Walter Biggar Blaikie

Walter Biggar Blaikie FRSE DL LLD (23 November 1847 in Pilrig, Edinburgh – 3 May 1928) was a Scottish civil engineer, printer, historian and astronomer. He would work with the firm for almost 50 years, and for many years he ran it.

He became one of the leading scholars of the Jacobite period, especially of the life of Bonnie Prince Charlie.

In 1897, he was elected a Fellow of the Royal Society of Edinburgh, his proposers being John George Bartholomew, Sir John Murray, Frederick Bailey and Hugh Robert Mill. He served as Vice President of the Society from 1924 to 1927.

He is buried in the grave of his maternal grandfather, Henry Balfour Biggar, in the north-east corner of the north extension to St Cuthberts Churchyard in Edinburgh. He is the last named on a badly eroded stone.

Walter Blaikie Collection

In 1928 his daughters donated a large collection of his historical papers concerning the Jacobite Uprising and the Stuarts to the National Library of Scotland. This ran to 1076 printed items in 756 volumes, 42 manuscripts, 3 charters and around 400 engravings.

Publications

Itinerary of Prince Charles Edward (1896) Edinburgh at the Time of the Occupation of Prince Charles (1910) Origins of the 45 (1914)

Awards and honours Honorary degree "Doctor of Laws" from the University of Edinburgh 1918 Deputy Lieutenant of the County and City of Edinburgh