On this day in 1876

Thomas Gillespie founded the Royal Zoological Society of Scotland and established Edinburgh Zoo. He later found fame as a presenter on the BBC’s Children’s Hour radio programme.

Although a lawyer by training, he was instrumental in raising the £17,000 required to purchase the 85-acre site on which the zoo was created, with some help from the city council.

A better Zoo

His wasn’t the first zoo in Edinburgh but, having seen its predecessor fail after many of the animals got sick and several died, he was determined to do things differently. He took inspiration from Hamburg’s open zoo, which gave the animals more space and did away with bars where possible.

“The Zoo’s success over the years owes much to his drive and enthusiasm,” noted the West Lothian Courier of 11 August 1967. “In 1913 he was appointed director of the Zoo at Corstorphine Hill and when he retired from his post as director-secretary in 1950 the Zoo, planned on one of the most natural sites in Europe, was a ‘must’ on the tourists’ calendar in Edinburgh.”

 

...and on this day in 1916

Vet James Herriot was made famous by a series of novels, a handful of films, and two UK television series called All Creatures Great and Small, which were broadcast on the BBC and Channel 5. The books were based on the experiences of a real vet who, in the books as well as real life, had grown up and trained in Scotland.

Where reality and fiction diverge, though, is in the character’s name. The books were written by – and featured – a certain ‘James Herriot’, but this was the pen name of James Alfred Wight, better known as Alf. He had been unable to publish under his own name, as this might have been considered a form of advertising, which was banned by the Royal College of Veterinary Surgeons.