Harry ALEXANDER Letter 3 to Alexander LEITH

The letter profiled on this page was written by Harry ALEXANDER in Antigua, to his cousin Alexander LEITH, of Freefield & Glenkindie, in Scotland in 1759. The letter totals two pages, and provides a fair amount of family information. Click the thumbnail images below to enlarge the letter pages for reading or printing.

TRANSCRIPTION OF THE LETTER The transcription below is not 100% complete. There are some words that were not deciphered, and some which could only be guessed. Some areas of special interest are highlighted. Alexander Leith Esqr. Antigua July 20th 1759. Dr Sir I have wrote you a long Letter of this Days Date __ [for?] the Ship Antigua planter but have only time to Copy the following part of it, which I Do for fear of an Accident to that Vesel that I may have two Chances of Your hearing from Me, Viz. My good Friend, Isaac THIBOU Esqr. of this Island, Sensible of the friendly interesting part You was pleased to Offer in regard to the Compleating his Sons Education, Walter & James at Aberdeen, which for their sake & for the Credit of the place _______ wish thoroughly Complete, has done himself the pleasure to write You by this Opportunity & prays the favour of You to be so good to take them under your kind Inspection & to place them with my Cousin professor REID or with any other person that you may think fitt for the purpose Intended the Improvement of their Studies; Mr. THIBOU has wrote fully to you himself upon this subject, it Remains only for me to tell You that your care & friendship to those Young Gentlemen, being the Sons of my particular Friend will be Esteemed by me the same as if done to my own Children & that you will likewise Confer the highest Obligation upon their worthy parents, who you may Depend will thankfully Answer all Your Engagements in their Sons Account for the better & more Effectual prosecution of their Studies; I have wrote by this Opportunity to my Cousin Mr. REID & You must make a point with him to take the THIBOU's under his Particular Tuition for I shall very much Interest myself in their proving the advantage of their Removal to him, for anything more particular I refer You to Mr. THIBOU's letter. I am so Extremely sensible of Your Humanity Friendship & Attachment to me that I assure my friends here you'l take a pleasure in the Opportunity of serving Me by Your regard to the Mr. THIBOU's & that you'l see that the Utmost pains is taken of the Compleating their Education & as there is none more Capable than Mr. REID as Do I assure myself of his particular attachment to these young Gentlemen on your Acct & Mine, for as they have the prospect of Affluent Fortunes in this Country I am anxious to have their Understanding Suitable, that parents here May have a proper Opinion of the Education at our Universitys, which may prove very useful & Beneficial to our Country. I have now only room left to entreat of You to Remember Me with the Warmest Affection to my Sisters, Janet & Betty, when, You have any Convenient Opportunity; If I live I propose Doing some little thing for them. I am not able to write to them nor any of my Friends by this Conveyance as I am excessively Distressed with hurry of Business of my own & many other Peoples & have been so ever Since my Return, Yet I pray You will not let them think I have a heart Susceptible of ungratefull Remembrance, I assure You that my very soul abhors it; Within your sphere lies the Lovely Family of Towy & that kind affectionate House of ACHENDORE, & Baily DINGWALL whose Curtisy to me I cannot forget & the good Sense & Affability of his Lady, I admire & if I had a second Heart the Angel would have rob'd me of it. May God Bliss You & all yours every Day increase & long preserve to you that Essential Happiness you so imminently possess in one of the best of Wives, to whom, with truth, I offer my best Love & with the utmost Sincerity I ever shall remain, my Dear Sir, your most Affectionate Cusin & Obliged humble Servant, while. Harry Alexander P. S. Mr. William LUMSDEN is very well; I have settled him on the Estate of John Otto BAYER Esqr, with my Cousin Mr. McSWEEN at sixty pounds for the first year; My Compliments to his Mother & tell her if he Behaves well I'll Dobetter for him. Mr. McSWEEN prays his Compliments to You & your Lady; mine to Mr. LUMSDEN the Lawyer I have not forget the Business he put into my Hands I have __ note of hand Recoverable next Year, Better I ___ not make of it; for if I had not managed the matter this Gently he ____ have pleased ___ Age, by which the Debt would have been Altogether lost; Now it is Established if he lives. I wish your young ward, Wa___, would take a fancy to the Angel, I think he promises being a good Youth & he is sure of a Clear Estate of full Twelve hundred pounds Sterling per Annum; I write this under the Rose (?) my paper obliges me to bid you adieu. A copy of a part of my Letter ___ Antigua Planter, Thomas GLADMAN (?) ______. Antigua July 25th 1759 Dr Sir I observe there is a Gentleman has Claimed & Proved himself the heir to the Title & honours of Sterling; When I was at home, both at Aberdeen & Edinburgh, I was by several people told that Achmull, whom I now Represent, was the nearest male Heir of that Family & that Achmull in his Life time had always valued himself as such & Declared that only the Narrowness of his Fortune prevented his taking the title. I shall think myself vastly obliged to you to take pains to find out (our?) people to inform you was only of this, for if I have any such Right, as it might one Day serve a Rising Family, I would spend a (?) thousand guineas in the support of it, or more money, & I would immediately lodge the Money in your Hands for that purpose. Let me beg of You to sound this matter thoroughly for me, without much being said about it, It is obvious to me from the testimony I have in my Hands that We were a Family of some Repute as far back as the Creation of that Earldome. I'm sure You'l find persons who can give You some light into this matter, Avoiding those who may be Biased to the other side. I am my Dear Sir, Yr. Ever Affect. Cousin & Obedt. Sert. Harry Alexander To: Alexander Leith Esqr. of Freefield

NOTES: Isaac THIBOU was a planter in Antigua. Walter & James were his sons. Professor REID might be the renowned Thomas REID, a well-known Scottish educator of the time period. House of Achendore information is unknown. [Could be Auchindoir?] Baily [Baillie] DINGWALL is likely a title and surname. It could be John DINGWALL, who was a magistrate/baillie in Aberdeen in the 1750's and later. William LUMSDEN could be related to James LUMSDEN, Harry's brother-in-law, who was referred to in Letter 1. John Otto BAYER was a planter in Antigua. The identity of Mr. McSWEEN is unknown. Harry mentions the name Achmull, and says "whom I represent", yet speaks of another person who claimed ties to the Earl of Stirling. Is Achmull a location or a family/clan? This will take further research to figure out.