happened when he was a mere child (S. W. 410-12). A bond by him to his brother Part III. Alexander is named 18 May 1681 (S.W. 452), and there was also a bond by Easter Powrie Chap. V. to him for 5,000 merks, 13 June 1688 (S.W. 484), on which interest was paid 13 Oct. 1690, 1 June 1691 (ib. 490, 492), and 29 Dec. 1696 (ib. 509) and up till 15 May 1699, when, he being dead, the principal was paid up to his son and heir, Alexander (ib. 525). He was a witness to a sasine in favour of his sister Cecilia, Feb. 1676 (G.R.S. 44); factor for his brother George, 21 Aug. 1678 (D.Dec. 3), and a curator to several members of the family, viz., to James Kyd, eldest son of his sister Jean, 20 Aug. 1676, 20 March 1680, up to 26 April 1687 (D.D. 23; D Dec. 6; R.D. 216), as well as to Jean's younger children, Patrick and Margaret, 18 Nov. 1685, 10 Feb. 1692 (D.D. 40; D.Dec. 16); to Alexander, son of his brother Peter, 19 Oct. 1693 (D.Dec. 23); to Peter Wedderburn, son to Easter Powrie. 23 June 16×3 (D.Dec. 13); to Alexander Wedderburn, fifth of Kingennie, 1692-95 (SW. 496, 500-1, 503-4; D.D. 42, 45; D.Dec. 28; R.D. 236); to his sister Rachel, 9 Oct. 1693 (D.Dec. 32); and he was also witness to the baptisms at Dundee of most of the children, 1674-81, of his brother John,1 and to those of the three daughters of his brother Alexander. 1686-90 (D.B. 40, 42, 44.2 He died in the first fortnight of January 1696 and was buried at Dundee (D.M.D. 25). His heir was his eldest son Alexander, who was so retoured to him 10 Feb. D.C.B. 141; D.Dec. 29; R.H. 28), and who, though a few months under age, was forthwith appointed to succeed him as clerk, 14 Jan. 1696 (D.C.B. 140). His will, given up by his son Alexander, was confirmed at Brechin 5 April 1704, the confirmation reciting his death in Jan. 1696 (Br.T. 19). After his death he is named in connection with the affairs of his children who are often identified by reference to him (see post, s. the accounts of them).3 James Wedderburn married at Dundee 27 April 1673 (Bl. 9), after proclamation 10 Jan. (D.M. 11), Elizabeth Davidson, daughter of the late Robert Davidson of Balgay (by his wife, Grissill Brown). The marriage contract (Bl. 18) is dated at Dundee S Jan. 1673, and is signed by the spouses, the bridegroom's father and eldest brother, and by the brother and mother of the bride (see facsimiles opp. p. 97 of vol. ii.). The tocher was 7,500 merks and a North Seagait land, while James was to settle 16,000 and the great tenement of land in South Nethergait (ib.). A discharge by James and his wife to her brother for part of her tocher is dated 8 Dec. 1673 and refers to a bond of provision in her favour, dated in 1664 (R.D. 201). She and her husband are named, 17 July 1679, as granting a discharge to Alexander Duncan of Lundie and her brother Robert, as executors of Margaret Davidson, who had left them a legacy (D.D. 28), and again, 4 Aug. 1680, she discharges her brother in respect of 4.000 merks, of which 3,000 was at the disposal of their mother (R.D. 241b). Another discharge to Balgay by her and her husband for 1,000 merks is dated 19 May 1692 (ib. 241 a). She survived her husband and is named as his relict 30 Oct. 1699, when she is godmother to her son Alexander's daughter, Elizabeth (D.B. 46), and is also mentioned in a decree of 15 April 1700 (D.Dec. 44), and in an action by her, 14 July 1701 (D.B,R. 499). In 1702, Feb. 2, she was a witness at Dundee to the baptism (D.B. 48) of Elizabeth, daughter of Sir Alexander, second baronet of Blackness (ante, p. 242). This is the last reference to her as living and she died between then and 17 Aug. 1703, when she is named as deceased in a discharge by her younger children to John Wedderburn of Blackness (18 Nov. 1696) of a bond granted by him to her and them (D.D. 58). Her name does not appear in the Mortcloth Dues of Dundee, though she was presumably buried beside her husband in the Howff. 1 He witnessed those of David, Peter, Matilda (1677), James. and George (B1. 10; D.B. 23, 25, 27, 31, 35); 3 A sasine, 16 Aug. 1697, of lands in South Murraygait bounded west and south by the lands of the heirs of 5 This was soon sold by her brother, with her and her husband's consent, to James Cook, 5 Sept. 1674 6 She is also named in the marriage contract of her daughter Grizell, 7 June 1700, but died before a sasine following on it, dated 26 Oct. and registered 29 Nov. 1704 (F.S. 77). Part III. By her James Wedderburn had issue four sons and seven daughters, of whom the sons were, 1. Alexander Wedderburn, who succeeded his father as clerk of Dundee; and in 1723, on the death of his cousin, Sir John, whose estates he had purchased in 1718, became fourth baronet of Blackness. See post, chap. vi. 2. Robert Wedderburn [1677-1720],' was born in 1677, being baptized in Dundee 18 April 1677 (D.B. 28). He is named in a settlement, 28 April 1680, made by his mother's brother, John Davidson, just before going abroad, by which, in event of his death, he left Robert Wedderburn a sum of five hundred merks, and in certain events a further sum of a thousand (R. D. 237) On his father's death be was still somewhat under age, and thus, together with his brother John, required curators, 19 Oct. 1696 (D.B.R. 492; D.Dec. 31). Both he and John went from home in the following year, but before doing so granted, 3, 28 June, a factory to their brother, the clerk (D.D. 49). After this Robert is not named till 16 Aug. 1703, when his cousin Alexander, the shipmaster, protests a bill against him (ib. 57). He is then, as often later, e.g., when on an inquest at Dundee, 2 July 1705 (D.Dec. 65), called mariner, that being the profession he had adopted. He went abroad again soon after, 14 Feb. 1706, when he granted a factory to his brother, the clerk, and to his brother-in-law, John Paterson of Craigie (D.D. 67), but was home again 25-16 June 1707, when Sir Alexander of Blackness granted him a bond (S. W. 556; R.A,D. 154 d) for 1,000 merks (£666. 13. 4.), which is mentioned as unpaid in the Mounie Papers, 1712-18 (M.P. 67, 78, 88 a). On 6 Feb. 1708 he "mariner, uncle," was witness to the baptism of his brother Alexander's son, Robert (D.B. 59), soon after which, 13 Oct., he granted another factory to the clerk (D.D. 73), and went on a voyage to Dantzig in a vessel called the "Thistle," which he seems to have bought from his above-mentioned cousin Alexander, the shipmaster (ante, p.227), and which he entered on his return in the Dundee Register of Ships (15 July 1708). He is named as one of the next-of-kin to young Sir John, the third baronet of Blackness, in 1710, and as such signs the inventory of the estate (M.P. 12), but was not a curator, no doubt because his calling took him too much from home. In the judicial inventory of Sir Alexander's estate there is a balance due to "Mr. Wedderburne who is supposed to be Robert Wedderburne, mariner" (ib.), and soon after, 18 March 1710, he got a decree v. the estate for the amount due to him (D.Dec. 65). He was in Dundee at the sale of the Blackness library in the same month, where he bought one book, a Choice Collection of Scots' Poems by several Hands (M.P. 13), but went abroad again soon after, 7 July 1711, when he once more granted a factory to his brother, the clerk (D.D. 81). The last clear mentions of him as living are dated, 4 Aug. 1714, when he is on an inquest at Dundee (D.Dec. 71), and, 17 Jan. 1715, when he is named as father's kin in an edict of curatory by young Sir John (ib. 74), but he would seem to have also been living-for he would otherwise have been described as deceased-in 1718, when his name occurs as one of Sir John's father's creditors (M.P. 86 a), and if an entry in the Dundee Mortcloth Dues, 1720-21 (see below), refers, as appears likely, to a child of his, he was also living at that date (D.M.D. 47.) After this, however, there is no mention of him or any descendants of his in any of the records which I have examined, so that his line would seem to have failed. He married,2 14 June (after contract 27 May) 1704 (D.M. 20), Margaret Arnot, daughter of John Arnot, notary, burgess of Perth (R. D. 279), who is named with him, 2 Sept. 1705, in an action against them and the clerk (D.B.R. 501). By her (the date of whose death is not ascertained) he had issue, a son :— Synopsis of References:-S. W. 556; M.P. 12-13, 67, 78, 86 a; D.B.R. 492, 501; D.D. 49, 57, 67, 73, 81; D.Dec. 31, 55, 65, 71, 74; D.R.S. 38 ab, 39-40; D.M.D. 47; R.D. 237, 279; R.A.D. 154d; D.M. 20; D.B. 28, 55, 59. 2 At either Dundee or Perth, for the event is registered in both the Dundee and the Perth Register, in the latter of which the entry is, "1704 May 27. In presence of John Mitchell, elder, Robert Wedderburne in the parish of Dundee and Margarett Arnott in this parish gave up their names to be proclaimed in order to marriage. Given to the poor £3 14. 0. Married 14th June by Mr. Robert Auderson, minister of Perth.' 3 This is a bond by Robert to Elizabeth Robertson, daughter of the late William Robertson, burgess of Perth, in corroboration of a bond (1702) to her by Robert's father-in-law, John Arnot, notary, burgess of Perth (R. D. 279). James Wedderburn, baptized in Dundee 21 April 1705 (D.B. 55), who must, Part III. I think, be the "Mr. Wedderburn's child " buried in Dundee, 1720-21 Chap. V. (D.M.1). 47). 3. John Wedderburn [1678-1751], afterwards of Idvies, was baptized at Dundee 24 Aug. 1678 (D.B. 29). No witnesses or godparents are named in the register, but one of the latter was his maternal uncle, John Davidson, who, before going abroad in 1680, settled (28 April) a thousand merks on "John Wedderburn, my goodson and son of James Wedderburn, clerk of Dundee, and Elizabeth Davidson, his spouse, my sister" (R.). 237). He was himself a witness, when less than three years old, to the baptism of his cousin John, son of his uncle Peter, being expressly named in the register, 7 Feb. 1681, as "John Wedderburn, son of James Wedderburn, the clerk" (D.B. 34), after which we hear nothing of him till 1696, the year of his father's death. He was then under age, and with his brother Robert got curators 19 Oct. 1696 (D).B.R. 492; D.Dec. 31). He was at Dundee at the close of this year, being named, 24 Nov., as procurator for John Scrymgeour of Kirktoun (D.P.B. 548), but went abroad in about June of the year following, when he and his brother Robert granted (3, 28 June) a factory to their brother, Alexander, before leaving home (D.D. 49). I make no doubt that he went to the University of Leyden, where "John Wedderburn, Scotus," graduated 4 May 1700, as though he was at home 15 Aug. 1699, when he is named as a witness (F.S. 75), he granted a factory to his brother, 26 March 1700, and went abroad again (D.D. 53). After this he returned home to settle in Dundee, where he was for many years a physician of considerable eminence, residing, as has been said (ante, p. 246), in the house in the Nethergait which his father had built. He is thenceforward always designed "Doctor of Medicine" or "physician in Dundee,' e.g., when a witness, 3 March 1702, to the baptism of his brother Alexander's eldest son John (D.B. 49) ;4 and 17 Aug. 1703, when he joined with his brother Robert and his sisters in granting a discharge of a bond (1696) made to their mother and them by their father's eldest brother (D.D. 58).5 He was one of the tutors to young Sir John Wedderburn, third baronet of Blackness, and is often so named, 1710-15, in the Mounie Papers (M.P. 12, 75), in which he is also mentioned as the purchaser of some eighteen different books at the sale of the Blackness library in March 1710 (S. W. 13), and occasionally as attending to the health of Sir John's brother and sisters (M.P. 58). He was one of the curators to Sir John, chosen by him 17 Jan. 1715 (M.P. 76; D.Dec. 74). and as such consented to a bond granted by him to the clerk, 12, 14 April 1715 (R.A.D. 154 h); is named, 28 Nov. 1716 (S.W. 551); and approved of his sale of his estate (ante, p. 240) in 1718 (S.W. 556; M.P. 83, 84, 86 a; F.S. 93). He was left a tutor to the children of Alexander Wedderburn of that ilk in 1713 (S.W. 541-42); was on the inquest at Forfar for the retour of his eldest son, Peter, as heir to him, 25 Feb. 1714 (ib. 543), and is named as tutor to Grizel Wedderburn, 1 Jan. 1718 (R.A.D. 150); as consenting to the purchase of Baldovan by David Wedderburn in 1727 (D.Dec. 101); and as discharged of his trust by 'I think it is most likely to him, but it may refer to Margaret, fifth daughter of his brother Alexander, 2 Synopsis of References :-S. W. 541-43, 551, 556, 565, 567-68, 573, 575-77, 579; Bl. 31-33, 52, 93; M.P. 5 See for slight references to him, 7 July 1705, on two inquests (D.Dec 55); 30 Jan. 1707, 20 July 1713, |