| Description | This series includes both volumes of accounts and papers. The volumes include a ledger, a day book, an account book, and four cash books. The day book begins with house expenses and proceeds to various cash accounts, Jan to Dec. 1735, including rents; income from surveying etc. The entry for 16 Jun. 1735 has a payment to the widows of the sailors of the ship Thetis. There are then several entries by date of expenses, accounts cleared, and payments received; and the volume then returns to household expenses, cash accounts etc. for 1736. The dated entry at the end of 1736 has the following :' I being Sick & mostly confined to ye house this whole year past makes a great deal of confusions in my Books.'.
The account book is of cargo for the ship 'Thetis' and gives details of the cargo to be sent to Philadelphia, which included mostly linen cloth, thread, buttons and Bibles.There is also an account for rigging and sails, and for ship's stores.
The cash books, which are all name indexed, record payments by pupils for lessons in arithmetic, writing, book-keeping, navigation, astronomy etc. The 1728 - 1731 volume includes house and personal expenses and amounts received for surveying. One John Murdoch appears to be employed as an assistant. The 1732 - 1734 volume includes receipts from sugar house rents, and from ships and surveying, and house expenses.This volume also includes an entry on 27 Feb. 1734 for £7. 14s. ' p[ai]d my father's funerals'. In May 1734 there is a record of payment for John Watt surveying the Gorbals; in August 1734, a payment for surveying the Clyde; in October 1734, payments for surveying Lesmahagow Muir.
The papers include accounts for both property, including that of his two wives, Janet Todd and Christian Tennant and shipping. |