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John Geddie (1848-1937) was a
journalist and author of several books mainly on the subject of Edinburgh
but also elsewhere. He was born on 8 December 1848 in Garmouth, Moray on the
River Spey and in the Parish of Speymouth, Moray. He was the son of James
Geddie, a shipbuilder, and of Margaret Spence. He was educated at Garmouth
Free Church School and at Milne’s Institution, Fochabers. From 1864 to 1870
he was a law clerk in Elgin and Edinburgh and attended law classes at
Edinburgh University. In June 1882, Geddie became a Fellow of the Royal
Geographical Society. He was recommended as Fellow by John Bartholomew and
the geographer, John F. Williams. This followed the publication of his works
on Africa, the Himalayas and the Russian Empire. In 1889, Geddie joined the
Institute of Journalists. According to Neil Macara Brown: "Geddie is
credited with coining the term 'wee free' in reference to the remnant of the
Free Church of Scotland." In 1875, he married Isabella Cecilia Young on the
11th of June, 1875 at 41 Grindlay Street, Edinburgh, according with the
forms of the Free Church of Scotland, and they had five sons and four
daughters, but one, of two named James, [born in 1876], died before a second
James was born in 1879. Geddie's interests were golf, cycling, and
especially walking and he played a major role in the establishment of the
Braid Hills Public Golf Course and of the Edinburgh Evening Dispatch Trophy
there in 1888. He died aged 88 years on 20 January 1937 at home in 54
Liberton Drive, Edinburgh, Scotland.
Genealogy of John Geddie (1848-1937)
Romantic Edinburgh
Souvenir of The Opening
of the North British Station Hotel
15th October 1902 |
