[FoNC] Celebrating the connection between Scotland and Finland - at Newington Cemetery

[Ellen-Raissa]

Dear Friends

Tony and Angela Harris - founders and valued supporters of the Friends of Newington Cemetery - would like to invite you to a special event on Monday 28 April at 12pm.

Here is their message:


You may already know that we have been talking for some time about the placement of a memorial marker at the Finlayson lair in Newington Cemetery, Edinburgh. We are delighted to say that Harry Nimmo, Honorary Consul of Finland in Edinburgh has agreed to say a few words at the commemorative ceremony.


The date is Monday, 28th April at 12 noon and you are invited to come along.



Finlayson is a famous textile trade mark in Finland. Any visitor looking up from the centre of Tampere, will see how the Finlayson name dominates the skyline. The headstone erected in Newington Cemetery for James Finlayson triggered our interest and his life was one of the first to be highlighted for the Edinburgh Doors Open Day.



James Finlayson (1770-1852) and Margaret Wilkie (1776?-1855) were a Scottish couple who navigated their lives through the upheavals of 18th and 19th century wars, revolutions and presbyterian schisms. James was successful as a machine maker in Glasgow but had to escape from financial ruin to St Petersburg, Russia in 1813 to work at the Alexandrovsk cloth manufactory. James and Margaret moved to Tampere, Finland in 1820 and established the Finlayson textile mill. In retirement, they returned to Scotland and lived in Edinburgh.



New documentary evidence was published in 2017 by National Records of Scotland and we discovered that the birth date for James on the headstone was incorrect. There was also no mention that Margaret Wilkie was buried in the same grave. The memorial marker was commissioned to correct these errors.



We do hope you will be able to come along to partake in the commemorative ceremony to mark two lives and the strong connections between Finland and Scotland.



Angela & Tony Harris

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