1922 Encyclopædia Britannica/Edinburgh

EDINBURGH, Scotland (see 8.937^[1]).—By the passage of the Edinburgh Boundaries Extension Act of 1920 Edinburgh has become, as far as area is concerned, the second largest city in the United Kingdom, through an amalgamation with Leith, and the absorption of the suburban districts of Liberton, Colinton, Corstorphine, and Cramond. The municipal area was increased from 10,597 to 32,402 acres.

The number of municipal wards has been increased from 16 to 23 and the number of members of the town council from 50 to 71—three representatives of each ward in addition to the two ex officio members, the dean of guild and the convener of the trades. The four Leith wards form the parliamentary division of Leith, and the four new suburban wards are in the northern division of Midlothian and Peebles. The powers of the board of trustees under the Edinburgh Waterworks Acts of 1869, 1874, and 1896 and of the Edinburgh and Leith corporations gas commissioners are now exercised by the town council. The total valuation, as extended, is £4,696,504.

The pop. of Edinburgh by the 1911 census was 320,315, of Leith 80,488, of Liberton 8,360, of Colinton 6,664, of Corstorphine 3,870, and of Cramond 3,763—a total of 423,460 for the extended city. The estimated pop. in 1920 was 450,000. In 1917, the corporation agreed to purchase the plant of the Edinburgh Tramway Co., for £50,000, and the transfer took place in July 1919, at the expiry of the company's lease. The work of replacing the system of cable cars was begun in 1910. A tramway extension to South Queensferry and Port Edgar was sanctioned by the town council in 1917. The most important addition to the public parks was the establishment by the Zoölogical Society of Scotland, in conjunction with the town council, of a zoölogical park at Corstorphine hill, which was opened in July 1913. The site, which extends to 74 ac., was purchased by the town council and feued to the society. About 27 ac. have been laid out in a manner designed to give expression to the latest ideas about the acclimatization and exhibition of wild animals, and to show the inmates living under conditions which invite them to display their normal instincts and habits The park contains a large and varied collection, and when completed will rival the London "Zoo." Large corporation markets and slaughter-houses were opened in 1910, and in March 1914 the Usher hall, bequeathed to the city in 1898 by Mr. Andrew Usher, was completed and opened.

Additions to the large number of public memorials in the city include a Black Watch memorial (1910), a statue of Dr. Guthrie (1910), a life-size statue of Thomas Carlyle (by Boehm) presented to the National gallery by Lord Rosebery in 1916. and a Gladstone memorial (1917). In 1913, Lord Rosebery presented to the city the historic house in the Lawnmarket known as Lady Stair's house; and in 1920. the birthplace of Robert Louis Stevenson. 8. Howard Place, was purchased as a memorial by the R. L. Stevenson club. In 1911, the King and Queen dedicated the new chapel of the Order of the Thistle, in St. Giles' cathedral. The new Freemasons' hall was opened in the same year. The western spires of St. Mary's cathedral (carrying out the original plan of Sir Gilbert Scott) were completed and dedicated in 1915 and 1917. Reconstructions of the national museum of antiquities and of the national portrait gallery were in progress in 1920. and a scheme for a national war memorial provided for the utilization for this purpose of Edinburgh castle, which was to be disused as barracks.

Royal residence at Holyrood had emphasized the social position of Edinburgh as the capital of Scotland, and its importance as an administrative centre tended rather to increase than to diminish, as new government departments were established. Its commercial importance depends upon its being the headquarters of many of the Scottish banks and insurance companies and of the North British Railway Co., upon the continuance of its traditional position as the chief centre for the administration of Scottish landed estates and upon its preeminence in the legal world. Apart from the business of the high courts, Edinburgh firms of writers and chartered accountants are entrusted with a large proportion of Scottish legal and administrative work.

During the World War the proximity of Edinburgh to Queensferry and Port Edgar and the great battle cruiser and destroyer base in the Firth of Forth gave it strategic importance in the naval operations, and its position as the headquarters of the Scottish command made it a centre of military organization. Preparations for defence against an invasion by sea were made in its vicinity as in other coastal districts, but no serious anti-aircraft protection was given until after a Zeppelin raid, on April 2 1916, in which ten people were killed and eleven seriously injured and damage was done to warehouses, private houses, and public buildings including Donaldson's hospital. In the later stages of the war Edinburgh became a favourite leave centre for colonial and American troops.

1. These figures indicate the volume and page number of the previous article.