Understanding the Will of Archibald Sinclair 1834

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Morning All
In 2011 Sancti and Lodger gave me a great deal of help with my Sinclair relatives in Glassford. At the time, I think it was Lodger suggested that the grandparents of our James Sinclair might be Archibald Sinclair and his wife Margaret Lowrie who were buried in the Glassford Cemetery. After years of no further progress I went to SP and got Archibald's Will. The writer(scribe) of the Will was a James Thompson (looks like Strathaven) and the Will was stated as completed in Dec. of 1834 in Glasgow. The actual date of death is never given but Archibald was living in Stonehouse at the time the inventory was made out.
He left" a Deed of Settlement in favor of his wife Margaret Lowrie and James Sinclair now in Whiteside in fee dated the 9th day of January 1813 and the following is an inventory of the personal Estate".

To amount of principal sum in Bill drawn by Marg't Lowrie spouse of the deceased and accepted by Gavin Lowrie Wright in Stonehouse dated 1 January 1830--25 pounds 15 shillings + interest of 1 pound 15 shillings.
There are also  two smaller amounts (same language) to a Robert Gray, weaver in Stonehouse + interest and a James Jamieson, spirit dealer in Glasgow with interest.
And then we have the following-
To amount of sum deposited by the liferenter per receipt by the British Linen Company Office dated 3 January 1834 for 130 pounds + interest of 2.12
Next came the furniture evaluation of 11pounds 17 shillings and 1 pence
Total 183.17.5
Then it goes on:
At Glasgow the 12th day of December 1834 in the presence of Walter Moir Esquire ( county official) and James Sinclair
It goes on to say that James Sinclair was sworn and examined Deposes that the said Archibald Sinclair died upon the ------ day of ------.
That the Deponent has entered upon the possession and management of the deceased personal Estate as Executor Nominate. James Sinclair then attests that he knows of no other money or material goods owned by his  deceased  relative in Scotland and the value is under 200 pounds.
Signed by James Sinclair and Walter Moir.
Questions:
Is this James Sinclair my relative ? Archibald left him a settlement and said he was a relative.
The Settlement came in 1813 and James was born in 1812.
What does Liferent confer to a person
Are the monies mentioned owed to others or an inheritance?
What is a Bill of Settlement?
What does the term "in fee" mean.
Any help  would be appreciated. I have copied spelling and capitalization as recorded and am always grateful for any and all suggestions and information
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[Forfarian]

What does Liferent confer to a person

A liferenter has the use of whatever it is - a house, or land, or income from capital - as long as they live, but they can't sell it, and on their death it becomes the property of someone else named in the deed. It's very common for a husband to liferent a property to his wife, and on her death it goes to their child(ren).

Are the monies mentioned owed to others or an inheritance?

An inventory lists all the money belonging to the deceased plus any money (s)he owes to anyone else. In this case it looks like Archibald's assets, amounting to £183 17s 5d.

What is a Bill of Settlement?

It's a document drawn up by someone dealing with disposal of his or her assets, rather like a will.

What does the term "in fee" mean.

The person who gets the property after the death of a liferenter gets the property in fee, so it means that they own it outright rather than only having the use of it.

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Hi Forfarian
 Nice to talk to you again. But I have another question. My James Sinclair said he was born in 1812. The bequest  made both he and Margaret Lowrie  owners of this property in Stonehouse although the Will doesn't actually state the exact property that is referred to.  This was attested to  in 1813. It would seem that James had taken over sole control by 1834, so Margaret appears to have died.  Let's assume for a moment that this James Sinclair is my relative- can he sell his interest in the property in Stonehouse, and then use the money to buy a property in Glassford or elsewhere if he wants.
Archibald Sinclair and his wife are  buried in Glassford  Cemetery. My James definitely has relatives in Glassford in the 1830's and 40's. Three of these relations are a David Sinclair (spirit Dealer) and Martha Sinclair (his sister) and William Sinclair (weaver). David and Martha have  death certificates from SP  indicating their parents were Ann(e) Davidson and James Sinclair.
Archibald and Margaret only registered 2 births both in the 1780's both girls. So where does this James Sinclair come in and which one is he - James the older or James the younger.
A puzzlement I've been working on for years.
Any advice on where to go next.
Always searching
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[RJ_Paton]

While Margaret was alive she, as the liferenter, had almost full control of the property and could do almost anything but sell it (basically she was a tenant who lived there rent free). On occasions there could also be restrictions placed upon her occupancy should, for example, she re-marry (quite often that would mean termination of the occupancy).

Your James who inherited the property need not be a direct line descendant as it was often the case at that time that land houses etc, known as heritable property, would be passed down the  line to the nearest male relative even if there were surviving female children closer related.

[Forfarian]

can he sell his interest in the property in Stonehouse, and then use the money to buy a property in Glassford or elsewhere if he wants.

Yes, once any liferenters have died, he can do what he likes with it.

There should be sasines recording these changes of ownership. The registers of sasines record changes of ownership of heritable property, which is basically land and buildings. Normally all you need to do is look at the Abridgments, which give you brief details of the property being transferred, who is transferring it to whom, and how (money, inheritance etc). Often, but not always, they tell you the relationships between the people involved.

They are in the National Records of Scotland, but they aren't available online, so you'd need to find someone willing to look at the relevant ones for you.

The following is an example from my own family of a useful sasine with lots of information about family members: Lanark No 5139 1806-09-12 GR 764/200 Jean Waddell, sister of William Waddell of Easter Moffat, and William Waddell, son of George Waddell, of Ballochnie, their nephew, seised in liferent and fee respectively Sept 9 1806 in the 40s land of Easter Moffat, par Bartramshotts, 1 merk land of Easter Calderhead and 20s land of Paperthills, par Shotts, and teinds, under burden of a liferent annuity of £20 to Christian Waddell, spouse of James Muir of Gilgarth, £2000 to Margaret Waddell, daughter of Patrick Waddell of Bogo and £100 to Agnes Gairdner daughter of John Gairdner of Broompark on disp and settlement by the said William Waddell, May 6 1803.

William Sr, George, Patrick, Jean, Agnes and Christian Waddell were siblings. Neither William nor Jean married. Christian married James Muir of Gilgarth and Agnes married John Gardner of Newmains. I have yet to research the link between Newmains and Broompark. William Sr drew up a disposition and settlement dated 6 May 1803, and died in 1806, so this is the record of the change of ownership of the property. Jean got the liferent, and when she died it was to go to their nephew William Jr, son of their brother George.

Does that help?

[RJ_Paton]

The Retours of Heirs may also hold further information and can on occasion even give relationship details between the heir and the original owner

http://www.nas.gov.uk/guides/inheriting.asp  is the NAS Guide
http://www.brucedurie.co.uk/downloads/Retours-intro.pdf    a sample of what can be found in the Retours

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Thank you so much for the explanation. It makes perfect sense and the possibility of additional information on family relationships makes this a very exciting path to explore. William Sinclair, whom I spoke of in my original post was murdered in Glassford in the fall of 1841. Our James was a witness to the event indicated that William was his uncle in his witness statement to the authorities.. The Glasgow Herald covered the trial in December of 1841. I have both the Herald account and the trial transcripts. They are fascinating. Again thanks to Lodger and Sancti.
So how does one get at these records? Will the folks at the National Records of Scotland ( for a fee) look up and send the information. I live in Canada and much as I would love to visit Scotland and do the research myself it is not possible at this time.
Thanks so much for the information
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[Forfarian]

So how does one get at these records? Will the folks at the National Records of Scotland ( for a fee) look up and send the information.

Yes. Have a look at http://www.nrscotland.gov.uk/research/researching-online - there is a contact form that you can use to enquire.

However it can take quite a long time. They used to say 4 weeks, but last year it had slipped to 6 weeks. In your position I would hire a professional searcher to go and look at the relevant records for you. That would be quicker and probably wouldn't cost any more. There is a link to lists of record agents at the bottom of that page.

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Hi Falkyrn and again Forfarian
Falkyrn- Sorry to be slow in getting back but I was reading the material you sent. It appears to be far more complicated that I had originally thought. So many possibilities and places to search but if the information is out there I have to find out.
Forfarian your suggestion to hire a professional seem to be a logical alternative. When I ordered the trial transcripts of Reid's trial for the murder of William it was a neat and available package. This search is far more complicated and needs a person who has experience with these records. Not knowing Latin is another draw back in my case- guess I should have taken it in High School but who knew I might need it years later!
So I will follow up and see where this leads
Thank you both for your attention and support
Back to you
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