This
node is intended to show a
timeline of the history of
Edinburgh,
Scotland up to the present day. It shows its rise from an early hill fort and later royal residence to become the bustling city and capital of Scotland that it is today.
1-999
Late
1st century:
Roman brooch and fine
pottery from this period have been found
452: The fort on the site of Edinburgh is taken from the
Picts by the
Saxons
c
638: The
Gododdin are defeated and the site is captured by Edwin of the
Angles of
Northumbria - he builds Din Eidyn(
Dunedin) - Eidyn's fort
731: Edinburgh is possibly the town of ''Guidi'' mentioned by
Bede
854: The first
St Giles kirk is founded
960: Edinburgh temporarily falls into Scottish hands
1000-1099
1020:
Malcolm II permanently annexes Edinburgh to Scotland
1074: Refortification of the
castle and city begins under
Malcolm III
1093:
Queen Margaret dies at fort on "hill of Agned", regarded as a royal castle - St Margaret's chapel is built soon afterwards
1100-1199
1114: Infant Scottish
heir Malcolm is murdered by a priest
1124 or
1127: First documentary evidence of a "church of the community or burgh of Edin"
c
1125:
David I founds burgh
1128:
David I founds
Holyrood Abbey
1162: Edinburgh is the caput of the
Lothian sheriffdom
1200-1299
1230:
Alexander II founds large
Dominican friary; a
hospital is also open
1274: Lothian is an archdeaconry of
St Andrews
1296: Edinburgh is again held by the English, and strongly fortified
1300-1399
1314:
Edinburgh castle captured by
Thomas Randolph, Earl of Moray
1325:
Robert the Bruce makes Edinburgh capital of Scotland
1
1326-
1331: Edinburgh's contribution to Scottish burgh taxes is 15%, half that of
Aberdeen
1328: A treaty is signed guaranteeing Scottish independence
1329: Bruce makes the town a burgh, and establishes a port at
Leith
1330: Wall between High Street and Cowgate is first mentioned; castle is demolished by
David II
1334: Scotland loses major port of
Berwick to the English, Edinburgh's importance increases
1341: Scots regain castle from English
1360: Edinburgh has almost 4,000 houses, and is regarded as the nation's capital
1; the castle is the usual royal residence, being strengthened in stone
1364: David II grants ground for building of new
tron (weigh beam)
1367: David II begins work on major fortifications at castle
1371: David II dies unexpectedly at the castle
1384:
Duke of Lancaster extorts ransom following end of truce
1386:
Robert II grants ground for building
tolbooth
1387: Five new
chapels are added to St Giles following English damage in 1385; St Giles is High Kirk
1400-1499
1400:
Henry IV attempts to storm castle when
Robert III refuses homage
1437: Edinburgh becomes the capital
1 of Scotland
1440: The
Earl of Douglas and his brother are murdered at the castle by William Crichton
1440s: Edinburgh has 47% of Scottish
wool trade
c
1449: Cordiners (
shoemakers) is incorporated
1450: There is a defensive wall around the city
1455-
1458: Greyfriars (
Franciscan)
friary is founded
1457: The 508mm siege gun "
Mons Meg" is received at castle; there are
goldsmiths in the city
1458: Edinburgh has one of three supreme
courts in the country
Pre-
1460: Trinity is a
collegiate church
1467-
1469: St Giles' gains collegiate status, a
provost and fourteen
prebendiaries are established
1474-
1475:
Skinner and
weaver crafts become guilds incorporated by the town council
1477: All fifteen of Edinburgh's markets are arranged along the length of the High Street
1479: A
hospital is set up in Leith Wynd
1482: The Earls of
Atholl and
Buchan agree to free
James III
1483: The Hammermen (
smiths) are incorporated
1485: There is a notary in the Canongate; stone
tenements appear in the city
1490: The Franciscan friary closes
1500-1599
1500: Edinburgh pays 60% of Scotland's
customs revenue
1503:
James IV marries
Margaret Tudor
1505:
Royal College of Surgeons founded
1507: James IV grants a
patent for the first
printing press in Scotland to Walter Chapman and Andrew Myllar
1513: Defeat at
Flodden leads to a new southern wall being begun
1520: Archibald Douglas,
Earl of
Angus, seizes control of the city; Edinburgh is the "seat of courts of justice"
1523: City has fourteen craft guilds
1528:
James V enters city with an army, to assert his right to rule;
Holyrood Palace is built for him
1530: There are 288
brewers known as alewives in the city, one for every forty people
1532:
Holyrood Abbey is transformed into a royal
palace; the
Court of Session is built
1534: Norman Gourlay and David Stratton are burnt as
heretics
1535-
1556: Edinburgh contributes over 40% of Scotland's burgh
taxation
1537: Jane Douglas is
burnt at the
stake
1542:
Cardinal Beaton is chosen as chief ruler of the city council
1544:
Earl of Hertford burns the city; Holyrood Palace and abbey burn
1547: The English destroy Edinburgh again
1558: Riots break out over
French prosecution of
Protestants; the Flodden Wall is complete; Edinburgh's population is about 12,000; there are 367 merchants, and 400 craftsmen
1559:
John Knox is appointed minister of St Giles' church
1560: English and French troops to withdraw under
Treaty of Edinburgh;
Reformation: 40
altars,
aisles, and
pillars are dedicated to different
saints in St Giles'
1565:
Mary Queen of Scots marries
Lord Darnley, Henry Stuart
1566: Mary is held captive in
Holyrood Palace;
David Rizzio is stabbed
1567: Darnley is assassinated at Kirk o'Field House;
James Hepburn is cleared of the murder
1569: The city is hit by an outbreak of the
plague
1573: A pro-Mary
garrison is ousted from the castle by the
regent, the
Earl of Moray
1574: The castle's Half-Moon
Battery is built; there are seven mills in Edinburgh
Late
1570s: Edinburgh now has 4 ministers, previously it had only one
1579:
James VI makes his state entry
1580s: There are some 400 merchants in Edinburgh
1581:
James Douglas is executed for complicity in the murder of Lord Darnley
1582: A new
university is founded and given a
royal charter - it is the fourth university in Scotland
1583: There are an estimated 500 merchants and 500 craftsmen in the city, of which 250 are
tailors
1586:
Skinners and
goldsmiths form their own companies (previously part of the Company of Hammermen)
1591: Francis Hepburn,
Earl of Bothwell escapes from imprisonment in castle
1592: Earl of Moray murdered by
catholic Earl of Huntly; the
presbytery takes the first Edinburgh
census: there are c8,000 adults, split evenly between north and south of the High Street
1593: Earl of Bothwell take over at Holyrood Palace
1594: Earl of Bothwell fails to seize city
1596: Clergy demand arms to defend king and church against "papists"
1600-1699
1600: Gladstone's Land, 6-storey
tenement in Lawnmarket, is built; there are twelve roads out of Edinburgh
1602: Greyfriars Church is begun
1603: The headquarters of the Scottish
Post Office is in Edinburgh - there is another post office in the Canongate; William Mayne makes
golf clubs for
James VI;
1604: The Laird of MacGregor and fourteen others are
hanged for the Colquhoun massacre
1610: First factories spring up in Dalry
1610-
1621: Andrew Hart is a busy
publisher; they publish
Napier's book of
logs
1613:
Lord Maxwell is hanged for the murder of the Laird of
Johnstone
1615: The
Earl of Orkney is executed after a rebellion to overthrow
James VI
1618: Some seven-storey buildings have been built in the city; its
population is c25,000, with about 475 merchants
1619: The
privy council orders the city to clean up its streets; a
hospital built in
1479 becomes a
workhouse
1621: Edinburgh and
Leith pay 44% of Scottish non-wine
customs duty, and 66% of
wine duty
1624: Edinburgh is hit by a
plague epidemic
c
1625:
Tailor's Hall is built in the Cowgate
1628-
1693: Heriot's Hospital is built
1632: Work begins on
Parliament
1633: Edinburgh is designated a new
bishopric;
Charles I of England offends Presbyterians at crowning ceremony at St Giles' Cathedral
1636: The construction of the Tron Church is begun; the city's population is c30,000
1637: Introduction of new Prayer Book causes riots; a
supplication is delivered to remove
bishops from the
privy council
1639: Decisions of Glasgow
assembly are ratified
1640: New Parliament House is completed
1641: Sir
Robert Sibbald, later the Geographer Royal, is born
1642 or
1645: Mary King's Close is abandoned
1647: A well-known
map of the city is drawn by Rothiemay; the Tron Kirk is completed
1649:
Covenanters execute royalist Marquis of Huntly; the town Corporation buys the area around West Port
1650:
James Graham, Marquis of Montrose, is hanged; the castle surrenders to
Oliver Cromwell's men; James Colquhoun builds early
fire engines: one for Edinburgh, one for
Glasgow
1650s: A new church is built in the Canongate
1652: A 'journey
coach' to
London is introduced - it takes a
fortnight to make the journey
1653: English forces break up the
General Assembly
1655: A council of state is set up; ministers yield to the English
1660: A committee of
estates resumes
government of
Scotland
1661: Thomas Sydserf produces the first Scottish newspaper; Archibald Campbell,
Earl of Argyll, is executed
1663: The former Covenanter Archibald Johnston is executed
1667: The privy council empowers magnates to police the
highlands
1670: Water is piped into the city from Comiston Springs
1670s: Butchering of animals moves from the Grassmarket to
Dalkeith
1671:
John Law is born - he set up the national
bank of France.
1675: Robert Sibbald co-founds physic garden planted at Holyrood
1677: The first
coffee house opens in the city
1678: The first
stagecoaches run to Glasgow
1681: Robert Sibbald founds
Royal College of Physicians, whose
patron is the
Duke of York;
Viscount Stair publishes his ''Institutions of the Laws of Scotland''
1682: Sir
George Mackenzie founds
Advocates' Library - patron the Duke of York - now the
National Library of Scotland
1688: Royal government collapses as
Chancellor Perth flees
1690s:
Lawyers have more wealth than all merchants and craftsmen in the
burgh combined; over 20% of the population is in
manufacturing
1694: There are more professionals than merchants in Edinburgh; 200 legals (advocates to lawyers), 24
surgeons, and 33
physicians; other occupations include aleseller,
executioner, royal
trumpeter, and keeper of the
signet; the ratio of sexes in the city is 70 males:100 females - there are over 5000 domestic servants in Edinburgh
1697: Thomas Aikenhead is executed for
blasphemy
1700-1799
1700: A severe fire leads to new buildings, built in stone; the estimated population is 60,000
1702: Advocate's Library moved from Faculty of Advocates to
Parliament Hall
1706: Framework
knitters from
Haddington are working in Edinburgh
1707:
Act of Union
1711:
David Hume,
philosopher, is born
1713: The main
radial roads into Edinburgh are
turnpiked
1715:
Jacobites fail to take castle
1718: ''Edinburgh Evening Courant'' newspaper is launched;
damasks are woven at Drumsheugh
1720s:
Daniel Defoe praises the
Royal Mile, decries
Tolbooth or
prison, notes sales of
woollens,
linens,
drapery and ''mercery''
1722: The Signet Library is founded
1726: The first circulating library is established; a
medical school at the city's college is founded;
James Hutton,
geologist, is born
1729: The city's first
infirmary is opened
1733: Alexander Munro, discoverer of
lymphatic and
nervous systems, is born
1735:
Golf is played on Bruntsfield links; also the traditional date the Royal Burgess Golfing Society is founded
1736: The Royal Infirmary is incorporated; riots shake the city
1737: The
Lord Provost is ousted following the riots
1738: Edinburgh is described as the "world's leading medical centre"; John Watson's College is founded
1739: The Scots Magazine is first published in the city
1740: There are four
printing firms in Edinburgh; the
biographer James Boswell is born
1744: The first premises at Fountainbridge are built, with more than five looms
1745:
Charles Edward Stuart enters the city
1746: The British Linen Company is formed
1747: A
theatre is established at Playhouse Close in the Canongate
1749: A
stagecoach service opens between Edinburgh and
Glasgow
1750: A
ropery is established in the city
1751: A survey shows a severe state of dilapidation in the Old Town
1752: Proposals are heard for new public buildings and bridges
1753: Stagecoach services are introduced to
London (taking two weeks)
1754: The Select Society is founded
1757-
1770:
Linen weaving works in Canongate
1758: Stagecoach services are introduced to
Newcastle (taking one week)
1760: First
school for
deaf children opens; the main
linen stamping office is in the city
1760s:
Woollen cloth is ''beetled'' in a ''lapping house'' in Edinburgh
1761: The
Bruntsfield Golfing Society is formed
1763: Construction of the North Bridge, designed by
Robert Adam, begins; a four-horse coach runs to Glasgow three times a week
1765: The Glasgow coach now runs daily
1766: The competition to design the New Town is won by
James Craig
1767: Construction of the New Town begins
1770: The British Linen Company switches to
banking; the Heriot Brewery starts
1770s: There are 27 competing
printing firms in the city
1771:
Sir Walter Scott is born
1772: Construction of the North Bridge is completed
1773 or
1777:
Penny-post service begins
1775: A directory of
brothels and
prostitutes is published; Edinburgh's estimated population is c57,000
1777: 8 legal and 400 illegal
distilleries in the city
1781: The Mound road is opened
1782: The voting system is criticised by Thomas McGrugar in "''Letters of Zeno''"
1784: Meeting discusses corrupt electoral system
1785-
1786: Stone bridge at Stockbridge
1786-
1788: The South Bridge, also designed by Robert Adam, is built
1788:
William "Deacon" Brodie is executed - leader of a gang of robbers; the first stone of
Edinburgh University is laid
1792: The Friends of the People Society meets for the first time; Charlotte Square designed by Robert Adam
1793:
Thomas Muir of Huntershill, a radical reformer, is arrested and sentenced
1794: Robert Watt, a former spy, is sentenced to death for "Pike Plot"
1799: City has access to 3 million
litres of
water a day
1800-1899
1800: Charlotte Square is completed; Stein's large Canongate
brewery is built
c
1800: National Museum of Antiquities is established
1802: The ''Edinburgh Review'' is published, offering literary criticism
1802-
1806: The
Bank of Scotland head office is built
1803:
Dorothy Wordsworth stays in the "White Hart" inn in the Grassmarket
1814: A protest meeting against
West Indian slavery is held; two coaches a day run to
Stirling
1816-
1819: Regent Bridge is built
1817:
Coal gas supplies are available in the city; coal fires lose popularity; the old
tolbooth in Waterloo Place is demolished
1818: The
Union Canal is begun; Calton Hill observatory is founded by the Edinburgh Astronomical Association
1819: Five coaches a day run between Edinburgh and Glasgow
1820: There are protests at
George IV's treatment of Queen Caroline
1822:
George IV visits Edinburgh and wears the
kilt; the first Highland and Agricultural Show takes place
1823: The Bannatyne Club is founded
1824: A large fire destroys many buildings
1825: Eight Royal Mail coaches and over fifty stage coaches leave Edinburgh each day
1826: The
Royal Scottish Academy is founded
1828: Burke of
Burke and Hare is tried for murder
1829: Burke is hanged
1831: The Edinburgh to
Dalkeith railway opens, as railways start to come to the city
1832: A
cholera outbreak occurs in the city; ''
The Scotsman'' newspaper incorporates the ''Caledonian Mercury''
1833: The city goes
bankrupt; partly due to the development of
Leith docks
1835: Edinburgh's New Town is completed, and the Old Town becomes a slum
1836: The
Royal Institution opens, designed by
William Playfair
1840: Barnard's Canongate brewery is expanded
1841-
1851: Donaldson's
hospital for the
deaf is built
1842: Edinburgh-Glasgow railway line is open to the public
1843:
Disruption of the
Church of Scotland
1844-
1846: The
Scott Monument is built
1846: The
North British Railway company is established
1847:
Alexander Graham Bell is born in the city; half Edinburgh's population attend the funeral of
Thomas Chalmers
1850: The foundation stone of the Scottish National Gallery is laid; the Holyrood brewery is enlarged for the third time
1851: The British Linen Bank head office opens on St Andrews Square
1853: The Edinburgh Trades Council is established
1856: The burgh of Canongate becomes part of Edinburgh
1859: The National Gallery opens
1860: Bank of Scotland has 43 branches
1861: Industrial museum built beside university
1864-
1870: Bank of Scotland head office re-designed and extended
1865: Report on city’s sanitation paints picture of degradation
1867: Scottish Women’s Suffrage Society holds meetings for first time
1869:
Sophia Jex-Blake becomes first female medical student
1870:
Fettes College opens
1870-
1879: New buildings for the Royal Infirmary
1872: Watt Institution and School of Arts begins to be built
1875: Royal Theatre destroyed by fire; Institute of Bankers founded
1881: Dean Distillery opens, converted from Dean Mills
1882: City brought to standstill by severe winter weather
1883: Chair of Celtic established at the university
1885: Watt Institution and School of Arts merges with George Heriot’s to become
Heriot-Watt College
1889: City hit by earthquake;
Charles Parnell granted
freedom of the city
1890: Free
public library opens to public
1892: Drybroughs’ brewery moves to Craigmillar;
McVities’ devise ‘
digestive biscuits’
1896-
1900: Abbey brewery built by Robert Younger
1900-1999
1900: Stockbridge gains a library and hall; character actor
Alistair Sim is born
1901: University appoints its first Professor of
Scottish history; the Royal High School has 350 pupils
1902: Waverley Station is complete, covering seven
hectares; the North British Hotel is also built
1905: Moray House in Canongate becomes a teacher training centre
1905-
1906: King’s Theatre is built at Tollcross
1907: Work begins on constructing the Edinburgh College of Art
1910: First electric
trams run; Bank of Scotland has 169 branches
1911: Palladium Cinema opens
1911-
1914: Usher Hall is built
1912: La Scala Cinema opens
1916: Bank of Scotland has first female employee
1916-
1918:
Tanks are built by Brown Brothers in the city
1921: Garrick Theatre burns down
1925: The
National Library of Scotland is formed from the former Advocates’ Library
1928: The
Flying Scotsman provides a fast rail link to
London; the city’s first traffic lights are at Broughton Street
1932: George Watson’s College moves to Morningside
1932-
1935: Edinburgh has headquarters for BBC Scotland
1936:17% of Edinburgh’s houses are overcrowded
1939: The Bank of Scotland has 266 branches; the headquarters of Edinburgh Savings Bank is built
1943: The North Scotland Hydro-Electric Board is created, with its headquarters in Edinburgh
1946: A
telephone upgrade takes place, allowing all-city dialling
1946-
1947: Electric
trams in the city carry 16 million passengers a month
1947: The Edinburgh International Festival is launched; restoration of Canongate
1949: The Abercrombie Plan introduces ring roads and a bypass
1950: Tram system begins to be run down
1951: 2 central (manual) phone exchanges handle over 9,500 lines
1952: Bank of Scotland takes over Union Bank of Scotland, giving 453 combined branches
1956: Whole tram system closes
1958: Queen receives last
debutantes
1959: Old Town population declines to 2,000
1960: Infirmary Street baths are damaged by fire
1963: ‘’Evening Despatch’’ and ‘’Edinburgh Evening News’’ merge; Empire Theatre becomes
bingo hall
1966:
Heriot-Watt gains
university status
1968: Palladium Theatre fails, and becomes a
disco
1968-
1969:
Royal Bank of Scotland takes over National Commercial Bank of Scotland
1969: Bank of Scotland absorbs British Linen Bank; Tollcross Bus Depot closes
1970: The
Commonwealth Games are held in the city; the St James’ Centre, including a new St Andrews House, is completed
1971: Tom Farmer] starts
Kwik-Fit
1972: A
youth hostel opens at Eglington Crescent; Bell’s Mills are destroyed by an explosion
1974:
David Murray, later connected with
Glasgow Rangers, starts Murray International Metals
1976: A new Fountain Brewery is built by
Scottish & Newcastle
1980:
Debenhams open a Princes St store
1980s: Restoration of houses in the Old Town leads to a population increase in the area
1981: Royal Insurance Group headquarters moves to Glasgow
1985: The population of the city is 440,000;
Edinburgh University institutes a Chair of
Parapsychology
1989: The National Gallery of Scotland is renovated
1990:
Edinburgh Castle is first, and
Holyrood Palace eighth, in ranking of paid Scottish tourist attractions
1996: Infirmary St baths close
1998: The Royal Museum of Scotland is built
1999: The
Scottish Parliament is opened by the
Queen
2000-2005
2004: The Holyrood Parliament Building opens
Footnote:
1. Sources differ over the exact date Edinburgh became capital. It seems likely that different kings used it as their royal residence, and institutions like the law courts and parliament were built in the city, reinforcing its status, and gradually the city's leadership was undisputed.
See also
*
Edinburgh
*
Scotland
*
Scottish history
*
Timeline of Glasgow history
Sources
*''The Oxford Companion to Scottish History'', ed. Michael Lynch, Oxford University Press, 2001
*''The Making of Scotland'', Robin Smith, Canongate Books, 2001
*''The Hutchinson Encyclopedia'', 1997 ed., Helicon Publishing Ltd, 1996
*''Chronicle of Britain'', Chronicle Communications Ltd, 1992