Registers

There are two particularly useful registers available to download.

Edinburgh Academy Pupils

Most sons of New Town residents in the 19th c. were educated at either the Royal High School or the Edinburgh Academy. While sadly there is no on-line record of those who attended the High School, the Edinburgh Academy Register contains details of all those who entered the school from its foundation in 1824 to 1914

https://archive.org/details/edinburghacademy00edinuoft

An example entry: ROBERTSON, Patrick Charles, 1870-7. Cl. 1-7. b. 22 June 1859; s. of Alexander W. Robertson, C.A., 22 Abercromby Place ; Dux of all Cls. and of the School, 1877 ; Prize for French, Cl. 7, 1877 ; XX. Edin. Univ. ; M.A. 1881 ; Fothringham and Forrest Bursary, 1877 ; Bruce of Grangehill and Falkland Bursary, 1878 ; Grierson Bursary, 1881 ; C.A. 1886 (ist in Final Exam.) ; Mem. of Council of Edin. C.A. Soc. ; of A. and J. Robertson, C.A. ; m. Constance Isabelle Hamilton, e. dau. of Lt.-Gen. Charles Samuel Steward, Madras Army. Address: 12 Ramsay Garden, Edin.

Like all PDFs, this downloads in various formats and it is best to save as a PDF and then use a PDF Reader to open the document as this enables you to search for specific names, etc. (See Section – using PDFs) It may be useful to save this PDF as then you can refer to it again in the future without having to search for it.

Solicitors designated WS (Writer to the Signet)

If someone you are seeking information on is a solicitor and designated as a WS (Writer to Her/His Majesty's Signet), then you can download and search A History of the Society of Writers to Her Majesty's Signet. This invaluable history contains a list of all the members of the society from 1594 to 1890, and provides detail on each member, including date of birth and death and wife's name if married.

https://archive.org/stream/historyofsociety00socirich/historyofsociety00socirich_djvu.txt

An example entry : CROOKS, PETER. 8th March 1821 [date they became a WS] Apprentice to Alexander Dallas.—Son of Peter Crooks, Gardener at the Dean. Born 1799. Died 4th March 1844. Mar. 5th October 1824, Marion, daughter of Peter Dods, Haddington. Collector of Fee Fund, Court of Session, 1840-44.

Also downloadable as a PDF and searched for the relevant individual. Again it may be useful to save the PDF for further reference.