View to the west along Princes Street and to the Scott Monument from the East End of Princes Street

High Street

The Date?

Thank you to Jan Weijers, Netherlands for allowing me to reproduce this photo and other old photos of Edinburgh.

The photo above was taken by J Patrick. Would this have been John Patrick (1830-1923) or his son, James (b.1863)?

- John Patrick had photographic studios in Edinburgh,1884 to 1888
and possibly later.

- John Patrick & Son had a studio in Edinburgh from 1890 to 1895.

- John Patrick & Son had a studio in Edinburgh 1896 to 1912 .

- James Patrick had studios in Edinburgh, 1895 to 1907.

I've not yet fully researched the date of this photo, but it must have been taken in 1888 or later. (See 'Statue' paragraphs below.) Perhaps somebody else will be able to do a little research and let me know what they find.

Photos by

Inglis and Patrick

Here is a photo by Inglis, also of the Scott Monument, viewed from the East End of Princes Street. The Inglis photo is dated 1900.

Inglis - 1900

The roof garden lay-out looks similar in both photos, but the transport in the J Patrick photo looks as if it may be a few years earlier, possibly around 1890. i.e. about ten years before the NB hotel was built.

The Patrick photo appears to have been taken from a little lower, perhaps because the NB Hotel was taller than the buildings that it replaced.

I also see lamp posts on the pavement in the Patrick photo but not in the Inglis photo.

Question

Can anybody find more clues to help date the Patrick photo? In looking for clues, I recommend viewing this larger photo:

Sizes of Images on the Web Site

NOTE: The Inglis photo above is fairly small (at 480 pixels wide) I added it to the web site several years ago when not many people had broadband. At that time I was concerned about viewers having slow response times, so I was keeping the images on the site fairly small. If I can find the time, I'll find the original Inglis photos and make larger scans from them to add to the web site.

The scans of the Patrick photos being added to the site today (February 2011) are 640 and 1024 pixels wide.

The View

This view looks to the west along Princes Street.

- The Scott Monument in East Princes Street Gardens is in the centre of the photo.

- The roof of Waverley Market is in the foreground

- The National Galleries are to the left of the Scott Monument.

- The shops in Princes Street are to the right of the Scott Monument.

- Above the National Galleries is Edinburgh Castle, upper-left.