
Themes
- East Lothian People
- Adventurers and Explorers
- East Lothian Folk
- Artists and Musicians
- John Bellany CBE RA HRSA LLD (1942–2013)
- Robert Noble RA RSA (1857–1917)
- William Darling McKay, RSA LLD (1844–1924)
- William Marshall Brown RSA (1863–1936)
- Patrick William Adam RSA (1852–1929)
- Sir William George Gillies RA RSA (1898–1973)
- Fish (Derek William Dick) (1958– )
- The Haddington Amateur Operatic Society
- Church and Philosophy
- Engineers and Inventors
- Heroes
- Military
- John Penn (1820–86)
- Warrant Officer II Alan Goodwin
- Stobs and the Volunteers
- Captain the Reverend James Kirk MA MC CF
- Alexander Carrick (1882–1966) RSA, FRBS
- East Lothian men at Waterloo (I)
- Major Walter Waring (1876 – 1930)
- Private Jackie Reid
- General Sir Francis John Davies and Lord John Alexander Elphinstone
- The Napoleonic Navy and East Lothian
- East Lothian men at Trafalgar
- East Lothian men at Waterloo (II)
- East Lothian men at Waterloo (III)
- General Sir Francis Reginald Wingate, 1st Baronet of Dunbar and Port Sudan (1861-1953)
- Movers and shakers
- Arthur James Balfour (1848–1930)
- Alexander of Haddington, King of Scots
- The Falls of Dunbar (1692–1796)
- Andrew Fletcher of Saltoun – The Patriot (1655–1716)
- Alexander Murray, 4th Lord Elibank
- Dr. George Harley
- Countess Ada de Warenne
- James Smith Richardson LLD (1883-1970)
- John Cockburn (1695 – 1758)
- Sports
- Writers
- East Lothian Places
- Settlements & Sites
- Parishes
- Dunbar Parish
- Oldhamstocks Parish
- Innerwick
- Pencaitland
- Stenton
- Spott Parish
- Fala and Soutra Parish
- Aberlady Parish
- Athelstaneford Parish
- Bolton Parish
- Dirleton Parish
- Garvald
- Gladsmuir
- Humbie Parish
- Inveresk
- Morham Parish
- North Berwick Parish
- Haddington Parish
- Ormiston Parish
- Prestonkirk
- Prestonpans Parish
- Saltoun
- Tranent
- Whitekirk
- Whittingehame
- Yester
- Towns & Villages
- Sites of interest
- Parishes
- Places to visit
- Settlements & Sites
- East Lothian Times
- East Lothian Subjects
- Year of Innovation, Architecture and Design 2016
- Art, culture & communication
- Economy
- Friendly societies
- Sailors’ Societies
- East Lothian Industries
- Incorporations
- The East Lothian Bank
- Smuggling in East Lothian
- House & home
- Leisure
- Society
- Transport & travel
- War, battles & military
- The Military System in East Lothian 1790–1850
- The Lothians and Border Horse
- The Military System In East Lothian 1846–1914
- A Prince in Prestonpans
- The Military System in East Lothian 1600 – 1790
- The Landscape in War
- The Lothians – Training for war
- The Napoleonic Garrison in East Lothian
- East Lothian and Waterloo, an Overview
- Dunbar 1650
- World War One Memorials
- Aberlady World War One Memorial
- Athelstaneford World War One Memorial
- Bolton World War One Memorial
- Cockenzie World War One Memorials
- Crookston World War One Memorial
- Dirleton World War One Memorial
- Dunbar World War One Memorials
- East Linton World War One Memorials
- Elphinstone World War One Memorial
- Garvald World War One Memorial
- Gladsmuir World War One Memorial
- Gullane World War One Memorial
- Haddington World War One Memorials
- Innerwick World War One Memorial
- Morham World War One Memorial
- Musselburgh World War One Memorials
- North Berwick World War One Memorials
- Oldhamstocks World War One Memorial
- Ormiston World War One Memorial
- Pencaitland World War One Memorial
- Prestonpans World War One Memorial
- Saltoun World War One Memorial
- Spott World War One Memorial
- Stenton World War One Memorial
- Tranent World War One Memorials
- Whitekirk & Tyninghame World War One Memorials
- Whittingehame World War One Memorial
- Yester World War One Memorial
- World War One in the Lothians
- The Lothians during World War One (I)
- The Lothians during World War One (II)
- The Lothians during World War One (III) – Mobilisation
- The Lothians during World War One (IV) – A Squadron, continued
- The Lothians during World War One (V) – A Squadron, 1915
- The 8th (Territorial) Battalion the Royal Scots in World War One
- Supporting the Troops during World War One
- Airships over the Bass, Torpedoes in Belhaven Bay
- World War Two in the Lothians
- Land Girl Betty Craig tells her story
- Land girl Betty Craig’s story part 2
- Land Girl Betty Craig’s story, part 3
- Land Girl Betty Craig’s story, part 4
- Land Girl Betty Craig’s story, part 5
- Land girl Betty Craig’s story, part 6
- Land girl Betty Craig’s story, part 7
- Land girl Betty Craig’s story, part 8
- Land girl Betty Craig’s story, part 9
- Land Girl Betty Craig tells her story
- East Lothian Images
- Events
19 thoughts on “Contact us”
My father ,Charles Mackay, was born in The Battery Hispital on13th August 1931. I have his Birth Certificate to prove this. Everything I read about The Battery Hospital seems to say it was closed then. ??
Hi Laura,
Thank you for your enquiry.
The Battery/Cottage Hospital in Dunbar was in operation, if I’m not mistaken, till the early 1970s. Records relating to this hospital are held at the Lothian Health Services Archive at the following link: http://www.lhsa.lib.ed.ac.uk/
Hope the above info helps. All the best.
My grandfather was Wull Gordon at the farm in Pencaitland and I spent many happy times wae horses and cairts bringin in mangles and sugar beet. He was in The greys in ww1 and came hame wi shrapnel in his leg but it didnae pit him aff. He worked the horse on Kings o Ormiston fairm for years and I loved and still respect him dearly. As a wee boy I used to go doon tae the coopie for his bogie roll and I still recall feeding the beasts and getting the horses ready in early morn tae go oottae the field. He was a great man and I will neer forget him. Pencaitland has a special place in my heart.
I contacted you about the lost ARCH stolen from Dunbar about twenty years ago,i sent pictures and comments,do you think that you will be able to find out why it was removed and who was involved.
A crime has been committed here and someone knows all about it and there actions have helped the criminals of Scot free.
Hi Alexander,
Thank you for sending the pictures through we received them last week. Unfortunately we do not have any material in the archives regarding the arch so are unable to help with this.
Best wishes,
Philippa
I visited the centre yesterday to try and obtain info on the Midlothian/Berwickshire Yeomanry, I was delighted with the help and information recieved from David at reception, and the printed info from Anna gleaned from vintage newspapers. they both went out of their way to provide the details, many thanks to both. F. Manclark.
My great grandfather, George Murdoch was a police constable stationed in various villages (Innerwick, Garvald, Ormiston, Stenton) in the late 1800’s and was resident in Loch Road, Tranent in the 1921 census.
I’m trying to progress family genealogy / history and would welcome advice concerning police staff records and any other information or sources to research.
Many thanks
Charles Porteous
I have come all the way from Arizona to your family history and genealogy meeting on August 29. I am so happy I signed up early. There are 3 other people coming with me. Thank you so much for this opportunity to attend and learn from the experts. I have a direct line back to William the Lion and his mother Ada de Warenne,who married Henry of Scotland in 1139. I hope to learn all
I can about Ada and her family and then go down the generations and back into her ancestors as well. There may be others attending who also are related to Ada de Warenne, the Queen Mother of Scotland, as she is called in some of the accounts. I hope to hear from others via e-mail.
Hello Alison, have you seen our page about John Hepburn (http://www.johngraycentre.org/people/adventurers-and-explorers/john-hepburn-arctic-explorer-1794-1861-or-1864/)? We don’t have much more information about him than is on that page, but our Local History team are looking into it to see what more they can discover – we’ll be in touch if we find out more!
Helen
Hi. I am researching my ancestor John Hepburn the Arctic Explorer and have received copies of some of his letters from the Tasmanian Archives. They talk about how he arrived back in Scotland where he was ‘… basely misrepresented … charged with having a woman and family in V.D.L.’. This continues to the point where he eventually had to leave Britain although in his letter of 1853 he said that he couldn’t return to VDL with this hanging over his head. An Australian researcher has looked for evidence of this in Australia with no success and so I was hoping that these charges might be in the newspapers or other documents over here. These rumours were already around when he arrived back in London in 1850 and continued until at least November 1853. His brother Richard Hepburn farmed in Tynninghame and the rest of the family were in East Lothian around Whitekirk and so I am hoping that some documentation might be at the John Gray Centre or you might be able to tell me where to look. In his letters he says that the family believe him and so the accusations come from an external source.
I know it’s a long shot!
Alison
Can you tell me is there such a thing as a book on memorial inscriptions
in Dunbar ?
Hello Valerie
Dunbar and District History Society in association with the Scottish Genealogy Society surveyed the MIs. The result was published on CD. We have copies here and at the local History Room in Dunbar Town House (if you are able to visit either) or they can be purchased from the SGS: http://shop.scotsgenealogy.com/acatalog/Lothians_MI.html (scroll down).
Hi Frank
I’ll invite you to dig deeper into the site: http://www.johngraycentre.org/people/churchmen/john-gray-1646%e2%80%931717/ and all will be explained about John Gray. I’m sure that there will be connections amongst the wider Gray families in East Lothian but nobody has done the work to trace a connection back to Rev. John. It would be interesting to see a link proven!
David
Hi
Why is it called the John Gray Center ?..I have Gray and Dewar ancestors back to the 1700s from Dunbar,Haddington and Coldingham East Lothian…is there any significance ?..or just a coincidence.
Regards
Frank McGonigal Ont.Canada.
Question really – where can I find out when houses in East Lothian were built?
Hi Michael
As stated, your query is perhaps too general to give a short answer. However, we have several pages on the website that may help refine the question; they point to what kind of resources are available and what can be usefully done to prepare to search. Find them here: http://www.johngraycentre.org/learning/resources/how-to-research-your/a-house-history-a-case-study-part-1/
Dear Gordon,
Thanks for getting in touch about this. There are disabled parking spaces outside the Centre, on Lodge Street and on the High Street, with a ramp to make entrance with a wheelchair easier. Inside the Centre there is a lift to get up to the museum and archives/local history centre, with a wheelchair lift for a short stepped area within the museum. There is space for a wheelchair to travel and turn in the corridors and rooms of the Centre, and there are accessible toilets on both floors. We are also currently working on preparing audio guides and large-print materials for visually impaired visitors.
I hope this helps, but do get in touch if you have any further questions. I hope you do manage to come for a visit, and that you enjoy it when you come! Please let us know if there’s anything we need to improve. In the meantime, I’ll make sure this information is more easy to find on the website.
Helen
I cannot seem to find any information on your website for disabled users. Could you please tell me how accessible the centre is both inside and out.
Kindest Regards
Gordon Saunders
Helen
Just to say that I’ve had a good look through the site and have followed your questionnaire sheet more or less. I managed to find everything quickly, but haven’t filled in the form you sent. I think it all looks great and the information you’d need is up there. I’m really looking forward to the resource opening!
Best wishes, Clare