Lot 239
Orkney
Collection of letters, 17th-19th century
Auction: From the Library of Professor Roland Paxton | 01 October 2026 from 10am | Lots 221 to 252
Description
24 letters, various sizes, dating from 1693 to 1835, relating to trade in grain and kelp, and shipping expenses, mainly addressed to the Traill family of Holland, Orkney, with 17 letters addressed to George Traill, including 2 letters from his son, George, one from Copenhagen and one from Leghorn [Livorno];
together with letters of 1765 and 1799 to James Stewart of Brugh and printed slip sent to Stewart, dated 21st December 1789, from James Thomson & Son of Edinburgh, insurance brokers and vendors of lottery tickets, reporting a win of £10 on the Irish state lottery;
a letter from a Hull ship owner to James Watson, Vice Admiral Depute of Orkney and Shetland, concerning retrieval of cargo from the ship ‘Good Intent’ in September 1807, the ship having been driven ashore and wrecked on the Dutch coast with the loss of all but one of her crew (24)
Provenance
From the collection of the late Professor Roland Paxton MBE FICE FRSE (1932-2025), 'Britain's foremost historian of civil engineering' (Telegraph, obituary, 12th November 2025); Professor Paxton was also a leading conservationist of Britain's engineering heritage, and led successful campaigns to restore two of the world's most important railway structures, the Laigh Milton Viaduct in Ayrshire, the world's oldest surviving railway bridge, and the Union Chain Bridge, the world's oldest suspension bridge still carrying road traffic.
Footnote
The Traill family of Holland was a Scottish landed family who owned the Holland estate and farm on the island of Papa Westray in Orkney, Scotland, as well as being involved in national and international trade. After the collapse in the market for kelp in the 1830s, George Traill (1773-1840) concentrated on improving his farm and introduced one of the first horse-powered threshing mills in Orkney. James Stewart of Brugh [Brough] on Westray, Orkney (d. 1802) was a leading merchant laird on Orkney, and by 1880 the Brough estate was in the possession of the Traills.