Life History of a Slum Child

This is a collection of photographs produced between 1880-1912 which record the lives of communities living and working on or near the Canongate on the Royal Mile. The photographs record the impoverished living conditions of many residents. The Life History of a Slum Child was compiled to shame those in power into action.

In the words of the compiler 'To those who love the nation, who wish Scottish grit and fibre to last who "think of the generations to come", Who are lovers of little children.
Those Human Documents gathered on the spot - without arrangement - haphazard - as the chance came, on an ordinary day in the Canongate of Edinburgh are presented for consideration (yes! and for humbling and shame!) in the hope that an experiment, not made with chemicals in bottles, but with the bodies and souls of posterity, may be furthered and if the mercy of God permit, fulfilled'.

It contains images taken of St. Saviour's Child Garden. The 'Diary of a Free Kindergarten' by Lillian Hardy was published in 1912 and records daily life in the Kindergarten and can be read online via the Library of Congress. The images taken for the Diary of a Free Kindergarten were taken by Francis Caird Inglis and many are the same or very similar to those within this exhibition and taken from 'The Life History of a Slum Child'.