War Memorial for Portobello?

[wangi]

From Rathbone's Porty at War thread:

(December 1914) It was announced that 750 Portobello men were now serving their country as soldiers and sailors. A concert was held in the Town Hall to raise funds to send them all a useful Christmas gift. Sir Robert Cranston took the opportunity to say that, while he accepted that it was not right for a man to enlist if he was the sole support of his mother, it was the bounden duty of every man who was free to join. The working classes were just not doing their duty. The life of every young man was not his own, but belonged to the country and he should not hesitate if need be to give his life for his country. Of the 750 men from Portobello 100 had been privileged to go to the front and would not come back. The men who had fallen had died for a cause which was ever held dear to Scotland, the cause of liberty. He had no doubt that Portobello would know how to honour the memory of her sons when the war was over.

(The 750 men represented 80% of the unmarried male population of Portobello between the ages of 19 and 35)

And recent Portobello Community Council minutes (Jun 2011):

290.9 War Memorial
Nick Stroud reminded the meeting that there had been some interest in Portobello having its own War
Memorial when the subject had been mentioned at our meeting in March 2010. The three aspects of a
Memorial would be what form it should take, where it should be, and how to pay for it. Joe Madden pointed
out that the British Legion had a memorial plaque and would be installing it in its new premises as soon as it
had managed to sell its old building, but agreed that this would not be suitable for a public, outdoor memorial
that could be used for Remembrance Day events. Maureen Child thought there was local feeling that
Portobello should have a Memorial. John Stewart thought that the two ionic columns and the pediment
saved from Windsor Place Lodge could make a good surround for a Memorial, if installed against a wall, and
this might release heritage funding for the project. Celia Butterworth thought that a location on the
Promenade would be most appropriate, possibly in the Community Garden at John Street. Andrew Patterson
said that some work had been done at the Old Parish Church which would be useful to such a project. Nick
Stroud agreed to write an article for the next issue of the Portobello Reporter, to see if there would be much
interest in taking this further.

Nearly 100 years later and Portobello still does not have a permanent war memorial.

[Porty]

I think it is time we had one. Somewhere prominent, perhaps in the area outside Bank of Scotland.

[SoupDragon]

I have a vague recollection of there being a plaque somewhere
Maybe the Town Hall or was it one of the churches? St Marks? the church in Bellfield St?

[rathbone]

On 12 February 1917 the very first war memorial in the East of Scotland was erected in Joppa, on the wall of St. Andrew’s House of Mercy. It consisted of a decorative panel, flanked by folding leaves, bearing lists of the 160 men of Portobello and Joppa who had so far died in the war. The centre panel was filled with a representation of a soldier who, in the act of dying, reaches out a hand to the feet of Christ. There was a considerable gathering for the ceremony, including several soldiers in uniform. A procession of clergy were led by a boy scout carrying a cross. The memorial was dedicated by Rev. Hugh McKean of St. George’s Episcopal Church and a wreath of flowers was placed by the Mother Superior of the House of Mercy.

St. Andrew's Home began in 1858 with a small house for "fallen women", known as the "House of Mercy". In 1884 a larger house was purchased at Joppa. There were various crises, such as a fire which destroyed the house in 1906. In 1919 the Community of St. Andrew became contemplative and transferred the care of fallen women to the Community of St. Peter. By this time "rescue" had given way to "prevention".

I wonder what happened to the House of Mercy, and the war memorial.

Editing this to add a bit more information:
The House of Mercy is now the Kings Manor Hotel on Milton Road East.
Useful info. in "The Community of St. Andrew in Scotland" by David Gavine (reviewed on page 3 of the Portobello Reporter Spring 2003)

[Chas]

In return for taking care of any objectors, why don't we ask the developers of the old Legion site to put up a memorial there, if that's what we want?

[Bob Jefferson]

I have written to the MD and current owner of the King's Manor to see if he has any information on this.

[Bob Jefferson]

Drawing a blank so far, but I have received the following suggestion:

Perhaps someone could follow the thread of the Anglican nuns and the St. Andrew's House of Mercy? Their records must have been transferred somewhere on the sale of the property and religious items from the chapel taken into the safekeeping of the order.

Could someone pursue this? Any information gratefully received.

[Bob Jefferson]

Still working on this. Awaiting response from the Scottish Episcopal Church.

[SoupDragon]

According to their website St Marks church does have a plaque commemorating the members of the congregation who fell in the wars
Could the St Andrews church they mention be the same as the St Andrews "House of Mercy" Rathbone posted about?

http://stmarksportobello.wordpress.com/history/

quote
"St Marks was one of the first Episcopal churches to be built in the Edinburgh Diocese"

"In 1919 a Lady Chapel was erected to the west of the chancel in memory of the 48 members of the congregation who fell in the Great War. "

"The side altar (1903) is from St Andrews Church, Niddrie. On it is placed the Book of Remembrance. On the west wall is a plaque dedicated to the 65 members of the congregation who gave their lives in the two World Wars."

[Bob Jefferson]

I received this today:

Thank you for your email enquiry to this office dated 19 November 2011 regarding the whereabouts of the war memorial plaque and artefacts from what was the St Andrew’s Home & House of Mercy in Joppa/Portobello. We have made extensive enquiries of several senior clergy in the Scottish Episcopal Church and enquired at our Church in Portobello. We discussed the matter with the author (Dr David Gavine) of one of our publications “The Community of St Andrew of Scotland and Its Rescue Home” published in 2002 – ISBN 0 905573 57 9. We also contacted one of the managers at the King’s Manor Hotel as well as personnel in the Portobello Library.

Unfortunately, this research has drawn a blank on all counts. As you will probably know, in 1955 the Home which was by then abandoned, was converted into the Milton House Hotel and then later became the King’s Manor Hotel. Over the years there has been much building work and demolition work carried out at the property – so it is possible that the war memorial plaque may have been dismantled and discarded during that period.

The only other suggestions we can make is to contact The Royal Commission on the Ancient and Historic Monuments of Scotland who may have photographs or drawings in their archive. Another possibility is to contact the Edinburgh Room at the Central Library on George IV Bridge. Finally, might the City of Edinburgh Council have any information somewhere in its archives about the war memorial plaque if it had been transferred from the Home to another venue?

We are sorry to send a disappointing reply but hope that your further research might unearth something positive.

With best wishes

Myra Sanderson
Office Administrator and PA to the Secretary General
Scottish Episcopal Church
General Synod Office
21 Grosvenor Crescent
Edinburgh EH12 5EE