Scottish Interest.- Carswell Family

A group of letters related to Scottish Carswell family, whose members where pivotal figures of the Industrial Revolution , including: six letters from Roger Napier addressed to Father Thomas P. Carswell, and containing instructions for the management of the Muirkirk Iron Company (“All that I have to say is do nothing rashly. All the partners agreed that this is no fault of you or your management. In the meantime, and for my sake hold on by it, if you can. I have many reasons for your doing so provided you can do so honourably and with any comfort to yourself. When any blame rests on any party…have no delicacy in exposing it but do it calmly and dispassionately, else no good will be done”, n.d.; “I believe Muirkirk matters have all been arranged in the proper way and in the way they should first have been…I shall learn all when I get to Glasgow”, 15 June 1842; “Tomorrow you must arrange with George Manson…Mr Denny and you must engage to pay off whatever men that you think right in order to get the issue finished with the least possible delay. A complaint has been made to me that the men are not setting the frames so accurately or quickly as they ought to be done”, 6 January 1843); a letter from James Ewing, Lord Provost of Glasgow, to Thomas Carswell, saying “I have just received your letter of the 12^th from Muirkirk. I did not before knowing that you had been again down this way, otherwise I should have been very wrathful at your not paying me a visit…I had a communication from headquarters – the great Matthew Perston himself- about the shrubs. He offered to dine with me, and I made preparations accordingly, but he sent an apology. I went to his villa. The plants are quite chocked with closeness. I suspect Davidson is expecting far above their value” and listing a series of improvements to parks and gardens in the neighbourhood, 18 February 1836; two letters from Thomas Carswell to his daughter Jeannie, one enquiring after her Bazaar and her concert (“who sang the best Scotch song? Lady or Gentleman?”, 16 June 1855) and one describing his attendance to Queen Victoria’s review of the Scottish Volunteers in Glasgow (“Your old father was fool enough to go all the length to see the Review and glad I am I did so…It was such a sight, not one sight but a thousand…and the effect was such as can’t be induced on canvas or shown in any possible way”, 8 august 1860); a letter from Thomas Carswell to James Napier, saying his father will be in Liverpool the following day, 9 February 1835; a letter from Thomas to an unknown recipient, incomplete, featuring a hand-drawn diagram of propellers “connected by means of separate shafts to a crank handle within the boat, such wheel revolving with a reverse motion, with these paddles I could propel the boat from one side of the river to the other”, 20 June 1840; letters from ‘J. Carswell’ (most likely John Carswell) writing to his mother and sister from Malta and Constantinople; a letter to Jeannie possibly written by James Carswell mostly discussing postal arrangements, and others; folding marks and occasional splitting, the letter with the diagram affected by severe soiling and splitting, some losses to paper, v.s. mid-19^th century (32)