Writer?

[Hugh Thompson]

Talking of occupations in Scotland,what was a "writer".
I've found it several times whilst looking for my Thomsons in Dumfries,Westerkirk,Langholme.
eg,William Thomson,writer.Can anyone tell me just what it means.
Thanks ,
Hugh.:)

[Marie C..]

Well ,apart from some obscure meaning it might have, I think it is simply"a writer", one who writes for a living either articles, books, historical tomes or whatever. M

[Hugh Thompson]

Hi MarieC,
I know that my GG Grandfather William Park Thomson was a gardener at St Vidgeans Scotland,
and also listed as a journalist for a newspaper in Perth Scotland,
but I thought that Writer might have had some other connotation re Scotland as I keep coming across the title.

[Marie C..]

Maybe he wrote about gardening? Maybe he was both.
Gardening and writing are both creative arts. Perhaps he was published too?
I guess living surrounded by so much natural beauty they either needed to be poets, painters or writers(and gardeners).

[Peter Goodey]

what was a "writer"?

A clerk.

A ship's writer, as mentioned by Finbar, is one example.

I believe clerks in the East India Company were habitually termed writers.

May imply specialised clerking eg legal or insurance.

[Mary Young]

Possibly a Writer to the Signet
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Writer_to_the_Signet

[Lesley Robertson]

Talking of occupations in Scotland,what was a "writer".
I've found it several times whilst looking for my Thomsons in Dumfries,Westerkirk,Langholme.
eg,William Thomson,writer.Can anyone tell me just what it means.
Thanks ,
Hugh.:)


A "Writer" was a notary - a form of lawyer, in modern terms a soliciter or attorny.

The free-to-use area of Scotlands People includes a list of occupations and their translations under "help and other resources"..
Lesley

[Elwyn Soutter]

Hugh,

I used to work in a solicitors office in Scotland in the early 1970s. The firm had the letters "W.S" after its name. I remember one of the partners explaining that there were "writers" who were usually just solicitors, often in rural areas (such as your ancestors cane from), and then "writers to the signet", abbreviated to WS. The writers to the signet were a group of lawyers who (not sure how) had the exclusive right to prepare and submit documents for the Court of Session (which is the court that sits above the Sheriff Court) in Edinburgh.

So this restricted practice led to the rather dubious arrangement (in my opinion) that when someone who lived outside Edinburgh wanted to bring a case before the Court of Session, their solicitor had to appoint "Edinburgh agents" (ie a WS) to lodge the papers in court, because only the WS had that right. So 2 lots of lawyers fees for the one piece of business. Nice work if you can get it?

I think the signet was a royal seal, which only the WS were allowed to use, and which presumably had to be endorsed on the legal documents at some point in the case. (I don't supposed a seal is used nowadays but I think that was the origin).

I don't know whether the terms writer and WS are still used today, but they were certainly still in use around 1970.

Elwyn

[Hugh Thompson]

Thanks Marie,Finbar,Peter,Mary,Lesley and Elwyn, the legal definition of writer looks right in the context of where I've seen it written in the books of Scottish history.
Although the family in this extract from "Memorials of St.Michael's The old Parish Churchyard of Dumfries",appears not to be related to my Thomsons,I've included it as an example.
Thanks again.
Hugh.:)
"In memory of James Thomson, Writer in Dumfries, who died 5 May, 1849, aged 75. Jessie Lewars, his Spouse, who died 26th May, 1855, aged 77, and of their Sons, James Thomson, who died August, 1820, aged 20 ; John Thomson, who died 17th April 1837, aged 34 ; Thomas Thomson^ who died 5th August, 1825, aged 15 ; Alexander Thomson, Writer, who died 18th March, 1859, aged 44 ; William Thomson, who died at Cape of Good Hope, 8th December, 1859, aged 52."

[ash33au]

I have a Scottish ancestor who wrote odes and lyric poems. He was listed as a writer in a few of the records I have searched.

I myself am a freelance journalist but my occupation can also be listed as a writer.

[Fergie]

Could you substitute 'Writer' for 'Scribe'
If it was a time when most folk were illiterate and someone wanted a letter written, then they would go to a scribe. Maybe that is how he made a living

Just a thought.

Cheers

[Hugh Thompson]

Thanks Ash and Fergie,(and congrats Ash,how's married life treating you).
In the case of my GGGrandfather he apparently wrote articles for a paper in Perth Scotland,
my guess is that it could have been about agriculture as they were experimenting with growing cotton at St Vidgeans,or somewhere near there.and in about 1862 he was the first to successfully grow it in Australia (Brisbane)for which he received a medal at the exhibition in London and a very large sum of money.
I'd love to know which newspaper he wrote for.
Hugh.:)