Burgh of Inveraray
- Reference:GB 245 BI
- Dates of Creation:1648 - 1975
- Name of Creator:
- Language of Material:English
- Physical Description:31 archive boxes of textual material; 74 plans
Scope and Content
The records include charters, minute books, correspondence, building plans, and financial records covering the period from the foundation of the Royal Burgh in 1648 to its dissolution in 1975.
Administrative / Biographical History
There may have been a small fishing village at Inveraray before the fourteenth century. The first Inveraray Castle was built around 1432, and as time went on a community began to develop around it. In 1742 the process of demolishing and rebuilding the old castle and town began. The castle was moved slightly further from the shore (the site of the old castle was in the middle of the current castle's lawn) and the village was moved from its original location on the shore near the Aray Bridge to its current site, then known as Ardrainich.
Inveraray was created a Burgh of Barony in 1474 by King James III in favour of Colin, 1st Earl of Argyll. A burgh of barony was presided over by a feudal superior who had authority from the Crown to administer justice and to hold barony courts dealing with crimes and matters of good neighbourhood. The charter also allowed the burgh to hold a weekly market on Saturdays and two yearly fairs, one at St Brendan' Feast Day (16th May) and one on Michaelmas (29th September), and during the eight days preceding these. The burgh court was held at least twice a year (the medieval burgh court had both administrative and judicial functions, so any decisions on how the town was run would have been recorded in the court books). Burgesses, aldermen and provosts were appointed by the Earl. No records survive from this period.
In 1648 Charles I erected Inveraray into a Royal Burgh . The earliest surviving records of the burgh date from this time. The boundaries of the burgh were defined by the charter, although the exact limits are now almost impossible to identify because they were defined by features that have now disappeared (such as the yard dykes of the castle) or that were prone to natural changes (such as the course of the Cromallt Burn). The weekly market was now held on Saturdays and there were three annual fairs (on 17th May, on 15th July, and on 16th September) again lasting for eight days. No other fairs or markets were to be held in Argyllshire, except in Kintyre (where Campbeltown had already been made a burgh). In some Royal Burghs the inhabitants held their lands direct from the Crown, e.g. they paid their rents to the Crown. Inveraray's Royal charter reserved to the Earl of Argyll all duties and rights that had previously belonged to him.
A royal burgh held its charter direct from the crown. Royal Burghs were heavily taxed (they paid one sixth of the total land tax imposed on Scotland), but were in return granted various privileges: burgage tenure, representation in parliament, and commercial privileges, especially in foreign trade. The Burgh of Inveraray also had the right to run a ferry and the right of pasturage on the town muir (which was at Stronshira until the Duke enclosed this and instructed the burgh to use Auchnabreac instead). Every year the petty customs and anchorage , ferry , and muir were set [leased] at the public roup [auction]. This was how the burgh raised most of the money that it needed to fulfil its day-to-day obligations, although it could also impose assessments (taxes) for special purposes. The town also received a £20 annuity from the Duke to compensate them for the loss of Stronshira (the original town muir, Auchnabreac being rather smaller), and £5 from the Commissioners of Supply to offset the costs of the Grammar School.
The Royal Charter gave the burgesses the power of choosing a provost, four baillies, a dean of guild, a treasurer and twelve persons as councillors, to be chosen from leets compiled each year by the Marquis. These individuals formed the Town Council and had the power to elect representatives of the Burgh to the Parliaments of Scotland, to the Convention of Royal Burghs and to the General Assembly of the Church of Scotland. They could also make regulations affecting the burgh and make people burgesses. They employed officials such as the Town Clerk , the Burgh Treasurer and the Assessor to carry out their decisions.
In 1833 Inveraray adopted part of the Burgh Police (Scotland) Act, 1833 (3 & 4 Wm IV c.46) so that they could improve the water supply. This meant that the Town Council transferred its responsibilities for water to the Police Commissioners while continuing to run everything else.
In 1867 the Town Council and the Police Commissioners each voted to adopt the General Police and Improvement Act (Scotland) 1862. In some other burghs, when this happened, the Town Council dissolved itself in favour of the Police Commissioners. In the case of Inveraray, although it is never explicitly stated, it appears that the Police Commissioners were dissolved and the Town Council continued as normal, albeit with additional powers.
In 1975, the Local Government Reorganisation (Scotland) Act 1973 (1973 c. 65) abolished the burgh as a unit of local government. Inveraray Town Council's successor authorities were Strathclyde Regional Council and Argyll and Bute District Council.
Arrangement
The system of arrangement does not entirely reflect the organization of the burgh. The Town Council and the Police Commissioners were legally required to have separate Town Clerks and Treasurers; however, the records of the two authorities seem to have become disordered through use in the decades following the abolition of the Police Commissioners and the records of that body's Town Clerk and Treasurer have been amalgamated into the records of the Town Council's own office holder.
- BI/1 Council, 1655 – 1975
- BI/2 Town Clerk's Office (Administrative Records)
- BI/3 Burgh Treasurer's Office (Financial Records)
- BI/4 Burgh Courts
- BI/5 Assessor's Office
- BI/6 Inveraray Steam Ferry Company
Access Information
Open. Appointment advised.
Corporate Names