Fire at former the Liberal Club

Our Connection with the Building

The founding of the Scottish Liberal Club was first proposed in July 1879 and inaugurated at a meeting held in the Royal Hotel on 13th November 1879. It was the year before William Gladstone became MP for Midlothian and formed the second of his four Liberal Governments. We then acquired the Osborne Hotel for the clubrooms but on 19th December 1879, a fire took place only 10 days after we occupied it.

The premises at 109 Princes Street, then the Palace Hotel, were rapidly acquired and we moved in on April 2nd 1890.

This magnificent building became the centre for political and social activity in the decades of Liberal predominance in Scotland and during the challenging years of decline from power.

We sold the building in 1970 and moved the fine bust of Gladstone and other artefacts into the Debenhams premises next door. ‘Gladstone’s Library’ was a centre piece of the store until it was sold in 2023.

Fortunately, we moved Gladstone into storage, but we had to leave the valuable oak panelling and other architectural features behind. It is tragic that these have now been lost in the fire.

The relocated remaining panelling and fireplace from the Scottish Liberal Club’s Gladstone Library.
Picture taken in 2017 when it was in use as a shop floor divider.
Picture credit Zarina at Page to Stage Reviews, used with permission.

To find out more and see some interesting old photos visit this page on Thread Edinburgh.

A bit more history

By the 1970s clubs with bedroom and dining facilities faced difficulties across the country. The SLC sought to widen its appeal, opening membership to women, but like its Conservative neighbour it had to abandon Princes Street to Debenhams retail.

Premises were acquired in Clifton Terrace, shared with the Scottish Liberal Party, and later the Liberal Democrats, as tenants.  The clubroom is used for meetings but the club exists mainly as a forum for Liberal discussion, debate and, hopefully, enlightenment – all in the friendly ambience that a club should offer.

Note: For those who would like to know more about the history of the Liberal Club, there is a downloadable pdf of a dissertation done by Noah Torn. Click here to download the pdf.

Personal Memories

John Lawrie OBE, the Scottish Liberal Democrats’ wisest counsellor and co-writer of its constitution, was interviewed by Edinburgh Live. He gave his memories of the building which he first visited as an 18 year old in 1961.

“I went there for meetings, and other functions too, in the late 1960s and early 1970s, and you know it was a very fine building and it’s so sad. Princes Street doesn’t have that number of fine buildings, and it’s a great shame that this has happened.

“I suppose the first time I remember going there was for the Scottish Liberal Party, I think it was a twice-a-year council meeting, something in the spring or summer of 1961  when I was an enthusiastic 18-year-old young Liberal.

“And I think the reason I remember it was because being a novice to these things, it was really exciting, and there were people who were in the public eye and a number of people who’d been around the Liberal Party for a very long time and so I can certainly remember the occasion.

“I remember the staircase. You came in through the front door and I guess at one stage there would have been a sort of porter’s lodge. I think by the time I was using it regularly – and I’m not sure that anybody was stationed there all the time - there must have been some means of stopping people from wandering in off the street, – there was this magnificent staircase that you approached and it took you up to the first floor.

"There was the Gladstone Library, which was a magnificent room, and it will certainly have been a great loss in the fire. A number of the artefacts and I think quite a lot of the books had been removed.

“Then also on that floor there was the dining room, and I can remember attending one or two reasonably significant dinners when somebody moderately celebrated would have been speaking, and I do remember a Burns supper shortly before the club closed its premises.”

You can read more including the interview by Caron Lindsay in the Liberal Democratic Voice.

A Tribute to Charles Kennedy

Members of the Scottish Liberal Club and many more from all walks of life were shocked and saddened by the sudden news of the death of Charles Kennedy.

Charles was respected and well liked by many inside and outside the world of politics. He combined an understanding of complex issues with a down to earth manner of communication to the man and woman in the street. He was equally able to express his thoughts passionately in the House of Commons as he was in smaller gatherings, with friends.

I first met Charles in Ullapool over 30 years ago, when he was a newly elected MP and I was a party volunteer worker. Many years later, it was an honour to stand beside him in the House of Commons as a Liberal Democrat MP when we stood united in our opposition to the War in Iraq.

Members of the Scottish Liberal Club and many more from all walks of life were shocked and saddened by the sudden news of the death of Charles Kennedy.

Charles was respected and well liked by many inside and outside the world of politics. He combined an understanding of complex issues with a down to earth manner of communication to the man and woman in the street. He was equally able to express his thoughts passionately in the House of Commons as he was in smaller gatherings, with friends.