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Catalogue · 08 Sep 2026

The manuscript collection

Read the wills.
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Names, families and the strokes that connect them. Explore the original handwriting, then work through each reading word by word.

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The widow-and-children passage in John Glasgow's 1577 testament
From the original register1577John Glasgow · Edinburgh
Testament cases
14
Originals revisited
14
Awaiting fresh reading
0
From handwriting to family historyWhich early Glasgow families can we actually connect?The secure lines, probable relatives and joins still missing a record.

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Three courts. A century of lives.

Grouped by the court that kept the record, then ordered from earliest to latest. The large year is the record year, which may differ from the year of death.

How the illustrated readings work

These are LLM-assisted working transcriptions, not certified editions. Examining every supplied page does not mean every word has been deciphered. A widow is not automatically the children's mother; an executor, witness or creditor is not automatically a relative. Each case shows what was read, what changed and what remains unresolved.

Missing pages and duplicate copies

The nested John 1577 PDF includes continuation image 277, and Andrew 1598 has a supplied continuation image 124. The September 10 name audit records the renewed reading of those pages. The unrelated third screenshot in John's PDF is not part of his testament. John 1650 lacks the opening page before image 66. The two Jonet Meik PDFs and the two William 1673 PDFs represent duplicate register images. William 1673 belongs to the Lanark court, despite one copy being filed under Edinburgh.

Edinburgh Commissary Court

Edinburgh

1577-16625 testament records

1577Record year

Illustrated manuscript reading

Johne Glasgow, Hirmenschelis: inventory and confirmation

4 May 1577 (marginal court date); death in March, year unresolved

NRS Edinburgh Commissary Court CC8/8/5, images 276-277; both record images freshly reviewed

This is a court-appointed estate inventory for the late John Glasgow. It says he died in March, but the death-year numerals cannot be securely read in this review. The marginal court date is 4 May 1577.

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1598Record year

Illustrated manuscript reading

Andro Glasgow, [Corsoun?], Caldercleir: inventory and opening of latter will

10 July 1598 marginal date; will 6 February 1597 as written; death 7 February [1597 as written?]

NRS Edinburgh Commissary Court CC8/8/32, images 123-124; both record images freshly reviewed

The supplied page is Andrew Glasgow's testament-testamentar and inventory. His residence is provisionally read as Corsoun in the parish of Caldercleir, sheriffdom of Edinburgh. It records his death on 7 February and says that he gave up the inventory himself on 6 February. The latter-will opening at the bottom expressly bears 6 February 1597 as written.

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Glasgow Commissary Court

Glasgow

1603-16375 testament records

1605Record year

Illustrated manuscript reading

Katherine Glasgow, 1605 testament confirmation

Death January 1603; confirmation 9 May 1605

NRS CC9/7/4, images 6-7

Katherine Glasgow is identified as the spouse of Thomas Weir in Stevenston parish. The opening gives her death in January 1603, not on the subsequent probate date. Thomas supplied the account on behalf of William, James and probably Jonet Weir; the confirmation refers to the executors’ minority. This does not by itself explicitly state their parentage.

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Lanark Commissary Court

Lanark

1650-16854 testament records

1673Record year

Illustrated manuscript reading

William Glasgow, Lanark testament dative: administrator-name reread

1673-04-09 (court date; death month/year not securely resolved)

National Records of Scotland, Lanark Commissary Court, CC14/5/9, images 24-26

This is William Glasgow's Lanark Commissary Court testament dative and inventory. The manuscript locality and death month remain obscured; Quothquan comes from the maintained index-based identification rather than a fresh reading of the gutter.

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