Collection of material relating to the Royal Burgh of Montrose

• Reference:GB 237 Coll-442
• Dates of Creation:1455-1969
• Language of Material:English.
• Physical Description:
  1 volume, 3 letters or documents

• Scope and Content

  The material is composed of: microfilm copies of burgh court books, 1455-1467, 1586-1587; microfilm copies, with transcripts, of burgh records 1617-1639; copies of the records of the head court and of the burgesses; a ledger book of John Doers, a merchant in Montrose, 1717-1746; mention of a scheme for building a bridge over the River South Esk in a letter of D. Carnegie, 1780; subscription of Pounds 21 towards the building of the New College, Edinburgh, 1792; and an article, typescript, entitled Seventy years on. A Montrose retrospect (1969).

• Administrative / Biographical History

  Montrose with a population of 11,467 (1997, mid-year estimates) is one of the main towns within Angus Council, in the east of Scotland. Its name is derived from the Gaelic, Alt-moine-ros, meaning 'the burn of the mossy point'. In 1296, in a long destroyed castle in the town - or at Stracathro near Montrose - John Balliol surrendered Scotland to Edward I of England. The castle was razed by William Wallace in 1297 and not rebuilt. As a Royal Burgh the harbour town prospered through trading links, and in the nineteenth century the principal economic activity was flax-spinning and linen manufacture, and most trade was with Canada and the Baltic. Latterly most maritime activity has been connected with the North Sea oil and gas industry.

• Access Information

  Generally open for consultation to bona fide researchers, but please contact repository for details in advance.

• Acquisition Information

  Letter mentioning bridge, acquired 1960, Accession no. E60.2. Article Seventy years on. A Montrose retrospect, Cruickshank papers, acquired 1974, Accession no. E74.40.

• Note

  Note that when this record was created any associated photographic/illustrative was unseen.

  The biographical/administrative history was compiled using the following material: (1) Keay, John. and Keay, Julia (eds.). Collins encyclopaedia of Scotland. London: Harper Collins Publishers, 1994. (2) Groome, Francis H. (ed.). Ordnance gazetteer of Scotland: a survey of Scottish topography, statistical, biographical, and historical. Vol.5. Edinburgh: Thomas C. Jack, Grange Publishing Works, 1884.

  Compiled by Graeme D Eddie, Edinburgh University Library, Special Collections Division.

• Other Finding Aids

  Important finding aids generally are: the alphabetical Index to Manuscripts held at Edinburgh University Library, Special Collections and Archives, consisting of typed slips in sheaf binders and to which additions were made until 1987; and the Index to Accessions Since 1987.

• Accruals

  Check the local Indexes for details of any additions.

• Related Material

  The local Indexes show another reference to Montrose related material in the Laing Collection (check the Indexes for more details): accounts of T. Ruddiman for David Scott and John Watson, booksellers in Montrose, for the Weekly magazine, 1770-1773, at La.III.752. There is also a letter from W. Beattie, Secretary of the Natural History and Antiquarian Society, to J. O. Halliwell-Phillips, 22 April 1840, at L.O.A. 7/25.

• Geographical Names

  Montrose, Scotland