The photograph above, which was taken in the early 1920’s, is of five sisters who were children of Peter and Bridget Welsh or Walsh. Their parents, who were married just before the turn of the20^th century on 25 August 1899, had eight other children who did not survive their early years. Their mother, Bridget, died in January 1915 from consumption shortly after the birth of her 13th child and at the comparatively young of age 36.

The oldest girl, Annie, was born on 3 August 1900 at 8 Waverley Buildings in the Cowgate area of Edinburgh. In the photograph above she is seated on the right. Ellen (Nellie), the second oldest, was born on 8 November 1901 at the same address and is also seated in the photograph. The first two children born were registered in the name of Welsh but by the time the Mary’s birth was registered in 1905 the name had been changed to Walsh.

The family had moved to 264 Cowgate before Mary, who can be seen standing behind Annie with a hand on her shoulder, was born on 5 March 1905. Teresa, born on 18 February 1908 is standing behind Ellen and Catherine (Cathie), the youngest of the children to reach maturity, is standing in the middle. The family was still living at 264 Cowgate when Cathie was born on 23 January 1909. These five girls were the only members of the family who survived to reach maturity.

The lives of the other children were of much shorter duration. Twin boys were born prematurely on the evening of 28th September 1902 in MacConnochies Close (44 Cowgate). One of the twins died less than a week later on 6^th October and only the surname Welsh is shown on the birth and death entries. The death entry indicates that the birth was premature and that the child suffered from atrophy.

The other twin, who was named Peter, fared little better as he died on 4 November, some 35 days after his birth and the cause of his death is recorded as Inanition from premature birth. Inanition is understood to be exhaustion from lack of nourishment.

It is possible that there were births during 1903 or 1904 but the next positively identified birth was in March 1905 and is that of Mary, who is referred to above. A son Peter John Walsh was born on 12 April 1906 at 264 Cowgate but died after only seven weeks of life on 3 June. The cause of death is recorded as malnutrition and one can only wonder at such a cause of death. Malnutrition is described as under-feeding but it could mean that either the mother was unable to provide or that the child was unable to receive an adequate level of nourishment.

There is no record of any birth in 1907 and Teresa and Catherine, who are referred to above, were born in 1908 and 1909 both reached maturity. The next in line, twins, Hugh and Sarah Welsh, presumably named after Bridget’s parents, were less fortunate. They were born on 16 May 1910 at 264 Cowgate and Sarah died there some three months later. The cause of her death is recorded as Premature Birth and Gastro-enteritis. Her twin, Hugh, survived only a further week. He died on 4 September and the cause of his death is recorded as Premature Birth.

Twins, Henry and Elizabeth Walsh, were born on the evening of 21 July 1912 but both died in infancy. Both their lives were very short. Henry was only 3 weeks old when he died on 15 August 1912 and his sister, Elizabeth, died just over two weeks later on 4 September. The cause of death in each case being recorded as Marasmus. This is apparently bodily atrophy.

The events from 1905 onwards all took place at 264 Cowgate and Peter registered all the births and deaths. Although his recorded surname varied between Welsh and Walsh his occupation was always shown as Mason.

By 1915 the family had moved "round the corner" to 18 Pleasance where a boy, Francis Walsh, was born on 11 January 1915. Francis’ life only lasted 16 days as he died on 27 January. The cause of death is recorded as "congenital debility". This final confinement may have been the last straw for Bridget who succumbed to Phthsis (more commonly referred to as Consumption or TB) and died on 24 January 1915 in Colinton Hospital (the Fever Hospital) three days before her new-born child.

It was indeed tragic times for the Walsh household. Peter’s wife, Bridget, and his new-born son, Francis had died within a few days of each other. It is known that Peter arranged for the child, Francis, to be buried with his mother in the family plot at Mount Vernon RC Cemetery. Four other children, Sarah, Hugh, Henry and Elizabeth had previously been buried there. Mary Walsh recollected that her father carried the baby Francis’ white coffin downstairs from the house at 18 Pleasance and that it was placed in the horse drawn hearse on top of his mother’s coffin.

Being born into a family in the tenements of Edwardian Edinburgh was clearly not without its risks. Only five out of the thirteen children registered survived. The births included three sets of twins and none survived more than a few months. None of the six boys survived. Premature birth seems to have been a common denominator and it can be reasonably presumed that unless the child was "full-term" the chances of long-term survival were slim. It would also seem reasonable to assume that a premature baby would be weaker than normal and that the mother would be less able to provide sufficient nourishment for twins. It is particularly noticeable that none of the six boys survived and that five of the seven girls did. Neither of the twin girls survived.

Although the recurring feature of infant mortality may have been specific to this particular family it is thought more likely to have been quite prevalent in the general environment in which the family lived. Five of the girls did survive and it is their lives that I shall endeavour to describe.

Peter, a 35-year-old stone mason, was left a widower with five daughters aged between 6 and 14 to care for. It was still the early stages of The First world War and it is understood that Annie, a fourteen year old, ran the house for a short period after the death of her mother but she eventually went into domestic service in Pendlebury, near Manchester. The younger girls were at school in Whitehouse Close during this time.

The First World War had been ongoing for almost two years when Peter decided to enlist in the Royal Marines. As a direct consequence the family home was broken up and the younger three girls were sent to a convent home at Restalrig, Edinburgh. Ellen went into service like her elder sister, Annie. The three other girls each stayed in the convent until they reached an age when they could fend for themselves.

Family life for the sisters had been turned upside down with the death of their mother and their father's departure for military service but at least they survived and reached adulthood. Their father had a wider family with at least two younger sisters, Mary and Annie but it appears that they were unable to provide much in the way of lasting support for him in relation to the upbringing of his daughters. Both their maternal grandparents were deceased and their mother Bridget only had younger brothers, Hugh and John, who were both away fighting for "King and Country". So it seems that there were few alternatives to life in the convent for the younger children.

Even before the death of their mother life for the girls may not have been all that comfortable. Housing in the Cowgate Area of Edinburgh was generally of a low standard but perhaps fairly typical of densely populated urban environments of the day. Rented overcrowded properties, in tenement buildings in narrow streets, without much in the way of amenities seems to be where most of the working class lived in the early part of the twentieth century and the Welsh family was probably no different.

It is understood that Bridget Welsh, in addition to producing a family of 13, ran a brokers business from a shop in the Cowgate and that the house was just above the shop. Mary recollected the shop being looked after by her grandfather Welsh on occasions. One particular incident that Mary recalled related to a day when as a fairly young child she had been in the shop and had apparently fallen asleep. When she awoke she found that she was on her own and the shop was closed. When she eventually got home - upstairs presumably - there was a newly born baby in the house. So it would seem that whoever was in charge of young Mary shot upstairs at the news of the birth and left Mary sleeping in the shop. Awakening to find that she was alone in the closed shop obviously made a lasting impression on Mary, as she was able to recall the incident some 90 years later. Mary was the source of most of the anecdotal information.

When the war finished Peter did not return to stay in Edinburgh for any length of time and he settled in Newcastle. Connections with his daughters were never particularly close thereafter but on his occasional visits to Edinburgh he generally tried to make contact with his daughter, Mary. He infrequently corresponded with Mary over the years and, from letters seen, there are indications that he regretted that he had not been able to forge closer ties with his daughters. Peter married his landlady's daughter, Bella,

It is possible that the Welsh/Walsh sisters had a further half-brother because during the search for further Walsh/Welsh births in the early 1900s I came upon an interesting reference, which may be totally unrelated but nevertheless it made me stop and take note. At 6.35 am on 3 December 1907 a child registered as Thomas Welsh was born at 54C Grassmarket to Maggie McKernan, a bookfolder. Although the child is recorded as being illegitimate the alleged father’s name is recorded as Peter Welsh, Mason. Both the father and mother are recorded as having attended to register their child’s birth on 19 December 1907. This is the only entry in the Statutory Index where I have encountered both parents recorded as being present at the registration.

It is possible that this is a "red herring" but the circumstances were sufficiently interesting to make it worthy of noting. The Grassmarket is adjacent to the Cowgate and it is thought likely that Peter could have frequented this area. However, there may also have been a completely different Peter Welsh working as a mason in the area at that time and further efforts will be made in due course to confirm whether there is any connection with the Walsh/Welsh family

Now I offer an insight into what became of each of the five sisters;

Annie (Ann) was born on 3 August 1900, the day before Elizabeth Bowes-Lyon, who was later to become Queen Elizabeth, the Queen Mother, but the circumstances into which they were born were worlds apart. Annie’s life started in 8 Waverley Buildings, Edinburgh, a flatted property located just off the eastern end of the Cowgate. Given the nature of the property, as it stands today, it would seem to have been a reasonable place to start life. However the precise circumstances of the family’s occupancy are uncertain at this time but more may be revealed when access is obtained to the 1901 Census information.

Her parents were both quite young, Peter, her father, was just 20 and her mother, Bridget, a year or so older. Her father seems to have been in regular employment as a Mason and Bridget had previously been employed as a french polisher. It would appear that Annie’s maternal grandparents, the McHugh’s, lived close by at 264 Cowgate as her grandmother, Sarah McHugh died there in March 1902. Her father parents lived at the western end of the Cowgate in MacConnochies Close but less than half a mile distant.

By late September 1902 Annie’s family, which now included her younger sister, Ellen, seemed to have moved to MacConnochies Close as twin boys were born there on 26^th of that month. Sadly both boys had died within six weeks of their birth and by the time Mary was born in March 1905 the family had moved back down the Cowgate to number 264. This was the tenement where her maternal grandmother, Sarah McHugh, had lived.

Little else is known about Annie’s early days but it is understood that her schooldays were spent at St Ann’s in Whitehouse Close and that her sisters followed her to the same school. From the age of about 10 onwards Annie would surely have been aware of periods of extreme sadness in the Welsh household. Twins, a boy and a girl each time, arrived and died shortly afterwards in both 1910 and 1912 and a further brother was born and died in January 1915. This final pregnancy may have also cost Annie's mother her life as she died in the same month from consumption. It is thought likely that her mother may have suffered from the condition during a significant period of her pregnancy.

Annie was only 14 when she lost her mother and it seems that she tried to run the household for a period of time. However, some time later circumstances must have changed as her father, Peter, enlisted in the Royal Marines and the household was broken up. Annie and her younger sister, 14 year-old Ellen, went into service and her three younger sisters went into care in a convent. It is understood that Peter contributed to the cost of the younger girls’ care.

Life in service took her as far as Pendlebury, near Manchester, but she always kept in touch with her sisters. Later returned to Edinburgh where she found employment as a chambermaid in the Roxburghe Hotel, near Edinburgh’s West End. While working there she met and subsequently married William Moffat, a lad from Threemiletown, a mining community between Winchburgh and Linlithgow. Willie had given up the "pits" and found a job as a doorman at the Roxburghe.

Annie and Willie were married in Threemiletown in xxxx 1925 and her younger sister Mary was her bride’s maid. Annie and Mary travelled out to Threemiletown the night before the wedding in Ecclesmachan Church and Mary returned to Edinburgh herself after the wedding.

Annie and Willie eventually set up home in Morrison Street, Edinburgh and, Andrew (Andy), the first of their seven children was born in November 1926.

Willie’s career at the Roxburghe Hotel was apparently cut short over a problem about "gambling money" and according to his sister-in-law, Mary, he "never worked again". Annie is understood to have worked as worked as a waitress in the early days of their marriage. The couple had seven children and next born was Ellen (Ella) Welsh Moffat born on 28 March 1928. A studio photograph of Ella, as a toddler, with her brother, Andy is below;

A daughter, Agnes (Nessie) Grant Moffat followed in July 1929, and further sons, Harold in January 1931, Ernest (Ernie) in October 1937, William (Billy) in March 1940 and Alexander (Alec) in May 1943 respectively. In the 1930’s the family had moved to xxx Ferry Road Drive where a lively, happy and colourful household remained for the next 35 years.

Annie’s husband’s early involvement with the proceeds of "gambling" continued throughout his life as Willie found gainful employment in the "gambling industry". In the days before licensed betting shops "off course" betting, as we know it today, was illegal. Bookmakers existed but their clients had to have accounts and bets were generally placed by telephone. This did not meet the needs of the vast majority of ordinary punters and the demand for a regular flutter was satisfied by "Bookies’ Runners". Bets were taken surreptitiously, at least on the face of it, in pubs, clubs, street corners, factory gates, etc at pre-determined times.

Given the fact that such betting was illegal punters used "nom de plumes" to conceal their true identity and the system thrived on a high degree of trust between the punter and the runner. The runners earned their living from commission paid by the Bookmaker and a good patch could provide a reasonable, if not at times uncertain, level of income.

Part of the uncertainty stemmed from the fact that the "runners" were frequently "lifted" by the Police. Generally speaking the runners had a fairly free hand but the local Police had to be seen to be endeavouring to control this illegal activity. Not an easy task when a significant part of the adult male working class population wanted to be able to have a regular "flutter".

So the family life of a bookie’s runner would almost certainly have its "up and downs". The father would occasionally be "lifted", his book and associated funds confiscated and a fine imposed. Slightly leaner times would follow but things would soon get back to normal until the runner was "lifted" again. The domestic uncertainties associated with such a lifestyle are self-evident.

I recollect visiting the Moffats on a fairly regular basis as a child and my lasting impression is of a very welcoming, friendly, caring, vibrant, close knit family unit. I recollect that the household included a large green parrot, which Harold had brought home from a trip overseas in the Navy, and a three-legged dog called Skippy. It was always an enjoyable time when we visited the Moffats at Granton.

It must have been difficult for Annie when three of her sons decided to emigrate to Canada. Harold set the scene in the 1950’s and he was later followed by his brother’s Ernie and Alec. Her oldest son Andy, her two daughters Ella and Nessie, and her second youngest son, Billy, did not venture overseas. The "new Canadians" appear to have kept in very regular contact and paid return visits to Scotland on a number of occasions.

Annie had some contact with her father and in the 1950’s she visited him in Newcastle with her son, Andy. A photograph of the occasion is below.

Annie and Willie moved to West Granton Road around the late 60’s and Willie died on

1 March 1970. Annie was afflicted by Pagett’s Disease in later life but she bravely suffered the condition for many years and died in 1985. She was buried beside Willie in Ecclesmachan Cemetery.

Ellen, the second child, was born on 8 November 1901, again at 8 Waverley Buildings. Little more is known of her early days which she shared with Annie and later with Mary, Teresa and Cathie.

Ellen (or Nellie as she was known) was just 13 when her mother died in early 1915 and she was old enough to avoid having to go into the care of the convent when the family home was subsequently broken up.

Nellie’s working life started in service in Edinburgh and she is known to have worked at one time in Knight’s Dairy at the Main Point – between the top of the West Port and Bread Street/East Fountainbridge. Later, like many others of her generation from similar socio-economic backgrounds, she worked in the Rubber Mill at Fountainbridge. She is known to have lived at one time in lodgings with a Mrs Anderson at 228 Morrison Street.

Various photographs are held of Nellie in her teens and beyond and they provide an insight into some of her social and leisure activities. Weekend and holiday visits to both the seaside and the countryside feature with a range of relations and friends prominent.

Burntisland, in Fife, was a regular haunt and some of the local features depicted can still be recognised today, some 80 years on. Burntisland was a popular location partly because of the amenities available but mainly because of the relative ease of access. A ferry service ran regularly from Granton and being on the main railway line to the north -east it also had regular stopping trains.

Given the densely populated and polluted nature of central Edinburgh in the 1920s regular escapes to the seaside or countryside were popular. Cars were in very short supply so bus (charabanc), train or ferry were the principal modes of transport. People also seem to have been prepared to walk quite long distances in those days. There were also "escape venues" nearer the centre of the city. Princes Street Gardens, the Kings Park and Arthur Seat. The beach at Portobello was always popular and it is known that visits were made to Saughton Park, which one of the numerous Public Parks in the city.

Many of the people seen in the photographs are not readily identifiable at this time but some have been identified with the assistance of Mary Innes, her younger sister. A selection of these early photographs follow;

Nellie -Aged ca 14 Nellie - Aged ca 21 Nellie - 1924 Cathie, Teresa, Nellie and Mary circa 1925

Nellie circa 1925 Nellie (b/r) Mary (b/l) and Nellie, Cathie & Mary 1925

Cathie and Teresa - Burntisland

A number of photographs included members of the Niven family and it is known that Nellie was engaged to a John Niven for a number of years in the mid 1920s and that she lived with his parents in their basement flat at 25A Gardiners Crescent for a period of time. John worked in Currie's Rubber Mill in Dalry Road, as did his father.

It is understood that during her engagement to John Niven Nellie apparently regularly attended auctions with John's mother and it has been suggested that this may have lead to the cooling of her relationship with John. In the end someone else from the Rubber Mill married John but it is not known what impact this had on Nellie.

In the 30's Ellen is understand to lived in digs with Mrs Anderson at 228 Morrison Street.

During her time at the "mill" Nellie was very friendly with Hannah Campbell, later Fleming, and they remained fairly close friends for the rest of her life. Agnes (Nancy) Fleming, Hannah's daughter, and her boyfriend and later husband, Monty Woolley regularly baby-sat for Nellie in the l940's/early 1950s.

In the mid 1930's Nellie met Charlie Flint whom she later married. Both had worked at the Rubber Mill and it is not known whether they met there or the Cameronian's Club. They courted for a number of years and the following photographs show them in the company of some of their friends of that time. Among the couples known are the Birrells and the Herkes.

Nellie was 36 year old when she married Charlie, a 40-year-old bachelor, on 3 January 1938. Her sister Catherine (Cathie) was her "bride's maid" and the "wedding reception", such as it was, took place at the home of her sister Mary at 25 Hutchison Place, Edinburgh. Jimmy Birrell, Charlie's, best friend, was the other witness. The Marriage Certificate shows that Nellie was a Rubber Boot Maker and that she was resident at 37 Bryson Road, Edinburgh.

The couple set up home at 17 Wheatfield Place in a flat rented from Gumley's. Gas lighting and a

cooking range were features of the living room/kitchen/one bedroom flat. The shared WC was on the landing. On 22 March 1939 their first child, Joyce Innes Flint, was born and an early photograph of Joyce follows;

In late May 1946 their second child, Charles Peter Flint, was born. Nellie was over 44 years old when Charles was born and, given the seven-year gap between Joyce and Charles, he may have been a "bit of surprise".

In 1954 having declined the opportunity to move to Easter Drylaw, Nellie and family moved to a corporation house at 110 Stenhouse Avenue, Edinburgh. Their "new home" was a ground floor flatted villa comprising a living room, kitchen, two bedrooms and a bathroom. The property had a garden back and front with a shared drying green. Quite a difference in the living standards of the family.

More of the story to follow later.

MARY (1905-

Mary attended St Ann’s School, Whitehorse Close from 1910. One early recollection she had is of being taken by the school to the King’s Park on the day of King George V’s Coronation (1910 or 1911). Like all the smaller children she received a red white and blue box of Ferguson’s Rock and was most unhappy when she discovered that her older sisters Annie and Ellen had both received commemorative mugs.

Following the death of her mother and her father's enlistment, Mary and her two younger surviving sisters, Teresa and Catherine, were placed in care at a convent at Restalrig. Mary was only 10 years old when she entered the convent and she spent the next 5 years there. Having survived her experiences in the convent, where she learned to cook, Mary entered service and subsequently obtained employment at the School of Domestic Science (SoDS) at 8 Atholl Crescent, Edinburgh.

She was later able to secure employment there for her younger sisters.

Before securing the position at Atholl Crescent Mary had worked in service in the Craiglockhart District of Edinburgh and while working there she came into contact with Alexander John Instant Innes a young Railway Clerk who was at one time based at Craiglockhart Station. Romance blossomed and Mary and Alec were married on 28 April 1928 at St Mary's Cathedral, Palmerston Place, Edinburgh.

It is understood that Mary and Alec honeymooned in Ayr and that somewhat unusually they were accompanied by Alec's widowed mother who was a stroke victim. Mary and Alec initially lived in Orwell Place and Alec's mother stayed with them for a period of about 11 months. She eventually was hospitalised and died shortly afterwards.

During her time at SoDS Mary was offered a position as cook to three lady doctors who occupied a flat in Ramsay Gardens, close to Edinburgh Castle and overlooking Princes Street. An interesting incident occurred during a "trial visit". Mary, who seems to have been there with her sister Cathy and Alec, was organising the evening meal and a package containing sausages was being brought in from the "food store" which seems to have been position outside the kitchen window. It appears that the package inadvertently was dropped and it wedged on the roof guttering out of reach.

However, the situation was apparently resolved when Alec "volunteered" to lean out of the window and be lowered towards the package with Mary and Cathy holding his legs. He recovered the sausages and the meal was cooked with the doctors being none the wiser. Mary decided not to take up the position and she remained at Atholl Crescent.

As indicated above Mary and Alec were married in 1928 and they lived at 24 Orwell Place from around 1928 to 1934. Around 1934 they moved to a ground floor flat at 25 Hutchison Place and in the mid 1940s they started to look after "Ann and Agnes Moffat", nieces of her sister Annie who had lost their mother.

From an early date Mary had connections with the Labour Party. At one time she was a regular collector of Party Dues and she was a prominent voluntary helper with the local Labour Party. Mary had various other work activities around that time and among the position she held was house-keeper to Mrs Currie in Ann Street, Edinburgh. The Currie family were contact to the Currie Shipping Line. Apparently Mrs Currie used to entertain house guests during the Edinburgh Festival and Mary was requested to cater for them. It is understood that occasionally Ann and Agnes helped in various tasks at Ann Street.

Mary and Alex were great travellers and from the late 1950s they regularly ventured on holiday to many parts of Europe. This was at time when travel to such destinations was not for the masses. Although they often travelled with the Railway Travel Club, and their costs would have been reduced by Alex's access to low cost rail passes, they were nevertheless very adventurous. Many of their trips were captured on Super 8 Cine Film. I have possession of the films and in time I shall try to convert onto video.

Around 1960 they bought their first house at 8 Chesser Loan and they lived there until 1970 when they moved 100 Stevenson Avenue. Alex had retired from the Railway in May 1968 and, although Mary continued to work for while, they were actively involved in retired persons clubs. They regularly entertained pensioner groups, Mary singing and Alex reciting and telling stories and poems, many of which he wrote himself.

They celebrated their Golden Wedding Anniversary in the Grosvenor Hotel in April 1978 and the event was attended by many of the family. In 1984 they moved to 40/30 Roseburn Court, a Hanover Housing Association complex close to Murrayfield Rugby Stadium, and Mary lived there until early 1998. Particularly in the early years at "Roseburn" they were prominent in the local social calendar, entertaining in the complex and performing in the local pensioners club.

Much more to follow.

When Teresa was old enough to leave the convent she also worked in service and at one time was servant in the employ of Mr Brown, a dentist, in George Square, Edinburgh. It is understood that she was under the control of a very overbearing housekeeper and there were problems over time off, etc. Her sisters Annie and Mary came to the rescue and Mary found Teresa employment at Atholl Crescent. During a holiday visit to Blackpool, with her sister Cathie, Teresa met Harry Smith, a fellow from Burnley in Lancashire. Romance blossomed, marriage followed in 193X and Teresa moved to live in Burnley. She always kept in touch with her sisters and was fairly frequently visited by them.

Teresa Teresa and Harry Pat and Colin

More to follow.

Cathie was also found a position at Atholl Crescent when she was old enough to leave the convent. Apparently one of the nuns wanted Cathie to stay and work in the convent kitchen but Mary persuaded her to move out.

In January 1938 Cathie was living at 19 Clarendon Cresent, an up market property near the Dean Bridge, Edinburgh, and it can be assumed that she worked there as a resident cook or servant

In the late 1930's Cathie lived with her sister Mary and her husband, Alec, at Hutchison Place and during the war met Samuel McMaster, a soldier from Ayrshire. Marriage followed in 194X and she subsequently lived in a prefab in the Calder District of Edinburgh.

Angle Park Terrace

Dundee Street

Calder Avenue West

Family life for the sisters had been turned upside down with the death of their mother and their father's departure for military service but at least they survived and reached adulthood. Their father, Peter Welsh had a wider family with at least two younger sisters, Mary and Annie but it appears that they were unable to provide much in the way of lasting support for him in relation to the upbringing of his daughters. Both the parents of the girls' mother, Bridget, were deceased and she only had younger brothers, Hugh and John, who were both away fighting for "King and Country". So it seems that there were few alternatives to life in the convent for the younger children.

Even before the death of their mother life for the girls may not have been all that comfortable. Housing in the Cowgate Area of Edinburgh was generally of a low standard but perhaps fairly typical of densely populated urban environments of the day. Rented overcrowded properties, in tenement buildings in narrow streets, without much in the way of amenities seems to be where most of the working class lived in the early part of the twentieth century and the Welsh family was probably no different.

It is understood that Bridget Welsh, in addition to producing a family of 13, ran a broker business (dealer in second hand articles) from a shop in the Cowgate and that the house was just above the shop. Mary recollected the shop being looked after by her grandfather Welsh on occasions. One particular incident, that Mary recalled, related to a day when as a fairly young child she had been in the shop and had apparently fallen asleep. When she awoke she found that she was on her own and the shop was closed. When she eventually got home - upstairs presumably - there was a newly born baby in the house. So it would seem that whoever was in charge of young Mary shot upstairs at the news of the birth and left Mary sleeping in the shop. Awakening to find that she was alone in the closed shop obviously made a lasting impression on Mary, as she was able to recall the incident some 90 years later. Mary was the source of most of the anecdotal information.

It seems that all the girls were initially schooled at St Ann's School in Whitehouse Close.

More will follow - hopefully.