Around Edinburgh - 49th Edinburgh Boys' Brigade Company, 1905-06

49th Edinburgh Boys' Brigade

1905-1906

This photograph of the 49th Edinburgh Boys Brigade was taken in 1905 or 1906. The gates look quite distinctive, but where are they?

Phil Wilson, who owns this photograph tells me:

"The 49th Edinburgh Boys' Brigade Company operated out of the St Giles/Canongate area of Edinburgh. The Company was disbanded in 1910."

Where was this photo taken?

More than one person, including Arthur G R Richardson (below) has suggested that this looks like the entrance to Inverleith Park or the Botanical Gardens.

However, the gates on the photograph don't seem to match what is there now. Perhaps the small building beside the gates may give a clue.

Thank you to Arthur G R Sutherland, now living in York, for sending the following comments.

Arthur wrote:

Four Possibilities

"Four possibilities exist with regard to the 49th group photo. I wasn't to sure about the Inverleith possibility as I was working from memory. Therefore possibilities are:

1) It is still the Botanics or Inverleith as the appearance of the gates could have changed several time since that photograph was taken.

2) A large park in the Saughton / Balgreen area may be the location, which I am not so well acquainted with but I believe there was a big exhibition there at around the time this photo was taken, and the company may have been taken to see it.

That sounds like an interesting possibility. It was the 'Scottish National Exhibition' that was held in Saughton Park in 1908.

However, I visited Saughton Park today and none of the gates or gate posts in the park now seem to match those on the photograph

- Peter Stubbs: May 23, 2006.

3) It is not in Edinburgh at all as the company may have been taking part in a competition in another town.

4) The photo is posed against a backdrop."

Royal Botanic Gardens, Edinburgh?

Comment 1

I have photographed the West Gates of the Royal Botanic Gardens, in Arboretum Place, Edinburgh, opposite the entrance to Inverleith Park.

I found that neither the gate posts nor the railings now match those in the photograph above, and that the building on the left in the picture has vanished.

However Robert A Boyter, the Development & Training Officer for Edinburgh, Leith & District Battalion, The Boys' Brigade tells me:

The Photograph

"I have looked at the picture and it matches one we have. It was taken in October 1905 and is the entrance to the Royal Botanical Gardens."

Thank you, also, to Robert A Boyter for providing these details of the 49th, in the early 1900s, taken from 'Pill Box and Service Cap' by J B Barclay.

49th Edinburgh Boys' Brigade Company

"Another company formed by a student missionary society was the Edinburgh University Missionary Association Company which began in 1904, meeting in Buccleuch Parish Church hall.

It was transferred and re-enrolled for the Edinburgh University Settlement Association in 1907 and met in the Settlement's buildings at Surgeons' Square.

In October 1909, Sergeant Robert McD Butchard was awarded the BB Cross for Heroism for saving life from drowning. In 1910 the Company was disbanded after all the Officers resigned."

Robert A Boyter, Edinburgh: September 22, 2006

Phil Wilson, who supplied this photo, responded:

"Quite fascinating. I notice the Company had Missionary Work in its background, which might explain the several coloured boys in the troop."

Phil Wilson, Aberdeen: September 25, 2006

Royal Botanic Gardens, Edinburgh?

Comment 2

The following message, received on September 25, 2006, again raises the question of where this photograph was taken.

Shauna Hay, Press & Marketing Office, Royal Botanic Gardens writes:

The Photograph

"I don’t think it is the Garden. I wonder, by the avenue of trees, if it might be Inverleith Park? Good luck in your quest!"

It may well be Inverleith Park, possibly the east gate to the park, directly opposite the west gate to the Royal Botanic Gardens.

None of the gates to Inverleith Park now match those in the picture, and there is no building to the left of any of them. But there may well have been changes in the past century. So some further research is needed.