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Scotland Edinburgh

Guide to Edinburgh history, family history, and genealogy: parish registers, census records, birth records, marriage records, and death records.



History
Edinburgh (Listeni/ˈɛdɪnbərə/ Scottish Gaelic: Dùn Èideann) is the capital city of Scotland. As such, it has a significant role to play in the governance of Scotland within the United Kingdom.

Edinburgh is a city, the seat of a university, and the metropolis of the kingdom of Scotland, situated in longitude 3° 10' 30" (W.), and latitude 55° 57' 29" (N.).

Edinburgh is situated in Lothian on the southern shore of the Firth of Forth. As such, it is ideally situated for marine access to the Firth, and thence to the North sea. The castle built on Arthur's Seat is a formidable piece of engineering, making it almost impossible to besiege. Thus Edinburgh was always a defensible location.

It's lowland location makes for easy transportation by all types of carriers. When the first bridge over the Forth was built in 1890, it secured for Edinburgh key transportation routes to the north and north west of Scotland.

The earliest known human habitation in the Edinburgh area is from Cramond where evidence was found of a Mesolithic camp-site dated to c. 8500 BC.

At some point before the 7th century AD, the Gododdin, who were presumably descendants of the Votadini, built the hill fort of Din Eidyn or Etin. Although its exact location has not been identified, it seems more than likely they would have chosen a commanding position like the Castle Rock or Arthur's Seat or Calton Hill.

The royal burgh was founded by King David I in the early 12th century on land belonging to the Crown, though the precise date is unknown. By the middle of the 14th century, the French chronicler Jean Froissart was describing it as the capital of Scotland (c.1365), and James III (1451–88) referred to it in the 15th century as "the principal burgh of our kingdom".

In 1706 and 1707, the Acts of Union were passed by the Parliaments of England and Scotland uniting the two kingdoms into the Kingdom of Great Britain.

Scotland has remained a part of the UK, with efforts to ensure independence as recently as 2014 AD failing.

The New Statistical Account of Scotland (pub. 1834-45) offers uniquely rich and detailed parish reports for the whole of Scotland, covering a vast range of topics including history, agriculture, education, trades, religion and social customs. The reports, written by the parish ministers, are available online at http://edina.ac.uk/stat-acc-scot/. Click on ‘Browse scanned pages’ then search the parish reports for your parish of interest. Also available at the

Edinburgh is situated in Lothian on the southern shore of the Firth of Forth. As such, it is ideally situated for marine access to the Firth, and thence to the North sea.

The castle built on Arthur's Seat is a formidable piece of engineering, making it almost impossible to besiege. Thus Edinburgh was always a defensible location.

It's lowland location makes for easy transportation by all types of carriers. When the first bridge over the Forth was built in 1890, it secured for Edinburgh key transportation routes to the north and north west of Scotland.