Diaries of George Drummond, Lord Provost of Edinburgh

The material is composed of a diary kept by Drummond, and includes R.B's diary (the initials of a woman he was unable to marry), 1736-1738.

George Drummond, six times Lord Provost of Edinburgh, was born in Edinburgh on 27 June 1687. In 1707 he was appointed Accountant-General of Excise when it was introduced into Scotland after the Union. He was a Hanoverian and worked closely for the defeat of the Jacobites in 1715. He became Lord Provost of Edinburgh for the first time in 1725. When the Edinburgh Royal Infirmary was founded in 1736, Drummond was one of its managers. In 1745 he raised a band of volunteers to defend the city against the Jacobites. During his Lord Provostship the city was extended northwards to include the area upon which the New Town is now built. It was at this time too that the Nor' Loch was drained, and North Bridge built. George Drummond died on 4 November 1766.

Generally open for consultation to bona fide researchers, but please contact repository for details in advance.

Important finding aids generally are: the alphabetical Index to Manuscripts held at Edinburgh University Library, Special Collections and Archives, consisting of typed slips in sheaf binders and to which additions were made until 1987; and the Index to Accessions Since 1987.

Check the local Indexes for details of any additions.

The local Indexes show various references to Drummond related material (check the Indexes for more details): draft letter to Drummond, from C. Mackie, April 1726, at La.II.91; letter to Drummond from Alexander Hamilton, April 1742, at RO.4. in Hamilton's Intinerarium; discharge George Drummond to Sir John Home, 1727, at La.Add.6. In addition, the UK National Register of Archives (NRA), updated by the Historical Manuscripts Commission, notes: correspondence and papers, National Archives of Scotland, Ref. GD24 NRA 29367 Stirling Home; correspondence with Duncan Forbes, 1716-1727, National Library of Scotland, Manuscripts Division, Ref. MSS 2965-67; correspondence with Henry Pelham, 1746-1753, Nottingham University Library, Department of Manuscripts and Special Collections, Ref. Ne NRA 7411 Pelham; and, correspondence with Duke of Newcastle, 1752-1759, Ref. Add MSS 32729-894 passim.