The Royal Burgh of Haddington is a town in East Lothian, Scotland. It is the primary management, social and geographical centre for East Lothian, which as a result of late-nineteenth century Scottish local government reforms took the kind of the area of Haddingtonshire through from 1889-1921. It lies regarding 17 miles (27 kilometres) eastern of Edinburgh. The name Haddington is Anglo-Saxon, dating from the sixth or 7th century AD when the area was integrated into the kingdom of Bernicia. The town, like the rest of the Lothian region, was ceded by King Edgar of England and also became part of Scotland in the tenth century. Haddington got burghal status, among the earliest to do so, during the regime of David I (1124-- 1153), providing it trading legal rights which encouraged its development into a market town. Today Haddington is a village with a population of fewer than 10,000 people; although during the High Middle Ages, it was the fourth-biggest city in Scotland after Aberdeen, Roxburgh and also Edinburgh. In the middle of the town is the Town hall, integrated in 1748 according to a plan by William Adam. When initially developed, it inheld a council chamber, prison as well as constable court, to which assembly rooms were added in 1788, as well as a brand-new appear 1835. Nearby is the Corn Exchange (1854) and the County Courthouse (1833 ). Other nearby remarkable websites consist of the Jane Welsh Carlyle House, Mitchell's Close and the native home of writer as well as federal government reformer Samuel Smiles on the High Street, noted by a celebratory plaque.