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Piershill
Between Edinburgh City Centre and
Portobello |
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1.
Piershill Barracks
Early 1800s |
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Thank you to David
Arathoon,
Canada, who has been researching his family history and who is
searching for more photos of the barracks. If you feel
you can help, please
e-mail me and I will pass on your message.
Thank you.
David gave me some
details of the travels of the 6th Inniskillin Dragoon Guards,
including the following:
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Birth at Piershill Barracks
"In the summer of 1808 the
6th Inniskilling Dragoons left York for Piershill Barracks,
Edinburgh. There they stayed until they embarked
at Port Patrick for Ireland in June 1809.
It appears my 3rd great great
grandfather was born at Piershill Barracks on 22 April
1809 when his father Lt Philip Glover was stationed there
briefly with the 6th Inniskillin Dragoons
I'm not
sure what the place was like for
Lieutenants and wives.
Do you know if they have apartments
for officers?
Philip Glover had married Launce
Campbell in 1800. She was a lady of a very good family
with close blood
ties to the Earls/ Dukes of Argyll.
She
was granddaughter of Neil Campbell, head of Glasgow
University, and daughter of Duncan Campbell,
1726-1803, the well known Hulk overseer of the Thames
prison system, who shipped convicts to Virginia and Sydney.
David Arathoon, Canada: 31 December 2005 + 4 January 2006
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If you have any
further details about the Dragoons and Piershill Barracks that you
would like me to pass on to David Arathoon, please
e-mail me. Thank you.
-
Peter Stubbs
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2.
Piershill Barracks
Early 1900s |
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Thank you to Annie
Smiles of Edinburgh for leaving the following message in the
EdinPhoto Guest Book:
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Did you live at Piershill Square
I used to live in the old Piershill Square,
West Barracks. Does anyone remember me or our family?
We have grown somewhat and had
a few deceased members, sadly. I would welcome any neighbours,
particularly Joyce Higgins, if you are still out there Joyce!
Annie Smiles, Edinburgh: 7 November 2005
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Messages for Annie Smiles
Hi Annie: I hope you read this!
1. I received a message from Joyce Higgins (Bremner)
attempting to contact you. Unfortunately, I don't have a note of your e-mail address.
Could you
e-mail me and let me know it, so that I can pass on Joyce's
message to you?
- Peter Stubbs
March 3, 2006.
2. I have now received an e-mail from somebody else hoping
to get in touch with you. The latest message comes from Viv
McKenzie. If you
e-mail me and let me know your e-mail address, I'll pass on
the Viv's contact details to you.
- Peter Stubbs March 5,
2006. |
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Update for Annie Smiles
Hi Annie: Thanks for passing your email address to me last
week. I'll now pass on the messages from Joyce Higgins
(Bremner) and Viv McKenzie to you.
- Peter Stubbs June 30,
2008. |
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3.
Piershill Barracks
Early 1900s (again) |
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Thank you to Sharon
Brown, Lincolnshire, England, whose grandfather was a
Corporal of Horse in 17th Lancers, stationed in Edinburgh in 1903
at Peirshill Barracks.
Sharon wrote:
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17th Lancers
"My grandfather seems to have
joined the Lancers twice! He was married in 1903 whilst in
Edinburgh and stationed at Piershill Barracks.
He then left and joined
Edinburgh city police until 1906. When he left the
police, he become a stevedore in Kent where he originated.
He enlisted again with the lancers in 1914 and was
discharged in 1919." |
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Wars
"As a child I can dimly remember
my grandfather talking about being in the S African War with
the 17th Lancers. His horse was called "Ginger".
17th Lancers
Portobello Beach
©
Somewhere in our family is a
picture of him on his charger but no-one admits to having it
although we all remember it as children. I shall now say
he's in your picture!
I also remembering him telling a
tale of when he was in
the Boer War of his friend taking his glass eye out,
spitting on it to remove the dust, giving it a polish and
replacing it!" |
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Family
"As a child this was very
interesting as you can imagine. I know his nine children
all survived infancy and were brought up in a 'two-up,
two-down' cottage in Gravesend. They kept out of his way
when possible due to his temper!
How things have changed." |
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Sharon Brown, Lincolnshire, England: 10 January
2006
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4.
Piershill Barracks
Mid-1800s |
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Thank you to Maureen
Brown who wrote:
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17th Lancers
"My great grandfather, William
Foulkes, served in the 5th Dragoon Guards. Whilst
posted at Piershill Barracks, he married my great
grandmother, Margaret Lumsden, in 1856.
It is so interesting being able
to follow his military career via the various Internet
sites.
William travelled to various
places, including the Crimean War, and later was posted to
Chapeltown Calvary Barracks in Leeds, Yorkshire. He
remained in the area until he died in 1908"
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Maureen Brown: March 17, 2008
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5.
Piershill Barracks
Mid-1900s |
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Thank you to Elizabeth Bell (nee Gall) who wrote:
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Barracks and Piershill
Square
"It was great to see the photo of
Piershill Barracks.
I lived all my life at Meadowbank until
leaving for Australia in 1958. My Father's foster-mother, with whom
we lived, had lived there when the barracks were still occupied and spoke
a bit of seeing the troopers returning there in the evening.
It must have been quite a sight,
seeing the troopers passing by.
Her tenement flat had been built about 1897.
Then, when she was a child, Edinburgh Corporation had built tenement
houses there, about 1932/3. They had followed the barracks layout.
That was good, for there were playgrounds in the squares, named Piershill
Square East and West, I think."
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Parsons Green Primary School
"My husband and I have just completed living
in Australia for 50 years last week. That's twice as long as we
lived in Edinburgh.
I went to Parsons
Green Primary School at Meadowbank, then to Broughton Senior Secondary
School, as it was called then, from 1945 to 1948. Parsons Green school
burned down not long after we arrived here in Australia.
My husband went to Leith Walk Primary and then
Bellevue, just around the corner from Broughton. |
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Elizabeth Bell (nee Gall), Australia, March 31, 2008
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6
Recollections by
James Morton-Robertson
Sevenoaks, Kent, England |
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Thank you to James
Morton-Robertson, for writing about living in Edinburgh, after he had
moved from Heriot Mount at Dumbiedykes, to Piershill.
James wrote: |
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Dancing and Walk
Home
"After we moved to Piershill, my dancing was
at the Plaza. I was always meeting girls who lived at the other side of
town and because the Sunday night busses stopped at midnight, I usually
had to walk home, many, many miles, usually through the King's Park. I
wouldn't do it now."
James Morton-Robertson, Sevenoaks, Kent, England:
August 11, 2009
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7
Recollections by
Janey Hinds |
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Janey Hinds left the following
message in the EdinPhoto guest book |
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Piershill Square
"I lived in Piershill Square East, in the
early 1960s with my mum, dad, two sisters and brother. I would just
like to say 'Hi' .
Could anyone who knew us or remembers us reply
to this message?"
Janey Hinds: Message posted in EdinPhoto guestbook:
March 21, 2010.
I don't have an email address for Janey, but you should be
able to leave a reply below the message that he posted in the guestbook on
March 21, 2010 |
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Recollections and Postcards from
Mike Kelly
Littlehampton, West Sussex, England |
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Thank you to Mike Kelly for
allowing me to reproduce some of his postcards of the 17th Lancers.
Mike is keen to find more postcards of the Regiment. He served with
the Regiment from his 17th birthday in June 1977 until December 1992. |
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Piershill Barracks
Please click on the thumbnail
images below to see a few postcards of the 17th Lancers:
- At Piershill Barracks
©
- Exercising on Portobello Beach
©
Acknowledgement: Mike Kelly, May 31, 2010 |
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More Postcards?
If you know of any more postcards of the 17th Lancers,
please email me, then I'll pass on your message to Mike Kelly.
Thank you.
Peter Stubbs: June 2, 2010 |
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