The Scottish Military Research Group - Commemorations Project

Adam Brown · Last edited by Adam Brown on Wed Aug 27, 2008 6:52 am; edited 1 time in total

Thomas Nelson & The Men of Parkside
Location: East Preston Street Cemetery, Edinburgh

Any time I tried to get into this small cemetery near the Commonwealth Pool it seemed to be locked. I phoned the Council about access and was told that the small gate just needed a good shove. It actually needed a lot more than that and I don't know what the passers-by thought of me kicking my way into a cemetery! If anyone plans going here make sure you take some WD40 as well as your camera.

The effort was worth it though, a very smart little memorial with a nice little detail of an open book above the plaque.

Adam

ADP · Joined: 13 Jun 2008 Posts: 467 Location: Edinburgh

I believe this memorial is not a civic one, but a memorial that belonged to Thomas Nelson's Parkside Works (printers) that used to stand across the road from the cemetery, on the site where the Scottish Widows building now stands.

http://www.thomasnelson.com/consumer/dept.asp?dept_id=1118910&TopLevel_id=100000
http://www.geo.ed.ac.uk/scotgaz/people/famousfirst413.html
http://www.microview.org.uk/millennium/Pages/newington.htm

ADP

Adam Brown · Posted: Wed Aug 27, 2008 6:52 am Post subject:

ADP

I think you are right. I took Parkside to be the area between Dalkeith Road and Holyrod Park which included the printers but reading through the other websites it does seem to point to it being for the Nelson print works only.

I'll move it just now.

Regards

Adam

DerekR · Posted: Wed Aug 27, 2008 10:11 am Post subject:

Thomas Nelson, (of the Nelson family of publishing fame) and a Scottish Rugby internationalist, served with the Lothian & Border Horse and was kia at Arras on the 9/4/17.
He was a great close friend of John Buchan and Buchan stated that Nelson was one of the greatest Scots of his generation - and that he was destined to make a great impact on our counrty if he had been spared.

Buchan's tribute to 6 of his friends who fell in the Great War was the book
"These for Remembrance" which was privately published by Buchan in 1919 with only a handful of copies being produced, presumably for himself and the families of his deceased friends.
Thankfully, a general edition was printed in recent years and it is highly recommended reading.

The 6 friends who feature are:

Thomas Nelson, Lothian & Border Horse, kia 9/4/17 at Arras.
Bron Lucas, RFC, kia 10/11/16
Cecil Rawling, Somerset L.I, kia 23/10/17
Lord Basil Temple Blackwood, Grenadier Guards, kia 3/7/17
John Stuart-Wortley, South Staffs, kia 21/3/18
Raymond Asquith, Grenadier Guards, kia 15/9/16

I thoroughly recommend this book.

ISBN 0-907675-80-8

John Buchan's brother, Alastair, died on the same day as Tommy Nelson at Arras.
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Time but th' impression stronger makes, As streams their channels deeper wear.

DerekR · Posted: Sun Sep 28, 2008 1:39 pm Post subject:

Thomas Nelson's grave at Fabourg D'Amiens:

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Time but th' impression stronger makes, As streams their channels deeper wear.

Adam Brown · Posted: Sat Jun 27, 2009 10:34 pm Post subject:

Thomas Nelson is commemorated on the family plot headstones in Grange Cemetery in Edinburgh and also on the Connel War Memorial in Argyll.

Adam

SouthsideChaz · Joined: 18 Dec 2016 Posts: 50 Location: Edinburgh

[img]

East Preston Street Edinburgh by Charlie Clark, on Flickr[/img]

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East Preston Street Edinburgh by Charlie Clark, on Flickr[/img]
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Chaz