Unlikely as it sounds, the Longniddry Piggery provided Britain’s first purpose-built homes for heroes. The idea came from a group of concerned individuals early in 1915 who set up the Scottish Veterans’ Garden City Association. They drew inspiration from Letchworth… Read More ›
Number three of the great tapestries to come out of Prestonpans is the one stitched by the Scottish communities across the world. As such, the Diaspora Tapestry offers a very different historical perspective than the previous two – for the… Read More ›
Man walks into jewellers and writes cheque for £100,000. Leaves with nothing and is very happy. This was the unlikely beginning of the Usher Hall in Edinburgh in 1896. The man was whisky distiller Andrew Usher and the jeweller was… Read More ›
Recent controversies over the centenary of World War One sometimes overlook a key factor – how the survivors wanted it to be remembered by future generations. In the case of Dr Elsie Inglis, this was quite simple – build maternity… Read More ›
This wee gem shows Archie Cochrane, the father of evidence-based medicine, in his prime. He is the narrator so you see him from the start in a 1970s-style pullover. Then it cuts to scenes from the 1950s – some of… Read More ›
Professor Jimmy Williamson, who died in June, was the last surviving member of the Edinburgh group which found the first 100% cure for tuberculosis. In 1954 he was the last consultant to join Sir John Crofton’s team in Edinburgh. As… Read More ›
1913 was anything but a quiet halcyon year, a point well illustrated in Michael Portillo’s recent Radio Four series Two important Scottish centenaries also came out of it. On August 15, royal assent was given to bill setting up the… Read More ›
Stand by for a treat – if you haven’t already seen it, Kay Mander’s Highland Doctor from the Scottish Screen Archive is an absolute delight. Click on the image to watch…. It tells in around 20 minutes the story of the… Read More ›
By 1930 the Frontier Nursing Service had shown that childbirth was safer in a remote area of Kentucky than in most of North America – and even much of Europe. But for its charismatic founder Mary Breckinridge, it was the start… Read More ›
There’s a reckoning at the end of every war. Counting the cost of American dead after World War One caused a few to reflect on a much more disturbing statistic: far more American women had died in childbirth than American… Read More ›
The History Company 