Basil Skinner
Dr Basil Chisholm Skinner OBE (7 November 1923 - 5 April 1995) was Scottish historian and architectural conservation campaigner. He was founder of the Dean Village Association.[1] In 1974 he co-founded the Hopetoun Trust which brought about the saving of Hopetoun House.
Life
![](http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/1/11/Deanbrae_House%2C_Edinburgh.jpg/330px-Deanbrae_House%2C_Edinburgh.jpg)
![](http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/a/a2/The_grave_of_Basil_Skinner%2C_Dean_Cemetery.jpg/300px-The_grave_of_Basil_Skinner%2C_Dean_Cemetery.jpg)
He was born in Edinburgh on 7 November 1923, and educated at Harecroft Hall near Westwater, Cumberland. He then completed his education at Edinburgh Academy, winning the Aitken Prize in Classics, before studying history at the University of Edinburgh.[2]
His studies were interrupted by the
In 1951 he became Librarian at the Glasgow School of Art.[3] In 1954 returned to Edinburgh as Assistant Curator of the Scottish National Portrait Gallery aged only 31. From 1966 to 1979 he was Director of Extra-Mural Studies at the University of Edinburgh.[2]
In the 1960s he campaigned against a proposal by
From 1955 to 1983 he lived in Deanbrae (aka Kirkbrae) House, a distinctive former toll-house, partly of 17th century origin, but mainly by James Graham Fairley in 1892.[5] It stands at the east end of Dean Bridge, high above Dean Village. The house is now addressed as 10 Randolph Cliff.[1]
He died on 5 April 1995, and is buried in
Family
He was married to Lydia Mary (1927-2017), and together they had two sons.
Exhibitions at SNPG by Skinner
- Scots in Italy in the 18th Century (1963)
- Shakespeare in Scottish Art (1964)
- Sir Walter ScottBicentenary Exhibition (1971)
- King James the Sixth and First (at Royal Scottish Museum)
Publications
- Burns: the Authentic Likenesses (1959)
- Scottish History in Perspective (1964)
- Scots in Italy in the 18th Century (1966)
- The Cramond Ironworks (1968)
- The Lime Industry in Lothian (1969)
- The Indefatigable Mr Allan (1973)
- King James the VI and I (1975)
References
- ^ a b Dean Village News
- ^ a b c Dalyell, Tam (9 April 1995). "Obituary: Basil Skinner". The Independent.
- ^ "Special Collections: The History of Our Collections | Glasgow School of Art Learning Resources". Archived from the original on 23 March 2019. Retrieved 23 March 2019.
- ^ "About Basil Skinner".
- ^ "Edinburgh, 10, 10a Randolph Cliff, Deanbrae House". Canmore. Retrieved 27 June 2024.