Famous people who grew up or lived in and around Edinburgh

Adam Smith1778–1790

📍 Panmure House, 129 Canongate, Edinburgh EH8 8BW, UK

I was born in Kirkcaldy, a little port across the Firth of Forth from Edinburgh, and raised by my mother, Margaret Douglas, for my father had died before I was born. Kirkcaldy's harbour…

Arthur Conan Doyle1859–1868

📍 Picardy Place, Edinburgh EH1 3JT, UK

I was born at 11 Picardy Place, at the top of Leith Walk in Edinburgh, the second child of a gentle, gifted artist and a fierce little Irishwoman. My father's illness and drinking meant we…

J.K. Rowling1993–1997

📍 Leith, Edinburgh, UK

J.K. Rowling grew up in Gloucestershire and the Forest of Dean, and first imagined Harry Potter on a delayed train from Manchester to London in 1990. Three years later she arrived in…

Mary, Queen of Scots1561–1567

📍 Palace of Holyroodhouse, Canongate, Edinburgh EH8 8DX, UK

I became queen at six days old, born at Linlithgow Palace, and at five I was sent across the sea to be raised at the French court, among the royal children, speaking French, dancing…

Robert Louis Stevenson1857–1880

📍 17 Heriot Row, Edinburgh EH3 6HP, UK

From the age of six I grew up at 17 Heriot Row, a tall Georgian house in Edinburgh's New Town, the only child of Thomas Stevenson, an engineer of lighthouses, and my mother, Margaret. I was…

Sean Connery1930–1953

📍 176 Fountainbridge, Edinburgh EH3 9QF, UK

I was born Thomas Connery in 1930 in a tenement at 176 Fountainbridge, Edinburgh, near the brewery, the canal and the rubber works where my father worked. My mother, Euphemia, was a…