1897 – 1914 Robert T and Margaret Macqueen
Robert Macqueen was a solicitor (SSC), and briefly in partnership with George Rennie, practising as R T Macqueen and Rennie. The firm acted as the agent for the Oakley Collieries and the Lancashire Yorkshire Reversionary Investment Company. Robert died in 1914 and George Rennie took over the house and the legal practice.
1914 – 1953 George and Alice (neé Harrow) Rennie
George Rennie was a Canadian and married Alice in Vancouver in 1914. The couple came to Scotland soon after, and George, who became a SSC, joined the firm of Robert Macqueen. When McQueen died, George and Alice moved into Albany Street, taking over Macqueen’s legal practice.
In 1917, Rennie was appointed for that year as a Law Agent for the Poor. Solicitors were rotated in the position and were available to act on behalf of individuals who could not afford legal aid. The requirement for solicitors and advocates voluntarily to provide free legal assistance to people admitted to the ‘Poor’s Roll’ had begun in 1424: ‘and gif there bee onie pure creature, for faulte of cunning, or expenses, that cannot, nor may not follow his cause, the King for the love of GOD, sall ordain the judge to purwey and get a leill and a wise Advocate, to follow sik pure creatures causes’. The Poor’s Roll remained the basis for providing free legal assistance, with various refinements into the 20th century.
In 1938, Rennie was elected secretary of the Society of Solicitors in the Supreme Court. He also acted as convenor of a committee established to create a memorial in Nelson Street in honour of Sir Alexander C. Mackenzie, the Scottish violinist and composer, who had been born there. The writer Rebecca West, a niece of Mackenzie, unveiled the plaque. Rennie later received an MBE.
Alice died in 1928 and George in 1953.
1929 – (around) 1960 Offices of Ross and Ross / Russell & Aitken
The law firm, Ross & Ross, moved here from York Place. The firm was a partnership between Arthur Ross (SSC) and Melvin Ross (SSC). Melvin Ross was a Procurator and served as President of the Society of Procurators of Midlothian. He also was a member of the Leith School Board.
Rennie also served often as a Law Agent for the Poor [see above]. In 1937, a Committee on Poor Persons’ Representation in Scotland took evidence and Melvin Ross was one of the witnesses. He argued that the then system of solicitors being appointed to provide this support with no recompense. He specifically referred to instances where several hundred pages of proof had to be typed and the cost of the typist had to be borne by the solicitor. When asked what he thought would be the appropriate answer, Ross argued for payment from the treasury. The Committee agreed and recommended that legal aid become the responsibility of the General Council of Solicitors, with a grant from the state. However, legal aid was not introduced until October 1950. At first, this was only for civil cases in the Court of Session and the sheriff courts. In 1964, legal aid for criminal proceedings followed.
In 1946, Melvin Ross was appointed Auditor of the Court of Session, and he withdrew from the partnership. Arthur Ross was joined by another solicitor James Farquharson, and the company continued to practice under the name of Ross & Ross. Arthur Ross was a member of the Edinburgh Bowling Club, and served as its Treasurer. In the 1950s, the firm changed its name to Russell & Aitken.
(around) 1960 – 1970 Plumbing Trades Union
This Union was formed in 1865 as the United Operative Plumbers Association of Great Britain and Ireland, and in 1946 became the Plumbing Trades Union. In 1968 it merged with the Electrical Trades Union to form the Electrical, Electronic, Telecommunication and Plumbing Union (EETPU). Eventually it became part of UNITE.
1975 – today The Albany Hotel
The hotel was established by Patrick Maridor, a Swiss, and his Scottish wife, Pauline. Later they expanded the hotel by taking over numbers 39, 41, 43, 45 and 47. Patrick previously had worked as a general sales manager for Dunlop and Pauline in banking, before they decided to open a hotel. It began as a bed and breakfast hotel, although a bar and restaurant were added later. In its early years it was a winner in the Scottish Tourist Board’s Awards; coming out top in the ‘Hotels up to 10 Rooms’ category.
It was sold at some point and revamped in 1997, and for a number of years the basement housed Haldanes restaurant, run by George Kelso. The hotel is now owned by the Ballantrae Group, owned by the Sharma family.