A few years ago I started to create a series of data CDs, particularly for Perthshire, where I have many ancestral connections. As I no longer produce these I have taken the decision to make the data available for free. I have also uploaded my university dissertation from 2008 on the role of King James VI Hospital in Perth as a feudal superior which explains how much of the city expanded in the 19th century. The collections are hosted in files located on Dropbox – to access them, simply click on the links below:
The Handloom Weavers of Perth
Containing: Freeman Weavers 1821-1830, Freemen Appointments Book 1719-1812, Indenture Book indentures 1746-1794, Indenture Book minutes 1794-1809, Indentures held at Perth and Kinross Archives (B59/29), St. John’s Kirk seat subscriptions 1749, Weavers listed in 1837 Perth trade directory, weavers listed in 1843-44 Perth Post Office directory, Weavers listed in the 1802 Perth Militia Act census, Weavers bearing arms July 27th 1715, Journeymen weaver bookings 1700-1758, Weavers listed in King James VI Hospital rentals and chartularies 1628-1816.
Note the above contains substantial additions to the original CD release
Memorabilia of the City of Perth 1806
Containing: A Guide to Perth; Historical Memoranda respecting Perth; Charters relating to the privileges of Perth; List of the Ministers, and Rectors of the Grammar School and Academy; List of the Subscribers for Building the Bridge, and the Public Seminaries; and the Rev. Alexander Duff’s (Late of Tibbermuir) Traditional Account, in the Town of Perth of the Death of John, Earl of Gowrie, and His Brother, Mr Alexander Ruthven, in 1600. Compiled from the Best Sources of Information; Chiefly from Mr. Cant’s notes to the Muse’s Threnodie of Adamson
(Fully keyword searchable)
The Role of King James VI Hospital in Perth as a 19th century feudal superior
Under a charter granted in 1569, the Scottish king James VI endowed the creation of a hospital within the royal burgh of Perth for the care of the poor. With lands granted to the institution that had previously belonged to the royal burgh’s pre-Reformation holy orders, the Hospital, on behalf of the ‘poor and indigent members of Jesus Christ’, took on the role of a feudal superior over lands which were then further subinfeudated to raise income, a situation which continued until the Abolition of Feudal Tenure etc. (Scotland) Act in 2000.
With the earlier history of the Hospital having previously been researched by R. Milne up to the end of the Eighteenth Century (1891), this study concerns itself with the role of the body in the following century, one of the most dynamic within Perth’s long history, which saw the ancient burgh radically transformed from a medieval town to a bustling modern city. Drawing from the primary documentation found within the Hospital’s maps, chartularies, feu duty and rent books, and through additional supporting material such as the Valuation Rolls from the burgh, it asks two key questions in particular – just how important, and just how successful, was the Hospital’s role as a feudal superior with regard to the raising of income for its own purposes, and in the development of Perth throughout the Nineteenth Century?
Scotland's Greatest Story 