Lady Stair's House | |
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Location | Lady Stair's Close, Lawnmarket, Edinburgh |
Coordinates | 55°56′59″N3°11′37″W / 55.949653°N 3.193686°W Coordinates: 55°56′59″N3°11′37″W / 55.949653°N 3.193686°W |
Built | 1892 |
Architect | Stewart Henbest Capper |
Listed Building – Category A | |
Official name | Lawnmarket, Lady Stair's Close, Lady Stair's House |
Designated | 14 December 1970 |
Reference no. | LB29231 |
Lady Stair's House is a building, completed in 1892, which stands in Lady Stair's Close in Lawnmarket, Edinburgh, Scotland. The structure is a Category A listed building, having received its designation in 1970. [1] Today it is home to the Writers' Museum.
The current building is a faux-medieval work by Stewart Henbest Capper dating from 1892. [2] It was presented by the Earl of Roseberry (who probably commissioned the work) to the city for use as a museum in 1907. Only then did it acquire the name of "Lady Stair's House". [3] It incorporates replicas of various carved stones probably from the earlier building. The house it replaced was demolished in 1890.
Lady Stair's House (3 Lady Stair's Close, 477 Lawnmarket) is located within Lady Stair's Close, just off the Lawnmarket. The original house was built in 1622 for Sir William Gray of Pittendrum. The lintel over the entrance is dated 1622 and carries the initials WG and GS, for William Gray and Geida (or Egidia) Smith, his wife (sister of Provost John Smith of Grothill), and the inscription "FEARE THE LORD AND DEPART FROM EVILL". Their son was the Scots Worthy Andrew Gray whose books became well-known despite dying at an early age. The building was initially known as Lady Gray's House and the close known as Lady Gray's Close because Sir William Grey's wife, Lady Grey, continued to live in the house after his death in 1648. [4] [5]
The tenement is now named after the Gray's granddaughter: the society beauty Lady Stair, Elizabeth, Dowager Countess of Stair (née Elizabeth Dundas), the widow of John Dalrymple, 1st Earl of Stair. She purchased the building in 1719. [6]
In 1825, Lady Stair's House was bought by John Russel, a brushmaker whose family lived in the house until 1895. [5]
In the 1890s, the original building was inherited by Archibald Primrose, 5th Earl of Rosebery. He was prompted to do so by the town planner Patrick Geddes, who had been campaigning for a renewal programme in Edinburgh's Old Town, largely demolished by the City Improvement Schemes of the 19th century. [5] The rebuilding of 1892 included nothing of the original building other than unseen basement areas. In 1907, the Earl gave the house to the royal burgh of Edinburgh, for use as a municipal museum. [7]
Lady Stair's House is designated a Category A listed building by Historic Environment Scotland. [1]
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John Dalrymple, 1st Earl of Stair PC was a Scottish politician and lawyer. As Joint Secretary of State in Scotland 1691–1695, he played a key role in suppressing the 1689-1692 Jacobite Rising and was forced to resign in 1695 for his part in the Massacre of Glencoe. Restored to favour under Queen Anne in 1702 and made Earl of Stair in 1703, he was closely involved in negotiations over the 1707 Acts of Union that created the Kingdom of Great Britain but died on 8 January 1707, several months before the Act became law.
This article is a timeline of the history of Edinburgh, Scotland, up to the present day. It traces its rise from an early hill fort and later royal residence to the bustling city and capital of Scotland that it is today.
Lady Stair's Close is a close in Edinburgh, Scotland, just off the Royal Mile, close to the entrance to Gladstone's Land. Most notably it contains the Scottish Writers' Museum.
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Elizabeth Dundas, Lady Stair, was a Scottish noblewoman and owner of Lady Stair’s House in the Lawnmarket, in Edinburgh’s Old Town.
Robert Gourlay or Robin Gourlaw was a wealthy Edinburgh merchant and Customar of Edinburgh who built a renowned house in Edinburgh.
Eleanor Dalrymple, Countess of Stair born Lady, Eleanor Campbell aka Eleanor, Lady Primrose was a British victim of marital abuse. She is said to be the basis for a story by Sir Walter Scott. Lady Stair's Close in Edinburgh is said to be named for her, but another source says it was named for her mother-in-law.
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