Location of house at "foot of Calton" Edinburgh

stepmars · Post by **stepmars** » Sun Sep 13, 2009 11:14 pm

I am trying to determine where a specific property would have been located in Edinburgh but the clues I have are a little vague.

I have a few death records for ancestors which all state they were buried on a property in Edinburgh. Examples include:
1812 - James Marshall, shoemaker and freeman of Calton, from his house... buried in the centre of his own ground;
1818 - Euphan Wilson, relict of the late James Marshall, shoemaker and freeman, from her house foot of Calton... buried in the centre of their own ground;
1822 - Adam Marshall [son of James and Euphan], shoemaker and freeman from the foot of Calton... buried within the south side of their own ground;
1823 - Elizabeth Darling, relict of Adam Marshall, shoemaker and freeman from Greenside Row... buried within the south side of James Marshall shoemaker's ground;
1829 - Isabella Marshall [daughter of James and Euphan]... buried within the south side of James Marshall shoemaker's ground.

From current maps I can find Greenside Row which is at "the foot of Calton". I presume the house in question was nearby. There is now a small street known as Marshall's Court and I wonder if this was named after the family but can't be sure. The ordnance map dated 1849-1853 shows it as Lower Greenside Street but the later version dated 1876-1877 shows it was then known as Marshall's Court.

If a number of family members were buried within their grounds I also presume there was a garden or open land to accommodate the graves which suggests a block of land larger than most probably had at that time. The old maps mentioned above show 4 house blocks all with large gardens on Marshall's Court northeast of Greenside Lane.

I don't believe the family was wealthy but perhaps they were better off than many others? Do terms like "their own ground" infer ownership of the property as opposed to merely occupation of the house? Would it have been likely to have been buried in the grounds of a house you rented or would that have been a priveledge reserved for those who owned the land?

If the house in question was owned by the family is there a way I could trace this to find the exact address at which it exists or used to exist?

If the house was rented are there ways other than title records which might assist me?

Google Maps shows that there is open land around Greenside Row, Greenside Lane, Greenside End and Marshall's Court and my best guess is that that is where the house may have been.

Thanks for any help you may be able to offer.

Regards,
Steve Marshall
Sydney, Australia.

LesleyB · Post by **LesleyB** » Sun Sep 13, 2009 11:55 pm

Hi Steve

I wonder if "his own ground" refers to ground he had purchased in Calton, or another graveyard - what parish are these entries from?

Also I'm not sure what the dots mean in your quotes - is there more text between house and buried in the following and other simmilar examples?

James Marshall, shoemaker and freeman of Calton, from his house... buried in the centre of his own ground;

Just as burial ground belonging to various trades are referred to in burial records: e.g. "the carters ground" if a lair or several lairs had been purchased by someone, then they might be referred to as that person's ground. I'm not convinced that the wording refers to being buried in your own land as in a garden or field etc. I think it may refer to your own burial plot.

Best wishes
Lesley

stepmars · Post by **stepmars** » Mon Sep 14, 2009 11:57 am

Hi Lesley,

I think you're right because some of the other entries in the parish register refer to graves on various people's "ground".

These were all from South Leith parish.

The dots do indicate I left some detail out. For example the first line in it's entirety is:
1812 - James Marshall, shoemaker and freeman of Calton, from his house there died of a decline, buried in the centre of his own ground aged 80.

Can you suggest how I could find which graveyard contained James Marshall's plot? The Calton Burial Grounds were close to his home but were certain parishes more likely to use certain graveyards?

Is there any way to search for names of persons buried in Edinburgh cemetaries other than searching OPR death records?

Thanks for your help,

Regards,
Steve

LesleyB · Post by **LesleyB** » Mon Sep 14, 2009 12:44 pm

Hi Steve

If the entries are from South Leith, then that is likely where he is buried. The style of entry does look like a South Leith style, I've seen many pages of them from that area on microfilm, so have a good image in my mind of the patterns and content - they are very clear and detailed records, so you are very lucky! (North Leith is a nightmare by comparison!!

) I will check when I am home as I have some lists of South Leith MIs - however, it is possible that he is buried there with no visible grave stone, so that may not turn up trumps.

Best wishes
Lesley

jennyblain · Post by **jennyblain** » Mon Sep 14, 2009 7:43 pm

Hi Steve,
It reads like an 'Old Calton' record - in SP these are included with South Leith ones, but this is quite misleading. It's the bit of 'from his house' etc. that identifies it!

Jenny

Post by **AndrewP** » Mon Sep 14, 2009 10:55 pm

Old Calton Burial Ground is in two detached parts of South Leith parish (the parish and the burial ground split by Waterloo Place that was built across part of the burial ground in the early 19th century), so in that sense it is correct to appear in South Leith's parish records.

All the best,

AndrewP

jennyblain · Post by **jennyblain** » Tue Sep 15, 2009 1:16 am

Correct in parish terms, yes, but still misleading because it is very separate from the South Leith Kirk burial ground! It gets really confusing when you try to investigate South Leith and get both lots at once... as they were kept as different registers.

I've read quite a few of the Old Calton records - they are written in a somewhat different style from the SL kirkyard ones, and they are very helpful in general, with these lovely specific notices of whose house it's from and where! (Mine are in SL kirkyard with a bit less info.) My reading is that 'in his ground' etc relates to the area of the Old Calton burial ground, though not all can be identified now due to changes in the configuration of roads there.

Jenny

stepmars · Post by **stepmars** » Tue Sep 15, 2009 1:32 am

Thanks everyone for your input.

So it would appear that James Marshall owned a plot in Old Calton burial ground where he and other family members were buried.

I can't find any evidence of monumental inscriptions in the sources I've examined. Is there anywhere I can look on-line to find a list of names & dates for burials in this cemetery?

Regards,.
Steve

jennyblain · Post by **jennyblain** » Tue Sep 15, 2009 9:06 am

No MIs I"m afraid - I have the Old and New Calton and the Leith MI booklets and took a look.

Jenny

LesleyB · Post by **LesleyB** » Tue Sep 15, 2009 3:37 pm

I had a look in South Leith MIs too and could not find any of the names mentioned above.

Best wishes
Lesley