Old Edinburgh Club

An historical illustration depicting a crowded scene in front of an old building with Edinburgh Castle visible in the background, situated on a hill. Numerous individuals are gathered, listening to a figure standing on an elevated platform.

#OnThisDay in 1638, members of the Scottish nobility signed the National Covenant at the churchyard of Greyfriars Kirk, in Edinburgh. In doing so, they opposed Charles I's proposed reforms of the Church of Scotland.

📸 Getty

Here is a Youtube link to the Anselm session, don't miss a fascinating talk: www.youtube.com/watch?v=v8z1...
Do send any questions to me: jill.harrison@ddsoc.org and join us on 7th to hear the answers: zoom.us/j/97546717731

In the spring edition of the Scottish Local History Forum magazine, you'll find a full story about the OEC Jean Guild Grant programme and the projects and research it has funded. #jeanguildgrants #parliamentsquare #edinburghhistory #history #stgilescathedral #grants #research buff.ly/pT4uzn1

Jimmy’s: the thread about the school on St Leonard’s Crag St Leonard’s Crag is the romantic sounding name for a quarried-out promontory where Holyrood Park meets the old district of St Leonard’s. Perched atop it is a handsome old building whos…

A wonderful article by Andy Arthur about the former school known to many as 'Jimmy's.'

Jimmy's: the thread about the school on St Leonard's Crag threadinburgh.scot/2026/02/25/j...

Coming up next in the AHSS Forth & Borders Group Winter Lecture Series:

Architecture and Urbanism in late Georgian Edinburgh with speaker John Lowrey

🗓️ Mon 9 Mar 2026
📍 Augustine United Church, Edinburgh and via Zoom
🎟️ £6 | £2 students

🔗 Book your tickets here: buff.ly/B2tZQZ6

Our next talk from the OEC is by Ray Perman on the Geologist James Hutton. Often referred to as the 'Father of Modern Geology', he played a key role in establishing geology as a modern science. Tickets are available for non-members on Eventbrite. #edinburghgeology #salisburycraggs
buff.ly/7CCgLS1

On this day in 1826, John Kay, the engraver and caricaturist of famous Edinburgh people, died. His own self-portrait shows him seated, the other is of Adam Smith. Read more about Kay in an article in the Book of the Old Edinburgh Club on our website. #edinburghengravers #history buff.ly/5N2gDRh

Murrayfield Memorial Club: Rise of Competitive Table Tennis - The Old Edinburgh Club Charlie Ellis traces the evolution of competitive table tennis at Murrayfield Memorial Club from its founding in 1922.

A great article on the history and development of table tennis in Edinburgh, by Charlie Ellis, an OEC Jean Guild Grant Awardee. He follows it from its modest interwar beginnings to its emergence as one of Scotland’s leading clubs. #edinburghsports #murrayfieldclubs #memorialclubs #tabletennis

On this day, 12th February 1624, George Heriot died. There's a short story on George and his legacy on our website for you to read. #georgeheriot #georgeheriotsschool #jinglygeordie #heriotstrust #edinburghorphans #edinburghgoldsmiths #edinburghschools
oldedinburghclub.org.uk/george-herio...

A reminder that this online talk takes place on the 11th Feb if you want to join in.

There is a female arm wearing a Victorian style sleeve in the top left hand corner and a hand in the bottom right hand corner wearing a surgical glove. Each hand is holding a white square with black text on it which reads "New Temporary Exhibition A Fair Field and No Favour: The History of Women in Surgery closes Sunday 8th March 2026". The background is dark blue.

Our current temporary exhibition 'A Fair Field and No Favour: The History of Women in Surgery' will close at 5pm on Sunday the 8th of March!

Not able to make it along to the exhibition before it closes? You can view it digitally on Bloomberg Connects: guides.bloombergconnects.org/en-US/guide/...

A reminder of a visit to St Triduana's Chapel, Restalrig in 2025, with Jill Harrison for her project, Reviving the Trinity Stones, funded by an OEC Jean Guild Grant. #sttriduanaschapel #restalrig #revivingthetrinitystones #grants #edinburghhistory

Reviving the Trinity Stones: Exhibition Announcement for 2026 - The Old Edinburgh Club Jill Harrison announces her Reviving the Trinity Stones Exhibition at the Edinburgh Museum and Outreach programme for 2026

Announcement of a new exhibition by Jean Guild Grant Awardee Jill Harrison, showcasing her work in the search for the lost stones of the former Trinity Church. Also, details of an outreach programme and a GoFundMe page to support her further work.#lostedinburgh #edinburghmuseums #events, #history

So what's Scottish about Edinburgh architecture?:Hybrid Event Roger Emmerson will expand on this question from the points of view of the Scottish people, Scotland, history, art and architecture.

So what's Scottish about Edinburgh architecture? Our next talk is on 18th February for OEC members. Some tickets are available for non-members on Eventbrite. #edinburghbuildings #edinburgharchitecture #scottishfolklore #scottishpeople #walksandtalks

An engraving of St Giles Cathedral shows the luckenbooth stalls built around its walls.

Ahead of #BurnsNight, we focus on #RobertBurns’ publisher, William Creech.
Largely forgotten today, Creech was well known in late 1700s Edinburgh society. He was Lord Provost, a member of Edinburgh’s literati, and a Luckenbooth shopkeeper.
Read about his life on Our Town Stories - zurl.co/zciE6

Castles in the Sky: Identity, Social and Home Life in Wester Hailes, 1967 - 1990 YouTube video by Old Edinburgh Club

A lecture I gave on the history and social life of Wester Hailes for the Old Edinburgh Club is now available on YouTube!

Keep in mind this is an *old* lecture, there’s some mistakes and the analysis has since been updated - but I’m still happy to share

m.youtube.com/watch?v=y2VK...

This is exciting news for us. Our new YouTube channel is now live, and we've just posted our talks from the 2024/2025 session. Thanks to all the speakers for their permission to make their talks live for everyone to view. Check the talks out at buff.ly/DOLKg0h
#edinburghhistorytalks #histoystories

Good news from Edinburgh City Council Archives: The Archives search room reopened on 20th January by appointment only, from Tuesday to Thursday, 10am - 4:30 pm. More info on their website buff.ly/mgz7Xl6

#edinburgharchives #edinburghhistory

Thanks for letting us know Andy. Link now fixed 🙂

Veterans Housing Scotland publishes its 110-year history - The Old Edinburgh Club Veterans Housing Scotland has published its 100 year history booklet, with a Jean Guild Grant from the Old Edinburgh Club

A new booklet celebrating the history of housing provision for veterans in Edinburgh has been published, funded by a Jean Guild Grant from the Old Edinburgh Club. #veteranshousing #edinburghveterans #salvesen #edinburghhistory

Margaret Hall’s Cairn: Reclaiming a Forgotten Story in Holyrood Park - Historic Environment Scotland Blog Margaret Hall’s Cairn in Holyrood Park Discover the historic case of domestic violence and remembrance behind the Margaret Hall Cairn in Holyrood Park:

A new blog from HES.

East Jersey Bound: From Scotland to America in the 1680s - The Old Edinburgh Club In the early 1680s, Scots emigrated from Edinburgh, Aberdeen and Montrose to settle in New Jersey. Who, why & what became of them?

A joint online event with The Scottish History Society and the OEC. This talk by Derrick Johnstone will set out the background to the venture and address the questions: Who were the immigrants? Why did they leave Scotland? What became of them? More details on our website.#newjersey

Map festival | National Library of Scotland Ever wondered what secrets lie in a map? Join us for the Map Festival, a day dedicated to all things cartographic in Edinburgh.

Map Festival: This looks like a great event hosted by the National Library of Scotland @nls map room at Causewayside on February 6th. Full details on their website. #mapfestival #maps #cartography #edinburghevent

Heriot's at 400: A reminder of our first hybrid talk of 2026 on 21st January. Tickets for non-members are still available on Eventbrite. #georgeheriot #walksandtalks #edinburghhistory #history #augustinechurch

buff.ly/9o8hVy5

HERIOTS AT 400: Details of our first lecture of 2026 can be found on Eventbrite. Professor MacQueen will explain the thinking behind the creation of George Heriots Trust. Tickets are available for non-members. #georgeheriot #edinburghlectures #edinburghsociety

buff.ly/PzihtAN

Merry Christmas everyone from all of us at the Old Edinburgh Club.

Blog | Old Edinburgh Reborn Creating virtual photographs of old Edinburgh from before the dawn of photography takes months of creative work to construct virtual 3D computer models which can offer photorealistic images. But…

Edinburgh's Old Tolbooth - Take the door into the Old Tolbooth through which generations of Scottish criminals, including Deacon Brodie, were taken to their doom. A splendid CGI reconstruction by @oldedinburghreborn, an OEC Jean Guild Grant Awardee. #oldtolbooth #deaconbrodie #edinburghprison

Lothians Family History Society researching your family tree

The Lothians Family History Society announces its new website for research in the counties of Midlothian, Scotland. You can find information on family history, burial indexes, and military research. #familyroots #midlothianfamilyhistory

A red poster decorated with white snowflakes gives the opening hours for Edinburgh Libraries from Wednesday 24 December 2025 to Saturday 3 January 2026.

Here's a reminder of our opening times over the holiday period - Edinburgh Libraries will be closed Christmas Day, Boxing Day, New Year’s Day and 2nd January.
But don’t forget, Your Library is always open online for ebooks, audiobooks, magazines and newspapers! zurl.co/aaiJb

Edinburgh, Lothians and Borders Archaeology Conference | Archaeology whats on? | East Lothian Council Annual conferences organised by City of Edinburgh Council, East Lothian Council and Scottish Borders Council.

2/2 You can also view the launch of the South East Scotland Scarf from the recent archaeology conference, other talks about Edinburgh digs and the talk by John Lawson, the City's archaeologist, on St Giles 900: Edinburgh's First Burghers. #stgiles #edinburghpeople #archaeology