Portobello Unionist Club

briang · Post by **briang** » 16 Sep 2009, 20:25

Hello all at Talk Porty. I've just recently joined you and look forward to contributing and learning more about the area in which I live. I'm hoping though, to begin with, you could assist me in a task I am undertaking.

I am on the committee of the Portobello Unionist Club round in Windsor Place and we believe that in the next year or two we will be celebrating our centenary. Unfortunately, we don't know precisely when the club was formed and we are researching it's inception.

My research so far has shown that we moved into our current home around the mid 1920s. Previously, we were part of the house called Mount Charles at number 6 Bath Street where the Scotmid store is today. In 1921 we were then called The Conservative Club. There was no mention of us there in 1918 but there were clubrooms at 5 Brighton Place in that year.

I've enjoyed looking at the photographs of old Porty on this site and was delighted to see two pictures of Brighton Place. One clearly shows 'UNION CLUB' signs in colour at number 5. This one is dated 1913. The other is in B/W and shows a 'Billiards' sign but looks older. Can anyone date it?

What I am hoping for is that some of the historians among us could help us at the club with our quest to find our origins. Information of any size would be very well received even if you could point me in a direction where I can research.

Thank you very, very much. Brian

Bob Jefferson · Post by **Bob Jefferson** » 17 Sep 2009, 19:29

Brian, welcome to the forum. Have you tried the local history society? You might also consider taking a look at the Scotsman digital archive for references.

briang · Post by **briang** » 17 Sep 2009, 21:15

Thanks for your suggestions, Bob