The Royal Burgh of Haddington is a town in East Lothian, Scotland. It is the major management, cultural and also geographical centre for East Lothian, which as a result of late-nineteenth century Scottish local government reforms took the type of the county of Haddingtonshire through from 1889-1921. It lies about 17 miles (27 km) east of Edinburgh. The name Haddington is Anglo-Saxon, dating from the sixth or 7th century AD when the area was incorporated into the kingdom of Bernicia. The community, like the remainder of the Lothian region, was yielded by King Edgar of England and became part of Scotland in the tenth century. Haddington obtained burghal condition, one of the earliest to do so, during the reign of David I (1124-- 1153), providing it trading legal rights which motivated its growth into a market town. Today Haddington is a town with a population of less than 10,000 people; although during the High Middle Ages, it was the fourth-biggest city in Scotland after Aberdeen, Roxburgh as well as Edinburgh. In the middle of the town is the Town House, built in 1748 according to a strategy by William Adam. When initially developed, it inheld a council chamber, prison as well as constable court, to which assembly rooms were included 1788, as well as a brand-new clock in 1835. Close-by is the Corn Exchange (1854) and the County Courthouse (1833 ). Various other neighboring noteworthy sites include the Jane Welsh Carlyle House, Mitchell's Close and also the birth place of author and also federal government reformer Samuel Smiles on the High Street, marked by a commemorative plaque.