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Senate House Library, University of London

Memorandum on the administration of Orkney


IDENTITY STATEMENT

Reference code(s): GB 0096 MS 506

Held at: Senate House Library, University of London

Title: Memorandum on the administration of Orkney

Date(s): 1760

Level of description: Collection (fonds)

Extent: 3 leaves

Name of creator(s): Possibly: Douglas | James | 1702-1768 | 14th Earl of Morton

CONTEXT

Administrative/Biographical history:

A royal grant of Orkney and Shetland was made to the Earls of Morton in 1643, and the earls became hereditary stewards and justiciaries of the islands. There was often conflict with the thirty-some Orkney lairds who ruled over Orkney on behalf (and sometimes contrary to the will) of the Earls, as this was a time of strong Jacobite sentiment which culminated in the last Orkney Jacobite uprising of 1745. The uprising was, in part, due to the great discontent with the Earls of Morton which was felt by the lairds and Orcadians.

CONTENT

Scope and content/abstract:

Memorandum, dated 1760 and probably by James Douglas, 14th Earl of Morton, on a pamphlet [by the Reverend Thomas Hepburn, Minister of Bursay] entitled A letter to a gentleman from his friend in Orkney containing the true causes of the poverty of that country, [dated 4 March 1757], which had defended Morton against charges of illegally increasing rents and other duties brought against him by the lairds of Orkney. The writer had advised against publication, but the pamphlet was in fact published in 1760.

ACCESS AND USE

Language/scripts of material: English

System of arrangement:

Conditions governing access:

Access to this collection is unrestricted for the purpose of private study and personal research within the supervised environment and restrictions of the Library's Palaeography Room. Uncatalogued material may not be seen. Please contact the University Archivist for details.

Conditions governing reproduction:

Copies may be made, subject to the condition of the original. Copying must be undertaken by the Palaeography Room staff, who will need a minimum of 24 hours to process requests.

Physical characteristics:

9" x 4¾"

Finding aids:

Collection level description.

Detailed catalogue

ARCHIVAL INFORMATION

Appraisal, destruction and scheduling information:

Accruals:

Archival history:

Immediate source of acquisition:

Enclosed with a copy of the pamphlet in question, a Goldsmiths' Library volume lettered 'A Letter from Orkney with MS', 1760, which also includes a copy of A letter to a gentleman from his friend in Orkney containing the true causes of the poverty of that country (1760; G.L. Cat. 9543).

ALLIED MATERIALS

Existence and location of originals:

Existence and location of copies:

Related material:

Further material relating to James Douglas, 14th Earl of Morton, may be found at Nottingham University Library, the British Library, and the national Archives of Scotland.

Publication note:

Namer and Brooke, The House of Commons, 1754-90 (HMSO 1964).

DESCRIPTION NOTES

Note:

Archivist's note: Compiled by Sarah Aitchison as part of the RSLP AIM25 Project.

Rules or conventions: Compiled in compliance with General International Standard Archival Description, ISAD(G), second edition, 2000; National Council on Archives Rules for the Construction of Personal, Place and Corporate Names, 1997.

Date(s) of descriptions: Aug 2001


INDEX ENTRIES
Subjects
Land tenure | Land economics | Agricultural economics
Social problems

Personal names
Douglas | James | 1702-1768 | 14th Earl of Morton x Morton | 14th Earl of
Hepburn | Thomas | 1726-1777 | minister

Corporate names

Places
London | England | UK | Western Europe | Europe
Orkney | Scotland | UK | Western Europe | Europe