Appendix H

Services of Heirs for Finlays Matri and McNeills Matri1

The Service of Heirs is a Scottish law that confirms the legitimacy of the children of a deceased parent, thus making them eligible to be that parent’s heir.2

Page 225

Page written in slanted script in Latin, with a two inch column of white on the left, at the top of which is the entry number and the bottom of which is Finlay Matri

Latin Transcription

	Hæc Inquisitio facta fuit in Curia
No. 16	Ballivorum Burgi de Edinburgh sexto
	die mensis Julij anno millesimo oc-
	-tingentesimo vigesimo quarto, coram
	honorabili viro Gulielmo Blackwood
	Armigero uno Ballivorum dicti Burgi
	per nos probos et fideles homines patriæ
	subscriptos viz3 Robertum Brown, Joan
	-nem Renton et Josephum Grant scribas
	Signeto Regio, Joannem Gibson, Jacobum
	Laurie, Henricum Horne Greive, Joan
	nem Hutchinson,4 Jacobum Malcolm,
	Ebenezerum Wallace, Georgium Ritchie,
	Thomam Fortye et Adamum Paton scri-
	-bas in Edinburgh, Gulielmum Brunton
	Mercatorem ibid5 et Majorem Jacobum
	Laing et Gulielmum Bell armigerum
	ambos residen6 ibid7. Qui jurati dicunt
Finlays	magno sacramento interveniente quod
Matri	quondam Rebecca Clunie alias Finlay
	quæ

English Translation

No. 16 – Finlay Mother

This inquiry was made in the court

of the bailiffs of the burgh8 of Edinburgh, on the sixth

day of the month of July eighteen-

twenty-four, before

the honourable man William Blackwood

esquire,9 one of the bailiffs of the said burgh,

by us, the undersigned honest men, faithful to the nation,

namely, the clerks10 Robert Brown, John

Renton, and Joseph Grant;

by the royal seal the clerks John Gibson, Jacob

Laurie, Henry Horne Greive, John

Hutchison, Jacob Malcolm,

Ebenezer Wallace, George Ritchie,

Thomas Fortye, and Adam Patron

in Edinburgh; William Brunton

a merchant in the same place; and Major Jacob

Laing and William Bell esquire,

both residing in the same place,

who, called to witness, declare

under oath11 that

the late Rebecca Clunie, also known as Finlay,

Page 226

Page written in slanted script in Latin, with a two inch column of white on the right, at the top of which is the page number, half-way down of which is the date 9 July 1824, then the entry number, then at and the bottom of which is McNeills Matri

Latin Transcription

quæ filia fuit nuperi Reverendi Joan-	225
nis Clunie nonnunquam Evangelij Mi-
nistri apud Whitekirk Mater Janetæ
Rebeccæ Finlay et Gulielminæ Finlay
filiarum procreat12 ex nuptiis inter demortuum
Georgium Finlay nonnunquam lie13 Com-
mander of the Prince Augustus Frede-
rick Custom House Cutter et dict14 Rebec-
-cam Clunie alias Finlay obiit ad fi-
-dem et pacem S. D. N.15 Regis. Et quod
dictæ Janetta Rebecca Finlay et Guli-
elmina Finlay sunt legitimæ et pro-
pinquiores hæredes portionariæ in gene-
rali dictæ quond16 Rebeccæ Clunie alias
Finlay earum matris. Et quod sunt
legitimæ ætatis. In cujus rei testi-
monium sigilla quorundam eorum
qui dict17 Inquisitioni intererant, cum
brevi Regio debite executo incluso, ac sigil-
-lum dicti Ballivi, præsentibus sunt
appensa loco, die, mense et anno præ-
scriptis. Extract18 de Libris actorum Cu-
riæ dicti Burgi per me (sic subscribitur)
Carlyle Bell Conjt19 Clk(?).20	9no July 1824
Haec Inquisitio facta fuit iisdem
loco et tempore, coram eodem judice, et
per easdem Inquisitionis personas ut	No. 17
in Retornatu immediate præcedente,
qui jurati dicunt magno sacramen-
-to interveniente, quod quondam Magis-
-tra Alicia Clunie alias McNiell quæ	McNiells
filia fuit nuperi Reverendi Joannis	Matri
Clunie nonnunquam Evangelij Ministri
apud Whitekirk (mater Magistræ Elizæ
Isabellæ McNiell alias Welwood, viduæ de
-cessi

English Translation

who was the daughter of the late21 Reverend Jo-

hn Clunie, sometime minister of the Gospel

at Whitekirk, and the mother of Janet

Rebecca Finlay and Wilhelmina Finlay,

daughters whom she begot from the marriage between the late

George Finlay, sometime lieutenant Com-

mander of the Prince Augustus Frede-

rick Custom House Cutter, and the said Rebec-

ca Clunie a.k.a. Finlay, died in the fa-

ith and peace of the Holy Lord Our King. And that

the said Janet Rebecca Finlay and Wil-

helmina Finlay are the legitimate and clo-

sest heirs, beneficiaries in gen-

eral of the said late Rebecca Clunie a.k.a.

Finlay, their mother, and that they are

legitimate forever. In testimony of which matter

the seals of those

who were present for the said inquiry, with

the king’s letter, duly executed, included, and

the seal of the said bailiff, by those present are

attached at the place and on the day, month, and year as writ-

ten above. Extracted from the Books of the acts of the

Court of the said burgh by me (thus signed)

Carlyle Bell Conjt Clk(?).

No. 17 – McNeill Mother

This inquiry was made in the same

place and at the same time, before the same judge, and

by the same people of the inquiry

as above,22

who, called to witness, declare under

oath that the late Mis-

tress23 Alice Clunie also known as McNiell, who

was the daughter of the late Reverend John

Clunie, sometime minister of the Gospel

at Whitekirk (the mother of Mistress Eliza

Isabella McNiell also known as Wellwood, the widow of the

Page 227

Page written in slanted script in Latin, with a two inch column of white on the left, at the top of which is the page number and the bottom of which is the date 9 July 1824

Latin Transcription

	-cessi Roberti Wellwood armigeri de Gar-
	-vock et Aliciæ Margaretæ Carolinæ Mc-
	-Niell filiarum procreat e24 nuptiis inter
	Doctorem Danielem McNiell nonnun-
	-quam Medicum apud Wilmington in
	Carolina Boreæli nunc residen25 in New-
	-York et quond26 Magistram Aliciam Clu-
	-nie alias McNiell ejus sponsam) obiit
	ad fidem et pacem S. D. N.27 Regis. Et quod
	dictæ Magistra Eliza Isabella McNiell et
	Alicia Margareta Carolina McNiell sunt
	legitimæ et propinquiores hæredes porti-
	-onariæ in generali dictæ quond28 Ma-
	gistræ Aliciæ Clunie alias McNiell ea-
	-rum matris; Et quod sunt legitimæ
	ætatis. In cujus rei testimonium
	⁊29 ut in Retornatu præceden30 (sic sub-
9no July 1824	-scribitur) Carlyle Bell Conjt Clk [?].

English Translation

late Robert Wellwood esquire of Gar-

vock; and of Alice Margaret Caroline Mc-

Niell, daughters whom she begot from the marriage between

Doctor Daniel McNiell, some-

time medic in Wilmington in

North Carolina, now living in New

York, and the late Mistress Alice Clu-

nie aka McNiell his wife) died

in the faith and peace of the Holy Lord Our King. And that

the said Mistress Eliza Isabella McNiell and

Alice Margaret Caroline McNiell are

the legitimate and closest heirs, bene-

ficiaries in general of the said late Mis-

tress Alice Clunie aka McNiell the-

ir mother, and that they are legitimate

forever. In testimony of which matter

also as above (thus sig-

ned) Carlyle Bell Conjt Clk[?].

Notes

1 Service of Heirs, C22/121, pp. 226–227, SRO; English translation by Laura Moncion, Centre for Medieval Studies, University of Toronto.

2 “By the law of Scotland, before an heir can regularly acquire a right to the estate of the ancestor, he ought to be served heir: which is one of the old forms of the law of Scotland proceeding upon a writ, and including in it the decision of a jury fixing the right and character of the heir to the estate of the ancestor” (Sir Thomas Edlyne Tomlins, The Law-Dictionary, Explaining the Rise, Progress, and Present State of the British Law, 2 vols. [Edinburgh: John Anderson; London: Saunders & Benning, 1835], vol. 2, s.v. “service of an heir”). See also William Bell, Dictionary and Digest of the Law of Scotland (Edinburgh: John Anderson; London: Saunders & Benning, 1838), pp. 903–907.

3 Abbreviation for: videlicet

4 Written as “Hutchinson” with the “n” then crossed out

5 Abbreviation for: ibid[em]

6 Abbreviation for: residen[tes]

7 Abbreviation for: ibid[em]

8 burgi: this word literally means “castle,” “fort”; it can also mean “city” or “borough.”

9 armiger: this word can also mean “soldier” or “squire” (literally “arms-bearer”)

10 scribas: this word can also mean “scribe.”

11 Literally, “with a great oath taking place.” The word for “oath” used here is sacramentum: this word can also mean “sacrament,” “civil suit or process,” “secret or something to be kept secret.”

12 procreat written in the line above and inserted into the text in this place.

13 I can’t make this out completely from the handwriting, but I’m guessing it is some kind of abbreviation relating to this person’s rank as Commander of what seems to be a ship (?), perhaps an abbreviation for “lieutenant” (if this fits with your knowledge of other comparable documents, e.g. it is also customary for “lieutenant” to be shortened and written beginning with a lower-case letter, as this is, in English-language documents of this kind and period).

14 Abbreviation for: dict[am]

15 Abbreviation for: S[ancti] D[omini] N[ostri]

16 Abbreviation for: quond[am]

17 Abbreviation for: dict[ae]

18 Abbreviation for: Extract[um]

19 conjt: this might be an abbreviation of conicit (i.e. “Carlyle Bell concludes/assigns/classifies”) but since I suspect it is part of this formula (which I am not familiar with) I can’t say with any certainty.

20 I can’t make this out either, but I would guess that it has something to do either with this person’s rank or position, or is part of the formula of this kind of nineteenth-century record. This might be short for “clerk.”

21 nuper: this word can also mean “recent.”

22 literally something like “in returning to the directly preceding,” i.e. the same witnesses as the previous document.

23 magistra: this word can also mean a female “instructor,” “teacher,” “master.”

24 Abbreviation for: e[x]

25 Abbreviation for: residen[tem]

26 Abbreviation for: quond[am]

27 Abbreviation for: S[ancti] D[omini] N[ostri]

28 Abbreviation for: quond[am]

29 What is written in the original text here looks like an abbreviation known as the “Tironian et” (⁊). It is not technically a letter or a set of letters. It expands simply to et (“and”).

30 Abbreviation for: præceden[te]