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South Bridge Act 1785
The South Bridge Act 1785 (25 Geo III c.28) was a public act of the United Kingdom Parliament concerning the South Bridge, for rebuilding or improving the University of Edinburgh, for enlarging the public markets, for lighting the said city, for providing an additional supply of water, for extending the royalty of the said city for levying an additional sum of money for statute labour in the middle district of the county of Edinburgh, to complete the mound and to erect a bridge between the road to Leith and Calton Hill across Calton Street. South Bridge Scheme The first specific proposal for a South Bridge was produced on 6 September 1775 with the publication of a pamphlet setting out heads of a Bill. The promoters were a Committee of Heritors of the Shire of Edinburgh, including Henry Dundas who acted as Chairman, and the Duke of Buccleuch. In 1784 the scheme for the South Bridge was revived and with it the hopes of rebuilding the College on the exiting site. Andrew Dalzel wr ...
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Henry Dundas, 1st Viscount Melville
Henry Dundas, 1st Viscount Melville, PC, FRSE (28 April 1742 – 28 May 1811), styled as Lord Melville from 1802, was the trusted lieutenant of British Prime Minister William Pitt and the most powerful politician in Scotland in the late 18th century. Dundas was instrumental in the encouragement of the Scottish Enlightenment, in the prosecution of the war against France, and in the expansion of British influence in India. Prime Minister Pitt appointed him Lord of Trade (1784–1786), Home Secretary (1791–1794), President of the Board of Control for Indian Affairs (1793–1801), Secretary at War (1794–1801) and First Lord of the Admiralty (1804–1805). His deft and almost total control of Scottish politics during a long period in which no monarch visited the country led to him being nicknamed "King Harry the Ninth", the "Grand Manager of Scotland" (a play on the masonic office of Grand Master of Scotland), the "Great Tyrant" and "The Uncrowned King of Scotland". He w ...
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United Kingdom Parliament
The Parliament of the United Kingdom is the supreme legislative body of the United Kingdom, the Crown Dependencies and the British Overseas Territories. It meets at the Palace of Westminster, London. It alone possesses legislative supremacy and thereby ultimate power over all other political bodies in the UK and the overseas territories. Parliament is bicameral but has three parts, consisting of the sovereign ( King-in-Parliament), the House of Lords, and the House of Commons (the primary chamber). In theory, power is officially vested in the King-in-Parliament. However, the Crown normally acts on the advice of the prime minister, and the powers of the House of Lords are limited to only delaying legislation; thus power is ''de facto'' vested in the House of Commons. The House of Commons is an elected chamber with elections to 650 single-member constituencies held at least every five years under the first-past-the-post system. By constitutional convention, all government m ...
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South Bridge, Edinburgh
South Bridge is a road bridge and street in Edinburgh, Scotland, between the High Street and Chambers Street/Infirmary Street. It extends to North Bridge at the north and Nicolson Street at the south, forming a level roadway over the steep valley scoured parallel to the High Street when the crag and tail landscape was formed. The Cowgate roadway along the bottom of the valley runs under the largest arch of the bridge. The South Bridge Act 1785 was passed in the House of Commons of the United Kingdom on 21 April 1785 and in 1789 taxes were raised to fund the South Bridge to a plan prepared by Robert Adam. The bridge was completed in 1788. It is constructed of nineteen arches, but is almost entirely enclosed by buildings on both sides, exposing only the largest arch where the street crosses the Cowgate. Below deck level are many buildings and vaults, the latter are now something of a tourist attraction. Most of the buildings on the deck level have separate entrances (and some ...
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University Of Edinburgh
The University of Edinburgh ( sco, University o Edinburgh, gd, Oilthigh Dhùn Èideann; abbreviated as ''Edin.'' in post-nominals) is a public research university based in Edinburgh, Scotland. Granted a royal charter by King James VI in 1582 and officially opened in 1583, it is one of Scotland's four ancient universities and the sixth-oldest university in continuous operation in the English-speaking world. The university played an important role in Edinburgh becoming a chief intellectual centre during the Scottish Enlightenment and contributed to the city being nicknamed the " Athens of the North." Edinburgh is ranked among the top universities in the United Kingdom and the world. Edinburgh is a member of several associations of research-intensive universities, including the Coimbra Group, League of European Research Universities, Russell Group, Una Europa, and Universitas 21. In the fiscal year ending 31 July 2021, it had a total income of £1.176 billion, of ...
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The Mound
The Mound is an artificial slope in central Edinburgh, Scotland, which connects Edinburgh's New Town, Edinburgh, New and Old Town, Edinburgh, Old Towns. It was formed by dumping around 1,501,000 cartloads of earth excavated from the foundations of the New Town into Nor Loch which was drained in 1765 and forms today's Princes Street Gardens. History The construction of the Earthen Mound, as it was originally called, was first proposed in 1783 by residents of the Lawnmarket to improve connection to Princes Street (which was then built only from St Andrew Square to Hanover Street) in correct anticipation of the need for such a new route. It was extended over the years until by 1830 it was macadamised and landscaped so that it appeared more or less complete. When the Edinburgh and Glasgow Railway was extended to Edinburgh Waverley railway station, Waverley station in 1846, tunnels were driven through the Mound to allow access east to west. Some of Edinburgh's most notable buildi ...
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Regent Bridge
Regent Bridge is a road bridge in Edinburgh, Scotland, where the A1 road enters the New Town from the east and passes over a hollow near Calton Hill. The bridge was built in the 19th century, in the neoclassical style as the medieval city was modernised and expanded to the north and east. History In the early nineteenth century, the inconvenient access to Edinburgh by the great London road had long been a subject of general regret. To enter the city from the south, the route ran through narrow and inconvenient streets, an approach that was considered unsuited to the general elegance of the place. In 1814, however, a magnificent entrance was commenced from Calton Hill to Princes Street over a deep ravine called Low Calton that was then occupied by old and ill-built streets. To connect Calton Hill with Princes Street, all these streets were swept away, and an elegant arch, called Regent Bridge, was thrown over the hollow, making the descent from Calton Hill into Princes St ...
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The Cowgate Arch Of George IV Bridge, Edinburgh
''The'' () is a grammatical article in English, denoting persons or things already mentioned, under discussion, implied or otherwise presumed familiar to listeners, readers, or speakers. It is the definite article in English. ''The'' is the most frequently used word in the English language; studies and analyses of texts have found it to account for seven percent of all printed English-language words. It is derived from gendered articles in Old English which combined in Middle English and now has a single form used with pronouns of any gender. The word can be used with both singular and plural nouns, and with a noun that starts with any letter. This is different from many other languages, which have different forms of the definite article for different genders or numbers. Pronunciation In most dialects, "the" is pronounced as (with the voiced dental fricative followed by a schwa) when followed by a consonant sound, and as (homophone of pronoun ''thee'') when followed by a v ...
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James Gregory (physician)
James Gregory FRSE FRCPE (January 17532 April 1821) was a Scottish physician and classicist. Early life and education The eldest son of John Gregory (1724–1773) and Elizabeth Forbes (died 1761), he was born in Aberdeen. He was educated at Aberdeen Grammar School, King's College, University of Aberdeen, the University of Edinburgh (MD 1774), the University of Oxford, and Leyden University. He accompanied his family moving to Edinburgh in 1764, and after going through the usual course of literary studies at that university, he was for a short time a student at Christ Church, Oxford. It was there probably that he acquired that taste for classical learning which afterwards distinguished him. He studied medicine at Edinburgh, and, after graduating doctor of medicine in 1774, spent the greater part of the next two years in Leiden, Paris, and in Italy. Medicine in Edinburgh Shortly after his return to Scotland, he was appointed in 1776 to the chair his father had formerly held, ...
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Sir James Hunter Blair, 1st Baronet
Sir James Hunter Blair, 1st Baronet FRSE (February 1741 – 1 July 1787) was a Scottish banker, landowner and politician. Life Born John Hunter in Ayr, the son of a merchant,Monuments and monumental inscriptions in Scotland: The Caledonian Society of Scotland John Hunter of Mainholm and Millquarter and his wife, Anne Cunninghame. In 1756 he was apprenticed to Messrs Coutts, bankers in Edinburgh and in 1763 became a partner in the banking company of Sir William Forbes, and acquired the estate of Robertland. After his marrying Jean Blair, the daughter and heiress of John Blair of Dunskey in Wigtownshire in 1770, the family name became Hunter Blair when she inherited her father's estate in 1777. Hunter Blair was Member of Parliament for Edinburgh from 1780 to 1784 and Lord Provost of Edinburgh from 1784 to 1786. As Lord Provost, he carried through various reforms, including the beginning of work on rebuilding the University and the construction of South Bridge, over the Cowgate. ...
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Ilay Campbell, Lord Succoth
Sir Ilay Campbell, 1st Baronet, Lord Succoth, (1734–1823) was a Scottish advocate, judge and politician. He rose to be Lord President of the Court of Session. Life Campbell's birthplace is given as either Argyll or Edinburgh. His mother was Helen Wallace, and his father, Archibald Campbell of Succoth, Principal Clerk of Session to the Scottish Courts. He attended Mundell's School in Edinburgh and then the University of Glasgow to study law, graduating in 1751. An advocate from 1757, he was engaged in the Douglas peerage case from 1764 to 1769. He was appointed Solicitor General for Scotland in 1783 and Lord Advocate in 1784. He became Member of Parliament for Glasgow Burghs in the same year. He was Lord President of the Court of Session and Lord Justice General from 1789 to 1808, where he sat as ''Lord Succoth''. On his resignation in 1808, he was created a baronet, and resided at Garscube House, about four miles from Glasgow on the banks of the river Kelvin. There he ...
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Sir William Forbes, 6th Baronet
Sir William Forbes, 6th Baronet of Monymusk and Pitsligo, usually known as William Forbes of Pitsligo (1739–1806), was a Scottish banker. He was known also as an improving landlord, philanthropist, and writer. Life and career He was born in Edinburgh on 5 April 1739. His father Willam Forbes, heir to a Nova Scotia baronetcy, was an advocate; the family estate at Monymusk in Aberdeenshire had been sold by his grandfather. Forbes's maternal grandmother was a sister of Alexander Forbes, 4th Lord Forbes of Pitsligo, whose activities in 1745 led to the forfeiture of his estate, also in Aberdeenshire. His mother, Christian Forbes, was a member of a collateral branch of the Monymusk family, and was left a widow when William, the elder of two surviving boys from a family of five, was only four years old. She settled in Aberdeen in 1745 for the education of her children, who were brought up as Scottish episcopalians. The younger boy died in 1749, and in October 1753 Lady Forbes, wi ...
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Robert McQueen, Lord Braxfield
Robert McQueen, Lord Braxfield (4 May 1722 – 30 May 1799) was a Scottish advocate and judge. Life McQueen was born at Braxfield House near Lanark on 4 May 1722, son of John McQueen. He studied law at Edinburgh University and was admitted to the Faculty of Advocates in 1744. In 1759 he was appointed an Advocate Depute appearing for the Crown in prosecutions. He often appeared in more than 15 cases per day and earned £1900 in a single year. He became a judge in 1776 and took the title Lord Braxfield. In 1788 he became Lord Justice Clerk, the second most senior judge in Scotland. Explicitly taking the view that "Government in this country is made up of the landed interest, which alone has a right to be represented" he took an active role in the suppression of the Friends of the People Society in the trials and sentences passed on Thomas Muir and others. To accomplish this he "invented a crime of unconscious sedition". A famous quote of his in this respect was "Let them bring ...
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