Emma Maitland Stirling (1839-1907) 'a prickly, perhaps injudicious, but forceful pioneer' Background: Emma Maitland Stirling was born in Edinburgh on 15th December 1839 as the youngest of 12 children into [...]

Catherine Sinclair (1800-1864) Background: Catherine Sinclair, Scottish novelist and writer, was born in Edinburgh on 17th April 1800. She was the fourth daughter and sixth of thirteen children of Rt [...]

Sir Alexander Grant of Forres (1864-1937) "A great believer in the 'passing on' habit" Image: Photo of Sir Alexander Grant Background: Sir Alexander Grant, born in 1864 in Forres, [...]

Mary Erskine (1692-1707) Background: The Reformation dealt a serious blow to charitable educational provisions in Scotland. The seizure of church monies meant that bequests providing for education and relief were [...]

Mary Louisa Maclagan (née Kerr, 1853-1943) Background: Mary Louisa Kerr was born on 7th May 1853 in Ontario, Canada, to Scottish immigrants Archibald Kerr and Catherine Maclaren. Having made a [...]

Wilhelmina Barns-Graham, CBE (1912-2004) Background: Wilhelmina (Willie) Barns-Graham was born in St Andrews, Fife, on 8th June 1912 as the eldest child of Allan Barns-Graham and Wilhelmina Meldrum. Determined to [...]

Isabella Elder (née Ure, 1827-1905) "A synonym for open-handed though discreet philanthropy" Background: Isabella Elder was born in Hutchinson, Glasgow, in 1827 as the fourth and last child, and only [...]

Zenya Hamada Philanthropy 'letting 1,000 flowers bloom' Guest contribution by Eilidh Lawrence   Background: Interested in golf, theatre and gambling, the Japanese businessman and philanthropist Zenya Hamada first started to visit [...]

Elsie Bell Pettigrew (née Gray, 1852-1937) Founder of the Bell Pettigrew Museum, a rare surviving example of a Victorian teaching museum Guest contribution by Hannah Norfolk   Background: Born in [...]

Angela Burdett-Coutts (1814-1906) and Greyfriars Bobby Guest contribution by Diana Leat   Image: Fountain with statute of Greyfriar's Bobby, May 2018 After the Scott Monument, Greyfriars Bobby – [...]