Local knowledge - Granton, Edinburgh

[BarbR]

My great grandparents were married in 1909 at 33 East Cottages, Granton, Edinburgh. My sister has managed to find East Cottages off Lower Granton Road, but they start with the Wardie Hotel at number 110. Does anyone know if those prior to this have been domolished or if they were renumbered at some point? Just curious

Thanks
Barbara

[AndrewP]

Hi Barbara,

I've had a look at a couple of maps of the area comparing them to the 1881 census.

--> click here <--

On that map, zoom in near the left side, halfway up, and you will find Granton Cottages. My feeling is that these are East Cottages, Granton by another name. At the east end of these cottages is Wardie Square, followed by the Wardie Hotel. My feeling is that your sister has found the 110 at the hotel from this map or similar. That is not number 110 in Lower Granton Road. That is a parcel of land, numbered 1, which is .110 acres in size.

The 1881 census inplies that in Cramond Registration District (679), Enumeration District 1 started at the parish boundary at Wardie Square, taking in 1-18 Wardie Square, followed by 1-31 East Cottages. 24 and 25 East Cottages are listed as the Boys School and the Girls School. These can be seen on the maps at http://www.nls.uk/digitallibrary/map/to ... _2_nw.html if you click on sheets 4, 9 and 10. As they seem to be numbered westwards from Wardie Square, the inplication is that number 33 that you are asking about is at the west end, nearest Granton Square.

I am not often over at that side of town, but as I recall, there is a long row of brick-built houses that may well be these cottages. Here is an online postcard showing East Cottages, Lower Granton Road.

--> click here <--

The houses that I have in mind are in the distance of that picture. Or a better, more recent view at
--> click here <--

See also
--> click here <--

All the best,

Andrew Paterson

[BarbR]

Thank you Andrew,
This is very helpful and informative!
Much obliged.

barbara

[BarbR]

Andrew,
I showed your reply to my sister in Edinburgh she says:

"No 110 starts just after Wardie Hotel and goes up towards Granton square so 33 would be back towards Newhaven"

Does this make any sense to you? She got the 110 from actually going to Granton to look for 33 East Cottages for me.

Anyway, still appreciate all the links and the time you spent looking it all up for me


Barbara

[AndrewP]

Hi Barbara,

I've had a look at the City of Edinburgh Council's Planning Department website which shows close-up maps of the whole of Edinburgh. The buildings in Lower Granton Road, westwards from the Wardie hotel to Granton Square are:

102 Lower Granton Road - The Wardie Hotel
110-112 Lower Granton Road - before Wardie Square
113-118 Lower Granton Road - betweem the two sides of Wardie Square
119-139 Lower Granton Road
140-141 Lower Granton Road - (former school)
142-147 Lower Granton Road
148-151 Lower Granton Road - (looks like modern flats)
153-161 Lower Granton Road - (looks like commercial premises)

119-147 are the ones that I see as East Cottages, now renumbered as part of Lower Granton Road.

All the best,

Andrew Paterson

[Thrall]

Hi Andrew, and thank you for the pictures of Granton Harbour; takes me back over forty years, to teaching myself and others to sail in the East Harbour. Reminds me of reports I read recently of emigrants from Iceland at the end of the nineteenth century who landed first on foreign soil at Granton, were then loaded onto trains which took them through amazing (for them) town and country to Scotland Street where the steep tunnel began and trains were winched up for a mile or so to Waverley Station, which was described as being an immense building, the largest ever seen, before hurtling through to Glasgow and another long difficult sailing to Canada, the promised land.

Sorry, I tend to diverge,

Thrall

[StewL]

Diverge away Thrall

[DavidWW]

Diverge away Thrall

Indeed

If I had a £ - pound - for every time I've read stories of N American researchers being unable to find the record of their ancestors' immigration to the US on the basis of the "obvious" port of departure, I'd have a good few more pounds in the bank

The fundamental point to realise here, - there's another recent thread here in relation to UK to Australia, - is that it's the final port of departure that more often appears in the indexes.

Virtually every country's emigrants at some time or another travelled via English ports, including many Scots who travelled on a boat that left the Clyde but then called in at Liverpool or Belfast, or travelled by a small ship or rail to such "departure" ports.

Many central Europeans travelled via Copenhagen or Hamburg and other German ports. (Have a Google for the SS Norge disaster in 1905 which predated the RMS Titanic, and, but for which, the Titanic wouldn't have had the number of lifeboats that it did, even if that number was still inadequate.)

Have a look at the map of Europe to work out the possible ports of departure, taking into account local possible travel via ferry and rail, never mind even long distance travel by rail !!, and examples such as the above, - e.g. from central Europe to a Channel port, across to England by channel ferry, train to Liverpool, and, finally, the ship to N America !!

David

[Thrall]

I´ve often wondered at the mortality rate of those optimistic souls emigrating to far places in the nineteenth century. They seemed to have been herded aboard ships and kept in conditions we would barely allow animals to have to thole these days. Seasickness and infectious diseases would not have made life any better, and perhaps little incentive for captain and crews to make life more tolerable on board, with the vast majority sailing "steerage" to reduce cost.

Ships sank, or were lost by navigational error, witness the fate, similar to the Norge, of the 350 men, women and children who lost their lives in the wreck of the three masted "Annie Jane" on Vatersay south of Barra, out of 450 who left Liverpool for the New World in 1853. The list of such tragedies is long.

Sobering indeed.

Thrall

[BarbR]

For anyone local that is interested in old Granton I hear on the grapevine that there is to be an exhibit at the Starbank Inn on Saturday Jan 29 with photographs and memorabilia etc. Too bad I'm so far away

Kind regards
Barbara