THE LODGE
Lodge ©
(Ludgate Lodge)
c1840 with minimal Tudor Gothic detail.
This property was feued on 26th November 1838, from part of the Barony of Ratho, to James Craig, F.R.C.S. Ed. (b1800-d20/02/88), who built this property.
He was a medical practitioner in Ratho for forty years before retiring to Edinburgh.He had been Surgeon to the Royal Midlothian Yeomanry; author of the Law of the Coroner and of several contributions to the Edinburgh Medical Journals. He was a favourite pupil, and for some years the assistant, of the eminent surgeon George Bell of Edinburgh.
In 1821 he took his Licentiate of the Royal College of Surgeons and became a fellow in 1853.
He married Anne Mercer Duncan (b19/12/1828-d29/10/1875) the daughter of the Minister (Andrew Duncan) of the Parish.
He was buried at Ratho on 15th February 1880, alongside his wife and four infant children.
In 1833 when cholera struck Gogar Mains Farm, Dr. Craig attended the victims.
In 1836 Dr. Craig wrote a pamphlet on the medical condition and post mortem of Sir Robert Liston for the Edinburgh and Surgical Journal. It was entitled 'Spectral Illusions' about the health of Sir Robert Liston in his later years.
Another paper:
was read before the Harveian Society of Edinburgh at the annual Festival on 12th April 1855. The following is an extract from that document.
On Medical Evidence in the Preliminary Investigation of Criminal Cases in Scotland
“ In a case of an illegitimate child, some months old, found dead in bed, which came recently under my own observation, and was reported to the procurator–fiscal, no post mortem took place. It was the second child by the same mother found in similar circumstances within two years, and both were supposed to be mislaid, although the coroner of Middlesex, in a population of between eight and nine hundred thousand, reports that not one in two hundred children found dead in bed, had lost its life in consequence of being mislaid. The case mentioned stands in the register “found dead in bed".
Again a man was taken suddenly ill in a canal boat and died in a few minutes. The case was reported to the procurator–fiscal, no post mortem examination took place, and in the register the cause of death is entered as “unknown.”
The dead body of a man, respectably dressed, was found in a plantation. I reported the case to the procurator–fiscal, and he requested me to give my opinion as to the cause of death. I refused to give it without receiving permission to make a post mortem examination. That was not granted; no means were taken by advertisement or otherwise, to ascertain who the man was; and the body was buried – “unknown.”
A man was found dead at the side of a hedge, with an empty phial, which had contained laudanum, in his pocket; he was presumed to have poisoned himself and was buried without examination.
An active parochial inspector requested me to examine the body of a man found dead in a ditch at the roadside. I refused to comply without an order from the proper authorities; it was not granted on the ground, that the constable did not think there was any suspicion of foul play, and the body was ordered to be buried, as in the two former cases, “unknown.” Yet it was known that this man had been drinking with two companions that they all left the dramshop tipsy, but in apparent health and that the body mentioned was found a few hours thereafter.
In December 1844, Mrs H. called for me, to say that her neighbour, Mrs D., who had been a widow for two years, had lately been pregnant, and that, as she now appeared to have been delivered, and as the child was not forthcoming, child–murder was strongly suspected. I had good reason to believe the report to be well founded, and communicated the case to the procurator–fiscal. He gave me a warrant to examine the woman and report to him.
I found all the usual appearances of a woman recently delivered. She strenuously denied having been pregnant, and I committed her to the custody of the constable, for the night. She sent for me in the evening, to say that she now thought, she must have been pregnant, and must have miscarried at a very early period, “as no formation was visible.” She was sent to the prison in Edinburgh, and I reported that she had recently been delivered of a child.
A few days thereafter I was informed that, after the time of the presumed birth, Mrs. D. had been seen with a large parcel at the house of the reputed father, and that he had borrowed a spade from one of the neighbours, on the same evening. Acting upon such information, I sent the constable to him to demand where the child was buried. The man was thrown completely of his guard, thinking Mrs D. had told all, and he conducted the constable to the spot, where a full–grown child was disinterred.
Dr Traill and I were appointed to make a post mortem examination, where we found the following appearances: -
The mouth and nostrils were occluded by a thick piece of cotton cloth, firmly bound over the face and secured by bandages tied tightly around the neck, so as to produce a blackish and congested mark under the knots. On the front of the trachea there was an ecchymosed spot; the umbilical cord had been divided with a sharp instrument, but not tied. After a minute and careful examination of the body, we certified that the child had been born alive, and at the full period, and of course reported all the particular appearances etc., etc.
In this case every link of evidence was taken with the greatest care, and a chain of proof obtained apparently amply sufficient (at least to a mind un-accustomed to the intricacies of legal lore) to convict for concealment of pregnancy, if not for the more serious crime of child-murder.
The woman was not even brought to trial, and on her return home she confessed to her neighbour the preceding facts.”
Property occupiers
Lodge ©
Post Directory 1833. James Craig, Surgeon.
James Craig, Surgeon, M.M.C.S. (1836 Edinburgh Directory).
1841 Census
James Craig (48) Surgeon,
Ann Mercer Craig (35),
Margaret (11),
Euphemia (9).
1851 Census
James Craig (52) Surgeon (Gen. Practitioner) b. Eddleston,
Anne (48),
The Hon. Edwin Lindsay (65) formerly East India Co. Service, boarder,
Robert Crawford (22) Professional Assistant, M.D. St. Andrews & Surgeon Dip. from Glasgow.
1855 James Craig (Valuation Roll).
1861 Census
James Craig (63) General Practitioner RCS.
Anne Craig (60) his wife.
Margaret B. Balfour (31) wife of Dr Balfour md Edinburgh.
James Craig (5) grandson,
Annie Henrietta Craig (4) granddaughter,
Louisa White Craig (2) granddaughter,
Margaret B Craig (5 months) granddaughter.
The Hon. Edwin Lindsay (74) retired, boarder, brother of the Earl of Crawford.
James Barns (25) servant General Practitioner (Glasgow).
1871 Lawrence Bell (Valuation Roll).
1871 Census
Lawrence R. Bell (45) Wine Merchant,
Emma Isabel T. (30),
George Laurence (6),
Walter Leonard (5),
Amy Elinor (4),
Charles Ewart (2),
Harry Vincent (8 months).
Mary Beech (18) sister in law,
Jane Crossfield (29) visitor,
Pedro Gurmarains (33) Wine Merchant.
1891 Census
David Durie (69) retired Distiller, his wife Isabella and their three children.
1900/26 F.G. Haldane, W. S.,
1926 Mrs Dewar.
1930 Mrs Anne Logan Dewar.
1940 Nursing Home, Watson.
1966 Private house one of the Bowen family (Agricultural Engineers).
1966 Catholic Church Missionary School (The White Fathers).
Boys only lodged at this house. They went to School at Scotus Academy, (where Murrayfield Hospital is now) and later to Dalkeith High. Priests on home leave from their missions used to assist in running the facility. A Brother Mike, who was an architect, designed the chapel that was on the property. This group of priests worked in and for the village and with the Rev C. Jones who encouraged ecumenical practices, both churches benefited from their joint ventures.
Owners per title deeds, since: -
1886 Trustees of the late Ann Robertson.
1894 Sold by Laurence Robertson Bell to Ann Helen Tod.
1896 Sold to Francis Grove Haldane W.S.
1922 Sold to Anne Logan Grant or Dewar (widow of one of the Dewar’s whisky family) purchase price £2,750.
1935 Sold to John David Watson and Jean Charleson (run as a nursing home) purchase price £2,500.
1952 Sold to James Bowen (Bowen’s agricultural engineers) purchase price £5,500.
1966 Sold to the Trustees of the White Fathers purchase price £22,000.
1977 Sold to British Province for Society of Missionaries of Africa (White Fathers).
1989 Sold to Headland Properties Ltd. purchase price £1,350,600.
1990 Sold to Headland (South) Ltd. who sold off various plots with houses, turning the property into a housing development, which is now known as Lidgate Shot.