The amount of legal paperwork and activity that George Scott had to be involved in seems extraordinary by today’s standards. This paperwork also had to be preserved in the archives of law offices both at the solicitor’s office and in Edinburgh legal offices.
One document transferred No 7 from George Anderson, the builder, to Agnes Scott, the first purchaser of the house. She became the house owner and lived there with her mother and her brother George until her death. That was when the legal paperwork increased.
Agnes Scott in 1911 was not working and she had moved in to No 7 with her mother who was aged 75. I wondered previously if she was looking after her. George Scott, her brother was the only wage earner and bringing in a Clerical income. Agnes herself was probably living off her inheritance from her father.
By 1939 there were financial constraints and Agnes decided to mortgage the house. The amount was £350 which was probably about £50,000 in today’s money. Agnes died before the Second World War was over in 1944. Unfortunately for George, her inheritor, Agnes had prepared a will, but it was a handwritten note on a piece of paper.
I, Agnes Scott 7 Earlspark Avenue Newlands
Bequeath all my possessions to George Robb Scott my brother, at my death.
Agnes Scott 14th November 1931
Front of the registered extract of the holograph will of Agnes Scott (from the author’s own collection)
This had to be proved at court via sworn holograph. Then George had to take himself to the Sheriff Court to have the hologram declared legal for George to be the inheritor of No.7
Declaration by the Sheriff Court that the will was legal and that George Scott was the inheritor (from the author’s own collection)
George’s next step was to have the property transferred into his name
Notice of Title. George owned No 7 Earlspark Avenue. (from the author’s own collection)
So, two years after his sister had died, George, in 1946, was now the rightful owner of No 7.
But it didn’t stop there. He also had to carry the burden of the mortgage that was still outstanding. This was eventually discharged in 1949.
When the Carvers purchased the house in 1987, there was no sight or sound of these documents or history. They were all part of the ‘search’ that the solicitor we hired had to perform to ensure that the legal title of the property could be transferred without any complications. None of this happens now because all property is registered with the Land Registry and once ownership is established, that’s it.
George remained in the house, living alone until he sold it in June 1955. Nearly 45 years after he moved in. He was 78 and had already retired. George then decided to move to the Isle of Bute, across the water from the West Coast of Ayrshire. Whether he purchased another house or moved in with his niece I cannot confirm but his death certificate shows some information about his life and death in 1956.
George moved to a small hamlet on Bute, Port Bannatyne, which is on a point along from the main town of Rothesay. The house was called ‘Rhoda’. George died of complications with a stomach ulcer and his death was reported by his niece, Margaret Scott, who was present in the house. This is where I am uncertain about whose house it belonged to.
Death registration of George Scott 1956 (Crown Copyright, National Records of Scotland, generated August 2024)
In previous research I have recorded George as being first a Clerk and then a Cashier in a Laboratory Furniture Manufacturers company. In his death certificate he was described as a Scientific Instrument Maker. An interesting progression during his life.
From the beginning of his life with his parents and sister in a Dennistoun tenement, George’s father, a Gas Manager, brought his family to new beginnings in the new area of housing development known as Newlands, on his retirement. His wife, with Agnes and George, lived on in what would have been to them, a real progression in their lives.
George was able to enjoy life on Bute for a short while before he died. After 44 years of residency, it was time for No. 7 to welcome a succession of new house owners.
George Scott’s signature