Immigrant Ships
Transcribers Guild

Leith, Scotland

Leith was for centuries the main port in Scotland and an important centre for shipbuilding. In 1329 Robert the Bruce included Leith in his Charter to Edinburgh. This gave the city control over the harbour to the extent that the captain of a ship berthed at Leith could not unload any cargo until the correct taxes had been paid three miles (five kilmetres) inland at the Edinburgh Tolbooth. In a further Charter of 1428, James I gave Edinburgh the right to exact tolls from boats entering the port. Edinburgh controlled all Leith's foreign trade until 1833 - and resentment became bitter. There were, however, a few years of separation. When the first modern docks were laid out in the early 1800s their cost was so large that Edinburgh had to declare itself bankrupt. The docks were effectively nationalised in 1825. In 1833, an Act of Parliament gave Leith its independence as a parliamentary burgh. But the town never managed to generate enough income to sustain itself and amalgamation became increasingly likely after World War I. Financial constraints were against them, and Edinburgh and Leith were merged in 1920.

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