Product Code Database
Moubray House, 51 and 53 High Street, is one of the oldest buildings on the Royal Mile, and one of the oldest occupied residential buildings in Edinburgh, Scotland. The façade dates from the early 17th century, built on foundations laid .
The tenement is noted for its interiors, including a Renaissance board-and-beam painted ceiling discovered in 1999,Michael Bath, Renaissance Painting in Scotland ( NMS, 2003), p. 245. a plaster ceiling with exotic fruit and flower mouldings with the arms of Clan Pringle (five Scallop on a saltire) dated 1650 painted on the wall, and a wooden barrel-vaulted attic apartment which is expressed on the roofline. RCAMS Inventory of Monuments in Edinburgh (HMSO: Edinburgh, 1951), p. 96.
Persons associated with the house include Scotland's first eminent portrait painter George Jamesone, the English spy and writer Daniel Defoe, who was instrumental in the passing of the 1707 Act of Union with England, and Archibald Constable, proprietor of the Encyclopædia Britannica.
Moubray House is designated a Category A listed building by Historic Scotland.
In its origins, the tenement is a rare survivor of the Burning of Edinburgh in 1544, when Henry VIII of England ordered the Earl of Hertford to "put all to fire and sword, burn Edinburgh town". In Trunk's close, over a stone vaulted basement, can be seen "massive corbelled projections" which contained straight flights of stairs serving the north wing, perhaps part of Adam Moubray (III)'s building of 1529 and its extension. RCAMS Inventory of Monuments in Edinburgh (HMSO: Edinburgh, 1951), p. 95. One of these stairs rises from the first-floor hall of this "back-land," where a later sixteenth-century painted ceiling of "exceptional quality" was discovered in 1999. This room is lit by a row of windows facing east.Bath, Michael, Renaissance Decorative Painting in Scotland (Edinburgh, 2003), p. 245.
These were wealthy and well-connected merchant families, and the Moubrays owned other properties in Edinburgh. In 1494 Andrew Moubray (I) disputed the rent of another house he owned in Leith with his tenant the sailor Robert Barton. Acts of the Lords Auditors of Causes and Complaints (Edinburgh, 1839), p. 187. Andrew Moubray (I), a second son, was made a burgess of Edinburgh in 1451, his fee pledged by the Baillie James Bonkill.Marwick, J. D., ed., Extracts Records of the Burgh Edinburgh, vol. 1 (Edinburgh, 1869). As a merchant, he supplied cloths and sheets to Margaret of Denmark, Queen of Scotland to line her bath tub.Thomas Dickson, Accounts of the Treasurer of Scotland, vol. 1 (Edinburgh, 1877), p. 30. On 18 August 1482, jointly with Laurence Taillefer, Moubray was appointed "Customar of Edinburgh", the collector of royal rents and duties owed by the town to the King.George Burnett, Exchequer Rolls of Scotland, 1480-1487, vol. 9 (Edinburgh, 1886), p. 213. Andrew Moubray (I) bought the lands of Kirktonhill in Lauderdale from William Moubray in 1486, and with his wife Elizabeth endowed a chaplain at the altar of St Ninian in St Giles Kirk in 1478 and 1492. Their grandson, Andrew Moubray (III) was still patron of the altar in 1533. Their daughter, Agnes Moubray was married to the merchant Patrick Cant by 1492. Register of the Great Seal of Scotland, vol. 2 (Edinburgh, 1882), nos. 1400, 1660, 2120: John Durkan, Protocol Book of John Foular, SRS New Series 10 (Edinburgh, 1985), p. 156 no.483, in 1533 Andrew (III), grandson of Andrew (I), as patron replaced Chaplain John Harkness with John Porteous.
The Moubrays main business was textiles and Andrew Moubray (II) sold fine cloth to King James IV in 1496, accepting a gilt cup as payment. Accounts of the Lord High Treasurer of Scotland, vol.1 (1877), pp.15, 271 Some of his mercantile activity in the Netherlands in the 1490s was recorded in the shipping Ledger of Andrew Halyburton, which records his trip to Middelburg and his cargoes carried by Andrew Barton. Andrew Moubray (II) exported wool and imported wine and furs. Laurence Taillefer, Andrew's partner as Customar of Edinburgh was married to Helen, the sister of Andrew Halyburton.Innes, Cosmo, ed., Ledger of Andrew Halyburton (Edinburgh, 1867), pp. 25-6, 89-91, account of "Andrew Moubray younger". Andrew Halyburton died in 1507/8, Protocol Book John Foular (Edinburgh, 1941), no. 423. He was also joint owner of the 60 ton James of Leith and had a licence from Henry VII to sell fish in England in 1490.Bain, Joseph, ed., Calendar of Documents Relating to Scotland, vol. 4 (1888), p. 318 no. 1565
Andrew (II) married Jonet Halyburton, whose brothers James and David Halyburton were soldiers of the Garde Écossaise.Robert Kerr Hannay & Denys Hay, Letters of James V (HMSO, 1954), p. 403. When Andrew Moubray (II) died in 1499, his children were still minors, so James IV gave his property to Patrick Halyburton until they came of age. Register of the Privy Seal of Scotland, vol. 1 (Edinburgh, 1908), p. 59 no.416. Andrew Moubray (III) sold a crossbow to James V in 1527.James Balfour Paul, Accounts of the Treasurer, vol. 5 (Edinburgh, 1903), p. 305.
Katrine Hoppar had a relation, probably an aunt, Isobel Hoppar, the daughter of Richard Hoppar.Cosmo Innes, Ledger of Andrew Halyburton, (Edinburgh 1867), pp. 211-212, (William Hoppar, Katrine's father, was Richard Hoppar's son) Isobel's first husband was Master John Murray of Black Barony, a clerk of the exchequer, who was killed at Flodden.The families are linked in a transaction recorded in the Protocol Book of John Foular (Edinburgh: SRS, 1941) nos. 548-9, Katrine's father William Hoppar, Isobel's husband John Murray of Barony and Adam Otterburn husband of Eufamia Moubray were witnesses on 31 March 1509. In 1515 Isobel Hopparwas described as a "rich widow of Edinburgh" by Baron Dacre. Letters & Papers Henry VIII, vol.2 (1864), p.205 no.779: Protocol Book of John Foular (Edinburgh: SRS, 1941), no. 858: Godfrey, A. M. Civil Justice in Renaissance Scotland (Brill, 2009), p. 186 record of Isobel Hoppar reserving her Blakbarony liferent. Isobel's second husband was Archibald Douglas of Kilspindie, called Greysteil, brother and advisor of the Earl of Angus.Rosalind K. Marshall, Virgins and Viragos: Women in Scotland (Collins, 1983), p. 37. By the King's gift in 1526, Archibald Douglas of Kilspindie and Isobel Hoppar were given another property on the south side of the High Street, when Kilspindie was Lord High Treasurer and Provost of Edinburgh. The house had belonged to Isobel's former husband and to James Forstar or Forrester, son of Jonet Halyburton and a grandson of Sir Duncan Forrester of Garden.McLeod & Wood, ed., Protocol Book of John Foular (Edinburgh, 1898), pp. 237-8 no.273: Durkan, John, ed., Protocol Book of John Foular, 1528-1534, SRS New Series 10 (Edinburgh, 1985), p. 2 no. 2: Protocol Book Foular, 1514-1528 (SRS, 1941): Register of the Great Seal, 1513-1546 (Edinburgh, 1883), no. 356 cf. no. 649
Archibald and Isobel lost the Forrester house, and the lands she held near Peebles when James V reached his majority and escaped from the Douglases. On 5 September 1528 the Earl of Angus shouted over the River Tweed to the Earl of Northumberland's steward that if his family was forced into exile at Norham Castle, Isobel Hoppar would wait on his daughter Margaret Douglas. Isobel continued to serve Margaret as her "gentlewoman" at Berwick Castle. The English diplomat Thomas Magnus wrote that Isobel "totally ordoured" Kilspindie, and in turn Kilspindie and George Douglas had brought the Earl of Angus to his troubles. State Papers Henry Eighth, vol. iv (1836), p.509-510, 539-40, 567: Letters & Papers Henry VIII, vol.4 (1875), no.4709: Jamie Cameron, James V, (1998) p.36-7 & fn.24, calls her "Jonet" and Isobel "Hoppringle" from the same source which does not name Kilspindie's wife. Kilspindie's house was given to the new treasurer Robert Cairncross. Register of the Privy Seal of Scotland vol.1, nos.4077, 4082: Register Great Seal, 1513-1546 (Edinburgh, 1883), p.144 no.649: As a forfeited person, Isobel might not be listed as an heir in later contracts, but was "relict" of Kilspindie in 1536.
Katrine's sister Janet was married to Hugh Rig of Carberry Tower, a lawyer who acted for Isobel Hoppar after Kilspindie's death, and was said to have been an advisor and flatterer of Regent Arran before the battle of Pinkie. George Buchanan wrote that Hugh was notable more for his large size and strength than his knowledge of military tactics.David Calderwood, History of the Kirk, vol.1, Wodrow Society (1842), p.246: Buchanan, George, History of Scotland, book 15, chapter 48. Elizabeth Hoppar, perhaps Katherine Bellenden's daughter, was married to Patrick Tennent of Cairns, the brother of the King's servant and yeoman of the crossbow, John Tennent. She had four daughters. Protocol Book of Gilbert Grote, 1552-1573 (SRS, 1914), p.71 no.279, Elizabeth Hoppar was a widow in 1566 when her daughter Isobel Tennent married a merchant. Eufamia Moubray, probably a sister of Andrew (III), was married to the diplomat and king's advocate Adam Otterburn.David Laing, David, Registrum cartarum Ecclesie Sancti Egidii de Edinburgh (Bannatyne Club, 1859), p. 234: William Hoppar, Isobel's husband John Murray of Barony and Adam Otterburn were witnesses to the handover of a property on 31 March 1509, Protocol John Foular (SRS, 1941) nos. 548-9.
Andrew Moubray (III) also had two properties on the opposite side of the road to Moubray House, one near a tennis court called a "caichpule", the other next to the house given to Kilspindie.Durkan, John ed., Protocol book of John Foular, SRS New Series 10 (1985), nos. 128, 262, 491 In 1541, Katherine Bellenden, now married to Oliver Sinclair, with John Tennent and other kin who served the royal household donated an adjacent property to the west of Moubray House for a chantry in St Giles and various charities. Laing, David, ed., Registrum cartarum Ecclesie Sancti Egidii de Edinburgh (Bannatyne Club, 1859) pp. 246-253 no.141: Register of the Great Seal of Scotland, 1513-1546 (Edinburgh, 1883) p. 597 no. 2600.
Also in 1541, Andrew Mowbray (III) travelled to Middelburg as commissioner for the city of Edinburgh to negotiate a trade agreement with Maximilian II of Burgundy.Denys Hay, Letters of James V (Edinburgh, HMSO, 1954), p. 423. Maximilian was prompted to fix the centre for Scottish trade at Veere.Yair, James, Account of Scottish Trade in the Netherlands (1776), pp. 107, 110 Andrew was sent to Flanders again in 1544, carrying a letter of accreditation describing in French the 'great and ancient amity between Scotland and Flanders.' With the Scottish ambassador, he spoke at a meeting in Antwerp with officials and representatives of the Lord of Beveren in April 1545.H. J. Smit, Bronnen tot de geschiedenis van den handel met Engeland, Schotland en Ierland 1150-1585 ('s-Gravenhage, 1942), p. 572 no. 731: Smit (1942), pp. 586-8
Andrew Moubray (III) died in 1545 in Flanders. His eldest son Edward Moubray was still a minor. John Danielstoun, Parson of Dysart was appointed guardian of Edward Moubray (who died young). Register of the Privy Seal, vol. 3 (Edinburgh, 1936) p. 219 no. 1418 Andrew had left some possessions in Veere and Middelburg, which were passed to his executor there, Andrew Cupar.H. J. Smit, Bronnen tot de geschiedenis van den handel met Engeland, Schotland en Ierland 1150-1585 ('s-Gravenhage, 1942), p. 667 no. 797 During the war of the Rough Wooing, his widow Katrine Hoppar (died 1551) supplied iron from Gdańsk for sent to Jedburgh in February 1549. Accounts of the Lord High Treasurer of Scotland, vol. 9 (Edinburgh, 1911), p. 283, February 1548/9 "Danskyn irne" for "schule irnis." In 1550 she was refunded money that she had contributed for the "Raid of the Borrowmure", an abandoned military action planned for the Siege of Haddington.Adam, Robert, ed., Edinburgh Records, Burgh Accounts, vol. 1 (Edinburgh, 1899), pp. 4, 9.
Within this other house, the Town Council provided John Knox with a "warm study of deals" against the winter of 1561.Miller, PSAS (1899), pp. 84–86, see external links In March 1565, Robert Moubray exchanged the house occupied by John Knox with the lawyer Robert Scott for a loan., Margaret H. B. Sanderson, A Kindly Place? (Tuckwell: East Linton, 2002), p. 199 citing NAS Register of Deeds RD1/8 fol.1 Robert had a baker as his tenant in the shop of another house on the south side of the street. Protocol Book of Mr Gilbert Grote, 1552-1573 (Edinburgh: SRS, 1914), p. 49 no. 212.
During the "Lang Siege" of Edinburgh Castle, when William Kirkcaldy of Grange bombarded the town, Robert Moubray and his family left Edinburgh and moved to Leith for safety. When the siege was concluded and the burgesses were required to return, in November 1573 the Town Council granted his wish to remain in Leith over the winter because his wife, Janet Cant, was ill.James David Marwick, Extracts Records Burgh Edinburgh, 1573-1589 (Edinburgh, 1882), p. 1 Janet outlived him, and died in 1592.Francis Grant, Commissariot Record of Edinburgh: Register of Testaments, part 1 (SRS: 1897), p. 48
At some point in the last decades of the 16th-century, James Hoppringle or Pringle of Whytbank and Woodhead and his wife Mariota Murray became owners of the Netherbow House. Register of the Great Seal of Scotland, vol. 4 (Edinburgh, 1886) p. 560 no. 2135, 2 May 1573. In November 1595, their son, James Pringle of Whytbank made a successful plea to the Privy Council on behalf of seven schoolchildren who had been imprisoned following the shooting of Baillie John MacMorran.David Masson, Register of the Privy Council of Scotland, vol. 5 (Edinburgh 1882), pp. 236-8. His son, also James Pringle, served in the Garde Écossaise and married Sophia Schöner, a daughter of Anne of Denmark's physician Martin Schöner in 1622. James Pringle was fined by Parliament for his support of Charles I in 1646. Life of Andrew Melville, Works of Rev. McCrie (Edinburgh, 1856), p. 498 fn: J. Burke, A Genealogical and Heraldic Dictionary of the Landed Gentry, vol. 3 (London, 1850), p. 264.
The painter George Jamesone lived in the property. Daniel Defoe edited the Edinburgh Courant newspaper from the house in 1710. In the 18th century the building housed a tavern, and until 1822 the shop on the street front was the premises of the publisher and bookseller Archibald Constable, proprietor of the Scots Magazine, the Edinburgh Review and the Encyclopædia Britannica.Robert Taylor Skinner, The Royal Mile, Edinburgh Castle to Holyroodhouse (1928), p. 48: Wilmot Harrison, Memorable Edinburgh Houses (Edinburgh, 1893) p. 46. A more recent publishing connection is with Moubray House Press, later Moubray House Publishing, which was established here in 1984 before moving across the High Street to premises in Tweeddale Court.
|
|
