This is my eleventh blog post in a series about some old papers of the WALKER family, from Kirkliston, West Lothian, Scotland. See a list of these papers HERE.
Below is the last of a number of documents that I’m posting, from an envelope labeled “Old Wills etc. of the Walker family”, which is part of a box full of family papers that I received from my aunt at a family gathering in January 2014. The contents of this envelope all date from the 1700’s.
I have previously posted all those documents that are by, or speak directly about my Walker ancestors. I am now posting some documents where I am unsure of the nature of the connection to the Walker family. Please see my notes at the bottom.
This letter is rather ambiguous! It is not clear who it’s addressed to. My assumption is that it was addressed to my ancestor, James Walker (b. 1731), a farmer at Hiddlefaulds, Kirkliston. But I’m not at all certain of that!
Please click on the images to see the scans at full resolution. Transcribed text appears in a Maroon colour below each scanned image. At the bottom I’ve made some notes of my own about the people and places in the document.
Letter; 
Transcription of letter;
Edin. 2 Oct.1801
Sir
I have to intimate that at or about #
Mar[ch] first, I will be ready to pay you the Two #
hundred pounds Stg, which the late [..] [Calderwood] #
of [Colton] owed you by bond . ~
If you choose I will give you Mr [..] Durham’s #
own Bond for it, which will be the same thing to you #
only I must have up [..] [Calderwood’s] Bond as #
all his debts must be paid off. I am
Sir
your most […]
James [Kettle]
Notes;
The names in this letter are not very clear! I’m not entirely sure about my transcriptions of them, and I’m not at all sure who they are! I’ve not yet seen any similar names in other family documents!
“[Colton]” – might be “Clifton”, laying south of Hiddlefaulds, on the other side of the River Almond.
If anyone has any better, or alternative ideas of how to transcribe these names, or you have any further insights into this document and who/where it relates to, please leave a comment below, or use the Contact Page to get in touch. Thanks.
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