Archibald LEARMONTH {M} [P410] = Christian MILLER {F} [P721]

Archibald:

Born 4 Nov 1771, Sanday
Christened 4 Nov 1771, Cross, Sanday
Christening witnessed by Archibald Learmonth and Anne Angus.
This Archibald must be regarded as being a bit of a rogue in the family.
In the Orkney Archives Court Records SC11/5/1799/13 Archibald was taken to task by David Geddess, Agent for the Hudson Bay Company in Stromness. Archibald was described as 'sometime residing in Kirkwall, now in the Island of Sanday'. Archibald had been engaged by David Geddess to go to Hudson Bay in the capacity as a taylor in their fleet, and was paid the sum of £4 - 5/- in advance. David Geddess required that Archibald implement his part of the agreement, or return the money with interest. Archibald was summoned to appear on 19 December 1799 at the Tolbooth in Kirkwall, but he failed to appear. This was taken as a confession of guilt, and the Sheriff discerned against him.
His next association with the law as seen in SC11/5/1814/26, was when in business as a Vintner in Kirkwall when he took James Murray, a farmer in Moodisdale, to court for not paying his bill for £4 - 1 / 7½d. Archibald won this case with expenses, as James Murray failed to appear to answer the charges. This was Archibald's only happy experience of a court case.
Archibald was described as a Shopkeeper in SC11/5/1815/122 which was a Summons for money owed to John Thain, Manager of a Tan Works in Thurso. Archibald has bought goods on three occasions from Mr Thain, getting a set period, five or six months to pay back the debts. In these records, a promise, handwritten and signed by Archibald, dated 22nd August to pay back the sum of £4 - 1 / 1½d within 5 months was given as evidence against him. In his defence, John Mitchell required that further proof be shown of the other debts incurred by Archibald, but John Thain implied to the court that Archibald was only taking advantage of the time factor involved with the remoteness of Orkney and the lengthy legal system. Archibald was nevertheless summoned to appear in the Tolbooth in Kirkwall on the 16th November 1815, where he was ordered to pay his dues, plus expenses.
Another Summons for money owed can be seen in SC11/5/1816/91, where James Weir, a Baker in Leith claimed that Archibald had bought goods from him over several years to the value of £24 -18 / 7d. Archibald was again summoned to appear in the Tolbooth on 16th May 1816, where the decision again went against him. This was possibly the debt from which Archibald never recovered, because he went bankrupt before his next court appearance in 1817.
The first part of this case SC11/5/1817/57 is incomplete, but the argument continued through the courts until 1822. The story here was that Archibald, having become bankrupt, decided to go to Edinburgh to get some goods to sell in Kirkwall. Not being too sure of Edinburgh, it appears he approached a businessman Alexander Watters, with whom it appears he had had some dealings with before. Archibald was looking to purchase some confectionary on credit, so Mr Watters took him along to meet Robert Butchard, who agreed to give him the credit he required, taking Mr Watters at his word to honour the debt if Archibald should fail to repay. Needless to say, Archibald did not repay the debt, and Mr Butchard went to Court in Edinburgh to claim his money from Mr Watters. This ended in Mr Watters, planning to take goods to Orkney on his six monthly visit, had his goods arrested on board the ship. Mr Watters had to pay the Captain the amount owed to Mr Butchard before his property was released so that he could continue on his journey.
This case continues with a summons for money owed in SC11/5/1818/32, with Mr Watters trying to claim the total of £5 - 9 / 2½d from Archibald. This seemed to be an extended case, with John Mitchell arguing point of law, rather than the moral issue, stretching out the legal aspects of the case. Archibald was however summoned to appear on 12th November 1818, and at that time he was still described as a Merchant, Kirkwall. The case again went against Archibald, but there are several additions in the Summons paper, giving various dated entries confirming the sentance passed. This looks as if Archibald, although found guilty, had not paid the money owed to Mr Watters.
This obviously continues, until SC11/5/1822/95, where Archibald, whose residence is now described as "Now Edinburgh", is again fount to be the guilty party, repeating that he should pay the money owed to Mr Watters.
From here, there are no further entries relating to Archibald, but it would be interesting so have a look in Edinburgh to see if there is a continuation of the battle.

Elizabeth {F} [P722]

Born 20 Jan 1803, Kirkwall
Christened 30 Jan 1803, Kirkwall
Christening witnessed by John Learmonth and Roberta Spence.

Robert {M} [P723]

Born 20 Nov 1805, Kirkwall
Christened 8 Dec 1805, Kirkwall
Christening witnessed by John Learmonth and Robert Traill.

Rachel Warren {F} [P724]

Born 28 Jul 1808, Kirkwall
Christened 8 Sep 1808, Kirkwall
Christening witnessed by Thomas Warren and his son. Thomas is mentioned in 'The Kirkwallian' by Hugh Hossack. He says he came from south and bought a house in what is now Albert Street in 1802. This was the beginning of the Warren family which were involved in Kirkwall history, Warren's Walk and Warrenfield being named after the family.

Ann Mitchell {F} [P725]

Born 8 May 1811, Kirkwall
Christened 19 May 1811, Kirkwall
Christening witnessed by Ann Mitchell and Dr Andrew Munro.

John Mitchell {M} [P726]

Born 2 Sep 1813, Kirkwall
Christened 26 Sep 1813, Kirkwall
Christening witnessed by John Robertson and Thomas Thomson.

Ann {F} [P746]

Born 14 Apr 1816, Kirkwall & St Ola
Christened 26 May 1816, Kirkwall & St Ola
Died 21 Sep 1816, Kirkwall & St Ola

James {M} [P727]

Born 18 Jul 1817, Kirkwall
Christened 1 Aug 1817, Kirkwall
Died 7 Aug 1817, Kirkwall
Christening witnessed by Thomas Thomson and Robert Learmonth. It would appear that this Robert could only be his elder brother, aged 12 at the time.

This family were residing in Kirkwall in the early 1800's, as confirmed by births of their children from 1803 until 1817. Archibald's business was made bankrupt by 1817, but he still attempted to get back on his feet, only to find himself getting deeper into trouble due to his debts. Archibald and family were forced to flee from Orkney to Edinburgh, the court records mentioning that his wife and four infant children went with him. In fact they had seven children, but the comment about his children may have meant that either the other children had grown up and had already left home, or they may have had died.
The enforced move occurred between a court case in 1818 where he was described as a Merchant, Kirkwall, and another in 1822 when his residence was described as 'now Edinburgh' where he appeared to be employed as a tailor.
If he moved in 1820, his elder children Elisabeth would have been 17, and Robert 15, and if still alive, would probably be away from home earning a living for themselves by then. Rachel though, would have been young enough, (12) unless the move was made nearer to 1822, but this would also have made the younger children too old to be described an 'infant'. A best guess would probably be in late 1818, after his case on 12 Nov 1818, or into 1819, as his business and reputation would have been unable to support him and his family in Kirkwall.
He appears to have had either a friendship, or purely business relationship with John Mitchell, who was a 'Writer', the term for a modern day Lawyer. John represented Archibald in all his court cases, and Archibald named two of his children after him, Ann Mitchell Learmonth and John Mitchell Learmonth. Rachel Warren Learmonth would have been named after Thomas Warren, a businessman who moved to Orkney in the very early 1800's, Kirkwall's Warren's Walk and Warrenfield being named after this family.