Help needed understanding legal language in an 1811 bankruptcy notice

[CelticAnnie]

Howdy

Not having any background in Scottish 19th century law (!), I am having a little difficulty fully understanding a legal notice involving one of my ancestors ("Mr A") that appeared in a Scottish newspaper in 1811.  Obviously, in reproducing it, I appreciate I need to be circumspect to avoid breach of copyright (sincerely hope I have managed this); but it is just a notice in very standardised legal language.  It is headed, 'First Notice -- First Term' and reads:

"In the Process of Ranking and Sale, raised at the instance of ('Mr A') residing (area given), with concurrence of his Majesty's Advocate, against the Rev. ('Mr B') Minister of (details given) and his Creditors, Lord 'Blank', Ordinary, ('Mr C', Clerk) by his Interlocutor, dated (precise date given), assigned a First Term to the whole Creditors to produce their Claims against the Bankrupt or his Estate, with certification, etc.
Edinburgh (date)". (Mr A and Mr B were not residing in Edinburgh).

What is the legal meaning of the phrase 'First Term'? Is there any significance to be attached to the fact that this is raised by my ancestor, Mr A, as opposed to some other creditor? Am I right in interpreting this as a device to whip up support from other creditors so that, effectively, a joint action against Mr B can be brought?

Are there likely to be any legal documents relating to this bankruptcy still archived somewhere where public access is feasible?  I should like to find out a lot more about Mr B, if possible! (Sadly, internet searches have not yielded anything).

Many thanks.

CELTIC ANNIE

[eilthireach]

The <a href="http://www.dsl.ac.uk/">Dictionary of the Scots Language</a> shows the meaning of the term <a href="http://www.dsl.ac.uk/getent4.php?plen=7035&startset=32023366&dtext=snd&query=RANK">ranking</a>. Insert the word Term in the search box and you will get instances of its use over the centuries, but of especial note is its legal use, defined there (citing a legal text) as: "4. ‘In judicial procedure, … a certain time fixed by authority of a court, within which a party is allowed to establish by evidence his averment.’ Bell Dict. Law. Scotl."

There is no question of copyright in this instance. You are talking about something that is over two hundred years old, and it is utterly pointless to omit names as if you were trying to protect someone. If you had included the names, we could have looked at various other avenues for you to explore, but the first port of call, since it is clearly a case involving legal proceedings, should be the <a href="http://www.nas.gov.uk/onlineCatalogue/">National Archives of Scotland</a> online catalogue. You have names and a date which should help in the search.

[CelticAnnie]

Thanks, eilthireach!   

I do find the copyright laws very confusing, and I certainly don't want to get it wrong ; but since you say I'm okay to quote the whole thing in this instance -- well, here it is; and it's taken from the Inverness Journal of 14th June 1811:

                   " FIRST NOTICE -- FIRST TERM

In the Process of Ranking and Sale, raised at the instance of Thomas Davies, residing on the Green of Muirtown, with concurrence of his Majesty's Advocate, against the Rev. Aeneas McBean, Minister of the Associate Congregation at Inverness, and his Creditors, Lord Robertson, Ordinary, (F.S. Jaffrey, Clerk,) by his Interlocutor, dated the 8(?)th June, 1811, assigned a First Term to the whole Creditors to produce their Claims against the Bankrupt or his Estate, with certification, etc.
Edinburgh, 7th June, 1811"

Thomas Davies is my ancestor -- I know about him.  Despite his exotic name, internet searches I did threw up a couple of Aeneas MacBeans with Inverness connections; but clearly neither were this man.

I shall now head off to National Archives of Scotland online catalogue, as you suggest, to see if I can turn up anything there.  Many thanks for the tip!

Regards,

CELTIC ANNIE

[eilthireach]

I see that there is indeed something at NAS which relates to this. Enter the name Thomas Davies (not Aeneas McBean) and date 1811 and you will find an entry for this Ranking and Sale. Aeneas appears as a McBain.

You will be able to consult the files at NAS, but, as the file is not kept on site, you will have to order it up (there is a link on the relevant page which allows you to do just that).

Reference    CS237/D/8/16
Title    Thomas Davies v McBain: Ranking and sale
Dates    1811
Access status    Open
   
Location    Off site
Description       Inventory


If you are not able to visit NAS and consult these yourself, perhaps you could contact a researcher who will look at the file for you, or else you can order copies of the file from NAS. Email them (email address at bottom of Search page) quoting this reference and they will quote a price for you.

[CelticAnnie]

Thank you again, Eilthireach.

Yes, indeedie -- there is the material you referred to; and also a ''decreet finding the letters orderly proceeded and for expenses, Alexander Falconer and Oeneas McBean, WS, his agent v Thomas Davies" -- sounds most intriguing!  (Thanks to the very helpful dictionary link you provided, I understand a 'decreet' to be a 'judgment by a Scottish Court').

I'd not appreciated that the NAS provided a copying service. Very useful information. I will certainly look into this and get a quote since however much it is it will surely be less than the air fare from Texas, where I presently reside!

A sincere big thank you to you for your help and interest. I feel I'm well on the way now to finding out a bit more of what this was all about.  (Thomas Davies was a canal builder, so I'm baffled about why he would be a creditor of a minister of the church!)

CELTIC ANNIE

[djct59]

This procedure was carried out under the Bankruptcy Act 1696, which remained in force until 1985 (!), although it was updated in 1913.

The Green of Muirtown was on the west bank of the River Ness, which runs from Loch Ness to the Beauly Firth. The Muirtown Basin, locks and swing bridge form part of the Caledonian Canal, that allowed shipping to pass more easily through the lochs than by a river route. It was completed in 1814. Presumably your ancestor and the Minister of Muirtown had engaged in some commercial transaction regarding the ownership or transfer of land, and your ancestor needed to force the sale to complete the building works, so went to the Court of Session. The original papers may be in the Faculty Archives in Parliament House, although I don't think the public has access to them. Law reporting in the early 19th century was quite haphazard, so it might be difficult to discover much more of the background, although it was almost certainly a land dispute.