Walter Mason collection: legal and financial papers relating to Selkirk
- Reference:GB 1097 D43
- Dates of Creation:1693-1834
- Language of Material:English
- Physical Description:463 items
Scope and Content
Libels and claims, 1707-1805; legal papers relating to Selkirk, 1693-1815; protested bills and related papers, 1711-1724; discharges and other papers relating to finances of the magistrates and town council, 1712-1714; protests, 1733; Trust Disposition and deeds of settlement: James Scott, 1818, and John Beattie, farmer of Deepshope, 1834.
This is one part of eight (D41-D48) which together make up a single Fonds. Unfortunately this catalogue is neither the Fonds D nor the Fonds D41 but an unsatisfactory arrangement where the Fonds has been split across a series of reference numbers. An attempt to create an artificial Fonds D/41-48 did not work and was abandoned. The archive has been entered into CALM with the same references numbers as when it was originally listed, with the addition of the prefix D/41-48 [removed 2021.04.26] to show that the material is all part of one collection. Each series appears to be an original bundle of papers. Most have been arranged chronologically before being listed. The bundles have not been arranged into a clear order, therefore, although sub-fonds level descriptions have been created due to the reference numbers used they do not reflect meaningful divisions in the collection.
Series D45/5 does not exist.
The majority of this archive was created by the town clerks and notaries public of Selkirk, who also acted as solicitors. In particular, it contains a large quantity of legal and financial documents produced or received by John Paterson, George Rodger, Peter Rodger and Robert Paton, writers in Selkirk from the late eighteenth to the mid nineteenth century. The collection comprises libels, claims, protests, petitions, discharges, receipts, accounts, bonds, letters, burgess admissions, apprenticeship indentures and other material, including papers relating to the Magistrates and Town Council of Selkirk and the Commissary Court. As well as letters concerning a range of legal and financial matters, the archive includes bundles of letters from Lord and Captain Napier to George Rodger mainly regarding the construction of Thirlestane House.
The archive also contains papers concerning the Selkirkshire Yeomanry Cavalry and Militia, the payment of taxes, the Selkirk Prison Board, the construction and repair of dykes and roads, Selkirk Mill, emigration and the pay of the Selkirkshire Police, as well as oaths of allegiance to the King and the Magistrates and Town Council of Selkirk.
Administrative / Biographical History
Selkirk first appears as a burgh in a document of 1328, when the Sheriff of Selkirk accounted to the Exchequer for rent due from the free tenants and burgesses of the town. Its status probably dates back to the twelfth century, when the Royal Burghs of Peebles and Jedburgh were also established. From 1469 Selkirk was represented in Parliament. Its status as a royal burgh was reconfirmed by James V and it sent a commissioner to the first Convention of Royal Burghs in 1552. Selkirk became a police burgh in 1863 and a small burgh from 1930, under the Local Government (Scotland) Act, 1929. When burghs were abolished in 1975, Selkirk became part of Ettrick and Lauderdale district in the Borders Region and from 1996 part of Scottish Borders council area. Sources: 'Historic Selkirk: the archaeological implications of development' by Anne Turner Simpson and Sylvia Stevenson (1980), p1; 'Selkirk Protocol Books, 1511-1547', transcribed and edited by Teresa Maley and Walter Elliot (Edinburgh: The Stair Society and the Walter Mason Trust, 1993), p.xxii; 'Selkirkshire and the Borders: A Personal View of the Archaeology and History as Seen by Walter Elliot: Selkirkshire - Book 1: From the Beginning of Time to AD 1603' by Walter Elliot (Selkirk: Deerpark Press, 2009), p.391; Scottish Archive Network www.scan.org.uk; ScotlandsPlaces www.scotlandsplaces.gov.uk.
Access Information
Open
Scottish Borders Archives operates within Local Authority, Freedom of Information and Data Protection Legislation, whereby some limitations on access may apply.
Conditions Governing Use
Applications for permission to quote should be sent to the Archive Manager. Reproduction subject to usual conditions: educational or private use & condition of documents.
Custodial History
The records in this collection remained in the premises of Peter Rodger, writer, in Selkirk's High Street when the headquarters of the town council relocated. In 1887 the Commercial Bank moved into the premises and the records remained in the attic until 1940, when the bank manager was ordered to destroy all fire hazards in case of an air raid. The bank manager ordered that the records should be taken from the attic and burnt. Two brothers, Bruce and Walter Mason, who ran a bakers next to the bank realised the historical significance of the papers and managed to remove the most important records into their attic before they were destroyed. Upon the death of Bruce Mason in 1963 Walter Elliot became joint keeper of the archive. In 1988, after the death of Walter Mason, the records were returned to the Ettrick and Lauderdale District Council. In May 1989 the Walter Mason Trust was established to raise money to pay for the conservation of the archive and awareness of the information in the archive. The archive was kept by the Museum Service and Archives of the Borders Regional Council, and latterly forms part of the Scottish Borders Archives. Source: 'Selkirk Protocol Books, 1511-1547', transcribed and edited by Teresa Maley and Walter Elliot (Edinburgh: The Stair Society and the Walter Mason Trust, 1993), p.vii-viii; 'Selkirkshire and the Borders: A Personal View of the Archaeology and History as Seen by Walter Elliot: Selkirkshire - Book 1: From the Beginning of Time to AD 1603' by Walter Elliot (Selkirk: Deerpark Press, 2009), p.401-403.
Accruals
None expected.
Related Material
BS Burgh of Selkirk Archive 17th-20th century; D4 Walter Elliot archive, Selkirkshire documents, 1700-1955; D25 Selkirk legal documents, 1669-1821; D34 Tradesmen's records, 1816-1903; D38 Scotch Tweed Magazine, 1923-1938; SBA938 Scottish Woollen Technical College year book, 1949; D40 Borders newspapers, 1934-1946; D41-D48 (see description above); SCR96 John Younger papers, 1841-1995; SCS49 Selkirk Races papers and miscellaneous Selkirk documents, 1726-1859; WM Walter Mason Archive, 16th-19th century.
Corporate Names