King David I gives Haddington and its lands to Ada, daughter of the Earl of Warenne and Surrey, when she marries his eldest son, Prince Henry.

St Martin’s Kirk built as a Cistercian abbey

King Alexander II is born in Haddington.

William Wallace prepares a document addressed to the mayors of Lubeck and Hamburg while he is in Haddington.

King Robert 1 (Robert the Bruce) grants a new royal charter to the town.

Town sacked by Edward III of England’s army.
the first St Mary's Church, destroyed by English forces in 1356

Haddington is the fourth largest Scottish town (after Edinburgh, Dundee and Aberdeen)

John Knox born at Giffordgate.

Treaty of Haddington
The Scottish Parliament convenes in the abbey and resolves to send Mary Queen of Scots to France for her marriage to the French heir.

Siege of Haddington
Actually a series of sieges. James Hamilton, 2nd Earl of Arran and Regent of Scotland, takes Haddington in September 1547, with the help of the French. English troops take the town in February 1548 and hold out under siege until September 1549.

The present three-arch Nungate Bridge across the River Tyne dates from around 1550 and may have been constructed using stone from the redundant parts of nearby St Mary's Church.

Haddington House on Sidegate, built in this year is the oldest domestic building in Haddington town centre.
The property is now owned by the Lamp of Lothian Trust

Founding of the Ancient Fraternity of Gardeners of East Lothian, the oldest fraternity of its kind.

Adam Skirving, songwriter famous for composing Hey Johnnie Cope Are Ye Waukin’ Yet?, is born in the town.

Town House is built to a design by William Adam (although little of his original design now exists)

Holy Trinity Episcopal Church built in Church Street.

Lady Kitty's Doocot by Nungate Bridge, was built by Lady Catherine Charteris Wemyss, the wife of Francis de June 7th Earl of Wemyss, as part of her garden.

Birth of Jane Welsh, who was to become one of the great letter writers of her age. She married essayist Thomas Carlyle in 1826.

Waterloo Bridge by the Poldrate Mill is built and is named after the battle of Waterloo (the foundation stone having been laid on the anniversary of the battle).

Birth of Samuel Smiles, government reformer and author, best remembered for his work, Self-Help (1859).

Jane Baillie Welsh married the renowned writer and historian Thomas Carlyle

Additions made to the Town House – three cells, a spacious town hall, and a 150-feet spire from designs by Gillespie Graham.

The Court Street Fountain which is topped with a statue of Samson was built along with the County Buildings

County Buildings on Court Street is built it stands on the site of the medieval palace of King William I.

Opening of Haddington railway station.

The Corn Exchange in Court Street which was built in 1854 as a market hall for the trading of grain.
Recently refurbished in 2020

St Mary’s Roman Catholic Church is built in Poldrate.

Jane Welsh Carlyle died in London on 21 April and is buried with her father in St Mary's Collegiate Church, Haddington.

Completion of the Knox Memorial Institute to house the grammar school of Haddington (later Knox Academy).

A memorial to George Hay, VIII Marquis of Tweeddale was erected in 1881 to commemorate the man who had been a distinguished soldier and Lord-Lieutenant of Haddingtonshire.

Birth of William Gillies, renowned artist and principal of Edinburgh College of Art.

Discovery of a hoard of Roman treasure (now on display at the Royal Museum of Scotland in Edinburgh) at nearby Traprain Law.

Three people killed when German planes drop bombs on the town.

Another huge flood damages much of the town.

Haddington railway station closes to the public.

Sean Connery working at Stark’s (joiners and undertakers) in the Nungate.

Haddington is twinned with Aubigny sur Nère in France

Poldrate Mill ceased operating as a mill.

The first Haddington Festival is held.

A sculpture, depicting two fighting goats, was gifted to the town by the Norwegian firm Tandberg Electronics who had a factory up at Gateside

Dual carriageway of the A1 from Edinburgh is extended to reach Haddington.

Church bells re-hung in St Mary's

Haddington Pipe Band wins Scottish Pipe Band of the Year award

Publication of new vision for Haddington town centre.

Thanks to the work of Blooming Haddington, Haddington wins Best Medium Town trophy in the Keep Scotland Beautiful awards.

Blooming Haddington wins a gold award and the overall title in the Town category in the RHS Britain in Bloom awards for the UK

Haddington 700 events celebrated across the town

The world is plunged into a pandemic with the outbreak of Covid-19 the whole of the UK a lockdown.
Haddington is deserted as shops and businesses close everyone is ordered to stay at home
Community council and volunteers rally around and help provide support and help for neighbours and the vulnerable.