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The Visit of George IV - August 1822
2022 is the bicentenary of the famous visit of George IV to Edinburgh – an event celebrated by the famous statue of the king at the junction of George Street and Hanover Street.
The year 1822 dawned with Edinburgh, and indeed the whole of Scotland, in a fever of excitement. George IV was coming to the capital but when? Where would he stay? How long would he stay? What might the king want to do and see during his stay? With no monarch having visited the city since the fugitive Charles II in 1650 and no recent precedents to follow, the City turned to the only man with the authority to take charge of the royal visit – Sir Walter Scott. After all it was Scott who had suggested the idea of a visit to George in the first place. With very short notice, could Scott and the City pull it off?
Eric Melvin is our speaker. Eric graduated with First Class Honours in History and Political Thought from Edinburgh University in 1967. He qualified as a secondary teacher of History and Modern Studies at the then Moray House College of Education gaining a Dip. Ed. in the process and the Staff Prize. Eric later gained an M.Ed. from the University of Edinburgh. He retired from teaching in 2005, working latterly for the City of Edinburgh Council as Headteacher at Currie Community High School. Eric has had several books published by John Murray for younger readers on aspects of Scottish History as well as ‘Discovering Scotland’ for Ladybird. Most recently Eric has had three books published on Amazon – ‘A Walk Down Edinburgh’s Royal Mile’, ‘A Walk Through Edinburgh’s New Town’ and ‘Mary, Queen of Scots’ written for younger readers and illustrated by Aileen Paterson. ‘The Edinburgh of John Kay’ was published in 2017 and Eric has just finished a book about Duncan Napier, (The Fresh Air of the Summer Morning) the founder of the famous Edinburgh Herbalist business in 1860.
The Visit of George IV - August 1822