San Carlo Theatre at Naples. While in Naples, he studied singing with Girolamo Crescentini, a noted Italian castrato (sopranista) and singing teacher. After his marriage, he taught the violin, composition, and singing, as well as performing in a range of concerts and events. He wrote the music for an Ode to Sir Walter Scott, of which the concert reviewer said: ‘does Mr Dun much credit as a composer’, but his name is best known for the collections of Scottish songs which Dun edited. He became a Professor of Music and died in 1854. When Felix Mendelssohn visited Edinburgh (see Music) in 1828 and stayed with the Hogarths at Number 19, he dined with Juliet and Finlay on the 28 July.
It is likely that Miss White’s school would have been for young women with the focus on basic literacy and numeracy, needlework, cookery and household management, and social skills. However, there were changes afoot in women’s education as shown by the expanding range of books in more scholarly subjects that were advertised ‘for the Use of Ladies Schools and private Teachers.’
1838 – 1849 & 1857 – 1896
Andrew and Janet (neé Spens) Inglis and the Inglis family
See information on these residents at Number 11 where they also lived. Latterly, the unmarried daughters, Jane, Jessie and Margaret. lived here, and then moved to Heriot Row. The Valuation record for 1855 shows that they owned the house and leased it
1849 - 1857 Lodgings
These were run by James and Jane Sutherland.
1853 - 185 Lodger - John T. Mowbray
John Mowbray lodged here and then moved to lodge at Number 15. He was the som of a Leith merchant and became a solicitor (WS) in 1832. He acted as the Commissioner Supreme of the Supreme Court of New South Wales and published a number of legal works, including An Analysis of the Conveyancing (Scotland) Act, 1874. In 1887 he was ‘unanimously’ elected Treasurer of the Writers to the Signet Society.
1851 -1857 Lodger - Charles George and Mary (neé Brown) Alves
Lieutenant-Colonel Lieutenant Charles George Alves joined the Indian Army in 1804 and progressed through various ranks before retiring in 1841. He served in the 18th Madras Regiment of the Army of the Honourable East India Company where he was in charge of the artillery. In 1819, he married Mary in Arcot, Bangalore. They moved from here to Broughton Place for a few years, before returning to live at Number 36 where Alves died within months of moving in. Mary received an annual army pension of £208 and continued to live at Number 36, probably until her own death.
1896 – 1910 Office of D. W. Martin and Company
David Martin was a tea trader. He was elected to Newington Ward Parish Council in 1900 and died in 1914.
1896 – 1927 Edinburgh office of Samuel Hanson & Son
Samuel Hanson & Son was a wholesale grocery business established at Eastcheap in London. The company had a large canning factory in Toddington, Gloucestershire. The Edinburgh office was run by John Lloyd who died in 1917
1896 – 1901 Studio of Stirling Malloch
The studio of the young artist Stirling Malloch, who lived in India Street. Malloch was from Perth and he graduated from the Royal Institution School of Art in 1896. Three years later won a prize for a painting exhibited at the Royal Scottish Academy exhibition. A review of an exhibition by Malloch at Miss Murray’s salon in 1900 commented: ‘the work of the young artist is of a high order, showing rare treatment of his subject, whether in portraiture or landscape….the landscapes are of particular local interest, and are greatly admired. What may be regarded as one of the best is that representing the beach at Seggieden, with the extremely lively representation of salmon fishers at work. (here his painting, The Salmon Fishers) It is Mr Malloch’s intention to pursue his studies among the beautiful scenery of Perth, and something more is expected of him which will increase the high reputation which he has already gained for himself.’ Sadly, that was not to be, for in August 1901 the young artist drowned while bathing at Point Pleasant in New Jersey.
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