Friday 15th October 1819
Friday Oct 15th. At 12 o’clock we all (except Frank who finds himself better to day) went to the races 6 miles off the course is pleasantly situated close to the sea we saw a great many genteel people after we returned we walked about the town. The 3 principal streets are Princes St George & Queens St all equally fine.
OBSERVATIONS & COMMENTS:
Princes Street: (see blog 13 October)
George Street is the central thoroughfare of the First New Town of Edinburgh, planned in the 18th century by James Craig and takes its name from King George III. The two prints, below, was published 10 years after Lucy’s visit but illustrates the “genteel society” that would have stimulated the approval of the 16 year old.
1829: George Street, St Andrew's Church, and Lord Melville's Monument, Edinburgh by Thomas Hosmer Shepherd. Image extracted from page 73 of Modern Athens, displayed in a series of views; or, Edinburgh in the nineteenth century; exhibiting the whole of the new buildings, modern improvements, antiquities, & picturesque scenery of the Scottish metropolis & its environs, by Thomas Hosmer Shepherd (original drawings) with John Britton (text). Original held and digitised by the British Library, accession number HMNTS 010370.dd.10. This work is in the public domain in its country of origin and other countries and areas where the copyright term is the author's life plus 70 years or fewer. https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:MA(1829)_p.073_-_George_Street,_St_Andrew%27s_Church,_and_Lord_Melville%27s_Monument,_Edinburgh_-_Thomas_Hosmer_Shepherd.jpg
1829: St George's Church, from George Street, looking West, Edinburgh by Thomas Hosmer Shepherd. Image extracted from page 157 of Modern Athens, etc. Original held and digitised by the British Library, accession number HMNTS 010370.dd.10. This work is in the public domain in its country of origin and other countries and areas where the copyright term is the author's life plus 70 years or fewer. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/George_Street,_Edinburgh#/media/File:MA(1829)_p.157_-_St_George's_Church,_from_George_Street,_looking_West,_Edinburgh_-_Thomas_Hosmer_Shepherd.jpg
George Street, Edinburgh , Heading ENE. Note the Royal Society of Edinburgh building to the right.© Copyright Kenneth Allen and licensed for reuse under the (CC BY-SA 2.0) Creative Commons Licence. https://www.geograph.org.uk/photo/3570867
https://www.geograph.org.uk/photo/3570867
George Street, Edinburgh , Heading WSW from Hanover Street. © Copyright Kenneth Allen and licensed for reuse under the (CC BY-SA 2.0) Creative Commons Licence. https://www.geograph.org.uk/photo/3570862
The street connects St Andrew Square in the east with Charlotte Square in the west and is located on the north side of the Old Town of Edinburgh, to the north of the Princes Street and to the south of Queen Street, running straight along the high point of a ridge. George Street, as first proposed in 1767 and initially built, was a residential area. However, in the Victorian period the houses were replaced by shops, showrooms, banks, small department stores and hotels. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/George_Street,_Edinburgh
Queen Street is part of the Edinburgh New Town area, where the Royal College of Physicians of Edinburgh and the Scottish National Portrait Gallery are located. It was named after Charlotte of Mecklenburg-Strelitz, wife of George III.
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2012: Queen Street. The south side of the eastern end of Queen Street viewed from the top deck of a bus by kim traynor. This image was taken from the Geograph project collection. The copyright on this image is owned by kim traynor and is licensed for reuse under the (CC BY-SA 2.0) Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 2.0 license. https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Queen_Street_-_geograph.org.uk_-_2985102.jpg
James Craig's plan in designing the New Town included developing an area of formal parkland to the north of Queen Street, which became Queen Street Gardens. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Queen_Street,_Edinburgh
Can you help us?
Old Regency Prints, Pictures an Coaching maps: Do you have access to any prints or pictures showing what town and country would have looked like when Lucy travelled through? Any illustrations of what she would have seen in 1819 will enliven our research.
New Pictures: Do you have any modern pictures of the streets, buildings, gardens and views that would enable us to see the changes that two centuries have wrought?