Some historic Edinburgh dates in July

July 1, 2023 6:34 am

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The Membership Secretary of the Old Edinburgh Club takes a look back at some of the more notable happenings in Edinburgh during the month of July over the centuries.

1st	In 1505, the kirkmaster and brethren of the surgeons and barbers (Incorporation of Barbers and Surgeons) presented a formal request to the provost, bailies, and council that they should be granted suitable privileges, rules, and statutes; the organisation is now known as the Royal College of Surgeons of Edinburgh. And in 1999, Queen Elizabeth officially opened the new Scottish Parliament in its temporary home in the Assembly Hall on The Mound.
2nd	In 1919, in the early hours, the biggest airship in Britain (the 643ft-long R34) left its hangar at the airfield at East Fortune, took off and headed west; after a journey of four and a half days that encountered poor weather and engine problems the dirigible landed in the USA completing the first east-to-west aerial crossing of the Atlantic.
4th	In 1505, the provost, bailies, and council announced that they had given Thomas Glendunwyne the post of burgh Bellman with the task of ensuring the High Street was kept clean. And in 1785, James Hutton, geologist, publicly read an abstract of his theory of uniformitarianism for the first time at the meeting of the Royal Society of Edinburgh. In 1884, the Theatre Royal burnt down.
5th	In 1560, the Treaty of Edinburgh (also known as the Treaty of Leith) was signed, the purpose being that French and English troops would withdraw from Scotland; and Mary and François were to agree to give up any claim to the English crown and recognize Elizabeth as the rightful Queen. And in 1820, scientist William John Macquorn Rankine was born in Edinburgh; Rankine specialised in thermodynamics and his detailed knowledge of the workings of steam engines was sparked by work he carried out as a teenager during study breaks, at the Edinburgh and Dalkeith Railway where his father worked. Also in 1847, the final run of the Edinburgh to London mail coach took place; henceforth mail would travel by train.
7th	In 1548, the Treaty of Haddington was signed between the French and the Scots at the Nunnery of Haddington in which Mary was betrothed to the Dauphin of France. And in 1675, the council granted to Mr James Sunderland, a herbalist, a nineteen-year tenancy of the yard and gardener’s house at Trinity College with the obligation that he keep the roof and yard walls in good repair.
8th	In 1823, the death of Sir Henry Raeburn at his house in St Bernard’s, Stockbridge, was announced.
9th	In 1940, the first major air raid on Edinburgh began with five 250-pound bombs and six incendiaries falling near Craigmillar Castle, a 1,000-pound bomb fell beside Albert Dock, Newhaven, three bombs fell on railway lines at Leith and 48 incendiaries at Seafield Road; 38 civilians were injured and 8 died.
10th	In 1633, the sailing ship “Blessing of Burntisland” carrying gold, jewellery, and silver plate belonging to King Charles I, sank in the Firth of Forth.
12th	In 1698, a fleet of five ships set sail from the Port of Leith for the Isthmus of Darien in Panama; the ships were launching the Darien Scheme, a project which aimed to establish a Scottish overseas colony in the New World to rival those of England and Spain; the scheme was to prove a disaster and caused the ruin of dozens of businessmen and landowners who had invested in the project; the main consequence was the subsequent Union between Scotland and England. And in 1838, the Reverend John Jamieson, lexicographer, philologist, and antiquary, died in a house in George Square.
14th	In 1798, the United States’ Consulate opened in Edinburgh. And in 1927, the Scottish National War Memorial opened in Edinburgh Castle.
15th	In 1693, Mr James Sutherland, keeper of the Physic Garden, submitted a petition to the council explaining that he had paid his rent punctually but over the past 2 years the Gardener’s House has become completely dilapidated. And in 1889, the National Portrait Gallery for Scotland opened in Edinburgh; the picture is of a couple of the sculpted figures on the exterior.
16th	In 1859, the Prince of Wales arrived in Edinburgh to prepare for his entrance to Oxford. And in 1901, at around 12.30, an ear-splitting explosion broke out at the Tod Brothers flour mill in Baker’s Place, Stockbridge, leaving a trail of devastation in its wake and claiming the lives of six people. Also in 1970, the 13th Commonwealth Games opened in Edinburgh.
17th	In 1790, Scottish economist Adam Smith died in Edinburgh at the age of 67; Smith is regarded as one of the founding fathers of philosophy and economics; his portrait has featured on both Scottish and English banknotes and he is commemorated by a statue at St Giles Cathedral.
18th	In 1898, actor John Stuart was born in Edinburgh; he appeared in more than 150 films including The Loves of Mary Queen of Scots (1923), The Hound of the Baskervilles (1932), Escape From Broadmoor (1948), Sink the Bismarck (1960), and Superman (1978). And in 1940, bombs fell on Leith and Newhaven.
19th	In 1911, the Foundation Stone of the Usher Hall was laid.
22nd	In 1913, Edinburgh Zoo opened for the first time. And in 1940, more bombs fell on Leith and Newhaven.
23rd	In 1637, the Wars of the Three Kingdoms (often referred to as the English Civil War) began by footstools being thrown at the preacher in St Giles in Edinburgh in protest against the new prayerbook proposed by Charles I; tradition has it that Jenny Geddes shouted “Ye daur say Mass in ma lug!” and threw her chair at the pulpit.
24th	In 1513, James IV mustered part of his army South of Edinburgh on Burgh Muir (today its remains include the Meadows and Bruntsfield Links) before heading for the Battle of Flodden.
27th	In 1760, the Scottish School of Design was founded in Edinburgh; it later became the Royal Institution and finally the Royal Scottish Academy.
29th	In 1565, the widowed Mary, Queen of Scots, married Henry Stuart, Lord Darnley, Duke of Albany, at Holyrood Palace in Edinburgh, Scotland. And in 1767, the Town Council presented James Craig’s plan (see picture below) of Edinburgh’s New Town.
30th	In 1335, the Battle of Boroughmuir saw a body of Scots led by the Earl of Moray defeat an English force en route to join Edward III and his army at Perth; the English king had invaded two years earlier, marking the start of the Second War of Scottish Independence. And in 1496, Mr William Forbes, provost of the Collegiate Kirk of St Giles granted the land and chamber of the curate and the school below to the burgh in order to enable the city to enlarge the churchyard and parish burying-ground. Also in 1588, the Earl of Bothwell killed Sir William Stewart in Blackfriars Wynd.
31st	In 1871, the Emperor and Empress of Brazil, Dom Pedro II and Theresa Christina Maria, visited Edinburgh.