EDINBURGH Greenside
For us who live in Edinburgh and who are old enough we can remember the slum buildings which were located at the top end of Leith Street and just down from Princes Street, and this area was called Greenside. The would-be traveller to Leith may nowadays be daunted by the unpromising and hazardous start to their journey.
Greenside 2013, our ancestors surely would have walked along these old cobbled streets
The grimness of Leith started even before the grandeur of Register House was out of sight. Leith Walk is a long street which traditionally starts right off Princes Street and down to the Foot of the Walk, a very long mile.
Greenside lies on the north-west side of Calton Hill. Here lay the populous surburb of Greenside which was built on grounds which belonged to the ‘Carmelities’ or ‘White Friars’, anciently the site of a Chapel dedicated to the Holy Cross. Near the chapel lay a cross called The Rood of Greenside where it is documented that in 1534 two locals called David Stratoun and Norman Gourley were burned as heretics. Calton Hill stood behind some 350 feet above sea level and from here the Friars could guard their area with the magnificant views down to the Forth and beyond.
At the end of the Napoleonic War Leith Walk was an established carriageway with good houses at the top, cheaper tenements in Greenside where many of the inhabitants had workshops and forges, a sprinkling of timber yards, marble workshops, foundries, flint and crownglass works. The old waxworks dates back to 1808 at 31 Greenside Street
The population of the City of Edinburgh during the nineteenth century had increased faster than ever before helped by the Highland Clearances, the Potato Famine which not only affected Ireland but also the Scots and also the emigrants which were now starting to appear from Italy, where there Unification caused unseen problems. In two generations during the middle of the nineteenth century the population had more than doubled. As soon as the great tenements emptied they were filled up again with twice as many occupants in one room.
Leith’s long history had now abandoned their war wounded and instead of the proud soldiers and sailors marching up from the docks the street was a haven for the injured soldiers and sailors who took to begging to keep themselves alive.
The public transport system sort of took off at this time as well. There was at first horse drawn buses followed by horse-trams in 1870. Cable cars followed in 1899 and electric cable cars in 1910.
From the 1870s Greenside is steeped in Quilietti and Brattisani family history as is St. Mary’s Cathedral just opposite.
Demolition work started in the Greenside area in April of 1961 by which time our families had all moved out to better housing in the new ‘schemes’ at the outskirts of Edinburgh.
The Greenside flats were nine stories high if you counted the two basement flats which were apparent from the back. Today there is only one block at the back in Marshall’s Court, and this building was build circa 1933 and was not part of the old grim tenements.
Some famous Greenside Places were
THOMPSON and PORTEOUS Tobacco Factory
The Public Washhouse which was situated at the foot of the Broadly Stairs
LEITCH’S Lemonade Factory
St. Barabas Church and Mission
Fairleys of Leith Street which was the local dance hall. It was a favourite with servicement both during and after the Second World War.
Of course everyone who is of an age remembers with great fondness JEROMES the photographers.
On Calton Hill on Greenside Row there was a tunnel cellar called THE MIDDEN DOOR where the scavvy kept his barrow and broom. This was one of the meeting places where the locals would sit and have a chat.
Then of course there was the Salon Picture House in Greenside Place where they would famously show all the B rated movies. This was a cheap form of entertainment and the picture house was always full and always full of fleas.
The Salon
“The Salon had benches in the front rows and an usher kept tracks of when we came in, so at precisely the time when we were about to see the film second time round we were tossed out the back door – to the infamous Greenside area.”
At the back of the Salon stood the Pensioner’s Hall which was affectionately called The Dump. Locals gathered here and there were local bands who would play. The Omonds from Greenside were one such band which played on a Saturday night.
Next to St. Mary’s stood the Theatre Royal. On Saturdays the Actors and Actresses would attend the theatre for rehearsals and this would cause a great fuss with the local children.
Also on Saturdays a ‘Mission’ Band would play at the bottom of Little King Street. All the children joined in the hymns. If they all sung loud enough they got a penny at the end of the meetings.
On Leith Street and Greenside Place there were lots of shops. Jackson’s the Taylors, Littlejohn’s the Bakers and Anneker’s the cold meat shop. There were not one, but two Duncan’s sweets’s shops in this part of Leith Street.
There was even a wee museum called the Creepy Waxworks Museum.
Down in Greenside there was a Cigarette Factory and the girls who worked there came into Barnetts for stockings which cost a shilling a pair.
Calton Hill
“Calton Hill became very much ‘off-limits’ in 1953, following the murder of two small girls in the Greenside area at the back of the Playhouse cinema.
Calton Hill was also a great playground for the local boys and girls of course and they would play with their guiders
Guiders
“Our first mode of transport was the forerunner to the formula 1 racing car, the ‘Guider’. It was a self-built vehicle, built from anything we could get hold of and propelled by kneeling on it and shoving it along from behind with one of your feet.
The prototypes were made of a few planks of wood, a cross-member whittled down, a piece of string which was our steering and four ball bearings for wheels. Where we stole the ball bearings from I cant remember, but they did the job. The onlyproblem was that you could hear us speeding down Elm Row from a mile off!
We then progressed and modernized our “Guider”, by stealing prams and removing the wheels – similar to today’s trend, but today its with cars. Times haven’t changed so much after all, have they?
Anyway, our suped-up vehicles were now silent and we rocketed down Elm Row bowling over anything and anyone in our path. The only problem was that we never did devise ways of stopping them, nor a method of self-propelling those vehicles back up the hill. We had to walk, dragging this thing behind us and start again from the top.
Mind you, those self-built thingys turned out to be useful to our parents too. We were told to pick up the shopping or drive it to Abbeyhill goods railway station for a bag of coal. Not so bad getting there, but, the journey back was a bit heavy going.
So much for the ‘guider’. I never knew why it was called that. It was never really guided, just aimed down a hill.”
For both the Quilietti family and the Brattisani family Nos. 24 and No. 9 Greenside Place were our families homes for many years. Then St. James Place opposite, just where John Lewis goes up the Hill today is where Emilio’s sons and their families started off. No. 9 Greenside Place in the 1960s had Napiers Sho Repair Shop as one of the shops on the street level of the tenement. If anyone reading this has any photos of this tenement please be in touch.
By 1900 the top o’ the Walk was looking somewhat different from today. There were twenty two pubs in the triangle between Leith Street and York Place, while the supper-rooms [today’s fish and chip shops] were pale by comparison with the up to date ice cream shops of the day. [When Emilio Quilietti died in 1898 he had 8 ice cream shops]. There were dairies too with polished zinc counters and Littlejohn’s tea room who were famous for its shortbread. On the steps down to the Low Calton the new Black Bull, which had succeeded the old coaching Inn across the road. Above the door was a Bull’s head with eyes which lit up at night.
Two tobacconists shops advertised their wares with life sized wooden figures at the door. One was a Highland soldier taking snuff. Today he is housed in the Huntly House Museum dressed in a dark green tartan kilt and red jacket. The other figue is of a sergeant in the Black Watch and it came from Henry Thomson’s shop.
FURTHER DOWN THE HILL, MRS. QUILIETTI’S FIVE STEP SALOON WAS MANAGED BY SANTOS BRATTISANI, WHO COOKED FISH AND CHIPS WHICH WERE REMEMBERED WITH NOSTALGIA BY MEN IN FRANCE AND GALLIPOLI DURING THE GREAT WAR.
In the future someone else may write about the many changes of recent times and the changing face of Greenside which is today unrecognisable. We wonder what Emilio and Valentina Quilietti would have though about the two giraffes who stand where they used to live.
No. 24 Greenside Place still stands in the form of C.C. Blooms, the gay nightclub. So remember if you ever frequent No. 24 and you see a ghostly shape, it may be your great grandfather Emilio Quilietti quietly watching over you.
All the above facts were remembered by Barbara Guthrie who was born in the year 1922 in Greenside, the year before my own dad Joseph Quilietti was born there. Joe was born in Greenside.
Now if you have read all the above then open up this link and you will find some very interesting Edinburgh words and see if these will bring back some http://www.edinphoto.org.uk/1_edin/1_edinburgh_history_-_recollections_edinburgh_names.htm#poor-oot
If we go on some sixty years we find ourselves at the top o’ the walk and familiar shops and cafe’s. The most famous of the chippie’s was of course the Deep Sea Restaurant. Nestled on the Island just in front of St. Mary’s on Union Place. Next door was the famous Bandparts. If you wanted any music it was there you would go. And the Central Cafe’ was one or two doors up from Bandparts.
There were public toilets here as well. Moir’s Bar was situated where the John Lewis corner is today. This was reputed to be where the ladies of the night would ply their trade, especially when the fleet was in.
Further up the hill was Burtons. It was a grand structure a testament to the 20’s. John Collier was another Taylor. Everyone would get their suits made to measure then. No off-the-peg then.
There was an upper balcony where another set of shops and restaurants were nestled. The Top-Deck Restaurant was a well known establishment which sold reasonably priced food to hungry Saturday afternoon shoppers. The Top Storey was also situated here. It was a club of the 60s where many local Bands would play. No drinking allowed of course.
Shoe shops were also plentiful in the area with Stead and Simpsons and Easiphit situated on the same side of the street as Burtons.
Opposite was the famous Edinburgh photographers where everyone went to have their photos taken. It was of course Jerome’s.
If only we had all their negatives, what a website that would make. Just think of the history of Edinburgh in the faces of her children throughout the decades. I wonder what happened to their archives!
Right next door was the infamous Fairley’s ballroom. It was a haunt of the sailors who were out on the town. But many marriages were also made here including my own aunt and uncle. Carel was a merchant seaman. On a night out in town he caught the eye of our Betty. They have been happily married for 65 years now and living in Holland.
Another Tailor called Jackson’s was just across the street from the pub situated underneath Fairleys. You could in the 60s have a made to measure suit for around £11 I am told!!! Above Jackson’s was a snooker hall called McLaughlans where the locals would spend many a Saturday evening enjoying their game.
There was another night spot called The Imperial which had an even worse reputation than Fairleys.
The Playhouse which had been completely restructured in 1929 stood at 18-22 Greenside Place, just next door to where my own grandad was born and my great grandparents lived, which was No. 24 Greenside Place. Today this address is called CC Blooms and it is a gay nightclub. Everytime I pass this spot I have a silent thought for my ancestors.
But the Playhouse now re-built could seat over 3000 people. When it was built it was the largest and most opulent cinema ever to be built in Scotland and the 4th largest in Britain. It was the first super cinema. In 1929 Variety was very much a part of the cinema experience. Opening on the ‘Glorious Twelfth’ of August, 1929, the Playhouse originally seated 3,040. These were made up of 1,500 seats in the Stalls (coloured crimson, costing 1/3), 680 in the circle (coloured purple, costing 2/4), and 860 in the balcony (coloured old gold, costing 1/- in the front, 9d in the back).There were tea rooms on two floors, plus a tea, coffee and soda fountain lounge .The building is said to be haunted by a ghost called Albert, a man in a grey coat who appears on level six accompanied by a sudden chill in the air. He is variously said to have been either a stagehand who was killed in an accident or a night-watchman who committed suicide.
Picardy Place has it’s own place also in the history of our city. Arthur Conan Doyle, the creator of Sherlock Holmes was born here. His descendants on both sides of his family were from Ireland and he was born in Edinburgh on May 22nd 1859.
So far as the record extends, Arthur’s grandfather John Doyle was a tailor’s son who started professional life as an equestrian artist in Georgian Dublin. He won commissions from aristocratic patrons, including Lord Talbot, Lord Lieutenant during a politically turbulent period from 1817 to 1821, and the Second Marquess of Sligo.
One thing is indisputable—the Doyles were devout Roman Catholics. Both John Doyle’s sisters became nuns, and his brother James trained as a priest. As the Catholic journal The Month noted, John was the only child of the family who remained “in the world,” and with this situation came a certain austerity. In 1820 he married Marianna Conan, whose father also worked as a tailor in the Dublin Rag Trade.http://online.wsj.com/article/SB119688554146414795.html?mod=googlenews_wsj
Excellent piece of nostalgia on Leith Street and I am of the age to just remember all the locations described.
My father James was born in Baxter Place, next block down from the Playhouse. His cousins the Coppolas also lived there. My aunt worked in the cafe run by Primo Bossi.
Another cousin of my grandfather Achille Capaldi, Nancy Gizzi also lived and worked in the local Leith Street cafes.
I also think I have a link with the Quilietti family via my uncle Louie’s, brother in law who married Molly Fusco.
My great grandmother was also a Fusco from Vallegrande, Villa Latina
Excellent information
Thanks
Stuart Capaldi
Thank you so very much for your comments. The information you have supplied via the connections with the Arpino and Fusco family is also very much appreciated. It is so refreshing to have such positive feedback from another Italian/Scot or Scots/Italian. My family website is dedicated to my great grandfather Emilio who achieved to such but was struck down at the tender age of 29.
Our lives would have been so different if he had survived. The site has also been drawing in lost cousins who are like yourself happy to read a bit about their family background.
Thanks you again. Helen
I will be doing a wee bit more researching now.
Thank you Stuart for your kind comments. I have tried to send you a thanks via your e.mail address but it was rejected. Your Website is also a fantastic historical document and I do hope that we can find that relative who will play their part in joining our two brilliant families together.
I will be back in touch soon once I have done a bit more research. Helen
thankyou for your website my father lived at 8 marshall court greenside as a boy until 1935. you have cheered me up unintentionally .researching your ancestors can become grim at times but the picture of the soldier standing smiling is a reminder that although times were hard for our ancestors the chances are they were happy with their lives at the time.
thanks again
My great great great grandfather lived at 17 Greenside Street at the date of his marriage in 1866 and I found your account of the area really interesting and fascinating.
I remember as a child in the 1940’s and early 1950’s hearing about the adventures of the American servicemen and the local lads at Fairleys and the Deep Sea fish restaurant, but Fairleys had closed by the time I was old enough to go.
Great to read about places i frequented in the late forties.Stumbled on you site
lookingrfor info’ on leitch’s I used to go into the stables at the f ot of greenside
lane..There was a tack room and three stalls facing the door, and another three
on the right.I remember Barney,a really canny horse.,and Freddy, Then Rodney
he had attitude.You had to be brave to go into his stall,i never did.There was one
That was the last resort,the carters used to let you drive the horsesI can still
remember galloping along thistle street,with an unconcerned carter puffing in his pipe
Last but not least the lad who rode the horses bareback down to the smithies in
Was called Tony Fusco.,he was fearless.
Great to read about places i frequented in the late forties.Stumbled on you site
lookingrfor info’ on leitch’s I used to go into the stables at the f ot of greenside
lane..There was a tack room and three stalls facing the door, and another three
on the right.I remember Barney,a really canny horse.,and Freddy, Then Rodney
he had attitude.You had to be brave to go into his stall,i never did.There was one
That was the last resort,the carters used to let you drive the horsesI can still
remember galloping along thistle street,with an unconcerned carter puffing in his pipe
Last but not least the lad who rode the horses bareback down to the smithies in
Annandale street Lane. He was Tony Fusco. he was fearless.
It is great for me to have had someone remember these things. My dad’s dad Joe Quilietti was a Carter as was another of his brothers but I know nothing of this period in their lives. But these two brothers would have been gone by the late forties. Tony Fusco is also related to us via the other side of the Italian family. I have approved your Post and hope that some other folks will get in touch.
Thank you for your comments. It makes the stories so much more interesting for people who were intimately involved with Greenside.
You are right of course about Fairleys. One of my dad’s cousins met her husband there. He was a Merchant Seaman and they met in Fairleys at a dance either just after or during the war years. He swept her off her feet and away to Holland. They married and had a great life and they are still together sixty five years later.
Thank you for taking the time to comment.
Hi Helen,
I’d just like to comment on the peice re’ ,the dump I had no idea it. was the pensioners hal l.lt. cost 6pence to get in.I couldn’t dance a step I went to for the tea &
cakes.The Omands lived in Queens PlaceThe father had a bookies shop on Calton rd,
just before the black bull.The familly had a street party for thier oldest son on his return from the war.The other members of the band were probably Lawrence & his Sister Rena.
The next Item that set me straight,was the mission band, it was always the band of hope to me It must have been the first rent a crowd in Edinburgh.The penny i got
was spent in minutes at Maran’s ice cream shop next to Bos-eyes aka the central.
Maran’s was run by three sisters.or maybe it was four .The one i thought was wonderful was,Lydia. Iwas a very scruffy ten year old .But she asked me if i would like to go to
the theatre royal with her.I declined.It would have meant getting a wash,which was a step to far.Also seeing the name Capolla,i’m sure my mother was a waitress in thier
cafe.She was housebound from the early forties and died 1946.
Hope i haven’t bored you tears
Hello. My family stayed at greenside place in the 1920s Margaret Turner and Thomas Ross no 12 Greenside Place although they had my mother they never married and I do not know what happened to Thomas Ross.
Hello,
I found this website when I was researching my Grandfather. His name was William Alexander McKinnell Wilson and was born at 4a Greenside Place on the 4 August 1893. He was the one of five children at that time but at the 1901 census they had moved to 19 Salisbury Street and another three boys, George, David and Stewart had been born. The girls names were Janet, Maggie, Martha and Mary.
My Great grandfather was William Wilson a tailor (journeyman) and his wife Catherine McKinnell had been a domestic servant.
I have found genealogy a fascinating subject and I am trying to write a book about my grandfather who went on to work on the railway and joined the Black Watch during the WW1. I would be very grateful for any further information.
All the best
Iain
My mother Euphemia Bowers ( known as Effie) is 93 this year, lived with her parents Millie and James Bowers at 21, Greenside Row from 1919 until after the 2nd world war. She went to North Cannongate school. Her friends included : Lizzy Stuart wno lived in Lady Ginorky Place, Margaret Thorburn from Simpson Court, Doris Filinson of 18 Greenside Row, July Tumble of Queens Place, Jessie Livingstone of Queens Place, Helen McGee of Greenside Row, Isa Angles and Irene Derrigetty and Mary and Hetti Brown all of Greenside Row. She would be please to hear of any news of the above via my e-mail. Thanks, Sylvia.
Hi there,
I have a question about the Old Greenside Flats, In what street were they actually on and do you know how the numbers actually ran, I am presently writting a novel and have set my story starting of in Greenside falts in 1948, If you could help me with query I would appreciate it very much.I My dad is from Edinburgh Scotland but I have not seen my father since I was 18 months Old ,whilst searching for him I came across recollections of people stories about leith Greenside and It sparked the setting of my novel, I hope you can help me , fill in some details that I need to be as acurrate as posible with my setting , your web page does make for a very interesting and informative read of the times back in the earl;y 30’s and 40’s.thank you so much for the visions that I have seen it does make my job very easy to keep on writting.
Kindest Regards
Jody-Anne Cauchi Australia Victoria.
The main street up from Leith Walk progressed into Baxters Place, then Greenside Place and then up to Leith Street at the top. Greenside was situated behind these tenements, at the foot of Calton Hill and nestling between the hill and the main street. The Scotsman newspaper have photographs of these tenements and to buy the books is not too expensive. There are also online photos of the old tenements from the Edinburgh Library Archives. The streets in Edinburgh were always numbered from the old G.P.O. at the end of Princes Street. The nearer you were to the Post Office was the lower numbers. Then the streets would be odd numbers on one side of the street and the even numbers opposite. But there were always exceptions to the rules. By the 1948 era the flats were really slum buildings of course and with shared toilets on each of the flats. There was also the murder of the little girl in the early 50s . The photograph I have on the page is the back of the old tenements taken from Calton Hill.
This has been fascinating reading, my Grandparents Mr Thomas Shanley & Mrs Joan Shanley lived in 1 Cuddy Lane,Greenside. They were married in 1938 so there or not long after would’ve been there time of living there. My Grandfather unfortunately is no longer with us but my Gran is & is going to be 91 this September. They raised 5 of a family Pat, Jean, Thomas, James & Maureen. My Gran has many fond memories of Fairleys also. Thanks for sharing your memories & stories its been lovely .
Thank you also for taking the time to comment. If your gran has any memories she would like to add to the pages I would be honoured to do this . Helen My e.mail is quilietti@blueyonder.co.uk
Hi; What a wonderful site and a wonderful amount of work you’ve done.
I was born at home at 9 Greenside Place in November of 1948. My parents, David and Hilda Hay lived there along with my older brother Michael. My mother always said that she had to carry everything up 100 stairs to get to our flat.
I have no memories of living there however. The story is that we were on a list for council housing but never got moved up on the list because my father couldn’t pay any “bribe” to do so. I have no idea whether that is fact or just the family lore! My father came to Canada in 1953 and we followed shortly after. I know he worked as a car painter when we first arrived in Toronto so I think he must have had a similar job when we lived in Edinburgh. Interestingly, my younger daughter now lives in Leith. I believe 9 Greenside Place is now an underground parking lot?
I just wonder how long your parents lived at 9 Greenside Place. Perhaps they knew the Brattesani and Quilietti families. Thanks for taking the time to comment and I have included your post.. Yes Greenside is now unrecognisable, but residents now wonder if they could have revamped the old tenements rather than knock them down. The Omni Centre is built on the side of the old Greenside Place, although a wee bit still remains where the PLAYHOUSE Theatre and CC Blooms are today.
my g,g,grandparents Archibald Young and Ann Lawson lived at no7 Greenside street and were married in 1847 by reverend William Glover of Greenside street church.
My g g grandfather was a victual dealer and his father -in -law was a coachman.
I was wondering if this street is still there and where the church was.
regards May.
The streets have now all gone, and let me get back to you regarding the Church. I do have an old map of the vicinity lurking somewhere. And thanks for taking the time to comment
hi great site my mum and were both born in greenside my dad over the bank that is still there my mum down greenside lane my dad was john bannon my mum was mary cassisday they never forgot ther roots thanks again
My Grandmother Margaret Watt lived at 6 Simpsons Court, my Father James (jimmy)
was born in cuddy lane My sister Margaret and myself were brought up in 30 Greenside Row very very many happy memories.
Hi Cathy,
Just read your peice on the WAtt family.Just wondered if your dad was the older brother of John &Henry .The three of them were pretty good fit ba players.We played there from dawn too dusk.If it was the same family.Your Gran’s house was a refuge
during the frequent police raidsEvery body bolted for the stairs from the court up to Queen’s place.The police were pushed for business then
I lived in 129 leith street next to Austin’s cafe before that 96 leith street opposite fairleys my auntie Mary cadona lived in queens place above the osmunds it was my best friends janette and irene johnstone little sister that was one of the two little girls that was murdered My first job was in Jerome’s and I always spent my pocket money in Ellen’s at the end of queens place I also had a guider and used to terrify the couples standing in the que for the playhouse. My favorite cinema was the salon tried to go twice a week to see at least 3 cartoons between films like THe student prince and lots of Doris Day I went to London road school then bellevue I loved to get a tanners worth of chips from the deep sea and I also remember all the lovely ladies in Marian’s who used to serve me with a single cigarette for my mum when she was hard up wich was often I could go on and on
I used to live in one of those flats in your picture called Old Greenside it’s one of the ones with a middle window with smaller ones each side there Is washing on the pulley Thanx for the memory
GREAT info , my mother was born in 5 Cuddy Lane. In 1926 Marion Jackson. Does anyone remember the family ?
My grandfather, Alex Shields lived at 129 Leith Street with his wife was Beckie.
Does anyone remember them?
info is good but i would like to know the name of the bar that was on the top balcony just as you entered of princes st
I mean The Registar Tap
See reply from Dienjte Van der Hor who remembers the bar. She says it was The Register Tap, which makes sense at it was right next to the General Registers of Scotland.
What a lovely surprise to find this site. I found an old photo of my mum, Jean Grozier and other workers taken when she worked at the Hendry’s Lemonade factory. and thought I would have a look to see if there was any info on it. My mum lived with her mother Maggie Grozier and her brother John and sister Cora in Cuddy lane. Not sure if my grandad Thomas Grozier was staying with them at the time. Grandad was a stone mason. Mum was born in 1918 and from the photograph she looks to be about 14/15 years old. I also remmber her telling me she worked at the Deep Sea. My mum met my dad Eddie Meyer at Fairleys. He was a merchant seaman. Mum is died in 2001.
Thanks for posting your comment Margaret. This Greenside page has stirred up so many memories from locals and it is great that we can document this for later generations. Let’s see if anyone out there remembers your mum
Hi Helen,
I was looking at your photo of the tabernacle.You saiyour grandad was born at nmber 24.Iused to attend the union of boy’s club,on the first landing.The main event was table tennis,.About 30 or 40 would play round the table,you were allowed three faults tillyou got down to the last 4,then it went to donkey .then the final best of 11.This produced afew rally good players There was also folms that cost 3p to sit on the wooden benches They alway’s seemed to be showing king solomans mines.There was man who lived u8pstairs called Pie Ramsay.Whowould go away every weekend on his bike to the youth hostels.I think he worked on the railway’s.Doe’s anybody remember the old woman who sat opposite the church in all weathers with her wind up gramophone.i
used to pass her on my way to school.
Helen,
Sorry i thought number 24 was on the right of Lady Glenorchy church. Not on the left of the tabernacle.Apologies i’ll need to check the pictures a wee bit more thoroughly
before commenting.
One of my great-great-great-great grandmothers, Agnes Crawford, the daughter of a man who ran a spices dealer on Castlehill, was living at 24 Greenside Place when she married my great-great-great-great grandfather William Taylor on the 9th April 1818. Her father continued to live at 24 Greenside Place, but the young couple lived at 6 Union St, and ran a grocer’s at 11 Union Place, before moving their grocery to 5 Baxter’s Place. They ran this grocery for 49 years. Nos 1-8 Baxter’s Place were at first a uniform row of houses, but no.s 4-8 were altered out front to turn them into shops. After my ancestor’s time, no.s 4 & 5 Baxter’s Place were converted into the Salon Picture House, as remembered by Barbara Guthrie.
Thank you for your very interesting comment. It is great to know about your own family’s history with greenside and of course 24 in particular. You have obviously done a lot of research into your roots and your family. It looks like your family were very much a part of the history of the streets and i would love to include a bit about them if you would approve
Thanks for your informative article. I am doing my family tree and any information I can get I am most thankful for. My great, great grandparents, John and Jane Thomson Thompson lived at No 7 Greenside Row this information was from 1851 Census they had children Ellen, Harriet, John and Alexander – my GGGD. Alexander married Margaret Adams McDonald on 7th March 1873 in North Leith. My grandmother Sarah Camilia Hill Thompson was born on 13 June 1884 while they were living at 9 Dock Place, Leith. Alexander Thompson was a Merchant Seaman. I’ll will be in Edinburgh in May and am hoping to retrace the steps of my ancestors.
Good luck with your searches. The archives in Edinburgh charge only £15 from 9-16.30 every day. You can take a memory stick with you and they charge 30p for each saved search. You need a bit of luck of course with these Scottish names, McDonald and Thompson are not uncommon here. But save as much as you can and try and put the jigsaw puzzle together when you have time back at home
A very interesting article that brought back many memories.
My late father John Fitzpatrick was the postman for Leith Street and Greenside and could probably have given you much information on the area. He was on that Walk from the 1930’s probably until the early 50’s when because of the onset of Parkinson’s Disease caused him to have to become a sorter in the GPO.
It must have been one of the toughest walks in Edinburgh with the Greenside temements to cope with.
He got that Walk by choice. We lived in Annandale street so at the end of his first delivery he was home for breakfast. After the second delivery he was home for lunch and early home after the third delivery.
To me the perk of his job was us getting into the Salon and Playhouse “On the nod”
One correction is that the Imperial was a hotel at that time and not a night spot. I used to sometimes get taken there with a family friend to meetings of the Magic Circle where Scottish Magicians demonstrated their skills.
For a while my wife worked in Simpsons tobacconists opposite the Imperial. When the American fleet was in she used to come home amazed at how often some ladies would go into the hotel with a sailor on their arm.
Probably in the 1920’s my Granny was a cook at Fairleys. She left after Mrs Fairley refused her a rise in wages and told her to do what he other girls did band sell her body.
What an interesting comment Derek. I am sure that your dad would have known everything and everybody. What a shame that he is not here now to share his memories. They would everything that we are looking for really. He would have known all the local gossip.
And the tenements of course were eight or so high. IF You count them from the photograph from Calton Hill you can see what I mean. He must have been so very fit. I will insert a photo of him if you want to send to me direct quilietti@blueyonder.co.uk will get it to my e.mail box.
Thank you so very much for sharing this and I did not know about the Magic Circle. My cousin was a magician but he was not born until the 50s.
Excellent website, well done to the Quilietti family for the exhaustive research. I found your page whilst trying to find information on my grandfather Eugenio D’Agostino’s restaurant THE ROYAL CAFE which after the war became Miller’s Radio Shop and is now part of the John Lewis store. His brother John D’Agostino has the ALFRESCO which was I think beside Fairley’s.
If you have any information I’d hugely appreciate it. The Deep Sea Fish Restaurant was owned by my Grandmother’s nephew Michael Crolla.
Best wishes
BERT (UMBERTO) D’AGOSTINO (AGE 73)
Thanks for your kind comment Bert. Your family history is of course linked with many of the Italian immigrants from the turn of the century and I am sure we have connections somewhere back there. These two Cafe’s are part of the Greenside history and deserve to have their own dedicated page with your permission and help of course.
I would love to help in your family quest. Helen
My fathers family lived at greenside. My grandfather was Irish his name was James Martin my grandmother was a Scots lass Elizabeth( maiden name Kemp) . They had 6 children who survived Mima/Margaret/Joe/Richard(Dick)/Elizabeth ( Betty) and William (Bill)…I think they had 3 others who passed at a young age.
My Grandfather died in 1949 and Grandmother finished raising the family by herself and eventually moved to Broomhouse.
Mima was matron at childrens hospital in Stirling
Margaret was a nurse and raised 2 kids in Edinburgh
Dick was in airforce then a master printer and finally worked for tourism and trade…was given an M.B.E. about 1990
Bill moved to Canada and raised 3 kids whilst working for the TTC.
Joe joined up in 1939 at 14 and was a cabin boy going through battle of atlantic/murmansk convoys and battle of pacific eventualy went into bomber command as sergeant tail gunner in lancs going over Norway. He became a radio officer and a radar technician and from there was all over the world doing things most folks can only dream of… whilst getting married 3 times and having first one then another 3 kids of his own and finally raising 4 he adopted.
Joe died in 1992
Mima died in late 1990’s
Betty also died in the 1990’s
Dick passed in 2012.
Margaret early in 2013
Bill in 2011 ( His ashes were scattered on the Calton Hill as requested)
Now we the descendants are all over the world from Scotland and England to Canada, the U.S. and South Africa
All of this began in Greenside and I am pleased to see something commemorating the place and its people.
Thank You.
J.R. (Dick ) Martin and family Canada. (Eldest son of Joe Martin).
Thanks for your comment Dick which I will now approve and add to the ever growing history of this part of the City. Your own family history is like so many others who came from the area and spreading throughout the world. Perhaps someone out there will remember the Martins from Greenside and be in touch via this page. Thanks again. I could add a photo if you care to send me one via quilietti@blueyonder.co.uk. Helen
Hi you have a photograph of St James Place above. Our family lived at number 6 St James Place from about 1946/7 till the street was demolished. We were rehoused by the then Corporation to a new flat at Muirhouse.
Hi Jim,
My father was jimmy and his brothers were John and Henry, my sister and I used to be lookouts sometimes when my dad played football and some of the men used to run into my Granny’s house 6 Simpsons Court when the police came my granny was Maggie Watt
Hi Cathy,
I remember your dad very well..He was the the most elegant player in the street.
Your uncle John ,was a good friend of my brother They used to frequent mc lauchlans
snooker hall,betwen visits to powderhall dogs.Nice to hear from you.
I knew a Millie Omand, she worked at the Sandeman Whiskey Bond at Nottingham Place, Which no longer exists
FOR WHAT IT IS WORTH I SEEM TO REMBER ALAN FAIRLY DROVE A CORDz SPORTS CAR ABOUT 1946..