John Ritchie Findlay
From Clerk to Proprietor
John Ritchie Findlay was the grandnephew of William and John Ritchie, two of The Scotsman newspaper’s chief founders. In 1841, at age 16, he joined the paper as a clerk and worked his way up the ranks, becoming proprietor in 1870. He married Susan Leslie, with whom he had three sons and seven daughters.
A Patron of the Arts
John Ritchie Findlay was not only successful in his journalistic endeavours; he was also a great patron of the arts and Scottish history, and after his death in 1898, it was remarked: “Edinburgh can scarcely have had a citizen of more truly public spirit”.
In 1882, Findlay donated £10,000 to establish a gallery for the Society of Antiquaries (of which he was secretary at the time) in Edinburgh’s New Town. The Society hired architect Dr Rowand Anderson and his assistant Sydney Mitchell (who built Number 3 Rothesay Terrace for Findlay as a family home) to build the Queen Street building, which later became the Scottish National Portrait Gallery.
The Portrait Gallery was not the only endeavour Findlay supported: he was keen to provide formal education for artists and was an active member of the committee that set up Edinburgh College of Art.
A Champion of Health and Education
A very conscientious and philanthropic man concerned with the health and well-being of the working classes, he served as president of the Association for the Medical Education of Women, founded the Edinburgh Association for Improving the Conditions of the Poor, campaigning for better housing, hygiene and rights for impoverished families in the city, and served as director of Edinburgh’s Royal Hospital for Sick Children.
He is credited with persuading the University of Edinburgh to finally allow women to train as doctors and surgeons after the Edinburgh Seven debacle. Susan Leslie supported her husband and was herself very active in furthering their causes.
Well Court: Homes for Dean Village
Findlay knew the living conditions in Dean Village, overlooked by his Rothesay Terrace home, were deplorable, so after purchasing the land he commissioned Sydney Mitchell to design and build model living accommodation for the working poor, called Well Court.
Findlay’s eldest son, John Ritchie Findlay (later Sir John Ritchie Findlay, 1st Baronet), became chairman of the Scottish National Housing Company and also helped build Well Court, which today has its distinctive reddish brick, clock tower, and courtyard.
This collaboration produced two- or three-bedroom flats, a central courtyard to serve as a communal drying green for hanging washing, and a community hall with oriel windows and a clock tower. The Well Court flats were advanced for their time, featuring plumbing and internal sanitation facilities, and contemporary writing notes that those living in Well Court were distinctly healthier than those living in slums elsewhere in Edinburgh.
A Love of Art at Rothesay Terrace
JRF’s love of art and entertaining guests is demonstrated throughout Number 3 Rothesay Terrace, particularly in the public rooms of the ground and first floors. From the delicately hand-carved wooden friezes and embellishments in the public rooms to the detailed ceiling frescoes (one of which can still be seen in the Findlay Room on the first floor), Late Victorian ornamentation overwhelms the senses.
The entry porch, originally enclosed by a pair of wrought iron gates of Italian design featuring delicately entwined leaves and flowers, was just the beginning of his guests’ experience. As Findlay himself remarked, “It shows the value of such an object-lesson in art, for when first put up it was a treat to see the number of working people and others who came to admire it.”