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James
Ross
at
Calton
Hill
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National Monument
Calton Hill
By
1846, James Ross was working as calotypist at Calton Hill.
His
address was National Monument, Calton
Hill - The National Monument is Edinburgh’s unfinished imitation of the
Parthenon. What premises did he have there?
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Hill & Adamson
Calton Hill
To reach the National Monument from Princes Street, he would have
climbed the steps to the top of Calton Hill.
Part way up these steps, he would pass the doorway into Rock
House,
Hill & Adamson’s studio from 1843 to 1847.
It seems likely that he would have been acquainted with
Hill and
Adamson at that time, and may have done some work in their darkroom.
He may then have been the only other calotypist in Edinburgh.
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Questions
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James Ross at Calton Hill
a) Where were James Ross' home and studio
addresses in 1846?
b) How did James Ross come to have this address, listed in the
Edinburgh & Leith Post Office Directory, 1846-47:
"National Monument, Calton Hill"
So far as I am aware, there was nothing there other than a part-finished
monument at that spot?
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If you can
help to answer these questions, please
e-mail me.
Thank you. - Peter Stubbs
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Question b)
Answer
1.
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James Ross at Calton Hill Thank you to Bryan Gourlay for
checking some old maps of Calton Hill and finding a house on Calton Hill,
close to the National Monument, possibly the house where James Ross lived
in 1846. Brian wrote:
"I'll try to
discover more about this house. It was to the south of the SW corner
of the National Monument, and to the E of the Nelson Monument on the
Ordnance Survey map below.
This house appears on these maps:
- Ordnance Survey map, 1849-53. This map shows a large
house with outbuildings including a 'summer house' and gardens.
- Kay map, 1836. This map shows a fairly substantial house,
but a little further to the east. Is this the same house?
Neither the house nor any of its outbuildings appear on the
Ordnance Survey map, 1876."
Bryan Gourlay, Biggar, Lanarkshire, Scotland: August
22, 2006 |
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Question b)
Answer
2.
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James Ross at Calton Hill Thank you to Bryan Gourlay
for writing again, about three years later and letting me see an old
engraving that was featured on the BBC News web site in early July 2009.
This engraving showed, behind the trees, the roof of a house situated on
the SE corner of the Nelson Monument.
Brian wondered if this might have been James Ross' house at Calton
Hill. Bryan added:
"This engraving clearly shows a house behind
the Nelson monument with its lum reeking. It must have been knocked down
some time before 1876 as it doesn’t appear on that Ordnance Survey map.
As I’m sure you’ve noticed, there is
absolutely no trace of the house there now. From the engraving, it seems
the path has been realigned and I think the contours of the ground, where
the house was, have also been altered."
Bryan Gourlay, Biggar, Lanarkshire, Scotland: July 2,
2009. |
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Old
Engraving
I emailed BBC News today,
seeking their permission to include the old engraving featured above on
the EdinPhoto web site.
- Peter Stubbs:
July 13, 2009 |
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Question b)
Answer
3.
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Thank you to Joe Rock,
photographer and art historian, East Lothian, Scotland, for sending the
comments below, in which he concludes that the house or cottage mentioned
above (in Answer 2.) would not have been
James Ross' house. |
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Joe wrote:
Cottage on Calton Hill
"I have seen this cottage before on other
engravings - one of the panoramas comes to mind.
Robert Forrest applied to the Governors
of the National Monument to build a house for himself, but they turned him
down. It may be that he
persisted and got permission, but I have seen no evidence for that." |
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I'm very grateful to Joe for
going on to provide more information about Calton Hill in the mid-1840s.
The details below extracts from Joe's unpublished account:
"James Ross, calotypist and his early hand coloured prints": |
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Observatory
"On Calton Hill in the summer months, visitors
could visit Mrs Short's Observatory, a popular attraction in an assemblage
of wooden huts that contrasted with the rather grand City Observatory
nearby."
National Monument
"Mrs Short kept out of the wind, to some
extent, by sheltering behind the National Monument, begun 1821 in an
attempt to recreate the Parthenon on top of the hill , as a memorial to
the Scottish soldiers who had died at Waterloo. Subscriptions ran
out in 1829."
When subscriptions ran out, the National Monument comprised
12 columns on a massive base. That is still all that has been built
of the monument.
Sculptor - Robert Forrest
"The sculptor, Robert Forrest (1729-1852) also
made use of this screen of columns to protect his exhibition of
statuary, in a huddle of wooden huts within a little wooden paling he
erected in 1842." |
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Photographer - James Ross
1845-46
"Into this lively mix, a photographer,
Mr James Ross of 12 East Register Street, applied to the Directors of the
National Monument, by letter on 19 September 1845, to rent an area of
ground inside the palisade of the Monument,
to enable him to take Calotype portraits.
On 3 January 1846, the Secretary of the
Directors reported that agreement had been reached with Mr Ross to occupy
an area of ground within the palisades at the monument from Martinmas 1845
to Martinmas 1846 at a rent of £5."
Photographer - James Ross
1847
"On 24 April 1847, a special meeting of the
Directors was called to consider a letter from Mr Ross to the Secretary
dated 19 April 1847:
'Will you have the goodness to convey my
sincere thanks to the Hon, the Board of Directors of the National Monument
for their kindness in granting me during the last twelve months, the area
of ground within the palisade of the building.
I should feel equally grateful if their Hon
Board would grant me it again, on the same terms provided they could give
me both the small buildings in front of the National Monument, one being
for my chemical operations, the other I would fit up inside, in such a
manner as a Lady or Gentleman could sit in it while I was colouring their
likeness. ...
I would only require the largest of the
buildings for five months of the year viz. from 1 May till 30 Sept.'." |
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James Ross' request, above, was granted.
Joe added:
"The huts rented by James Ross are almost
certainly those visible in the print of the National Monument, published
in Sir J H A Macdonald in 'Life jottings of an old Edinburgh Citizen'
(London & Boston, 1915) ...'
Both huts appear on the 1854 Ordnance Survey
(map)." |
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Acknowledgement: Joe Rock PhD, West Barnes, East
Lothian, Scotland |
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Source of info used by Joe in connection with James Ross'
renting the area and huts on Calton Hill:
- Minute book of the Directors of the National
Monument: pp.522, 525, 534-5.
These are held by Edinburgh City Archives,
SL103/1. |
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