The Leithers

For 150 years, from 1817 to 1967, the Robertson family lived in Leith, Midlothian, on the Firth of Forth north of Edinburgh. It served as Edinburgh’s port and was the landing spot of kings and armies from the 1200s on.

Our Robertson’s family story is the story of the Port of Leith, which played a huge role in the Scottish Industrial Revolution.

Six Scots and Irish families came to Leith in the 1800s, resulting in my mum’s birth in 1930:

1817 James Robertson, farmer, from Ratho, Midlothian

1840 Peter McCabe, gas fitter, from Ireland

1848 Matthew Smith, factory worker, from Co. Cavan, Ireland

1850 James Greenan, general laborer, from Co. Cavan, Ireland

1854 Charles Hunter, dock worker, from Inveresk, Midlothian

1865 George Gordon Smith Munro, blacksmith, from Ross and Cromarty

The first families lived in tenements near the docks in crowded conditions. From census records taken every 10 years beginning in 1840 I can see their addresses: Smith’s Land; Fox Lane; Crawley Court; Waters Close. These streets and alleys are gone now but I can find them on old engraved maps.

Detail of the Yardheads, Leith (Kirkgate is lower left)

This was before birth control so families were large. I made this chart to show all the siblings:

The original six Leith families and their children

George Brodrick Robertson 1882 was born in Brickwork Close in the Yardheads, a rabbit warren of factories, flats, and warehouses in South Leith near the harbor. He was the third generation to live there: his grandfather James worked as a coal laborer at the harbor - probably shoveling coal onto steamships. His father William was a “chemical manure worker” which meant he worked at the big chemical factory on the shoreline east of the port.

**William Robertson 1856** on the 1891 Census

The census was taken by an official knocking on each door and checking who lived there. The records are useful as they can verify the links between generations e.g. I see here that George Brodrick was living with his family at 36 Trafalgar Lane. William was born c 1836 so I can then look for his birth certificate.

The records were handwritten and have been transcribed recently into a searchable database. Scotland’s People has the original handwritten record but that costs $ to buy.

George wanted a different life I think. He was the most restless of the Leithers, switching jobs and attempting new careers, and fathering 13 children along the way.

His first wife Matilda Workman 1879 came from Glasgow around 1900 as a single woman and fell in love with 18 yr old George. Her family was originally from Ballymoney in Co. Antrim in Ireland. They had moved to Glasgow where her father and grandfather were sail makers.

Matilda was a laundress, like her mother-in-law Elizabeth. I don’t know why she came to Leith on her own without her family. Her mother had died when she was a teenager and maybe she came with a friend to find work - or maybe she met George somewhere and followed him home.

It’s impossible to understand what life was like for the early Leithers, but my grandparents remembered how fun it was. Leith was teeming with energy and Leithers were proud of their burgh. They had the first electric tram, a ferry to Fife, a free hospital supported by local businesses and much more.

Leith had free schooling for girls as early as 1820 which was unusual as it wasn't required until 1876 across Scotland. Boys in Leith had free schooling from 1755 paid for by local trade organizations.

Before these families came there were earlier ancestors related through the Hunter line who originated in Leith then moved to Inveresk/Musselburgh. They were in South Leith in the early 1600s. It’s impossible to find the birth records of Alexander Young and his wife Elspet Thomson as the OPR (Old Parish Records) begin in 1588.

An Excel(lent) Family Tree

The Templetons of Ayrshire