Scottish Genealogy Society

Scottish Genealogy Society SGS (SCIO) - Edinburgh's Family History Centre
Registered Charity No: SC053432 Charity No: SCO16718

02/06/2026

The Derry Boat, known in Derry as the Scotch Boat, sailed between Derry & Glasgow from the 19th century

The 1916 Rising Centenary Committee - Scotland is hosting a talk by historian Dr Máirtín Ó Cathain on the indivisible histories of the Glasgow Irish & Donegal communities

11 June 7-9pm Grace's Irish Sports Bar

Tickets & details: https://ow.ly/aOh850Z64AR?

02/06/2026

Newhaven Harbour, 1920s. Assume that LH on the boats stands for Leith Harbour?

Public domain postcard

02/06/2026

Calling all Massachusetts educators! We are hosting a free, three-day workshop with lessons and strategies to incorporate family history into your curriculum! Genealogy is a powerful lens for teaching history, culture, and geography. Go beyond family trees to help students develop research and historical thinking skills as they explore their roots and make personal connections to history. Learn more: https://hubs.ly/Q04jDh-60

02/06/2026

There is a custom in Scotland so ordinary it was never written down. So natural it was never named. And yet anyone who grew up in a Scottish household will feel it instantly the moment it is described.

You do not say goodbye and leave. You say goodbye, and then you stay a little longer. You reach the door, and something holds you there. The conversation finds a second life. The hand that was meant to release does not release. The cold air comes in and neither person moves to close it.

This was not sentiment without function. In communities where people left and did not always return — for seasonal labour, for military service, for emigration, for the sea — the doorstep farewell was one of the few spaces where feeling was permitted full expression. The house was for work. The door was the threshold where ordinary rules briefly did not apply. You could hold on. You could delay the moment. You could let the silence do what words had not.

Older Scots described this as simply how things were done. A mother who released her son too quickly would be spoken of, quietly, as someone who did not feel it properly. The length of the farewell was understood as a form of love made visible. To linger was to say: this matters. To leave quickly was to diminish the parting.

The ritual has thinned in most places now. Goodbyes happen faster. Doors close sooner. But in some households, in some families, the old instinct survives. The hand that doesn't quite let go. The moment that stretches past its expected end. A doorway held open against the cold, because closing it means it is truly over.

02/06/2026

You’ve worked hard to uncover your family history - now keep it organised! 📚 Discover tips for managing digital & paper records, preserving heirlooms, creating beautiful display charts, and more in our in-depth guide. 🔗👇

02/06/2026

Looking towards George Heriot's Hospital, c1850s-c1880. A stereograph panel.

A view over the rooftops of the Grassmarket towards Heriots Hospital School in the distance. The foundation stone of Heriot's is inscribed with the date 1628 with the hospital opened in 1659, with thirty sickly children in residence. It remains one of Edinburgh's most stunning pieces of architecture. The gatehouse on Lauriston Place - the main entrance today was designed by William Henry Playfair and dates to 1829. The large building in the middle ground was the old Corn Exchange. A big thanks to
Andrew Henderson for this great shot.

02/06/2026
02/06/2026

A Rare Photo of the Kirkgate

These old photos may be grainy and grey but these are all that we have left of street scenes of the Kirkgate unfortunately. This photo was taken opposite the main doors of the Gaiety Theatre. You can see one of the two lamp posts that stood at its entrance. The looming tower is South Leith Parish. On the building just behind the lorry you can see the last two letters of a sign that once hung there. It is FE. This was all that remains of Michael's Cafe, much loved at the time, which was next door to the theatre.
Image Spirit of Leithers

Address

15 Victoria Terrace
Edinburgh
EH12JL

Opening Hours

Tuesday 10:30am - 4pm
Wednesday 2:30pm - 7pm
Thursday 10:30am - 4pm
Friday 10:30am - 4pm
Saturday 10am - 2pm

Telephone

+441312203677

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