Leith Local History Society Articles
1742 - Trouble in the Kirkyard
In 1742 many people in South Leith had their suspicions about George Carkettle the grave-maker. They thought that he was selling bodies to anatomists.
This came to a head one July evening when Robert Henderson, a Custom House porter, and his wif .......
Leith People from the Past
The Leith Newspapers from the 19th and early 20th centuries contain lots of “potted biographies” of Leith people. Some of these were published when the person concerned was elected to the Town Council, the School Board or some other local body. The .......
American Hospital in Leith in 1918
For a few months in 1918 there was an American Naval Hospital in Leith. It was located at the Leith Poor House - better known to later generations as the Eastern General Hospital.
The Leith Poor House had earlier in the First World War been requi .......
A Scandinavian Connection
In North Junction Street, wedged between a tenement and Ferrylee Nursing Home, stands a small, but significant, building still referred to by many Leithers as The Scandinavian Church. In 1863 a graduate of divinity - Johan Cordt Harmens - came to Ed .......
Old Cannon Found in Junction Place
In August this year two bollards embedded in concrete outside the Victoria Baths were found to be cannon. They are believed to date from the late 18th or early 19th centuries and to have some connection with the old Leith Fort.
Leith Fort was bui .......