Suffolk Road Lane

Image: © Ian Dodds Taken: 12 Jan 2023

There is a very informative guide to the etymology of almost all of central Edinburgh's older streets called 'The Derivation of Edinburgh's Street Names'. It is freely available online and appears towards the top of the results if a relevant search-term is entered. Suffolk Road (which this lane - effectively an access road to back garden garages - leads to) is grouped together with Wilton Road, Granby Road and Gilmour Road in the guide. Gilmour Road is named after a Major General who owned the estate on which these roads were built. He had recently been elevated to the House of Lords and the other three street names are thought to be related to this fact, but exactly how is unclear. The names refer to the official seats of three lords who all seemed to hold a confusing array of titles. These may have been the men who proposed Gilmour's elevation, or just men he admired and honoured in a 'celebration', as the guide puts it, of his new status. Another theory is that it was done to redress the naming of a few other nearby streets after members of the House of Commons. It is not stated whether these too were on his land (they are very close) or whether he had a hand in naming them.

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