Explore the real world of Edinburgh’s Victorian detective – the wynds and closes, the police courts, the prisons, and the people who lived and died in the Old Town’s shadows.
Start with McLevy
James McLevy served as a detective in Edinburgh in the mid-19th century. Long before Sherlock Holmes,
he investigated thefts, assaults and murders in the wynds of the Old Town – and later published vivid accounts of his cases.
This site brings together research on McLevy himself, the police system he worked in, and the streets and people of Victorian Edinburgh.
Crime & policing
How Edinburgh was policed – from the wynd constables to the new professional force.
Victorian Edinburgh
Maps, wynds, and social conditions in the Old Town and port of Leith.
Featured research
Blackfriars Wynd & the Improvement Act
How one crowded wynd became a test case for Victorian slum clearance – and what that meant for the people who lived there.
Day & Night in the Wynds
Dr Joseph Bell’s 1849 walk through Edinburgh’s wynds, revealing the overcrowding, disease and vice that framed McLevy’s work.
Ragged schools & reform
How Guthrie, Carpenter and others tried to rescue children from the courts, the streets and ultimately transportation.
Maps & places
Use interactive maps to locate Blackfriars Wynd, Toddrick’s Wynd, the police offices, courts and prisons – then compare them to modern Edinburgh.
The McLevy project
Learn about the research behind this site, how sources are being digitised and mapped, and what’s planned next.
// simple current-year helper
document.addEventListener(‘DOMContentLoaded’, function() {
var y = new Date().getFullYear();
var el = document.getElementById(‘mclevy-year’);
if (el) el.textContent = y;
});
James McLevy 