Edinburgh History - Craigmillar in the 1940s

Recollections

Francis Keenan

England

Thank you to Francis Keenan who wrote:

The White House

1950s to 2000s

"I remember The Whitehouse, directly opposite the former entrance to Barnton House. It was owned in 1950s by the Crabbie family (Green Ginger fame)

THEN
owned by the Oppenheims in the 1960s. (Meyer Oppenheim gave the Lyceum theatre to the city as well as large cash donations to the Water of Leith walkway (There is a large plaque in Stockbridge recording this)

THEN
owned by Dr James Mitchell in the 1970s. (He married to one of the Beverley Sisters and was a colourful character.)

THEN
owned by Mr Andrew Murray in the 1980s. He was, brother of Sir David Murray)

THEN
purchased by J K Rowling aka Mrs Murray, in the early-2000s, and fully restored.

I would suggest it is the most guarded home in Scotland, even more than any of The Queen's residences, with 24-hour guards, seven days a week."

Francis Keenan, England: July 6+7, 2016

Recollections

Stuart Lyon

Blackford, Edinburgh

Thank you to Stuart Lyon who wrote:

The White House

James Mitchell

"In his recollections of Barnton, Francis Keenan refers to Dr James Mitchell as a former owner of the White House.

James Mitchell was a dentist who had his surgery at 36 London Street. I worked as a delivery boy for William Irvine, Licensed Grocers directly below his surgery.

James was a very colourful character and I vividly remember his yellow e-type Jaguar Reg No 'JIM 1'.

I also recall seeing him arrive at the surgery with his famous wife Babs Beverley and I’m sure he carried her over the threshold.

He was very generous to me when I delivered his drink and mixers as he let me keep the deposit on any bottles as a tip. This didn’t go down well with my boss who thought he was too generous.

His life was filled with controversy as this extract from a Herald article of 26 April 1989 describes. There were also a few more incidents/events mentioned in the same article."

James Mitchell

Mr Mitchell is no stranger to the Court of Session or to newspaper headlines:

* He married Babs Beverley in the Church of St John the Evangelist, Edinburgh, in 1963. They were divorced in 1967.

* Later he moved to the Bahamas where he was involved in a celebrated incident when a partner in a Bahamian property company, former Edinburgh lawyer Andrew McCulloch, shot him twice in the back.

Mr Mitchell claimed that Mr McCulloch had tried to murder him as the result of a dispute about control of the company. His assailant pled self-defence in the Bahamian courts, saying that Mr Mitchell had fired his gun first.

Mr McCulloch was found not guilty of attempted murder. Mr Mitchell took the case to the Court of Session in Edinburgh where he raised an action for monetary damage"

The Herald: 26 April 1989

Stuart Lyon, Blackford, Edinburgh: 11 July 2016