This thesis examines the development of the Edinburgh Royal Maternity Hospital in the context of medical care in Edinburgh during the period 1844-1914. It is based primarily on casebooks of the hospital and, in particular, on in-depth micro-studies of all of the hospital's Indoor and Outdoor cases in four discrete years, at approximately 20-year intervals. The central argument of the thesis is that Over the period 1844- 1914, professionals and patients at the hospital came to understand birth as a medical rather than a social event, and that this had repercussions for both groups as well as the institution itself. Chapter 1 places the thesis in the context of other secondary uork on the development of maternity hospitals and care, and examines the use of casebooks as primary sources. Chapter 2 considers the hospital and its staff in relation to the city and the Edinburgh medical community in particular. Chapter 3 examines the patients who attended. It argues that, in the nineteenth century, their perception of the hospital was as a place of social shelter. However, by 1912 a greater number attended for otherwise unaffordable medical care at birth. Chapter 4 examines the medical treatment given to patients. It argues that there was increasing acceptance of medicalisation by patients in the period studied, and increasing confidence in giving such treatment by the professionals involved. Chapter 5 discusses the staff and male and female trainees at the hospital. It suggests that, prior to the introduction of national requirements, the provision of training was driven by commercial concerns, and therefore varied throughout the period studied, particularly in the amount of practical experience offered. The relationship between the different grades of staff and the treatment they offered, described in the chapter, suggests increasing stratification in the roles of doctors and nurses at delivery and during the puerperium. The increase in nursing care following the birth indicates the creation of a professional role that among the poor had previously been undertaken by family members. The role played by increasing anxiety over infection following the introduction of strict antiseptic measures is discussed. The thesis concludes that in Edinburgh the medicalisation of childbirth among the poor was well-advanced by 1912, and suggests that this was a result of increasing patient acceptance combined with the increasing professionalisation of care.

This thesis is a study of the effects of the Third Reform Act and Irish Home Rule on the politics of late-Victorian Edinburgh focussing on the general elections of 1885 and 1886. Although the impact on British politics of both the Third Reform Act and the debate on Irish Home Rule have been the subjects of many studies, Edinburgh has hardly featured in this historiography. During this short time, Edinburgh was transformed from a Liberal dominated dual-member constituency to a city represented by four single-member MPs, one of whom was not a Liberal, thus altering the long-standing liberal political tradition of the city. Both the Third Reform Act and the debate over Irish Home Rule created separate and distinct splits in the local Liberal Party of Edinburgh. The Liberal split over Irish Home Rule has attracted some attention, but the split created by the Third Reform Act has been ignored. This thesis helps bridge a gap in nineteenth-century Scottish political history by focussing on Edinburgh; however, it also seeks to highlight the Liberal infighting that took place after the Third Reform Act, but prior to the split over Irish Home Rule. This study draws heavily on the local press, campaign pamphlets and manuscripts of political elites to offer an analysis of the changes that took place upon passage of the Third Reform Act and introduction of the issue of Irish Home Rule. The political rhetoric that emerged during this period focussed on themes within the political tradition of the constituency, questioning the legitimacy of the local Party, and defining Liberalism. These were not unique to Edinburgh and the case study presented here is connected to wider themes within the study of late-Victorian politics.

The Common Good was the ancient patrimony of a Scottish burgh, and the central resource of urban government before local rates. By the early nineteenth century this revenue was under considerable strain due to rapid population growth and urban expansion. As pressure on urban institutions and resources increased, so did debts secured against the revenue stream from Common Good assets, anxieties about which triggered the campaign for burgh reform. In 1833, as the Burgh Reform Act changed the electoral basis of burgh government, Edinburgh was declared bankrupt due to levels of borrowing incurred to build and extend the New Town and to expand Leith harbour. This thesis uses Common Good accounts as its quantitative basis. The disbursements of extant accounts for the period 1820-56 were recorded and assigned analytical categories in order to compare expenditure of different types over time. Such detailed analysis constitutes a major contribution to the existing historiography of Scottish cities and local government, providing insight into changing spending and priorities, and the effects on the unravelling of the old political order. It also facilitates discussion of the changing nature of corruption and probity in public life during a period when expectations of those holding office changed substantially. In the 1820s burgh reform seemed likely, yet in responding to the challenges of urban government, the unreformed Council was innovative. Two case studies illustrate the contingency function of the Common Good. Whilst George IV’s visit is well-known, that the Council used Common Good money to provide civic hospitality and promotion is not. The Great Fires of Edinburgh of 1824 were very damaging, especially around Parliament Square, and the Council offered a sophisticated response using the resources of the Common Good which included emergency aid to those in need, and the establishment of the first municipal fire brigade. In 1833 Edinburgh was declared bankrupt, and the City’s assets were transferred to trustees appointed for the Creditors. Without control of its finances during protracted negotiations, the new, elected Council suffered from a ‘legitimacy deficit.’ The Settlement Act 1838 served to ‘translate’ the Burgh Reform Act, 1833 to Edinburgh’s needs, as it restructured municipal debt and gave Leith a portion of Edinburgh’s Common Good, which meant Leith could make use of its police burgh status gained in 1833. This case shows the higher importance of local legislation to a major city rather than general acts. With the problems of the former political system resolved, Edinburgh’s 1856 Extension Act expanded municipal boundaries and transferred police powers to the Council, so moving towards a unitary authority. Neither burgh reform nor the restructuring of local government can be understood without first analysing how the Common Good was used, and this thesis takes important strides in that direction.

In 1880 Gerard Baldwin Brown (1849-1932) was appointed by Edinburgh University as its first Watson Gordon Professor of Fine Art. Over the fifty-year period that he held the professorship he was to become well-known as a scholar of Anglo-Saxon art and culture, preparing the first comprehensive study of Anglo-Saxon church architecture in England as part of a six volume study of the arts in early England. In 1905 he produced a monograph, The Care of Ancient Monuments (Cambridge, 1905) which provided a comprehensive assessment of the protective systems in place across Europe and America for the protection of ancient buildings and monuments and made strong recommendations for the strengthening of the protective measures in Britain. These recommendations led amongst other things to the creation of Britain’s first national inventory bodies but Baldwin Brown’s call for the protection of occupied ancient buildings to be improved was not successful. Although The Care of Ancient Monuments appeared to be a departure from Baldwin Brown’s usual interests, this research suggests that it formed part of the author’s longer-term commitment to the protection of long-lived elements of the built environment, and that his views were strongly influenced by his experience of pursuing preservation campaigns in Edinburgh’s Old and New Towns. This study draws on a detailed study of Baldwin Brown’s preservation-related campaigns in Edinburgh to trace the coalescence of an urban preservation movement in the city in the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries. It draws on a range of information sources including a hitherto unidentified collection of letters to the press, reports of lectures and published papers to trace the development of his preservation philosophy and the nature and scope of his preservation campaigns. It also explores the mechanisms available to would-be preservationists in the absence of effective legislation, and it assesses Baldwin Brown’s broader significance in the development of the urban preservation movement.

Previous research on paper history has tended to be conducted from an economic perspective and/or as part of the field of book history within a broadly literary framework. This has resulted in understandings of paper history being book-centric and focused on production. We now have a great deal of knowledge about the physical process of hand paper-making, a good knowledge of the actors involved and where in the country paper was manufactured, but there is still very little scholarly discussion of the people, processes and practices associated with paper outside of the mill. Taking inspiration from eighteenth-century ‗it-narratives‘, this thesis takes a holistic approach to the paper trade – loosely based around the framework of social life theory as expounded by Arjun Appadurai and Igor Kopytoff. It encompasses a case study of the rag-collection and paper-wholesale operations of a single Edinburgh firm, a wider examination of paper-retailing in Edinburgh, a look at the ownership of desks in Edinburgh alongside a consideration of advice and instruction relating to desk-use, and closes with an examination of the papers owned by a notable Edinburgh family. The first three chapters consider the scope of the Edinburgh paper trade. Moving through distinct stages in the life of paper, these chapters begin with an account of the Edinburgh rag-trade. Business records relating to the Balerno Company‘s rag-buying operations reveal an active and organised network with connections to a variety of trades. Continuing the focus on the Balerno Company, the second chapter considers the company as paper-wholesalers. It demonstrates that the driving force behind their operations was not the supply of paper for the booktrade but rather the provision of wrapping papers for the purposes of commerce. Using advertisements in local newspapers the third chapter looks at the reach of paper-selling beyond the booktrades. The final two chapters move gradually from the commercial to the personal. Chapter four considers the presentation of desk-use in penmanship manuals and the evidence of desk-ownership in confirmation inventories. Both of which are suggestive of a growing mercantile interest in desk furniture. Finally, this thesis closes by looking at the paper archives of the Innes family of Stow in order to examine the extent to which the findings of previous chapters is reflected in the collection, retention and use of papers across two generations of this family. Overall, this thesis demonstrates the value of adopting an inclusive approach to the study of paper history, as doing so opens up a multifaceted world of paper. Paper history has tended to be understood as the history of writing and printing paper sold by booksellers and stationers. The social life approach allows connections to be made between materials, artefacts and trades; to gain a fuller understanding of the role paper played in people‘s lives.

No description available.

The thesis examines and explains the background events to the architecture of the University of Edinburgh during the years 1949-65, when Sir Edward Appleton was the Principal. The four books that constitute the thesis each take different perspectives on the progress of the post-war expansion project. Appleton had to reconcile Edinburgh's policy to reintegrate dispersed University departments within the city-centre with a rapid and unprecedented and expansion in higher education. Selection of sites was the subject of a prolonged and heated debate, which is related in Book One. Aided by a formidable array of architectural talent, Appleton persuaded the local and national authorities that the controversial George Square development, in tandem with a separate suburban site for science expansion, would produce the most desirable outcome. The second book discusses the style of architecture that was produced, looking at the pre-war background of the Edinburgh School architects: William Kininmonth, Basil Spence, Robert Matthew and Alan Reiach. The influences are traced to Scandinavia and the architects' preoccupation with cultural nationalism. These factors combined with the ethos of reconstruction and the City's ambitions for cultural regeneration to create architecture with a resonance particular to its time and place. How, and why, this is regarded as Festival Style is explained. The academic and social objectives of the Universities, as directed by Humanists and Christians in influential positions, were crucial to the architectural outcome, and these are investigated in Book Three. A large amenity centre was planned for the University area and an important purpose-built halls-of-residence development achieved at a site near the city-centre in consequence of this. Edinburgh's own tradition, emanating from Patrick Geddes, played a significant part in the development of residences and student amenities, particularly the rehabilitation of a large 17th century building in the heart of the Old Town. Finally, in Book Four, the relationships between the architects and the theoretical antipathies they encountered are considered. The University provided a forum for interaction between the architects, with Matthew emerging as the dominant figure, advising Appleton on architecture and planning, and ultimately setting up a University Department of Architecture. For him, the University project was part of a social mission and architecture its tool. Kininmonth, the first post-war architect to the University, was displaced by Matthew's arrival. Spence's approach to urban design was crucial in the realisation of the George Square project, and yet he too was replaced when that was achieved. All of these architects encountered the dichotomies of Modernity and Tradition, and Science vs. Art, though with differing responses. Architects and University ultimately experienced the conflict between pragmatism and idealism. Viewed in its context. the achievement of Appleton was remarkable and, as a result, the University of Edinburgh must be considered the most extraordinary patron of architecture of the period.

Thesis (Ph.D.)--University of Edinburgh, 1998.

This thesis examines middle-class social relations in nineteenth-century Dublin and Edinburgh, giving particular attention to how the cities’ inhabitants dealt with sectarian conflicts. These cities occupied an unusual position within the UK as they were both stateless capitals, towns that no longer possessed a national parliament, but still performed many of the administrative functions of a capital city. Being a stateless capital affected Dublin and Edinburgh in contrasting ways and this distinction shaped the wider character of each city and middle-class social relations within them. The thesis adopts philanthropy as a vantage point from which to explore these issues as charitable institutions occupied a unique place in nineteenth-century towns, being a junction between voluntary association and official government activity. Presbyterian Edinburgh and predominately Catholic and Anglican Dublin were both home to vibrant philanthropic associational cultures based on similar middle-class values. Contrary to older analyses, Presbyterianism did not promote a greater interest in participating in voluntary activity any more than Catholicism discouraged it. There were, however, differences between the cities. Edinburgh was a more ostensibly successful city by contemporary middle-class standards. Its organisations helped it to overcome social divisions to a greater extent than their counterparts in Dublin. The contrasting nature of state-charity relations in each city partly explains this difference. Overt central state intervention in Edinburgh’s philanthropic institutions was rare, hence Edinburgh was seen as a society trying to manage its own problems. Dublin by contrast, appeared to be a dependent city as its charities received substantial parliamentary aid. Hence, Edinburgh could present itself as a self-confident capital city whereas Dublin, although a more overt centre of power, sometimes appeared to be simply an intermediary through which London influenced the rest of Ireland. Although both cities were part of the UK mainstream associational culture, charitable activity also emphasised their Irish or Scottish characteristics. These national attributes were not perceived as equally attractive. Philanthropy associated Edinburgh with Enlightenment and education, by contrast it connected Dublin with poverty and dependency.

Studies on mixed race and/or ethnicity families have tended to focus on the child’s struggle with identity. Although this topic is very important, in order to better understand how mixed families function as a whole, and how mixed children are socialised, my thesis explored the entire family, with a focus on the parents and kin. Specifically, I looked at the negotiations that take place between the Japanese mothers’ and British fathers’ differences, and the way in which culture, including customs, beliefs, and preferences, are then shared and transmitted to the mixed children. This qualitative, ethnographic study focused on twelve Japanese/British families in Edinburgh. Because socialisation and the transmission of culture tend to happen in the midst of doing mixed family, the following areas of the mixed families’ lives were explored: everyday lived culture, language choices, and food habits. When examining the foods eaten and the languages spoken by the mixed families, it seems that the mixed families are attempting to transmit both their linguistic and culinary heritages to their children, with their aspiration being to raise bilingual, bicultural children. In addition, this study explored the role that extended family and friends play in the lives of the mixed families as they attempt to form their new mixed family culture. The data collection was the result of 26 months of fieldwork consisting of participant observation at three local Japanese mother/toddler playgroups, interviews with both parents and extended family members, and home observations. Some major findings from the study were that, while mothers still tend to carry a heavier burden when it comes to everyday parenting, particularly in the domestic sphere, the fathers were also found to be involved in many aspects of everyday parenting. Additionally, both maternal and paternal kin were also found to offer the mixed families various types of support, with the most frequently mentioned types of support being practical and emotional. Further, mixed families were found to complicate this idea of ‘national culture’ because nationality is not tied to a culture. In this way, the transmission of culture becomes more fluid, allowing the British man to transmit “Japanese” customs and the Japanese woman to share her “British” interests with her children. Finally, while focusing on the intergenerational transmission of culture from parent to child, we find that children do indeed have agency in the transmission of culture, as they are the ones who ultimately decide whether their cultural heritage is a gift or a burden. The study thus offers a nuanced picture of mixed family lives in contemporary UK.