James Syme, Esquire of Northfield --Inventory 1819

The Symes have been quite the family to research. They were by no means extremely famous from what I can see but they certainly had some part to play in the life of Lowland Scotland. One member that seemed to have some monetary pull and interesting business connections was James Syme. Defined as a slater in other documents , I can't imagine, with the title of Esquire following his name, that he was a lowly gronk roofing houses. I'm guessing he was the employer rather than the employee. At least at the end of his life that was probably true. I have NO clue who his father and mother were yet.

There are four will-related documents connected to James Syme--an inventory/trust/settlement/disposition document(1819), an additional inventory (1822), a testament (1820) and an Eik [an addition or supplement to a testament added some time later] (1822)-- in the Scotland's People site.

The original inventory (1819) happened about a month and a half after James' death. It is certainly one of the easier of the four to read as the handwriting is legible. It includes money owed to James from others, including his own family. I find this all very interesting because they weren't small sums of money for the time. It also tells me a lot about potential business and personal connections James had with moneyed or titled people.

People mentioned in the inventory:

Re: accounts of principal sums and interest owing --

Mr. Alexander Kettle, W.S. (writer to the signet)
Right Honorable William, Earl of Mansfield
James Calderwood Durham, Esquire of Largo (deceased at the time)
General James Durham, Esquire of Largo
John Anstruther, Esquire of Ardit, advocate
Right Honorable John, Lord Elphinstone
James Syme the Younger, Esquire of Northfield
Ramsay, Boner & Co. Bankers in Edinburgh
James Kettle, Esquire, W.S., factor to the deceased
Mrs. Baillie of Lamington
Mrs. Ann Miller Horn (deceased) regarding the estate of Craigintinnie
Mr. Archibald Knox, late of Mayshiel
George Carphin, Deputy Clerk of the Commissariot of Edinburgh

People mentioned in the main body of the text--

Robert Dundas, Esquire of Arniston, Lord Chief Baron of the Court of Exchequer in Scotland
Sir John Ross of Balnagowan (deceased)
George Miller, manufacturer in Edinburgh
Robert Horn, Tenant in Fillieside Bank, late husband of Ann Miller Horn
William Francis Hunter, Esquire, advocate
Reverend Doctor Andrew Hunter of Barjarg (deceased)
Christian Syme or Kemyss, his daughter
William Kemyss, her husband, writer in Edinburgh
George Syme, his son
Andrew Syme, his son
Thomas Syme, his son
David Syme, his son
Catherine Syme, his daughter
James Syme, Merchant in Leith, his eldest son
James Anderson, Clerk to the said Alexander Kettle, W.S.
Robert Crumbie, James Syme's servant



Mentioned in his will are others who act as his executors. I've used the internet to research all of them. Some are related to James Syme but for some, I do not know how they are connected.

Trustees of James Syme

Helen Knox or Syme, his spouse
Thomas McMillan, Esquire of Shorthope
Joseph Outram, merchant in Leith
John Dodds, farmer at Saughton Mills
William Dodds, farmer at West Bank
Alexander Kettle, W.S.

It isn't easy to find almost any pictures of the people mentioned in the inventory but one is more likely to find some pictures of the places and homes mentioned. I'll include them if I find them.

Places mentioned in the text:

-Northfield (in Prestonpans, East Lothian)
-Largo (I believe it is just north of the Firth of Forth and below Dundee)
-Ardit
-Cumberland Turnpike
-British Linen Company
-Lamington
-Craigintinnie
-Mayshiel
-Shorthope
-Saughton Mills
-Leith
-West Bank
-Newton
-Wiston
-barony of Wiston
-Restalrig
-Fillieside Bank
-Edinburgh(head of New Street, north side of High Street, Canongate)--James' offices and home
-Barjarg

Scotland's People

One of the best genealogy sources I've ever found is the Scottish government's site called Scotland's People: Connecting Generations

This site is the source of so many wonderful BMD scanned records. For those of you not in the know, BMD records refer to Births, Marriages and Death records. I have found a lot of information about my Scottish branches of my family. And I know it's far from over. I just need little tidbits to push further.

Census records and wills have also been scanned. These, too, have been provided by the site and are amazing sources of information. In fact, I can say, without a doubt that THESE two types of documents allowed me to find a very elusive ancestress when I had difficulty proving she didn't emerge fully formed from the dirt.

I've also enjoyed discovering some of the progeny of sisters and brothers of my ancestors. You never know who has what kind of information after all. I've found, through some records, very tempting information in regards of willed items that seemed to have passed through the hands of at least a few generations. Maybe they exist somewhere still.

I sure wish all governments were as thorough with their vital statistics as Scotland has been. They are a great role-model.

Google Book Search

I'm very fond of Google Book Search. I don't normally go through all the options of Google except maybe "image" focussed search. By chance, I found the digitized book search engine and it has led me in directions that I didn't have before. I hope it keeps getting broader. While searching I have found these various tidbits:

1) In The Book of the Old Edinburgh Club
Vol 18, 1932
"Lord Wemyss was infeft [?] in a large West Park at Lauriston, extending to six acres 5 1/2 falls, with house, etc. thereon. He acquired the property from James Syme of Northfield, who acquired it from John Robertson of Chesterhall. In Edgar's map of 1765, no buildings are shown on the site..."

small section allowed for partial viewing in Google Book Search.

It would seem from the scanned section of index that this was the only part that mentioned James Syme but I would love to know what the rest of the section says. The only places I could see the originals are in Ontario or Quebec. This isn't an option for me at the moment.

2) In A Complete Collection of State Trials and Proceedings For High Treason and Other Crimes and Misdemeanors
Vol XXIII

James Syme of Northfield is written in a list of assize for the proceedings against William Skirving, a trial concerning sedition. Interestingly enough, Syme was related by marriage to a Skirving family (his wife's father's mother). However, it is not even possible to know if this is HIS family or just sheer chance. I hoped for the former but it's probably the latter. Skirving isn't exactly a rare name in the area.

3) In The Statistical Account of Scotland
1799

"The estate of Northfield, anciently part of the barony of Preston, was purchased by Mr. A. Nisbet, surgeon in Edinburgh, about 1722; and was lately sold to James Sime, slater in Edinburgh, the present worthy proprietor"


4) The Edinburgh Magazine and Literary Miscellany
vol 83 (1819)

There was no preview. The only tempting tidbit was available on the google results which said:
"At his house in New Street, Edinburgh, James Syme of Northfield, Eso. aged 70" That would indicate that James Syme was born in the 1740s, 1748-9 if the age is to be believed in this short obituary.

5) A number of scanned books and book sections mention a case against George Knox regarding his alleged misuse of tenant privileges. It is alleged that he offered quarrying rights to another person with the leave of Lord Haddington. In these sections you read that the tenancy of Holyrood Park was given to George Knox for 250 pounds a year for 21 years starting from 1748. His father, Archibald Knox of Mayshiell, was mentioned as the cautioner of the rent.

http://www.google.ca/books?id=OQYdAAAAMAAJ&q=Mayshiell&dq=Mayshiell&pgis=1

http://www.google.ca/books?id=iac2AAAAIAAJ&pg=PA600&dq=Mayshiell

http://www.google.ca/books?id=gagDAAAAQAAJ&pg=PA60&dq=%22George+Knox%22+tacksman

http://www.google.ca/books?id=OQYdAAAAMAAJ&q=%22George+Knox%22+tacksman&dq=%22George+Knox%22+tacksman&pgis=1

These are all links to info tidbits. There is probably more but they start repeating the same info.

A Huntin' We Will Go...

Like in any family tree, many of my ancestors fade into the background scenery. All the sailors and farmers that are the backbone of any country's food and trade make up a good chunk of my ancestors. I have a healthy respect for their trades but, alas, they are less than noticeable when researching the past. It is fun to occasionally happen upon family that stand out from the average . Perhaps they were more noticeable because of their status or maybe because their pioneering allowed them to stand out in the earlier records of a given town or city. I do have at least a couple of those families, making my search a little more fruitful.

Hunting for my ancestors has been a joy and a struggle. I've never stopped enjoying it even when I get so frustrated with a seemingly dead end. Even finding scandals of the day that may have been discussed by my ancestors is a thrill to me. It makes me feel closer to them. My only problem has been my organization of the whole shebang.

I often find the pieces of paper and notes can get lost or put in the wrong file. Internet sources can get lost in a sea of book marks. It makes it hard to track down something as easily as I'd like. This blog is my way of keeping tabs on the sources of the new discoveries or re-discoveries of old material I thought I'd lost. I hope to keep queries and theories here, too.

In the end I hope to get a broader sense of my family by having it all here, both fact and guesses. I don't want thoughts to get lost anymore.