What is meant by New North, Edinburgh

[JoMC]

My A-Z of Edinburgh is in Scotland (of course!) but here's a map which shows the vicinity:

Click for Map


Gadget

[tidybooks]

Hi All,

There was a New North sub-parish in Edinburgh. Could this be it?

Tom

[JoMC]

Hi Tom

Hi Charlotte

I've looked at the image

The sheet has New North on the Top and has been allocated to the Edinburgh St Giles district. The address is Old Assembly Close. All of the children (John's siblings) are down as being born New North down to 2-3 mth old daughter Jane.

So New North is part of St Giles and includes this street.


Gadget

The description of the area from the header page is:

High Street (South Side) No 168 and Old Assemby Close, excluding the front tenement entering by No 4.
Note. This district does not include Conn's Close

I can't find Old Assembly Close on a quick look at the maps.

Gadget

No problem now! Old Assembly Close is still there - a narrow entry which runs south from the south side of the High Street, east of St Giles' Cathedral and west of South Bridge.

[tidybooks]

Hi Gadge,

Thought you were talking "Districts "rather than "Parishes, I was thinking of a"Quod Sacra" parish.
You may think I was missing the obvious but I have read it again, and your previous posts were not clear to me.

Tom

[JoMC]

Tom

I was quoting from the census entry that Charlotte found them on.

The top of the page has New North written on it (I.e. the district of Edinburgh) and the header at the front of that book describes the area.

We now know where they lived and where born - probably down to Street/Close level.

Gadget

[tidybooks]

Hi Gadget

I googled and was given the information on this being a sub-parish. just never connected it to the census district, but I suppose parishes were the basis of the census.

Tom

[JoMC]

Hi Tom

It is described as a Civil Parish (as opposed to Ecclesiastical) in the Parliamentary Burgh of Edinburgh and the Royal Burgh of Edinburgh. The GROS categorises it as Edinburgh St Giles District.

Quad Sacra is crossed out.

I think Charlotte just wanted to know what part of Edinburgh it was.


Gadget

[Henry7]

Old Assembly Close isn't marked on the map (above) but lies just east of and parallel with Borthwick's Close, which is named.

The National Library of Scotland website contains a large-scale plan surveyed in 1851, which shows all the buildings in great detail. 

[charlotteuk]

Thanks Gadget, Henry7 & tidybooks. I now have a very good idea of the area referred to in the census, especially as I finally managed to visit Edinburgh earlier this week and its all fresh in my mind.

Unfortunately, as this also confirms that the McQuade children were born in the St Giles area it looks like my search continues.....

Charlotte