Results 1 to 10 of 10
  1. #1
    Rebecca Green
    Guest

    Default Gilmour House Lunatic Asylum, Liberton, Edinburgh

    An ancestor of mine died in Gilmour House, Borough of Liberton, in Edinburgh, in 1871. The informant of his death was the Superintendent. The only mention I have found for Gilmour House on the internet is on Rossbrett's Asylum website, where a "Database of Appointments of Various Medical Staff at Asylums 1869-74, Extracted from the Journal of Mental Science" shows that "Allan, C J - M.B., C.M. has been appointed Visiting Physician of the Gilmour House Lunatic Asylum, at Liberton, Edinburgh." (This is the name of the doctor who certified my ancestor's death.)
    I would very much like to read this ancestor's medical records - does anyone know what happened to Gilmour House, or where its archives might be? (One of this ancestor's brothers died in Montrose Lunatic Asylum, and I have obtained his medical records, which make very sad reading.)

  2. #2
    Mary Young
    Guest

    Default

    Hi, Rebecca
    1) Lothian Health Services Archive may be able to help you https://www.lhsa.lib.ed.ac.uk/welcome/index.html
    2) Although I live in Edinburgh, our family are "late-comers" so I haven't done any 19th century research here. Try posting to the Edinburgh Forum, someone there may have specialised knowledge.
    3) Balfour House, Liberton, was occupied by 8 mining families in 1881.
    4) Finally, I too googled on Balfour House - once again hit my favourite site www.edinphoto.org.uk - to discover a Robert Murray of that address was a member of Photographic Society of Scotland 1860-1862. I wonder if he was a doctor, or a very rich patient!

  3. #3
    Mary Young
    Guest

    Default

    Quote Originally Posted by Rebecca Green
    ...Rossbrett's Asylum website ...,
    Hi, Could you post the link to this website, I can't find it? Thanks

  4. #4
    Rebecca Green
    Guest

    Default Rossbrett's Asylum website

    Dear Mary,
    Thankyou for your suggestions - I'll follow them up. The website I mentioned is at:
    https://www.institutions.org.uk/asylums/index.htm
    By the way, the institution I mentioned is Gilmour House, not Balfour House as you referred to it, which I think must be something else.
    thanks again,
    Rebecca

  5. #5
    Mary Young
    Guest

    Default

    Hi, Rebecca
    Sorry, I meant to say, 8 mining families were in GILMOUR House, Liberton in 1881. (I think Balfour House was on my mind, it was a sub-section of one of the large Edinburgh Lunatic Asylums.)
    Thanks for link to that site (I was searching on Rossbrett with 2 t's)
    Would be interested to hear if you get a result.

  6. #6
    Rebecca Green
    Guest

    Default Gilmour House

    Hi Mary,
    Thanks for clarifying that - it certainly suggests that Gilmour House was not functioning as a lunatic asylum by 1881!
    I have emailed a query to the Lothian Health archives, so will have to wait and see if they know anything about it.
    cheers, Rebecca

  7. #7
    Starting to feel at home
    Join Date
    Apr 2008
    Location
    South Wales Mid-Glamorgan
    Posts
    47

    Default

    I have a certificate recording the marriage of a relative of mine at Gilmour House, Gilmerton, in 1898. Any details of its history would be appreciated.

  8. #8

    Default

    I have the edition of the Ordnance Gazetteer of Scotland published in the 1890s. They list 3 Gilmertons. There was one described as a mansion near Haddington, the seat of Sir Alexander Kinloch Bart, a modern village in Perthshire and a village and parish attached to Liberton, near Edinburgh. The latter includes Gilmerton House, an old-fashioned white mansion owned by Sir David Baird of Newbythe. It mentions high quality coal mines as well as ironstone mining. Gilmerton seems to have been fairly big (for the area) with railway station, 3 streets with a post office, inn, police station, 2 schools, an institute and reading room, a children's convalescent home and a church.

    Checking the Valuation Rolls for 1905, Sir David owned all of Gilmerton including Gilmerton House and Burdiehouse, also an estate. There were other houses and the railway station. By 1915, he only listed the Gilmerton properties.
    I ran a search specifically for Gilmour House in 1915. Owner, Sir David Baird, tenant Thomas Ritchie senior, gardner. A similar 1865 search has no mention of Baird or Gilmour House. By 1875 he owned 3 houses, their gardens and the park belonging to one of them. Gilmour House, garden & park is named and occupied by an unnamed tenant but owned by Baird.

    Thus far, no mention of the Asylum.

    Found a list of Scottish Asylums, only 2 mentions of Gilmour House, Morningside, 1860s.

  9. #9
    Starting to feel at home
    Join Date
    Apr 2008
    Location
    South Wales Mid-Glamorgan
    Posts
    47

    Default Gilmour House

    Quote Originally Posted by Lesley Robertson View Post
    I have the edition of the Ordnance Gazetteer of Scotland published in the 1890s. They list 3 Gilmertons. There was one described as a mansion near Haddington, the seat of Sir Alexander Kinloch Bart, a modern village in Perthshire and a village and parish attached to Liberton, near Edinburgh. The latter includes Gilmerton House, an old-fashioned white mansion owned by Sir David Baird of Newbythe. It mentions high quality coal mines as well as ironstone mining. Gilmerton seems to have been fairly big (for the area) with railway station, 3 streets with a post office, inn, police station, 2 schools, an institute and reading room, a children's convalescent home and a church.

    Checking the Valuation Rolls for 1905, Sir David owned all of Gilmerton including Gilmerton House and Burdiehouse, also an estate. There were other houses and the railway station. By 1915, he only listed the Gilmerton properties.
    I ran a search specifically for Gilmour House in 1915. Owner, Sir David Baird, tenant Thomas Ritchie senior, gardner. A similar 1865 search has no mention of Baird or Gilmour House. By 1875 he owned 3 houses, their gardens and the park belonging to one of them. Gilmour House, garden & park is named and occupied by an unnamed tenant but owned by Baird.

    Thus far, no mention of the Asylum.

    Found a list of Scottish Asylums, only 2 mentions of Gilmour House, Morningside, 1860s.
    Hello Lesley
    Thank you for your very informative reply but I have to own up to an error on my part. In my haste to join in the discussion, I misquoted the marriage details for one of my ancestors, namely, William Westwood Barclay, who married Isabella Horsburgh at Langloan, Burdiehouse, Liberton by Robert Burnett, Minister of Liberton. However, for your interest details of the marriage on the same page of the register for a Janet Richardson Puuts who was married to George Alexander Wood by James Christie minister Gilmerton Parish Church 2nd Dec 1898 at Gilmour House. In fact, Janet R Putt gave her usual place of residence as Gilmour House.

    Hope it is of interest and sorry for my mistake

    Kind Regards
    Roy

  10. #10

    Default

    Burdiehouse was also owned by Baird. I wasn’t so much worrying about the merge itself, but trying to find out about the property. Bird seems to hve been n improver, so iOS’s quite boss I left that your folk were working for him!
    The search was much more interesting than what I was supposed to be doing!
    If you look at the General Scottish forum, there’s a few posts on sources, etc.

Bookmarks

Posting Permissions

  • You may not post new threads
  • You may not post replies
  • You may not post attachments
  • You may not edit your posts
  •  
Select a file: