Iron Box of Jewels #4

Our last post has inspired our group and other researchers to try different sources and find more information about James Keith and the jewels. 

We now have two leads for the origin of the jewels:
a) with James Keith from Benholm and Dunnottar Castles or 
b) a shipwreck in Shetland.
Option a) was our first lead and the family which were intricately connected with the Keiths during this time period were the Strachans. The Clan Strachan Society website has information on the story of the robbery from Benholm Castle 

I wrote to the Clan Historian, who replied with the following information:

I would refer you to an article in our newsletter, page 3. I wrote it from a Strachan perspective, but it has some information you may be interested in, much of it from the book "Bonnet Lairds" by Colin Thornton-Kemsley:

"early 1623, while the Earl Marischal, then aged 70, was away from his castle of Dunnottar, his Countess, her son James and Sir Alexander Strachan - in secret and cover of darkness - carried the whole furnishings and valuables from Benholm Castle and Dunnottar to Thornton, where the Countess went to live with the Laird while the Earl Marischal was still alive"

Thornton Castle, near Laurencekirk

Regarding your blog, it was not just James Keith and his mother, but Alexander Strachan of Thornton (his mom's lover) who all took belongings and valuables from Dunnottar and Benholm back to Thornton, where they all lived while the Earl Marischal was still alive. This tells you about the relationship (or lack thereof) James Keith had with his father. The three of them took up residence at Thornton thereafter. Also

After some legal banter back and forth, a settlement was agreed upon by the parties. The Countess Marischal, now married to Strachan, had to yield up the heirlooms but she was permitted to retain her share of the jewellery and a large proportion of the plenishings. The lands and barony of Benholm were conveyed by James Keith to his stepfather Sir Alexander Strachan who then surrendered them to the new Earl Marischal.

It appears James was born about 1600, and Alexander Strachan of Thornton was born 1587. It is my opinion that Alexander and Margaret were both dead before 1648, when the Thornton Estate was taken possession by a remote relative, James Strachan of Inchtuthill (Alexander Strachan had no children). I would suggest a high probability the case of jewels were his mothers (Margaret Ogilvy, the ex-countess Marischal), and were likely given to him by his step-father Sir Alexander Strachan of Thornton, Bart. when she died. I would also suggest a moderate to high probability that James Keith was residing at Thornton, with his mother and step-father between 1624 to no later than 1647-1648. Alexander Strachan of Thornton, who despite the scandal, maintained a high political profile/office with the Crown and was frequently absent from Thornton. It seems reasonable to think James Keith remained at Thornton to manage the Estate for his mother and step-father."

One question remains to me that if the jewels rightfully belonged to James Keith, then why were they to be conveyed to the Earl of Morton when possible? 

Option b) might explain this. Our last post (Iron Box of Jewels #3) was shared on the Institute for Northern Studies Facebook page and we received this suggestion from Colin Dicke:

"On the 2nd March 1653 the VOC [Dutch East India Company] flute Lastdrager went aground on the Island of Yell in Shetland. The ship had previously been damaged in a storm as it attempted to navigate the English Channel on the way to Batavia (present day Jakarta).

It was rumoured that the ship was so heavily laden with contraband that the Captain would not allow the cargo to be unloaded for proper repairs to be undertaken on the island of Texel. So when it set sail again, it was already in poor condition when it was hit by a second storm, and quickly broke up on the rocks.  One survivor was an 18 year old boy who later gave a detailed account of the events that followed. After finding refuge in a blacksmiths workshop, the boy (Johannes) and the other 22 survivors managed to rescue a few chests of silver and brandy. Johannes troubles were only beginning, however, as the men drank the brandy and squabbled over the silver, with some attempting to kill the others to make away with their share. Johannes however managed to convince a smaller group to attempt to get back to Holland, and together they managed to recruit the assistance of the local laird, Ninian Neven. With the aid of Neven, the remaining crew managed to fend off other attacks from the breakaway group. And, using some of the retrieved silver they purchased a ship suitable to take them back to Holland. The remaining treasure was buried nearby.

The Lastdrager may have looked like this

On the 29th March (Johannes gives the date as 8th April), James Keith of Benholm arrived in Yell with a band of 60 soldiers in search for the shipwrecked treasure. According to Johannes, Keith was unsuccessful in stealing any of the silver, but in the skirmish that ensued Nevens daughter was attacked, then shot. She died soon afterwards. Eventually Johannes and the others made his way back to Holland and in the following year to his destination of Batavia. On the 11th January 1684 he was appointed Governor-General of the Dutch East Indies. In the 1970s the site of the shipwreck was dived by the underwater archaeologist Robert Stenuit, who recovered many items including early examples of golf clubs and clay pipes. No more silver or valuables have been publicly recovered.

This may be irrelevant to your quest, but it could well be possible that Keith was able to recover some of the contraband treasure. Some of which may be referred to in the documents you cite."

So, if Keith was able to recover some of the treasure and as he still factor for the Earldom Estate at the time would he have acted on behalf of the Earl of Morton? Would that be why the jewels should be passed on to the Earl when he came out of exile? The Palaeography Group are currently transcribing a document from 1653 which mentions James Keith, Shetland and silver. Hopefully it will shed some more light on this particular story. 

One of our regular followers helped us to discover a word in the original document which we were puzzling over. The word looked like pikworth at first and we thought it might be a measure of gold, as the phrase looked like "a pikeworth case of gold".

Extract from Morton Earldom Papers GD150/2531/4

Our follower GenKnit (and her daughter) soon discovered that we were wrong and that the word was in fact "piketooth" which today would be "toothpick" and therefore the phrase would be a "a piketooth case of gold". Here is what one might have looked like, taken from this website.

Thank you to all who have helped so far. We will continue to research this mystery and report any findings we make. If you have any ideas for information, please comment below or contact Orkney Library & Archive through our Facebook or Twitter pages. http://www.orkneylibrary.org.uk/

Iron Box of Jewels #1

Happy New Year to all our followers. We begin the year with a new mystery...

The Palaeography Group have recently transcribed a document which brings to light a mysterious iron box of jewels itemised in an inventory in 1654. This is the time of Oliver Cromwell's occupation of Scotland, and indeed his Governor in Orkney is one of the witnesses to the inventory.

But where have these jewels come from? Why are they in Orkney? Why are they to be handed over to the Earl of Morton? The information and people listed in this document bring up many questions which the Palaeography Group are investigating. If you can add any information to help, we would like to hear from you.

D38/2531/1 Document from the Earl of Morton papers, dated 1654

"Inventar of the Jewels wes found in ane iron box which wes left besyds William Cragie of Garsay by James Keith sometime Laird of Benholme. Which box wes broken up publically at the sight of Charles Earle of Dunfermling, Major Henry Ronnall Governor of Orkney, William Stewart elder of Maynes, Captane Edmund Leister, Patrick Blair Shirreff of Orkney, Captane John Hobblethorne, James Stewart younger of Maynes, Williame Cragie of Garsay and Capt Robert Irving writer (writer) hereof at Kirkwall the 25th day of August 1654 yeers.

Item ane Rose (or cross heart) of small diamonds whein ther wes 14 peece with a cross of small leser diamonds therin

Item fifteen roses of pearles contenning four pearles in every rose

Item ane carhat of small sparkes of diamonds contenning threttie three small diamonds therin upon a blak threed

Item ane string of seed pearls contenning three yards long or thereabouts


An example of some pearls

Item ane ring sett with diamonds lacking three peece diam[ond]s

Item eightene peece of peared (paired) amatists (amethyists) or granatts (garnets)

Item a [------?] cast of gold with two [------?] therin of gold

Item on two strings ane hundredth and nyne blood beads with fourtie and one small beads of amber with fourty and one of small corall beads

Item ane small dowe (dove) of mother of pearle with gold wings lacking the head

These above writtin particullars wes deposited in William Stewart elder of Maynes his hands by mutuall consent of Charles Earl of Dunfermling and Major Ronnall Governor of Orkney to be secured by him the best way he can upon the [-----?] of the owners, until such tyme as they be made appear to belong to my Lord Mortone. After which tyme the Laird of Maynes is to delyver them to any haveing pouer (power) from the Earle of Mortone and his curators. This is witnessed to be a true inventory and conclusion as their subscription under writtin witneseth day and place above writtin"

In the line above "Item a [------?] cast of gold with two [------?] therin of gold", we struggled with the word blanked out here. It could be pikwoth, or bikworth, or something else entirely. Can you help us with this word? Could it be a measurement of gold not now used?

There are some interesting names mentioned here.  Who was James Keith and why was he in Orkney? Benholm is a parish in Kincardineshire on the mainland of Scotland. In the book Who was Who in Orkney, James Keith is listed as Provost of Kirkwall from 1650, but we don't know if it is the same James Keith who is involved in the document. In the book Dictionary of Eminent Scotsmen a James Keith of Benholm is described as being involved in a jewel robbery from Benholm Castle in 1622. Is this the same man 32 years later? Are these the same jewels?

If anyone knows about any of the people mentioned or have heard this story before, please do get in touch. It is an intriguing mystery. We will post updates of our research on future blogs, just click on the label "Iron Box of Jewels" below to see all blogs relating to this story.


Sources used: Who was Who in Orkney by W.S. Hewison pub.1998; Dictionary of Eminent Scotsmen Volume 3, edited by Robert Chambers, pub. 1850; D38/2531/1 Document from the Earl of Morton papers

Mystery Object Revelation...

last night we asked you: What are these?

These little objects fell out of a letter whilst our tireless Balfour Blogger was working through a box of Balfour correspondence. We were all fairly puzzled until we discovered that they are... paint samples. Well done to JanCherryJovi on twitter who guessed this within 22 minutes.


These pieces of cardboard daubed with 'straw', 'stone' and 'dark pink' shades were sent through the post 230 years ago by David Balfour to his brother Thomas. The colours and mixing instructions can be found below:

Click to enlarge.

The letter was sent on the 30th July 1787 from Edinburgh to Orkney and closes with 'enclosed are patterns of the paints - with a note of the price':

This image is clearer if you click on it to enlarge

This entirely delightful archive is completed by a fabulous wax seal:

We heart seals.



Mystery Object Time #2

What are these?

The right answer will win you both our eternal esteem and any Celebrations we have left in the tin. (No promises made).

We shall reveal the answer tomorrow afternoon...

The Mystery of Mary Checkley

Time to don the deerstalker, press your lips to your pipe (a bubble one, of course) and fish out your magnifying glass, as we have a new mystery for you from The Balfour Blogger.

This is a short piece about a letter from the Balfour Papers. It’s short because we have a fascinating letter about which we know very little and we’re hoping that by throwing that little out to all of you, someone’s going to come back with some or all the missing pieces of the jigsaw.

In Box 22, bundle 10, item 15, of the Balfour papers, there is a letter from Mary Checkley at the Malt Shovel, Solihull, near Birmingham, to Colonel Belford, Cork, Ireland.

Orkney Archive Reference: D2/22/10 Item 15 (Click on photo to enlarge)

 

The letter is dated 16 February 1796 and it says

Sir,

I have a Husband in your Regiment if living but have sent several letters but can get no answer from him so must conclude he is dead – which if so, please to give me a line and your petitioner will ever pray,

I am Sir Your most Hble [humble] Serv, [servant]

Mary Checkley

I’ve rooted about in Google and have found lots of references to the Malt Shovel at Solihull and it’s clearly an inn  dating back perhaps to the 17^th Century but have not yet found a history of the Inn and who might have owned it in 1796, and what Mary Checkley’s connection to it is.

Similarly I’ve looked for Mary herself but other than finding lots of Checkleys around the Midlands, both as a place name and a surname, I’ve not found Mary herself or her husband, alive or dead.

I’ve not found Mr Checkley yet in the records of the North Lowland Fencibles Regiment. He may be in future boxes, still to yield up their many secrets, but he’s not obviously in boxes 1 to 21.

So …….. who is Mary? Who is her husband? Was he dead? Where and when and under what circumstances? Or was he just a bad correspondent? The Regiment was safe enough in Ireland, albeit illness might easily consume a man in the late 18^th Century British Army.

And how much concerned was Mary that he might be dead? Did she mind? Was she bereft? Did she have another plan and her Checkley husband was surplus to requirements? Did she have children needing their father home again? What were her financial circumstances? Why had he taken the King’s shilling and left?

She has an elegant and strong hand, if Mary herself wrote the letter, and she expresses herself well, if baldly. She writes with some maturity, but did she write the letter? She doesn’t quite get the surname Balfour right, but even addressed to Colonel Belford, the letter gets to the Thomas Balfour, and she knows she has to write to him at Cork.

These are the bare bones of it all. Can anyone help add to the story? We would very much like to hear from you.

Posted on behalf of the Balfour Blogger.

Cave Where?

This photograph was taken in South Ronaldsay in the early 19th century, but we don't know where. Can you help?


Archive reference: L9397/4

Double Dutch Mystery Document

We have this wonderful document* from September 1659, which we believe was written in Dutch. But we have no idea what it is about.  Can anyone help? Have we any Dutch followers who can also read 17th century documents?

 

We can identify two words which are repeated a lot "Looft God" which means "God Bless" , so perhaps it is a religious document, or connected in some way with St Magnus Cathedral?

 

September 1659 was mid-way between the resignation of Richard Cromwell, son of Oliver Cromwell,ending the Protectorate in May 1659 and the Restoration of the monarchy with Charles II in 1660.

 

*Archive reference: D14/8/8 part of the Walter Traill Dennison papers.

 

After receiving such wonderfully quick responses to the appeal above, I enclose the second page of the document here below:

 

 

The Mystery of the Blue Jacket Boy....Solved!!

And here he is, our Blue Jacket Boy:

A message to everyone from Mary, grandaughter of David John Phillips I wish to forward my everlasting gratitude to the lady who delivered my grandfather’s letter to the Orkney Library and Archive and to all the researchers who found the identity of the ‘Bluejacket Boy’, my grandfather, David John Phillips. ‘Dai’ married my wonderful Orcadian grandmother, Catherine Isabella Coghill Johnston on 11th April 1919 at the Congregational Manse, Kirkwall. David returned home to Llanelli with his new bride ‘Bella’ where they opened a greengrocer’s shop and had two children, my mother Minnie and my aunt Jean. David and Bella lived with us throughout my formative years so were my ‘grand’ parents in every sense. They were an inspiring and loving couple. I still miss them both terribly. I am truly grateful to you all as without you,and the Orkney Library Archive, this precious letter would have remained a mystery forever. Thank you to everybody from my heart.

David J Phillips and Catherine Johnston














For the story from the beginning in Oct 2013 see here and an update in Jan 2014 here.

The Mystery of the Bluejacket Boy...

I write this post with a monocle screwed into one eye and an ill-advised moustache drawn onto my top lip with permanent marker pen. Dusty has taken the time to struggle into a mauve twin set and felt hat and both of us wield enormous magnifying glasses.

For we are detectives! And we invite you to be detectives too! Quick, pop on a trilby and light up a cigar, as we tell you the mysterious tale of ‘The Bluejacket Boy…’

One day, not so long ago, we received an email from a lady who wished to deposit an old letter with the archive. So far, so normal, but this was no ordinary family heirloom. The letter was written in 1916, in Orkney, by a young sailor to his family in Llanelli, Wales. We do not know his name as he only ever refers to himself by the nickname ‘your bluejacket boy.’

The letter was sealed and obviously intended to be posted as it bears a stamp. But. It was found, sealed, 64 years later behind a fireplace in Bridge Street, Kirkwall. His family never received it and the family who eventually uncovered it in their home have no idea how it ended up in the chimney space.

We have a few clues. He mentions various family members and asks to be remembered to them. He also mentions sending a handkerchief with a picture of a sailor on it to ‘Ethel’ who said ‘that’s Uncle Dai’ when she opened it. Is Ethel his niece? Is the Blue Jacket Boy named Dai? He talks about his sister Hannah too.

We would like to find out exactly who this man was and if there are family members still around. We shall keep you posted as we try and track the family down and do please get in touch if you have any suggestions or thoughts. Some extracts below:

For an update on information found out by Jan 2014, click here.
Mystery Solved information here.

Mystery Object Time

We have been spring cleaning here at the Orkney Archives and frankly, everything still looks the same and will look the same for ever and ever and ever. We have a lot of stuff.

We have found some cool things though, created about 2mm of shelf space and freed a staff member whom we all thought had retired but had in fact just gotten stuck under an enormous pile of uncatalogued maps and plans. (Sorry for that Hester.)

Whaddya think this is for hmmmmmmmm?