Photographs of the Earth

Halligarth

For most of the 19th century Halligarth was the home of Dr Laurence Edmondston, the island doctor and a highly competent naturalist, who added four species of birds to the British List and who established the plantation beside the house, some of the oldest trees in Shetland. Edmondston's children included Thomas Edmondston, author of The Flora of Shetland, and Biot Edmondston and Jessie M. E. Saxby, who wrote about their father and his home in the book The Home of a Naturalist. Jessie Saxby, who later became a well-known authoress, was married to Dr Henry Saxby, author of The Birds of Shetland, and they also lived at Halligarth for a while. In the 20th century, the house was home to two further generations of the Saxby family. The house is currently unoccupied but is owned by the National Trust for Scotland.

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©  Mike Pennington 2011