Leith Harbour

Leith Harbour (54°08′28″S 36°41′17″W / 54.141°S 36.688°W / -54.141; -36.688), also known as Port Leith, was a whaling station on the northeast coast of South Georgia, established and operated by Christian Salvesen Ltd, Edinburgh. The station was in operation from 1909 until 1965. It was the largest of seven whaling stations, situated near the mouth of Stromness Bay. One man prominently involved in setting up Leith Harbour was William Storm Harrison.

It is named after Leith, the harbour area of Edinburgh, Christian Salvesen's home town.

History

South Georgia was once the world's largest whaling centre, with shore stations at Grytviken (operating 1904-64), Leith Harbour (1909-65), Ocean Harbour (1909-20), Husvik (1910-60), Stromness (1913-61) and Prince Olav Harbour (1917-31). The Japanese companies Kokusai Gyogyo Kabushike Kaisha and Nippon Suisan Kaisha sub-leased Leith Harbour in 1963-65, the last seasons of South Georgia whaling. In 1912 Leith Harbour was the site of the second introduction of reindeer to South Georgia, an attempt that failed when the entire herd was killed by an avalanche in 1918.

Leith

Coordinates: 55°58′48″N 3°10′12″W / 55.980089°N 3.170049°W / 55.980089; -3.170049

Leith /ˈliːθ/; Scottish Gaelic: Lìte; is a district to the north of the city of Edinburgh at the mouth of the Water of Leith.

The earliest surviving historical references are in the royal charter authorising the construction of Holyrood Abbey in 1128. The medieval settlements of Leith had grown into a burgh by 1833, and the burgh was merged into Edinburgh in 1920.

Leith is sited on the coast of the Firth of Forth and lies within the council area of the City of Edinburgh.

The port remains one of its most valuable enterprises, handling over 1.5 million tonnes of cargo a year in 2003.

South and North Leith

Previous to the bridge being built in the late 15th century, Leith had settlements on either side of the river, lacking an easy crossing.

South Leith was larger and was controlled by the lairds of Restalrig: the Logan family. It was based on trade and had many merchants' houses and warehouses. This was where ships offloaded their cargoes at The Shore where they were collected by Edinburgh merchants. Leithers were explicitly forbidden by statute to participate directly in the trade at the port, to ensure that landed goods were not sold elsewhere.

Leith (disambiguation)

Leith is a port and district of Edinburgh, Scotland

Leith may also refer to

Leith (UK Parliament constituency)

Leith was a burgh constituency of the House of Commons of the Parliament of the United Kingdom from 1918 to 1950. The constituency elected one Member of Parliament (MP) by the first past the post system of election.

There was also an earlier Leith Burghs constituency, 1832 to 1918, and a later Edinburgh Leith constituency, 1950 to 1997.

Boundaries

The Leith constituency was created under the Representation of the People Act 1918, and first used in the 1918 general election, to cover the burgh of Leith, in the county of Midlothian. The burgh was previously within the Leith Burghs constituency.

1918 boundaries were used also in the general elections of 1922, 1923, 1924, 1929, 1931, 1935 and 1945.

The burgh was merged into the city of Edinburgh in 1920, and for the 1950 general election, under the House of Commons (Redistribution of Seats) Act 1949, the Edinburgh Leith constituency was created as one of seven constituencies covering the city and the Midlothian burgh of Musselburgh.