James Taylor Mackay, an Edinburgh hat manufacturer, lived at No. 8 between 1863 and 1866. He lived in Danube Street before and after living in Malta Terrace. He was born in Edinburgh on 9 January 1805, son of Patrick Mackay and his wife Ann Taylor. Patrick Mackay was also a hat manufacturer, trading in 1830…
Henri van Laun, a French teacher at Edinburgh Academy, lived at No. 8 for about a year, in 1870-71. He was born on 13 November 1819 in Amsterdam, Netherlands., About 1848 he moved to England and embarked on a brief career in journalism, before turning to teaching. He was French master successively at King William’s…
No. 8 was occupied by two generations of women from the Leslie family between 1891 and 1931. Mrs Helen Leslie was householder from about 1891 to 1901. She was the widow of Andrew Leslie, a clothier and tailor in Earlston, Berwickshire. She was born Helen Bain, on 30 November 1820, at Channelkirk, Berwickshire, daughter of…
The 1841 census recorded the family of Mrs Ann Telfer living at No. 8. She was the widow of George Telfer, a merchant, who died in 1837. They had a total of twelve children, six of whom were at No. 8 when the census was taken on 06 June 1841. Their eldest son, John Tailour…
Thomas Dickson, gardener, was listed at Malta House in 1828. He was previously resident in India Place. He does not appear to have been a member of the Dickson family who were prominent nursery and seedsmen in Edinburgh at this time. Thomas Dickson, son of seedsman James Dickson, founder of James Dickson & Sons, was…
George Home occupied Malta House between 1841 and 1844. Styled ‘of Buskinburn’ in Post Office Directories, he was born on 08 December 1796 and baptised at Coldingham, Berwickshire on 12 December 1796, though his own memoir gives 1794 as the year of his birth. He was the fourth son of Commander Alexander Home, R.N., of…
Alexander Bennet, Writer to the Signet, lived at Malta House between 1851 and 1853. He was born on 25 September 1811, in Edinburgh, son of William Bennet and Margaret McCraw; and died in 1855. On 9 March 1846, in Edinburgh, Alexander Bennet married Isabella Nelson. She was born at Dunbar on 24 June 1827, daughter…
Alex Kedslie, a grocer and spirit dealer, was the proprietor of Malta House in 1855 and listed there in the Post Office Directory for 1854-55 but does not appear to have taken up residence before 1862. The Wright family were recorded there in the 1861 census and Alex Kedslie at 1 Leslie Place. The Kedslie…
William Wilson occupied Malta House between 1844 and 1848. He was born in Edinburgh on 29 July 1802, son of William Wilson, a blacksmith, and Mary Ann Glover. He was described as a clerk in Post Office Directories, in the record of his first marriage in 1828 and in the 1841 census. In 1849 he…
James Muirhead and family lived at Malta House for more than three decades, between 1874 and 1906.[1] James Muirhead was a poulterer and fishmonger with business premises at 79 Queen Street trading as ‘Charles Muirhead’ (his father’s name). James Muirhead was born on 21 October 1839 in Canongate parish, Edinburgh, son of Charles Muirhead and…