Leith is usually thought of as the port or dock area of Edinburgh. It was not,
however, part of Edinburgh until 1920. Between 1833 and 1920 Leith was an independent
burgh. Before that Edinburgh town council was able to control Leith through being
the feudal superior of the land there. Leith history is full of examples of
how Leithers tried, often successfully, to evade those controls.
In mediaeval days neither North nor South Leith had a parish church. South
Leith was in the parish of Restalrig -quite a long walk for Leithers going to
church. Restalrig was owned by a family called "de Lestalric". Their
estates eventually passed to a family called Logan and they were responsible
for passing control over to Edinburgh. The people on the village of North Leith
were in the Parish of Holyrood - again a long way to go to church!
Below we have set out some of the significant events in the history of Leith
from mediaeval times to the present date.
| 80 | Agricola passes through Leith on his way from Inveresk to Cramond |
| 211 | The Romans finally leave the Leith district |
| 1128 | David I founds the Abbey of Holyrood and gives it the lands of what is now North Leith. At the same time he gave the lands of Restalrig, which included what is now South Leith, to a Norman knight who came north with him and took the name of that district.
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| 1296 | The capture and annexation of Berwick upon Tweed by the English cut off South East Scotland from what had been its main port for foreign trade. This opened the way for Leith to take its place. |
| 1296 | From 1296 to 1314 Leith occupied by English troops.
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| 1329 | King Robert the Bruce gave to Edinburgh his harbour at Leith and access to it. This is the start of the process under which Edinburgh took control of Leith. |
| 1380 | The Incorporation of Master Mariners were granted the right (by Robert II) to levy duty called "Prime Gilt". (12d on each ton of goods landed at Leith). This money was used for the relief of the sick, poor and widows of mariners as well as for aged mariners. |
| 1398 | Sir Robert Logan sold the surperiority of land at The Shore to Edinburgh. This meant that Edinburgh now had further access to the harbour and was able to control trade in Leith. |
| 1430 | The Preceptory of St Anthony founded by Sir Robert Logan.
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| 1434 | The King's Wark was built on the orders of James I as a combined warehouse and arsenal. The original King's Wark was a tower house on the same site as the present building. |
| 1483 | St Mary's Church (later South Leith Parish Church) was built by the Trades Incorporations (Guilds) of Leith. It was not originally a parish church but Leithers no longer needed to make the long walk to Restalrig on Sundays and Holy Days. |
| 1486 | The first bridge across the Water of Leith was built by Abbot Ballantyne of the Abbey of Holyrood. |
| 1493 | St Ninian's Church (later the first North Leith Church) was built by Robert Ballantyne, Abbot of Holyrood. St Ninian's manse and belfry in Quayside Street are the oldest buildings to survive in Leith. |
| 1544 | An English army under the Earl of Hertford sacked Leith. This was part of an attempt by King Henry VIII to bring about the marriage of his son, later King Edward VI, and the infant Mary Queen of Scots - often referred to as the "Rough Wooing". |
| 1547 | Scots army defeated at the Battle of Pinkie. Leith sacked again by Hertfort,now Duke of Somerset and Lord Protector of England (Regent for Edward VI) |
| 1548 | Work on fortifying Leith was begun. |
| 1555 | Trinity House of Leith built in the Kirkgate by the Incorporation of Masters and Mariners. |
| 1559 | Additions to the fortifications were made and Leith became a walled town with fortifications based on the latest Italian designs. These would have looked rather similar to the ramparts that can still be seen at Berwick uopn Tweed.
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| 1560 | The Seige of Leith took place. Mary of Guise, acting as Regent for her daughter, Mary, Queen of Scots, and her French troops were beseiged by an English army and Scottish Reformation Lords.
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| 1560 | The Reformation took place in Scotland. St Mary's Church, which had been badly damaged in the seige, became the church of South Leith Parish. Now it was the people of Restalrig who had to make a long walk to attend church - in Leith. |
| 1561 | Mary, Queen of Scots returned to Scotland from France and landed at Leith. She arrived earlier than expected and no one was there to greet her. She was entertained in the house of Andrew Lamb while news of her arrival was sent to Edinburgh. The present Lamb's House in Water Close, off Burgess Street is not the building where she was entertained but is a very fine example of an early 17th century merchant's house. |
| 1589 | King James VI and Princess Anne of Denmark were married by David Lindsay, Minister of South Leith at a ceremony in Christiana (now Oslo) in Norway. They returned to Scotland landing at Leith in May 1590. |
| 1606 | North Leith becomes a parish |
| 1609 | South Leith becomes a parish.
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| 1616 | Whaling begins from Leith to Newfounland |
| 1638 | The National Covenant is signed in North and South Leith. |
| 1645 | The last and worst outbreak of plague in Edinburgh and Leith. Over 2,700 people in the parish of South Leith died - about three quarters of the population. |
| 1649 | Work began on a line of defences stretching from Edinburgh to Leith. This later became Leith Walk. General Leslie and the Scots army sucessfully defended this line for three weeks against the forces of Oliver Cromwell. After the defeat of the Scots at the Battle of Dunbar both Edinburgh and Leith surrendered to Cromwell. |
| 1655 | General Monck built The Citadel in North Leith for Cromwell. An arched gateway in Dock Street is all that remains of this once impressive building. |
| 1686 | A windmill was built at The Shore by Robert Mylne and he also constructed a new harbour. |
| c1690 | The King's Wark was destroyed by fire. The present tenement was erected shortly afterwards and given the same name.
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| 1698 | The first four ships of the fated Darien Expedition sailed from Leith.
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| 1742 | George Carkettle, grave-maker, was accused of selling bodies to anatomists. A mob broke into the churchyard and dug open a grave. |
| 1744 | The worlds first "Rules for Golf" were written for a tournament played on Leith Links. |
| 1754 | Leith gets her water supply from Lochend |
| 1771 | Permission was given for the construction of Leith's first dry dock. |
| 1773 | Robert Fergusson wrote his famous poem "Leith Races" The races were held annually on Leith Sands until they were moved to Musselburgh. |
| 1774 | A second dry dock was constructed. |
| 1778 | Abbot Ballantynes old stone bridge was demolished and replaced by a drawbridge, further downstream. This enabled ships to berth further upstream. |
| 1779 | Leith was threated by a fleet led by John Paul Jones, "Father of the United States Navy" Adverse weather conditions eventually forced him to withdraw. A Fort, manned by the Royal Artillery, was then constructed in Nort leith to defend Leith against future attacks. |
| 1792 | Leith Banking Company was set up. |
| 1799 | Plans were drawn up and approved for the construction of Leith's first wet docks. |
| 1805 | The sails of the windmill and the domed roof were removed and it was converted into a signal tower. Flag signals were used to tell incoming ships the depth of the water at the harbour bar. |
| 1806 | The Old East Dock was opened. |
| 1809 | A Martello Tower was built for the defence of Leith during the Napoleonic Wars. It is now on reclaimed land at LeithDocks. |
| 1812 | The new Custom House was built in Commercial Street. |
| 1813 | The first steamship to enter Leith, The Comet, ran excursions between Leith and Bo'ness. Single fare 7/6d (35 1/2p) |
| 1813 | Leith Commercial List published for the first time. |
| 1816 | North Leith Church moved from the old St Ninian's to a new church in Madeira Street. This was intended as the centrepiece for a Leith "New Town" |
| 1816 | The present building bearing the name Trinity House was erected to replace the earlier building. |
| 1816 | Leith Races moved to Musselburgh. |
| 1817 | The Old West Dock was opened. |
| 1818 | Junction Bridge was constructed. This was part of an ambitious plan to link the new docks to both Ferry Road and Leith Walk without having to go through the narrow streets of old Leith. |
| 1821 | A regular steamship service from Leith to london was started with sailings three times a week. |
| 1822 | The last execution for piracy took place on Leith Sands. |
| 1822 | George IV landed at The Shore. He was the first monarch since Charles II to visit Scotland. |
| 1825 | Junction Road Church (now St Thomas' Junction Road Church of Scotland) was opened. This was one of the first buildings to be erected on Great Junction Street and originally stood isolated in the fields. |
| 1826 | The docks are put under the control of the Dock Commission. |
| 1827 | The Town Hall in Charlotte Street is built. |
| 1833 | Leith becomes an independent burgh with its own Town Council. |
| 1833 | Leith gets its first public transport service in the form of horse buses. |
| 1837 | Leith shipbuilders, Robert Menzies & Sons, built the steamship "Sirius". This became the first steamship to cross the Atlantic. |
| 1838 | Petty customs of Leith were transferred from Edinburgh to Leith. The merk per ton was abolished (the merk was worth 1s 1 1/2d [5 1/2p]). |
| 1838 | The railway comes to Leith in the form of a branch of the Edinburgh & Dalkeith Railway (later absorbed into the North British Railway Company). It ran from Niddrie to a station in Constitution Street. |
| 1839 | Dr Bell's School was opened in Great Junction Street.
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| 1840 | Leith Chamber of Commerce was instituted. |
| 1842 | Whaling ceased in Leith |
| 1846 | Hawthorn's Engineering Works opened on a site near Junction Bridge.
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| 1846 | The Edinburgh. Leith and Granton Railway (later absorbed into the North British railway Company) opened its Leith branch. It passed under Junction Bridge and then through a tunnel under Coburg Street to a terminus on Commercial Street. (Citadel Station) |
| 1847 | South Leith Parish Church was substantially rebuilt. The hammerbeam roof was based a design from a church in St Petersburg. |
| 1850 | South Leith Poorhouse was opened in Great Junction Street on the site now occupied by Taylor Gardens. |
| 1852 | Leith Hospital was opened in Mill Lane. |
| 1852 | Victoria Dock was opened to accomodate the larger steamships then in use. |
| 1862 | "Prime Gilt" was abolished and Trinity House had then to depend on income from propoerty to meet pension payments. |
| 1863 | North Leith Poorhouse built in North Junction Street. |
| 1869 | Junction Bridge Station opened |
| 1869 | Albert Dock opened |
| 1872 | Horse tram services began in Leith. |
| 1874 | The Vistoria Swing Bridge was completed. At the time it was the largest swing bridge in the United Kingdom. |
| 1881 | The Edinburgh Dock was opened. |
| 1885 | The Sailors' Home (now the Malmaison Hotel) was opened. |
| 1885 | The Henderson Street Improvement Scheme was launched. It provided a new street running from Great Junction Street to the Shore and involved the demolition of many appalling slums. |
| 1903 | Central Station was opened at the foot of Leith Walk. |
| 1904 | The Imperial Dock opened. |
| 1905 | An elctric tram system opened in Leith. Through journeys to Edinburgh were not possible however because Edinburgh had opted to install a cable tramway system. Passengers had to change at Pilrig. |
| 1907 | Both North and South Leith Poorhouses were closed and their operations moved to a new poorhouse at Seafield (later the Eastern General Hospital). This was the last poorhouse to be built in Scotland. |
| 1908 | Christian Salvesen & Co of Leith began whaling operations in the Antarctic. By 1911 their fleet was the largest whaling fleet in the world. |
| 1911 | Leith Provident Co-op building opened at 170-174 Great Junction Street. |
| 1913 | Leith Dockers strike for seven and a half weeks. |
| 1919 | David Kilpatrick School opened on the site in North Junction Street previously occupied by the North Leith Poorhouse. |
| 1920 | Leith was (reluctantly) amalgamated with Edinburgh - ending 87 years of independent existence. |
| 1938 | The State Cinema was opened on the site previously occupied by Hawthorn's Engineering Works. |
| 1947 | Passenger services from Junction Road Station were withdrawn. |
| 1963 | Telectra House was built in Great Junction Street by Leith Provident Co-operative Society |
| 1968 | Freight services running on the line along the Water of Leith were withdrawn and the lines uplifted. |
| 1983 | The shipyard of Henry Robb Ltd closed. This brought an end to over 600 years of shipbuilding in Leith. |
| 1992 | Forth Ports Authority became Forth Ports plc. |
| 1995 | The Scottish Office (later the Scottish Executive and now the Scottish Parlaiment) moved to a new building at Victoria Quay.
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| 1998 | The former Royal Yacht "Britannia", launched in 1953, arrived at Leith - her final destination. |
| 2003 | Telectra House demolished and site re-developed for flats. |