Dr Basil Chisholm Skinner OBE (7 November 1923 – 5 April 1995) was a Scottish historian and architectural conservation campaigner. He was founder of the Dean Village Association.Dean Village News
/ref> In 1974 he co-founded the Hopetoun Trust which brought about the saving of

Hopetoun House Hopetoun House is a country house near South Queensferry owned by the Hopetoun House Preservation Trust, a charity established in 1974 to preserve the house and grounds as a national monument, to protect and improve their amenities, and to pre ...

Life

He was born in

Edinburgh Edinburgh is the capital city of Scotland and one of its 32 Council areas of Scotland, council areas. The city is located in southeast Scotland and is bounded to the north by the Firth of Forth and to the south by the Pentland Hills. Edinburgh ...

on 7 November 1923, and educated at Harecroft Hall near Westwater,

Cumberland Cumberland ( ) is an area of North West England which was historically a county. The county was bordered by Northumberland to the north-east, County Durham to the east, Westmorland to the south-east, Lancashire to the south, and the Scottish ...

. He then completed his education at

Edinburgh Academy The Edinburgh Academy is a Private schools in the United Kingdom, private day school in Edinburgh, Scotland, which was opened in 1824. The original building, on Henderson Row in Stockbridge, Edinburgh, Stockbridge, is now part of the Senior Scho ...

, winning the Aitken Prize in Classics, before studying history at the

University of Edinburgh The University of Edinburgh (, ; abbreviated as ''Edin.'' in Post-nominal letters, post-nominals) is a Public university, public research university based in Edinburgh, Scotland. Founded by the City of Edinburgh Council, town council under th ...

. His studies were interrupted by the

Second World War World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...

during which he served first with the

East Riding of Yorkshire Yeomanry The East Riding of Yorkshire Yeomanry was a unit of the British Army formed in 1902. Units of Yeomanry Cavalry were raised in the East Riding of Yorkshire in the 18th and early 19th centuries at times of national emergency: the Jacobite Rising ...

before transferring to the Intelligence Corps. He returned to the University of Edinburgh after the war and completed his degree in history also winning the Cousin Prize in Fine Art. In 1951 he became Librarian at the

Glasgow School of Art The Glasgow School of Art (GSA; ) is a higher education art school based in Glasgow, Scotland, offering undergraduate degrees, post-graduate awards (both taught and research-led), and PhDs in architecture, fine art, and design. These are all awa ...

. In 1954 returned to Edinburgh as Assistant Curator of the

Scottish National Portrait Gallery National Galleries Scotland: Portrait is an art museum on Queen Street, Edinburgh. Portrait holds the national collections of portraits, all of which are of, but not necessarily by, Scots. It also holds the Scottish National Photography Collec ...

aged only 31. From 1966 to 1979 he was Director of Extra-Mural Studies at the University of Edinburgh. In the 1960s he campaigned against a proposal by

Stirlingshire Stirlingshire or the County of Stirling ( ) is a Shires of Scotland, historic county and registration county of Scotland. Its county town is Stirling.Registers of Scotland. Publications, leaflets, Land Register Counties. It borders Perthshir ...

County Council A county council is the elected administrative body governing an area known as a county. This term has slightly different meanings in different countries. Australia In the Australian state of New South Wales, county councils are special purpose ...

to infill a large section of the Union Canal. He could not prevent its formal closure as a public route in 1965. He was one of the founders of the Edinburgh New Town Conservation Committee (ENTCC), the

Dean Village Dean Village (from ''dene'', meaning 'deep valley') is a former village immediately northwest of the city centre of Edinburgh, Scotland. It is bounded by Belford Road to the south and west, Belgrave Crescent Gardens to the north and below the ...

Association, and the Edinburgh Schools Holiday Club. He was a committee member on the

Cockburn Association The Cockburn Association, often subtitled Edinburgh Civic Trust, is an architectural, conservation, and urban planning monitoring organisation in the city of Edinburgh, Scotland, United Kingdom. The Cockburn Association, founded in 1875, is one o ...

, the SDA Conservation Committee, the

National Trust for Scotland The National Trust for Scotland () is a Scottish Building preservation and conservation trusts in the UK, conservation organisation. It is the largest membership organisation in Scotland and describes itself as "the charity that cares for, sha ...

and the Old Edinburgh Club. 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. It stands at the east end of

Dean Bridge The Dean Bridge spans the Water of Leith in the city of Edinburgh on the A90 road to South Queensferry, Queensferry on the Firth of Forth. It carries the roadway, long and broad, on four arches rising above the river.H Coghill, ''Discover ...

, high above

. The house is now addressed as 10 Randolph Cliff. He died on 5 April 1995, and is buried in

Dean Cemetery The Dean Cemetery is a historically important Victorian cemetery north of the Dean Village, west of Edinburgh city centre, in Scotland. It lies between Queensferry Road and the Water of Leith, bounded on its east side by Dean Path and o ...

. His grave lies on the south-west spur backing onto the

Dean Gallery Modern Two, formerly the Dean Gallery, in Edinburgh, is one of the two buildings housing the Scottish National Gallery of Modern Art, one of Scotland's national art galleries. It is operated by National Galleries Scotland. It is twinned with ...

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 Scott Sir Walter Scott, 1st Baronet (15 August 1771 – 21 September 1832), was a Scottish novelist, poet and historian. Many of his works remain classics of European literature, European and Scottish literature, notably the novels ''Ivanhoe'' (18 ...

Bicentenary Exhibition (1971) *''King James the Sixth and First'' (at

Royal Scottish Museum The National Museum of Scotland in Edinburgh, Scotland, is a museum of Scottish history and culture. It was formed in 2006 with the merger of the new Museum of Scotland, with collections relating to Scottish antiquities, culture and history, ...

)

Publications

*''Burns: the Authentic Likenesses'' (1959) *''Scottish History in Perspective'' (1964) *''Scots in Italy in the 18th Century'' (1966) *''The

Cramond Cramond Village (; ) is a village and suburb in the north-west of Edinburgh, Scotland, at the mouth of the River Almond where it enters the Firth of Forth. The Cramond area has evidence of Mesolithic, Bronze Age and Roman activity. In modern ...

Ironworks'' (1968) *''The Lime Industry in Lothian'' (1969) *''The Indefatigable Mr Allan'' (1973) *''King James the VI and I'' (1975)

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Skinner, Basil Chisholm 1923 births 1995 deaths Writers from Edinburgh Alumni of the University of Edinburgh 20th-century Scottish historians Burials at the Dean Cemetery British Army personnel of World War II East Riding of Yorkshire Yeomanry officers Intelligence Corps soldiers Military personnel from Edinburgh People educated at Edinburgh Academy Officers_of_the_Order_of_the_British_Empire