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Uncovering the Men Behind the 135-Year-Old Message in a Bottle

9 Jan 2023 10:19 AM | Anonymous

History often reappears in unexpected places. A 135-year-old time capsule was discovered in November in Edinburgh , Scotland by a plumber who, by chance, opened up the floor at the exact spot where it had been left in 1887.

Since then experts and historians from the genealogy service Findmypast have looked up censuses and pored over dozens of newspaper archives to uncover the story behind the men who left the note - as well as those who lived in the house.


The entrance to Riddles Close in the early 1900s where John Grieve lived with his family

Its inhabitants included the Reverend Archibald Eneas Robertson, who is thought to have been the first mountaineer to climb all 282 Munros.

The two joiners who left the bottle were John Grieve and James Ritchie.

You can read more, including the identity of the men who left the message in the bottle and their families, in an article by Angie Brown published in the BBC News web site at: https://www.bbc.com/news/uk-scotland-edinburgh-east-fife-64162667.

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