OLIPHANT papers index

Several years ago I looked through a bundle of old family papers from the 1700 & 1800’s relating to ancestors of mine; the OLIPHANTs of Kirkcaldy, in Fife, Scotland. There are two old brown paper envelopes, labeled “Oliphant papers”, each containing a number of documents, which I set to work on, cataloging, scanning, and beginning to transcribe them.

I will post the scanned images in future posts here, with some attempt to transcribe them; each document in its own post. Before that I’m posting (below) my basic index list of those documents. I will hyperlink from this index to the posts containing the scanned images once I post them.

In the following posts about these OLIPHANT papers, transcribed text (when available) will appear in a Maroon colour below each scanned image. I will use [square brackets] where I’m not totally sure of the original handwriting, but can make a good stab at interpreting it, or where I want to add a little extra, e.g. to expand on a handwritten abbreviation (so that everyone understands it).

[…] – means that I’m very unsure of the original word! So have a look at the original image, and let me know if you think that you can decipher it. Thanks.

# – (hash-tag) in my transcription indicates a change of line in the original text.

I aim to “tag” these posts with as many names as I can, of the people, places, etc, that appear in the original document. That should help to make these documents findable in search-engines by anyone who might be interested in their contents.

You will also see below this index, some notes I made about embossed marks that appear on many of the sheets of paper (but which do not show up in the scans!). I would be interested in whether anyone can tell me more about these markings.

The titles in the index are usually based on the first few words in the document.

Envelope 1;

1. Document by John Peal, Edinburgh, 6th April 1799 [note 1]
2. Disposition of George Barker; to his grandchildren, dated 8th May 1784
3. the late Mr Henry Oliphant; Property [note 2]
4. Proprietors of […] East Half, of [Big] House on the Head of the Harbour; settled 15th November 1823 [note 3]
5. Dear Brother [short letter; no date; might be a missing second part!]
6. Note of A. Anderson … at the Glasgow Bank; 1827 [note 4]
7. Trust Disposition and Settlement by Robert Oliphant
8. Mr Hy. Oliphant estate [note 5]
9. Mr Baxter, Gary Street, Newington; 1825
10. Betty or Elizabeth Baxter [note 6]

Some notes about the paper in Envelope 1;

1. 2 sheets of paper both embossed ” 1816 “, and with a shield design (as for “W Cadell & Co” – see notes 3 & 6 ).
2. Paper embossed ” 1808 “.
3. Paper embossed; ” W CADELL & Co ,  1821 “, and with a shield design.
4. Paper embossed ” 1824 “.
5. Paper embossed; ” C WILMOTT & Co ,  1818 “.
6. Paper embossed; ” W CADELL & Co ,  1821 “, and with a shield design.

Envelope 2;

1. Bundle of 35 receipts; dated 1843
2. Settlement by George Barker; in favour of his grandchildren; 8th May 1784 (copy) [note 1]
3. Memo; re Henry Oliphant, by his settlement, 3rd Dec 1821 [note 2]
4. Letter from Mr Dougall, to Betty Baxter, 27th Sept 1821 [note 3]
5. I Robert Oliphant; dated 29th December 1825 [note 4]
6. Andrew Ingram; Letter to Henry Oliphant; 13 January 1808
7. Proprietors of the East half of Big House on Head of the Harbour; 6th May 1823 [note 5]
8. Copy of Discharge, 28th Feb 1821 [note 6]
9. Agreement between the tutors of John Aitken, and Christian Barker; 1768 [note 7]
10. Receipt for church repairs; dated January 1830.

Notes about the paper in Envelope 2;

1. Paper embossed ” 181? ” (possibly 1810?), and with a shield design (as for “W Cadell & Co”).
2. Paper embossed with a shield design.
3. Paper embossed; ” C WILMOTT  ,  1818 “.
4. Paper embossed; ” J WHATMAN , TURKEY MILL , 1820 “.
5. Paper embossed; ” T  ,  1821 “, and with a shield design.
6. Paper embossed; ” 1821 “, and with a shield design.
7. Paper embossed; ” 1816 “, and with a shield design.