HAVE YOUR SAY

Mysteries, marriages en masse & more

Court action 

Re: Emma Maxwell’s webinar presented on 10 February for Family Tree.

I enjoyed the presentation about Scottish Sheriff court records from Emma Maxwell and will have a look at her website, www.scottish indexes.com.

A few years ago I was going to visit Aberdeen and knowing that both my 2x great-grandparents, Alexander Martin and Mary Ann Lister, as well as my 3x great-grandparents, Alexander Martin and Janet Bowman, were buried there, I planned to visit their graves. A search on DeceasedOnline identified the exact position of the graves and, armed with a map showing the layout, I visited St Peter’s Cemetery.

There was no headstone for Alexander Martin and Janet Bowman but there was for Alexander Martin and Mary Ann Lister. The stone was erected by one of their sons and as well as himself and his wife Jane Gray Watson it included four of their children, who died at under 12 months old. However also named on the stone was James Watson, brother of Jane Gray, who died on 28 April 1870 aged 18 years.

On my next visit to ScotlandsPeople Centre I found the death entry and was surprised to read that the cause of death was ‘a wound in the neck by a knife. Sudden death’. Also it was about 9h 50m PM at 46 Commerce Street, Aberdeen. There was also a reference to the RCE (Register of Corrected Entries) which identified the address as being that of John Sangster, Druggist. This raised the question in my mind, was he trying to break in or perhaps trying to stop someone else from doing so?

My next action was to contact the archivist at Aberdeenshire Libraries as there was likely to be a report about the incident in the local paper. She came up trumps and sent me photocopies of two reports from the Aberdeen Journal.

First dated 4 May 1870 reporting the stabbing and the other dated 11 May 1870 reporting the Committal of the lad Todd for murder. She also told me that the trial papers were available from the National Archives of Scotland and the reference I would need to obtain a copy.

I think that it cost me £15 for a copy of the court papers but I did receive:

• Indictment against David Todd

• Diligence. HM Advocate v David Todd

• Execution of Criminal Libel vs David Todd

• Report by Dr Alexander Ogston and Charles Mitchell MacQuibban of Post Mortem examination of body of James Watson

• Report by Dr Alexander Ogston of Examination of person of David Todd

• Report by Dr Alexander Ogston 12 May 1870, Case of David Todd

• Inventory of Documents in case against David Todd

• Declaration of David Todd 29 April 1870

• Execution of Citation of Witnesses in Indictment HM Advocate against David Todd

• Execution of Citation against George Young HM Advocate vss David Todd

• Copy of Court Log 9 Sep 1870 

David Todd was found guilty of murder and sentenced to seven years in Penal Servitude. Lots of interesting reading, all from a name and date on a headstone!