In the Trove archive, I came across the above photograph. It was taken by a photographer for the Scotsman in 1958 and was given this annotation “Old Georgian house at Rosepark, South Trinity Road, Edinburgh. Exterior of which may be demolished to make way for multi-storey flats”.
Intrigued, I returned to the archives to try and learn more about this old house, its occupants and their stories. I was delighted to discover that Rose Park once had a fabulous garden; the garden of Prof George Dunbar, Greek Classical scholar, University of Edinburgh. After his death the Lennie family, who ran a well-known and long-established Optician business in Edinburgh, became custodians. Following the death of two elderly unmarried Lennie sisters in 1961, Rose Park was demolished and ‘Retirement flats’ were built.
I would like to write a poem on Rose Park. The poem will start with the washing that you can see through the window of one of the downstairs rooms in the 1958 photograph.
This was my first archival find: The Scotsman, 21 March 1962:
It would appear that the house was first named “Trinity Park” and was probably built in the 1790s.
1804, John Ainslie map:
18 January 1810, Caledonian Mercury:
1817 map:
9 July 1829, Edinburgh Evening Courant:
13 June 1839, Caledonian Mercury:
5 July 1843, The Scotsman:
20 March 1844, Trinity Witness:
27 March 1847, Caledonian Mercury:
[Prof George Dunbar, AI sketch from a ‘doodle’ in an 18c book ]:
3 March 1849, Edinburgh Evening Post:
23 May 1850, North British Agriculturalist:
8 December 1851, Caledonian Mercury:
1852, Ordnance Survey map:
1852, Ordnance Survey Book entry:
25 February 1852, North British Agriculturalist:
20 March 1852, Edinburgh Evening Courant:
1861, Johnston map:
1861 advertisement: The Lennie family and Rose Park:
46 Princes Street, Edinburgh [AI sketch from old photograph]:
[AI sketch of the Lennie logo]
25 April 1878, Birth of Lennie twins at Rose Park [Children of Joseph Campbell Lennie, optician]:
14 April 1888, Leith Herald:
Summer 1895, Arthur Campbell Lennie graduated in Medicine and Surgery:
19 February 1900, Edinburgh Evening Dispatch:
A few weeks later, March 1900:
1914-1915:
9 July 1923, The Scotsman:
1952, Ordnance Survey map:
9 March 1956, Daily Record: The Lennie sisters:
17 May 1961: Death of Alice Lennie
19 December 1961, The Scotsman: Death of Louise Lennie:
22 March 1962, Edinburgh Evening News:
24 November 1983, The Scotsman:
2026:
Footnote: Wikipedia entry on Professor George Dunbar: