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1819 – 1823 Daniel and Margaret (neé Dixon) Fisher
Daniel Fisher was a solicitor (SSC) and like many lawyers of the period also acted in financial affairs, including being auditor for the Edinburgh Life Assurance Company. He also was a Director of the Scottish Widows Fund. He was Vice President of the Society of Solicitors in Scotland for a time. In 1822 the family moved to Forth Street. Later Fisher appears to have moved his legal practice to Glasgow. The eldest son, John, also became a solicitor in 1838.
Margaret was involved in an extended legal wrangle linked to her father’s marraigae settlement to her and other aspects of his will. Although he had died in 1822, the culmination of the legal action was an appeal herad by the House of Lords in 1837.
1823 – 1828 Alexander and Barbara (neé Fullerton) Manners
Alexander Manners was a solicitor (WS). In 1828 the family moved to Saxe Coburg Place and at some point before 1850, Alexander became blind and had to retire from the law. The family moved to Marown on the Isle of Man.
An advert for the sale of house at this time mentions that it includes coach houses and stables. The asking price was £1,700. This is possibly equivalent to £200,000 today, although comparing prices is difficult.
1829 – 1843 Alexander and Margaret (Ker) Loraine
Lieutenant Colonel Alexander Loraine purchased the house and moved here from Number 12 with his wife, Margaret and their daughter (also Margaret). Loraine was the son of James Loraine, who had been the Sheriff Clerk of Berwickshire, and was born in 1761. His sister, Hannah, later lived at Number 43.
Loraine had a distinguished military career. He joined the army in 1778 and was Assistant Military Secretary at Horse Guards before serving in four campaigns in America, including taking part in the capture of the French West India Islands. He served in the Ninth (or The East Norfolk) Regiment Of Foot.
In 1807 he was appointed Deputy Governor of Southsea Castle, and then, after having served for 29 years in the army and take up the civil post of a Commissioner for the Affairs of Barracks. When ex-army officers left to take up a civil post, this at times meant giving up their rank. However Loraine was able to sell his Lieutenant Colonelcy but retain his rank. The purchase of officer commissions in the British Army was a common practice through most of its history. This practice was designed to preserve the social exclusivity of the officer class; ensured that the officer class was largely populated by persons having a vested interest in maintaining the status quo, thereby reducing the possibility of Army units taking part in a revolution or coup; ensured that officers had private means and were unlikely to engage in looting or pillaging, or to cheat the soldiers under their command by engaging in profiteering using army supplies; and provided honourably retired officers with an immediate source of capital. The practice was abolished in 1871
Alexander’s sister, Williamina, married James Geddes who had trained as a doctor, and was with her husband in Gibraltar where he was engaged on mercantile business. In 1804 the Army Garrison in Gibraltar experienced a fever epidemic and Geddes offered to assist, and as a result both he and Williamina died of the fever within three days of each other, leaving four boys and one girl as orphans. The Executors appointed by their father neglected them and the five were sent back to Scotland to be reared by their mother's relatives who had to bear the sole expense of supporting and educating them. General Sir Thomas Griggs, the Gibraltar Commander, argued that Dr Geddes had, in effect, lost his life in the service of the army, and endeavoured to procure a pension from the Government to assist these orphans in their destitute situation. All that was forthcoming was £50 per annum. It was decided to settle this on the daughter, Anne, thinking her situation the most helpless. The Loraines looked after the four Geddes boys.
Colonel Loraine died in 1838 and his widow and daughter lived on in the house, until her death in 1843.
1844 - 1847 George Dunbar and Frances (neé Beckett) Clayhills-Henderson
Captain George Dunbar Clayhills-Henderson was born in 1798. His father was James Clayhills of Invergowrie, and his mother Henrietta Kinloch, heiress of Hallyards. He married Francis in 1828, and they had three sons in the 1830s. As the third son was born in Germany it may be that the family returned to Edinburgh from abroad and took the Albany Street house while their children grew up.
Henderson was an army officer and served in the 40th Regiment of the Madras Native Infantry. This 1835 watercolour by Tanjore shows the different uniforms and equipment of the various ranks in the regiment. As the most senior Indian officer, the subadar was very important as the link between the British officers and Indian soldiers. He died in Budleigh Salterton in 1861.
The eldest son, George, joined the Royal Navy and became a Commander. In 1865 he succeeded to the Hallyards Estate from his father’s brother. The house of the estate in Fife was Invergowrie House. Built originally in the 14th C., revamped in the early 1600s, and significantly extended and baronialised in 1837. In 1867 he married Catherine Warren and became a Justice of the Peace of Forfarshire, and Provincial Grand Master of the Dundee Freemason’s Lodge. He
Their second son was James, a Lieutenant-Colonel in 7th Fusiliers. In 1861 he married Eugenia Watts, daughter of an Admiral.
The other son Thomas married Elizabeth Rob. He changed his name to Clayhills and worked as a solicitor in Darlington.
1847 – 1858 Charlotte Lindesay Mrs Lindesay moved here with (at least) two daughters from Forth Street. Charlotte was the widow of Patrick Lindesay (her cousin), He was a wine merchant in Leith and held significant investments. He also was a director of the Leith Glass works and director of the Leith Dispensary and Humane Society which provide healthcare to the poor. In 1848 her daughter, Alison died.
Her son, Lieutenant-Colonel P Lindesay, who had commanded the 63rd Regiment during the Crimean War and in spite of being severely injured at the Battle of Redan in September 1855 he stayed with the regiment. There is a report that soon after the fall of Sebastopol that same month: 'The Commanding Officer of the Regiment, Lieutenant-Colonel Lindesay, sent several parties into the town to provide the Regiment with material for a cook-house, and a sergeants' mess. They got twelve large coppers and all the iron and woodwork necessary for the purpose from the Russian barracks, and brought them into camp. When the regiment returned from the expedition to Kinbum, our men built a large cook-house for the regiment, and a mess-room for the sergeants, capable of accommodating thirty, before the winter set in.' However, in November, his health failed and 'to the regret of both officers and men, left the regiment for England, and Colonel E. Rowley Hill assumed command.' It is likely he then lived with his mother as he wrote this letter from the house in 1857.
1858 – 1860 Edward S Murphy
The Reverend Edward Murphy was Minister at St James’s Episcopal Church in Broughton Place from 1857 to 1860. He appears previously to have been a Minister in Sheffield. Nothing more found.
1860 – 1865 Cecilia Brodie
Cecilia Brodie was unmarried. She was the daughter of Francis Brodie, a solicitor (WS). One of her brothers, Francis, was a Captain with the 29th Regiment in Madras, where he died in 1834. Living with her in 1861 was her nephew, John Miller, an assistant surgeon in the East India Company service; his wife, Eliza and their two infant children, both born in India.
1866 – 1872 John Millar and Christian (neé Duncan)
John Millar had recently graduated as a doctor, and had just married Christian, so had moved together to Albany Street. In the first months they were in the house they had a burglary in which John’s coat, stethoscope, and other articles were stolen, but thief was caught and sentenced to six months’ imprisonment. Later that year they had a daughter, but sadly she died the following year. Fortunately that year they had another girl, Euphemia, and in 1870 a son, named John. But then further tragedy struck. In 1871, aged only 26, Christian died, and John, only two years older, died the following year. What happened to their two orphaned children is not known.
1872 – 1877 Veitch and Harriette (neé Tweedie) Sinclair
Veitch Sinclair rented the house at £95 per annum and moved here from Picardy Place. Sinclair became a fellow of the Royal College of Surgeons in 1830 and married Harriette in 1842. She bore him one daughter and six sons, one of whom died when an infant. By the time the Veitchs moved to Albany Street there were just the two children still living at home; Harriette and Alexander, who had recently also become a doctor.
In 1868, Veitch was introduced to Mrs Ellen Pairman, and soon after she called on him at his consulting room to ask if he would treat her as she was dissatisfied with her current doctor. He agreed. In 1876, Ellen’s husband, John Ramsay Pairman, an artist, brought an action for divorce, claiming that his wife and Dr Sinclair had been having an affair. Before the case came to court Ellen, because of the impending court case, now living away from her husband and four children, wrote to her husband asking him to drop the action. ‘I got your message that you are quite sure of making out your case against me; and so is Begg and Skinner [her lawyers] sure of mine against you – they have not the least doubt on the subject. Now, Jack, I really believe it too, and you see how I am writing against my own interest in what I am going to do; but you will accept it as proof that I do really love you. And God knows I do or I would not have come to this decision. I give you my promise to withdraw my defence; but I must ask get away out of Edinburgh before you make it public…. When I leave Edinburgh in a few days I will never come back. I have suffered too much pain here ever to wish it.’ Her plea to avoid publicity was in vain for her husband proceeded with the action and the claims and counter-claims were spread across the newspapers. She also was unable to leave the city as she was required to be at the court.
The court was told that Dr Sinclair had become a regular visitor to the Pairman's house, although Ellen’s husband had asked her to stop seeing him. A neighbour said that she had noticed a flower-pot on the window ledge of the Pairman’s house that she was certain was used as a signal to indicate when Mr. Pairman was not at home. When Dr Sinclair arrived, in John Pairman’s absence, he would be shown into the drawing room and, often, before Ellen joinde him, she would ask one of her children if her breath smelt sweet. Usually she and the doctor would spend up to an hour in the room alone. The Pairman’s fourteen year old son was called as a witness. He told the court that when he got home from school he often found Dr. Sinclair sitting with his mother but he was told not to tell his father of the visits. He added: ‘When Dr Sinclair came in he was given cakes and cream, and sometimes claret. My father never got any of the claret. There was only one claret glass in the house, and the doctor got use of it.’ He also confirmed earlier evidence that his mother ‘occasionally took spirits in excess.’The circumstantial evidence about his secret visits to the house were one thing, but firm evidence was presented of clandestine meetings between the two elsewhere. Ellen admitted that they had gone together to a temperance hotel in Portobello where they had tea. She further admitted that she had borrowed a bedroom at the hotel so she could repair her hair which had been disturbed by the wind but nothing had occurred between her and the doctor there. However, the wife of the hotel owner said that the pair had spent an hour or two together in the bedroom. This arrangement had not just been on one occasion either, she added. There was much laughter in the court when the hotel owner commented that Sinclair had paid excessive attention to Mrs Pairman: ‘And you have never seen a gentleman show politeness to ladies? asked the defence lawyer. 'Oh yes, but not excessive politeness.' 'What do you consider excessive politeness?' To which the hotel owner replied, 'When a gentleman attends to a lady as if she were a piece of blown glass, and he were afraid she might break. Husbands are not generally so particular.’
As if meetings in hotel rooms were not suspicious enough, the court heard that Ellen had later taken a room in Chambers Street and paid half-a-year’s advance rent. When asked why, she explained that this was so that Dr Sinclair could visit her professionally given he could not attend to her at home any longer because of her husband’s dislike of him, and she wanted to avoid telling her husband of her continuing illness that required this on-going medical treatment.
The main substance of the defence that Ellen had been so assured would see the action dismissed was an indirect counter claim about John Pairman’s infidelity. There was a claim that he had had a relationship with the servant who had been the one to alert him to his wife’s possible affair. While the servant confirmed that Mr. Pairman sometimes took dinner in the kitchen, she insisted that she never sat down when he was there. And while he sometimes had amused her by telling her stories, these had never been obscene ones. She did admit that on one occasion he had been in her bedroom when Mrs Pairman was staying away but she did not know that ‘he was in undress at this time’.
The court heard about the moment of Mr Pairman's confrontation with his wife and Sinclair. He and two other men that he had paid to follow Sinclair, tracked the doctor down to Chambers Street and believing his wife to be there with him, the men forced open the door of the room. There they did indeed find Veitch and Ellen. ‘Well, doctor, what’s this about; what mess is this you are into?’ Pairman demanded. In response the doctor cried out, ‘I deny it. I deny it.’ Then Pairman struck Sinclair. Ellen held her husband’s arm to keep him off the doctor and said: ‘What a shame, what a shame!’ Sinclair said, ‘I am here professionally’ and then got his hat, his stick and his cuffs which were at the back of the bed, and declaring he would get the police, left. The court was told that although there were no sheets or blankets on the bed, it had the appearance of having been occupied as the pillows were 'indented'. The further detail that on the table were sandwiches, dates and jellies, and other confectionery, no doubt was added by the prosecution to conjure up an image of debauchery. Unsurprisingly the court found in favour of Mr Pairman, and the divorce was agreed. As Dr Sinclair was guilty of adultery, he was ordered to pay all the costs.As a result, six months later, Sinclair was in the Bankruptcy Court. The Albany Street house was empty and Sinclair reported that he had sold all his furniture and almost all his other possessions six months before as he needed money. He denied that it had been him that had given instructions for the auctioneers, Lyon and Turnbull, to remove his furniture at 3am, or that he had hidden any possessions or passed any off as belonging to family members. Sinclair explained that for the last year he had had few patients. When asked whether his son had paid rent when he lodged at Albany Street, he replied that he had never thought of asking his son to pay rent. His bankruptcy was confirmed showing his assets to be £62 16s and his liabilities £270. 15s, mostly made up of lawyers’ fees.Soon after his bankruptcy hearing, Sinclair brought an action for £1,000 damages against Pairman for the assault, but at the hearing he did not appear and the action was dismissed. It was reported to the court that Sinclair ‘had fled the country.’ Veitch had indeed absconded to London, where he lived with one of his sons. The final court mention is of an unpaid bill for tax. As this could not be claimed from the absconded doctor, Sinclair's son, Alexander, who had been party to the hiring of the lawyers was left to foot the £489 bill.
Alexander moved to Northumberland Street and it may be that the unfortunate Mrs Sinclair lived with her son and daughter there. It certainly is hard to think she would have followed her husband to London. Alexander continued to practice and worked at the Royal Public Dispensary and Vaccine Institution. In 1891, he was appointed Second Lieutenant in the 1st Edinburgh Rifle Volunteers. See Scotland's Volunteer Force Veitch Sinclair continued to live in London, where he died in 1892.
1879 – 1885 Catherine Moir and her son, Oswald Moir
Catherine Moir was the widow of David Moir, a wine and spirit merchant, and her son Oswald took over the running of his deceased father’s firm, White, Moir & Company. The firm had been owned by Adam White, who had been Provost of Leith in 1833. When he died in 1843, the business passed to Oswald’s father. The company traded into the 1900s. For a time a nephew, Alexander Spence, lived with them while he was at school.
1886 – 1901 Isabella Chirnside and her son, Charles Chirnside
Isabella Chirnside was the widow of Dr John Chirnside, a surgeon, who practiced in Dalkeith. Their son, Charles, became an accountant and was a member of the Society of Accountants Edinburgh in 1891. He later moved to Ireland, becoming a member of the Institute of Chartered Accountant in Ireland. There he practiced in the partnership, Aitkens and Chirnside. He captained the cricket team when at Edinburgh Academy and continued his cricket career by captaining Cork Cricket Club. In 1901 he married Louisa Oakshott.
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