Thomas Cullen's Shop
37 Arthur Street, Dumbiedykes
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Early-1920s

©
Reproduced with acknowledgement to John Smith, Paisley, Renfrewshire, Scotland.
Recollections
1.
John Smith
Paisley, Renfrewshire, Scotland |
Thank you to John
Smith, now living in Paisley, Renfrewshire, Scotland for sending
me some photos that have been passed on to him by his Aunt Winnie,
including this one - a photo of his great grandfather's shop in
Arthur Street.
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John wrote:
37
Arthur Street
"My great grandfather and his daughter
(my grandmother) owned a shop at 37 Arthur Street and lived above
the shop until 1926.
My
Grandmother was born in New York in 1890. She moved back to
Edinburgh with my Great Grandfather in 1893. I assume that is when
they bought the shop. (See
also ** UPDATE below)
In this picture, are:
- my Grandmother, Lily
Cullen (standing on the left)
- my Great Grandfather
(standing on the right, beside Thomas Cullen).
Family
"My Gran married in 1916 and had three
children:
-
Tommy
-
Winnie
-
Elizabeth (Betty, my own Mother)
They
all lived in the flat above the shop until 1926 when they bought a
small house in West Catherine Place which they all moved into.
Here is a photo of my Aunt Winnie,
standing in West Catherine Place, around 1950.
©
- My Great Grandfather died in
1929.
- My Uncle Tommy died in 1945
- My Grandfather died in 1956
- and my Grandmother in 1985
aged 95
- My Aunt Winnie continued to live in
the house at West Catherine Place until she had to move into a
Nursing Home in 2006. She lived for 80 years in that house! The house was then sold."
Old Photos
"Uncle Tommy and Aunt Winnie never
married so my mum and hence I have inherited all of Aunt Winnie's
old photos. She was a bit of a hoarder and has all sorts of
documents from way back (trade receipts from as far back as 1907,
a funeral invoice from 1882, and photos of all sorts of people."
Another Shop
"Great Grandfather also had a half
share in another shop in Victoria Road, with Messrs Lumsden.
I believe their shops went on well into the 1960's."
John Smith, Paisley, Renfrewshire, Scotland:
July 31, 2008
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** UPDATE
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37
Arthur Street
The listings in the Edinburgh & Leith Post
Office Directories suggest that your great grandfather may have bought the shop a
little later than 1893.
The directories for 1905 to 1926 all give
his address as 37 Arthur Street. I've not checked the the
directories for 1901 to 1904, but the directory for 1900 gives his
address as 48 Findhorn Place.
Peter Stubbs: March 16, 2009
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Recollections
2.
John Smith
Paisley, Renfrewshire, Scotland |
John Smith also sent a
photo of a shop belonging to Cullen & Co, Fruitier and Confectioner.
The shop is at No 20, but I have not yet discovered the name of
the street.
©
John added:
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Cullen & Lumsden
"My Great Grandfather had a
half-share in another shop with Messrs Lumsden. It was in
Victoria Street. I believe that Cullen & Lumsden shops went
on well into the 1960s.
(See
also ** UPDATE
below)
John Smith, Paisley, Renfrewshire, Scotland:
March 16, 2009
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** UPDATE
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Cullen & Lumsden
Yes, Cullen & Lumsden
were still listed as being in business as wholesale confectioners
and tobacconists, based at 44A + 44B Lauriston Place in the 1970
edition of the Edinburgh & Leith Post Office Directory.
(I've not checked later years.)
The company was first listed in Edinburgh & Leith Post
Office Directories. The 1924 directory listed shops at:
- 44A + 44B Lauriston Place
- 104 Marchmont Road
The number of branches increased during the 1920s. By
1928, they had shops in Edinburgh at:
- 44A + 44B Lauriston Place
- 104 Marchmont Road
- 1 Broughton Street
- 19 Roseburn Terrace
- 34 Grindlay Street
- 1A York Place
- 41 Dundas Street
and in Kirkcaldy, Fife, at 6 Whytescauseway.
From 1929 onwards, the general directory section of the
Edinburgh & Leith Post Office Directory started to show only the
main address for Cullen & Lumsden, so I don't know how many more
branches the company opened and closed from then onwards.
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Cullen & Co
Is the shop in the photo at the top of this page in Victoria
Street? I believe this shop was jointly owned by Messrs
Cullen and Lumsden, but the name above the door appears to be
Cullen & Co.
I've been looking through the old trade directories, but so far
I've not been able to find any Cullen & Co or Cullen & Lumsden
shop at No 20 in any Edinburgh street. |
Peter Stubbs: March 23, 2009
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Recollections
3.
Bob Henderson
Burdiehouse, Edinburgh |
Thank you to Bob Henderson who added
Early 1940s
"This shop at 37 Arthur Street was directly opposite the end
of East Arthur Place. It was still a sweet shop when I was a boy in
the early-1940s, but also sold papers and was a bit of a general store
The
proprietors name at that time was Curran, strangely close to the original
Cullen."
Bob Henderson, Burdiehouse, Edinburgh: March 16, 2009 |
Recollections
4.
Eric Gold
East End, London |
Thank you to Eric Gold who wrote:
Willie Curran
"Many thanks for that photo of Thomas Cullen’s
shop.
©
In later years, this became Willie
Curran's shop. He was a good friend of our family. He opened a
shop in the Pleasance after Arthur Street was demolished.
I visited Willie in his shop in the
early 1970s whilst on leave from the QE2. And many thanks to Bob
Henderson for nailing the location of the photo."
Eric Gold, East End, London: March 17, 2009 |
Recollections
4.
Answer |
Further investigation has shown that this shop was in fact at
20 Broughton Street. Please click on this link to read more.
© |
Recollections
5.
Joe Jordan
Gracemount, Edinburgh |
Thank you to Joe Jordan for leaving a message in the
EdinPhoto guest book.
Joe wrote: |
Southside
"I'm new
to the Internet, but have had access to this site for a few months.
I love anything to do with the old Southside."
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Cullen's Shop
"There is one
thing bugging me. That is, why has no-one picked up on the reference to
Cullen's shop at the end of Eastie. It can't be 37 as 37 was the
stair entrance. The entrance to the house belonging to the shop was
via the stair.
I believe the
Cullens took over the shop during the mid-1930s, and that they were in the
shop until the newsagents at the top of Arthur Street in the Pleasance
became vacant in the late-1950s.
The old shop
was then taken over by Frank Alexander, some relation to the Cullens."
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Joe
Jordan, Gracemount, Edinburgh: Message posted in EdinPhoto guest book: August 4, 2010 |
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