56 Albany Street
1876 – 1906 Isabella Bertram
Isabella had lived here with family from 1876. She moved to Dundas Street in 1907, the year before her death.
1907 – 1917 Mary Rae Collins and Jennett Collins Both the Collins sisters were painters. (Jennett Collins - Portrait of a Lady Wearing a Black Dress) In 1902, Jennett visited Australia and while there was commissioned to paint a portrait of J Noble-Wilson, a public figure in Ballarat.Although there is a record of an exhibition in the house of Mary Rae’s paintings, none have been traced. Mary Rae earned her living through teaching piano and harmony at the house: ‘In reply to many inquiries, Miss Collins begs to state that her pupil, Miss Mollie Grierson, aged twelve, the only candidate awarded Advance Honours in Pianoforte, Edinburgh Local centre Royal Academy of Music during the past year, had been trained exclusively under her personal private tuition, and also prepared for the complete course of examinations through which she has passed.’
The sisters moved to Blackett Place.
1919 – 1937 William and Margaret (Neé Forfar) Rennie
William Rennie was a consulting engineer, with offices in Forth Street. In the 1920s he was a member of the Edinburgh and South-East Unionist Association. He died in 1937.
1943 – 1949 William and Bridget O’Donnell
William was a Football Pools Promoter. Pools were a form of betting through predicting football results in the hope of winning large cash prizes. They became huge businesses by the 1960s, 70s and 80s, with a peak of ten million people playing weekly. These were generally operated by agents who would go round businesses and neighbourhoods collecting individuals’ completed forms and their cash.
1950 – 1975 Norman Adam Burnett Burnett was a dentist and is one of this group of graduates from the Edinburgh Dental School in 1938. In 1941 he is recorded as being a member of the war Dental Unit and being granted a commission for the duration of hostilities as a Flying Officer.
1975 - at least 1980 Scottish Institute of Human Relations
Scottish branch of Tavistock Institute of Human Relations